FIT&FAB: How I built my relationship with water

My relationship with drinking water did not start off well. Days, sometimes even a week, would pass without me touching a single drop of drinking water.

But it’s not just water that I had a difficult relationship with. I hated fruits like watermelon, pineapple and oranges whose water content could have done me a great deal of good.

Depriving my body of water reaped me the nastiest skin breakout ever. At 20, I was not just grappling with obesity but also a pimply forehead that did not help my already slouching self-esteem.

The first diet I did required me to drink a eight glasses of water per day. In the  first week, I only managed four cups.

I vividly recall feeling nauseous after downing that fourth glass of plain water. It was a very trying time. It made me want to quit.

For about four months or so, I struggled with acquiring a taste of water.

My heart literally sunk at the sight of water in a glass. To think that currently, I can't go a day without taking a minimum of six glasses of water just goes to show how quickly our body adapts to best health practices.

In my research for various ways to spice up fitness journey, I came across many methods to “liven up” water. The methods aimed at ensuring one consumes enough water content and that whatever was added to spice up the water was of beneficial to the body.

EXCITMENT

I tried out flavoured water from supermarkets but this proved to be an expensive endeavour. This explains my utmost excitement when I discovered simple and affordable ways to flavour my own water. Here are my top three flavoured water recipes:

1.Watermelon lime water

This involved slice up huge chunks of watermelon and tossing them in a blender with water to the ratio of 3 slices of melon to one cup of water. After blending the melons, add half a cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice to the blended juice and blend once more. Let it sit in the fridge for a few hours and enjoy the refreshing drink on a hot afternoon.

2. Lemon water

I baptised this my morning power drink. In a cup of warm water, squeeze lemon juice from a fresh sliced lemon. Let the lemon float in the cup as you sip the water. Ensure the lemon is well cleaned before adding it to the cup. This is best consumed on an empty stomach first thing in the morning.

3. Flat tummy water

Slice up one cucumber, one lemon, a piece of ginger and add them to a 2litre pitcher or jug. Add a sprinkle of dried mint leaves or a pinch of fresh one. Fill up the pitcher with cold water and let it sit overnight. Strain in the morning and enjoy the water throughout the day.

The list of how to change the texture, taste and even scent of water to better suit your preference without compromising on the desired health benefits is endless. For instance, Dawa, popularly served at coffee, joints is an excellent drink to meet your water consumption requirements.

As I begun trying out this water infusions and flavours, water started getting more bearable on my palate. It reached a point where my body started demanding for plain water. Water has been key to my overall fitness and also my feelings.  Don’t give up on consuming water. Get experimenting on various ways to make the taste of water exciting for a healthier you.

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Fit&Fab is a blog series by Marion Maina who lost 30kg during her weight loss journey that started two years ago and is now in pursuit of a healthy lifestyle. Do you have feedback on this story? E-mail: [email protected]