Operation: Rehydration

I don't drink enough. This has been a well documented fact throughout my life. I'm renowned for leaving half finished drinks all over the place and rarely go the loo more than 3 times a day.

I was prone to water infections because of this but it had never really had a major impact on my health or life. It came more to the fore when I had my son as I physically couldn't make enough milk to breastfeed him because I didn't have enough fluid in me. I managed it for 14 weeks but had to stop as he wasn't putting on enough weight. At the time I didn't know what the problem was and it's only after researching I discovered what had happened and obviously I was very disappointed in myself as luckily it was the only problem we'd had.

As my diet has changed drastically over the last few months, I'm obviously not eating as much and therefore not getting as much of a fluid back up from my food. I only noticed the impact of this as the weather began to heat up as we headed into summer. For the last couple of weeks I've had a near permanent headache and been really lacking in energy. Then the other evening I was reaching for the salty snacks despite not actually feeling hungry.

After really listening to my body I realised it was the salt I was craving and started to research this a bit. It turns out it can mean an electrolyte imbalance due to being dehydrated as your body doesn't just need water to stay hydrated but salts and minerals as well. I also read the frequent water infections due to dehydration could lead to bladder cancer and electrolyte imbalance can lead to kidney issues!

Then the final straw came today when I had an opticians appointment. It turns out my eyes are also starting to get damaged due to being dehydrated. This is also linked to contact lense issues which we ironed out today but it made me realise I need to sort this issue out.

When I started this lifestyle change it was all about making healthier choices, mainly to lose weight, but also to have a generally healthier lifestyle. So this is now the next change I need to make to be healthier.

I've got myself some rehydration salts that you take after diarrhoea to help give me a boost and a litre water bottle I'm going to try and take everywhere with me to try and keep permanently drinking.

So wish me luck! This may well be the toughest challenge I've taken on so far as I find drinking more really hard and always have. But I'm determined to make a change so will update you how I'm getting on.

10 super easy food swaps to help you eat healthier

1. Use a low cal condiment on sandwiches instead of butter or margarine. I personally use extra low cal mayonnaise, aldi's own is the best one I've found as it's low in sugar too. Other ones might be a chutney (watch the sugar) or something like mustard.

2. Use a 50/50 bread if you can't face switching to brown bread. Watch the sugar again, Kingsmill is the lowest. This won't save you many calories but it's healthier for your body.

3. Mattesons turkey bacon is a good swap for regular bacon. It actually crisps up better than regular bacon and is about 1/4 of the calories.

4. Swap beef mince for turkey mince.

5. Instead of oil when frying, dry fry but use splashes of stock to stop your meat drying out. Water will do but stock adds more flavour.

6. Low cal mayonnaise is great in mashed potatoes instead of butter and milk.

7. When roasting veg, such as potatoes, instead of using oil, line a baking tray with baking paper. The veg won't stick to it like foil, but will still go crispy.

8. Swap rice or pasta for couscous. It's easier to cook and lower in calories. If you soak it in stock it's also really tasty.

9. Switch from low fat yoghurts (they're high in sugar) to Greek yoghurts. Again, aldi do a great Greek yoghurt which is only 70kcal a pot.

10. If you love a bit of cheese, try switching to a strong flavoured cheese, such as parmesan, but use less of it.

The Running Girl

When I started my weight loss & lifestyle change at the beginning of the year, I hated running. I'd never done more than the occasional sprint as a teenager and was convinced it just wasn't for me.

Then I signed up for the Race For Life in aid of Cancer Research UK for the third time. It's an event where you walk, jog or run 5k and people sponsor you to do so. I'd said at the end of the previous 2 times we'd walk it that I would run the next one, but hadn't yet. Well why not have a go this time, I thought.

I had heard about the Couch to 5k plan and local fun runs that are organised at my local park and thought these would be great to get me there. I honestly didn't know if I had it me to actually run 5k but I figured there was no harm in trying.

The couch to 5k is a 9 week plan but I managed to it in 12 due to having to repeat a few weeks. It was tough but I was very proud for having completed it.

I then started the fun runs at my local park. You sign up on their website, they send you a wrist band which is scanned when you cross the finish line, then you get a text to your phone with your time.

I did 2 of them before I ran the Race for Life which really spurred me on. On the day itself the conditions were completely different to what I'd been used to - hills instead of flat, forest instead of tracks, heat instead of cool overcast. I managed a not too shabby time of 38 mins, which I was proud of despite having done better times. I was just proud I'd managed to do it at all!

I've been really enjoying these fun runs up to now. I find I push myself so much harder in a more competitive environment. At the end of the day, I'm only really competing against myself but watching the other runners and keeping pace with them is great motivation. The pic I've included is some of my times so far. It's a bit up and down but I think there is a gradual improvement.

Some of the recent benchmarks for me have been a personal best time of 32mins 41secs and 3 weeks ago (the run before last due to a break from these particular runs) I managed to run the whole way without walking - both of which I've not been able to recreate again yet!

My current goals are to again run the whole way without stopping and to get my time closer to 30mins. I could try to progress to 10k but I'm not planning to yet for 2 reasons - 1. I need to improve my 5k and 2. I think I would get bored running for that long.

As I never thought I'd get to this point, I'll never say never as you don't know what's round the corner!