Do you know how and when to drink water?

We all know about the importance of drinking water (and if you don't know, you can read more about it here), but do we all know when and how to drink it?
Specialists say even though it's about drinking 8-12 glasses of water per day, it's no use if we drink it all at once. By drinking high amounts of water at once your body won't have the time to absorb it the way it should... it'll just make you use the bathroom pretty quickly.

Here are some of their advices on when and how to drink water:
- A glass of water when you wake up will help your metabolism "wake up" as well
- A glass of water half an hour before you eat. That'll both help your stomach get prepared for the food that will follow by "waking up" taste buds on the tongue and moisturizing the stomach lining so brittle or acidic foods won’t be uncomfortable and it'll also make you feel fuller so you'll eat less
- A glass of water before taking a shower helps lower blood pressure
- A glass of water before and after exercising
- A glass of water when you're feeling tired. Cold water (but not only) will wake up your body to keep you alert.
- A glass of water right before bed will help your hormones, energy levels, muscles and joints to become balanced.
- Drink before you feel thirsty. Your body will be below its normal water needs by the time you'll feel thirsty.
- Drink water throughout the day, and drink little by little, try to "eat" the water rather than gulping it.
- Drink 8-12 glasses of water per day on a regular basis BUT drink more than that when you are sick or when it's getting really hot outside, those are the times when you're body will gladly consume more water. I remember I once heard Bear Grylls say your body needs 2 liters of water per day just for perspiration, respiration and "nature calls".

Also, make sure you drink clean water and keep in mind that glass bottled water is better than plastic bottled water. Read more about it here. 

Wishing you the best,

Rachel

How I got rid of my awful neck pain

So the story goes on like this: I went to sleep a couple of weeks ago perfectly healthy...well... as healthy as an allergic person can get, and I woke up with a stiff neck that I couldn't turn to the left side because of the pain that was inflicted whenever I tried that move, and it felt as if there was something holding my neck from turning. The first thing I did, was of course to google it xD. They said it was most likely because of my wicked ways of sleeping, because I always find the most twisted ways to sleep. So I relaxed and took their advice: some said I should take some pills to ease the pain but since it didn't hurt permanently I decided not to use any pills (not a big fan of those) but I did massage the affected area. In a couple of days ( three to four) the pain did disappear, only that from time to time whenever I would turn my head into the left direction I would still feel as if something was slightly pulling my neck in the opposite direction... Since it was getting more and more bearable I didn't mind it - I just waited for the pain to go away completely.
And since it would've been just to good to end up like that and I wouldn't have had the opportunity to write this post, after about a week of no pain, all of a sudden, it got back, and it was even worse than before. This time, it wasn't even because of my sleeping ways, and that I know that for sure because it occurred while I was watching a movie on my couch. I wanted to get up and ...when I had to lift up my head it hurt so bad I had to take both of my hands to my neck to support it after getting up. And it didn't stop there. It hurt with every step I took and it felt as if my whole head was stiff even without walking or talking or anything. This time I was really creeped out so I tried what felt natural at the moment: I started massaging my neck, even thou at the moment it hurt really bad, but when I stopped it was better than before. Since it was kind of late I went to sleep, with no pillow under my head so my back was right. The next morning, it was better, but the pain was still there whenever I tried to move my head to the left side. Extremely frustrated at my body I researched much more than before and finally found a combination to help me ease the pain. Here's what I've tried and turned out to help me get rid of the pain:

- Claim your body
Do not let the pain take control over you. If you don't move your head because it hurts, be braver and endure some of the pain while trying to move it (well, of course, in case it's not unbearable).

- Stretching
Doing some exercises to help you stretch your neck muscle will turn out to be really helpful. These can be as easy as turning your head from one side to the other, head rotations and bending your neck forward until your chin touches your chest then slowly dropping your head back.

- Find the hot spot
Rotate your head from right to left or the other way around and stop right where it hurts the most. Keep the pose for 20 seconds (you're muscles will most likely be tensed, it's normal) and release afterwards. Repeat the exercise a couple of times per day or as long as you feel the need to.

- The spasm factor
If you have a spasm in your muscles, that'll cause them to tighten up like that. If that's the case, you should free up your neck muscles to get rid of the pain. Here's how you do it: Put your hands alongside your head so your thumbs are on the front of the muscle under your ear and your fingers are on the back of the muscle behind your neck. Squeeze your thumb and fingers together and hold. Relax your body. After about 30 to 45 seconds, when you don’t feel the muscles releasing any longer, slowly lower your head as far as you can, release the pressure but hold your neck lowered for another 30 seconds (as tried from Yahoo Answers - it worked pretty good.)

Now of course, these methods should not replace a doctor's opinion, so you can try them but if the pain doesn't go away you should definitely go see a doctor as soon as possible. I hope this will help in case you ever get neck pains, but above that - I hope you never get to experience those.

Wishing you the best,
Rachel