Hey guys!! Thank you for your interest in the four areas I’m changing for 2018!! I assume a lot of you have similar goals as mine (due to the overwhelming amount of messages and comments) for this year. Along with my relationship with God, I also mentioned my health to be a big area of change for this year. I want to focus on a healthier and happier lifestyle and this starts with not only my spirituality but also a healthier body.

One day out of the week I want to discuss ways I plan on improving my health. I will have a separate post during the week for fitness but for this post I want to discuss water. Yes I said it water. You may be thinking why in the world would I take an entire post and dedicate it to water?Well Im going to explain my current relationship with water and how it needs to be improved so I can be on my way to a happier and healthier me.

You may recall the post I did last week when I discussed the four areas of focus and health was number two on the list. This means that I had my health as second most important to me right under my relationship with God. When I think about my health and areas within it that need improvement the first thing that came to mind was my water intake. It is lacking. By lacking I mean pretty much non existent. I do not like water. It tastes like metal and often has a weird mineral taste to me too. Ive never been one who orders water at a restaurant (Dr Pepper please) or drinks water after sports (Im a Gatorade girl) so I knew that this had to change and Im going to tell you why.

First I want to share something that may be silly to some but is very important to me. I researched what the Bible says about water and surprisingly it says quite a bit. Specifically concerning our health I found these scriptures pertaining the issue –

WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT OUR HEALTH (BODY)

• 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NIV)  Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
• 1 Corinthians 10:31 (NIV) So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

So what do these scriptures tell us? Basically our bodies are temples and not our own and even whatever we drink or eat should be to the glory of God. Something as simple as drinking should be to the glory of God. That puts a lot into perspective for me when I think about the Oreos I just ate and pizza. Oops.

Now while I think everything in moderation is good, theres a new standard to what Im going to choose to put into my body (temple). That starts with my water intake. While I love Dr Pepper and sweet tea I can’t be my best self if thats all Im drinking. I can’t live to my fullest potential if I dont start setting new standards for my health. Now you may think ok well I drink plenty of water and eat pretty healthy. This post is meant for you to start thinking of ways you can set new standards whether it be with something as simple as what you’re drinking or what you’re not drinking. If you’re like me though you may want to know the benefits of drinking enough water so Ill share what I have found.

BENEFITS OF INCREASING YOUR WATER INTAKE 

• Improves skin hair and nails
• Promotes healthy digestion
• Removes toxins from your body
• Promotes regularity
• Boots the immune system
• Keeps your joints lubricated

These are all things that can help us be better and live a happier healthier life and it all starts with something as simple as increasing how much water we are drinking everyday. Your next question might be well how much water am I supposed to be drinking and I researched that and found the Mayo Clinic says this –

HOW MUCH WATER SHOULD YOU BE DRINKING 

• So how much fluid does the average, healthy adult living in a temperate climate need? The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine determined that an adequate daily fluid intake is:
• About 15.5 cups (3.7 liters) of fluids for men
• About 11.5 cups (2.7 liters) of fluids a day for women
• These recommendations cover fluids from water, other beverages and food. About 20 percent of daily fluid intake usually comes from food and the rest from drinks. (Mayo Clinic)

Basically what they told me is that you need the average of eight 8 oz glasses a day. To me this seems like a lot and I would assume that every person is different. I prefer to use the method of taking my body weight and cutting it in half for ounces of water I should drink per day which in my case would be around 50 ounces. One normal size water bottle is around 16.9 ounces so Im going to try my hardest to drink around three of them to start and then I can always work my way to more.

For the types of water that you should be drinking that is based on person preference I believe. There are a few different kinds to look for such as spring water, distilled, filtered, purified, and of course tap water. I think my preference for taste is purified water but Im also not sure if this is the best type to be drinking for your body. I will have to do more research on this topic.

I hope that this post is something that makes you think. I wanted it to be inspiring for you and motivating for you to think of your body as a temple as we go throughout 2018. Start small setting new standards for yourself. Im taking small steps toward a better me and that begins with something as simple as increasing how much water Im drinking. For you it may be increasing your fruits and vegetables or maybe less of something you indulge in everyday. Whether or not you need more water, which you probably do, you can take away from this post that we all have areas that need new standards and if we want to live an abundant life for Christ we must better ourselves even if its as simple as what we are drinking.

Thanks for reading and dont forget to tune into the devotional on Instagram live at 6pm CST (Wednesdays) for our week 2 study on The Armor of God!! xoxo -A