How to Stay Hydrated This Summer!

July 8, 2024

Written By: Mairead, Registered Dietitian


It's hot out, and we all know hydration is important. Being dehydrated can make you prone to headaches, lightheadedness, nausea, and feeling faint in the heat. For those who are working out, it can also make your workouts feel more difficult and make it harder for your body to recover. 

How do you know if you're drinking enough? An easy rule of thumb is to take your weight in pounds, divide it in half, and aim for that number of ounces of water. For someone who weighs 180lbs, this would be 90oz, or 2.7L. You can also take your weight in kilograms (pounds divided by 2.2) and aim for 30ml of fluid per kg of body weight. For that same 180lb person, this works out to 2.5L. Both of these calculations are estimates, and you may need more when it's very hot out and if you're sweating. You generally don't need to drink the excessive amounts of water you might see on social media if they're well above either of our estimates for your body. Keep an eye on the colour of your pee - if it's a pale straw colour, you're on the right track. If it's looking dark, drink up!

Check out these tips to help you get enough fluid in!

1. Track your intake! If you're someone who needs to be held accountable, tracking how much water you drink can be key to getting enough consistently. Many phones or fitness trackers have a default health app with the option to track your fluid. This can be most convenient if you're already using it. If you need something different, check out fun apps like Plant Nanny or Water Llama. Remember, you may need to adjust the goals to fit your particular needs! If you want to stick to pen and paper, even just tracking your glasses or bottles of water in your planner or calendar can help you stay consistent.

2. Make your water more fun! Plain water can be boring, and some tap water just doesn't taste that good. If this sounds like you, try making your water more interesting so you actually want to drink it. If you prefer your water super cold, add ice, keep your water in the fridge, or use an insulated bottle or tumbler to drink from. If you want to feel refreshed, try making a spa-type water by adding cucumber slices and mint to your drink. If you prefer something fruity, add a citrus slice or a handful of your favourite frozen fruit to give your water more flavour. 

3. Drink throughout the day! For those who workout, we may only think about hydration right when we're getting ready to workout or train. If you're only chugging your water right before or during a workout, it doesn't have time to get everywhere it needs to, and might leave you feeling sloshy or needing to pee during your session. Instead, try sipping on water throughout the day to meet your hydration needs, and drink according to your thirst right around your workouts. 

4. Think outside just water! Technically all non-alcoholic fluids do hydrate us. However, we know that excessive amounts of sugar from drinks like pop, or tons of caffeine from lots of coffee are also not great for our health. If you struggle with plain water and crave fizz, try soda water. Decaf or herbal teas can also count, whether they are hot or iced. Many fruits and vegetables contain a lot of water, including cucumbers, tomatoes, watermelons, and citrus. 

Psssttt.... looking for more information about electrolytes? Check out our blog post about them HERE!

Looking for more personalized nutrition advice? Let's chat! Email mairead@degreefitnessseaforth.com to learn more about our Nutrition Programs, or click HERE to book your FREE Bite-Sized Nutrition Chat!

What You Need to Know About Reading Food Labels!

October 22, 2025
Written By: Mairead, Registered Dietitian Nutrition labels can be confusing! But they're on packaging to help you know more about your food so you can make choices that align with your health and fitness goals. Grab your nearest food label. On the black and white Nutrition Facts table, you'll see a list of nutrients with values beside them. For most of them, there will be an amount in grams or milligrams listed on the left and a percentage over on the right hand side. That percentage can help give us context! As you'll see listed in teeny writing at the bottom of the table, 5% is a little, 15% is a lot. This means that if there's a nutrient we want more of, like fibre, we want that percentage to be higher, ideally towards 15% or more. If there's a nutrient we want less of, we want it to be closer to 5%. For most normal healthy people, we want to have less sodium (salt), sugar, and saturated fat, while including more fibre. There may also be times when you want to focus on a specific vitamin or mineral, like iron or calcium. These are also listed with a percentage and can be used the same way. A key part of label reading is knowing what is most important for you. For many food categories, you can't prioritize everything. There may not be one product that is the lowest in saturated fat AND the lowest in sodium AND the highest in fibre AND has the most protein AND has the most iron ... the list could go on. But if you can narrow it down to a couple things that matter most for your health and fitness goals, you can start making choices based on food labels, without all the overwhelm. Check out your food labels, use the percentages, and make choices that fit with your goals! Looking for more personalized nutrition advice? Let's chat! Email mairead@degreefitnessseaforth.com for more information about our Nutrition Programs, or click HERE to book your FREE Bite-Sized Nutrition Chat!

4 Tips For Better Snacking

October 6, 2025
Written By: Mairead, Registered Dietitian Snacking causes a lot of worry for many people! Is snacking bad? When should we be snacking? What's the best snack? Snacking itself isn't a bad habit, unless it's not aligned with your health and fitness goals. Snacks can actually do a lot of good to keep our energy levels up throughout the day and help meet our nutrition needs. Let's check out four ways you can improve your snacking habits! 1. Think about why! If you're concerned about whether your snacks are a problem, it's worth thinking about why you're snacking. Are you hungry between meals? Do you need some fuel before or after a workout? Are you bored at work in the afternoon or need a pick-me-up? Do you need something to do with your hands while watching tv? Are you starving at the end of the day when you get home before you have a chance to make dinner? Snacks serve lots of purposes, from keeping our energy stable during the day, to meeting emotional needs. If you don't feel good about why you're snacking, it might be time to find some other way to meet that need. 2. Plan for your snacks! Often, we may know we need a snack, but not be able to make a healthy choice about it because we're too busy or just too hungry. A little planning goes a long way! Planning ahead for these times can help us make choices that align with our goals, and have something at the ready before we're too hungry to make that healthy choice. Pack a snack or have one at the ready during the times of day or situations when you know you'll need it. 3. Make them satisfying! If a snack isn't satisfying, we'll be reaching for something else soon. For longer lasting energy, choose snacks that have a combination of protein and carbs. This might include yogurt with berries, a higher protein granola bar, crackers and veggies with hummus, or even a couple handfuls of trail mix. If you find yourself finishing your snack without even noticing what you've eaten, try taking a minute to eat more mindfully and focus on your food. This will help you feel more satisfied with it! 4. Fill your nutrition gaps! Snacks are another opportunity to add nutrition to your day. Are there specific foods you're trying to add more of to your diet? Are there nutrients you feel you may be lacking? Use snacks as a way to add these in. If you're concerned about protein, try adding canned tuna, hardboiled eggs, or Greek yogurt to your snacks. If you feel you're lacking vegetables or fruit, include at least one in your snack. If you're trying to include more plant-based proteins, lean on bean-based dips or try roasted chickpeas. The options are endless! Remember, snacking isn't good or bad, and can serve a lot of different purposes. Try using these tips to help your snacking align better with your health and fitness goals! Looking for more personalized nutrition advice? Let's chat! Email mairead@degreefitnessseaforth.com for more information about our Nutrition Programs, or click HERE to book your FREE Bite-Sized Nutrition Chat!

What If Excuses Aren't Excuses?

September 24, 2025
Written By: Mairead, Registered Dietitian As a Dietitian, I work with a lot of different people. One common thread is that we talk about excuses. So many people come in to a nutrition consultation and tell me about their challenges with nutrition and fitness, and then follow it up by saying something along the lines of "I know these are just excuses, I can do better". The things we often consider excuses can include having a busy job and a busy family life. Working weird hours. Struggling with the cost of groceries. Caring for loved ones. Managing health concerns, chronic diseases, or injuries. The list goes on. For my nutrition clients, I rarely consider any of these things to be excuses. It's not an excuse that you can't eat well because you work long hours and then take your kids to their sports practices - these are very real reasons why you're struggling to make healthy choices. It's not an excuse if you work nights and need to get some sleep so you didn't make it to the gym - it's as aspect of your life that makes getting enough exercise challenging. Think about the things you might consider to be your excuses for not "doing better" with your health and fitness. Are they really just parts of your life or the season you're currently in? None of these things should be making you feel bad or like you're making excuses. But on the flip side, these reasons also don't mean we need to throw in the towel on our goals entirely. They mean we might need to get a bit creative, decide what's really important to us right now, and ask for help when we need it! Instead of feeling bad about your "excuses" that aren't really excuses, it might be time to find some new ideas. Working with a Dietitian can be a great way to figure out what's actually important in your health and fitness goals, and come up with some new ideas to get you there. There are always steps we can take in the right direction to move past those "excuses" and work together for a happier and healthier you! Looking for more personalized nutrition advice? Let's chat! Email mairead@degreefitnessseaforth.com for more information about our Nutrition Programs, or click HERE to book your FREE Bite-Sized Nutrition Chat!