Saturday, March 3, 2012

It's All About the Lemon

Hope you're having a fabulous Saturday! 

So, today i thought i would share a little trick (or 2!) that was shared with me when i was dieting quite a bit! (I lost 52 lbs in about 2 months and now have determined i should be about 15 lbs lighter than what i am today rather than as light as i had gotten! I couldn't maintain that low a weight!) Any who, one thing i did was to try and help with water retention. I learned that if you are sore, you are probably retaining water. I also learned that if you gain a couple pounds it could be because you are retaining water. Also, ladies, that time of the month can bring about water retention. Salt can also be another factor. 

So with all of this opportunity for our bodies to retain water, we could also take measures to relieve some of it! 
Firstly, we need to drink plenty of water! 
I know this sounds a bit counter-intuitive but when you drink plenty of water it can flush out all of that salt that is helping your body retain water! I know this may not be a very technical explanation, but it is what it is! You have read how much you need to drink on a daily basis before... that is not the point of this post. My point is to offer some other options...

So here are some alternatives... 
1. Sassy water- I love this stuff but truly I love it more without the ginger in the recipe! I do not enjoy ginger and tend to skip this ingredient any time i cook. So I found a recipe (through Pinterest of course!) and made it a few times. Here's my recipe: 

What you'll need: 
1 thinly sliced cucumber
2-3 lemons thinly sliced
5-6 sprigs of mint leaves
At least 1 gallon of water


Directions: Find a large pitcher and put all ingredients into the pitcher. Soak in the pitcher overnight, or even all week. (i usually have about 1-20 oz bottle each day for 4-5 days) Then I add a packet of sugar free lemonade to that bottle of Sassy water to help with the flavor! It tastes pretty good, but remember this is not about the taste, its about the WATER! 
HINT: Use the slicer in your food processor to make this recipe in the blink of an eye!

2. The next option also includes lemon! Yum! So, here's one that only requires about 1 cup of water. The instructions are below for yummy 
Lemon Water Tea

What you'll need:
1/4 lemon
1 cup water
Any tea (Enough for 1 cup of tea)

Directions: Using a small pot, boil the water. Once there is a rolling boil, place the lemon into the pot and let water and lemon boil togeher for 3-5 minutes. Remove the lemon and use the water to make your tea. You can add ice and make it iced or just a a tea bag for a hot cup of tea on a cold night! Do this every night for 2-3 nights (and no more - to avoid dehydration!) and you may see an improvement! This is a great remedy for when you are sore as well! (By the way, you don't have to drink it as a tea, you could just drink straight lemon water! Also, feel free to squeeze the lemon, but you don't need to consume the peel! :)) 

So there are my Water retention remedies! I hope you give them a try! Let me know if you do! 
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