Drinking more water: A 30 day challenge (groan)

I hate drinking water. There. I said it.
But as someone who is both health-conscious and vain, I know that it is essential to my well-being. Water makes up 70% of our body's composition and this translates into the healthiness of our tissues.

From my experience as an esthetician, I know that dehydrated skin is the cause of almost all skin ailments. Without proper hydration, our skin weakens its barrier function and ability to repair, triggering eczema break outs, blemishes and wrinkles. Wrinkles are simply "skin wounds from being stretched and creased which have not had the ability to heal", according to former head chemist of Estee Lauder. And the inhibition of skin-regeneration due to dryness causes premature signs of aging. This also comes in the form of dreaded sun-damage as dried out skin is less resilient and cannot heal and fade pigmentation or scars as easily.

Glug-glug-glug should be our new beauty mantra - and, as I wrote in my beauty book "Beauty 2.0", soon to be re-launched from Mc Arthur and Company as "Beauty: Pure + Simple", we should be drinking between 1.5 and 3 litres per day. I will be the first to admit that often I am not following my own advice and have the forehead lines forming to show it. I have gotten lazy, and now that I have cleared up my terrible acne, I do not have such a visible monitor of when I am, and am not taking care of myself. This makes it so easy to slip into bad habits.

Well no more! I'm going to swallow my own words (pun totally intended) and make drinking 2 litres of water (or more) per day second nature. They say that if you repeat a behaviour 27 times it becomes custom. So I will do this for 30 days to ensure full efficacy. By the end of this, I should be a regularly guzzling down water with glee, full of hydration and donning more dewy, more glowing skin!

This little project will hopefully inspire others and offer helpful tips to making water both more palatable and convenient. I will not be including juice or sweet additives, but will be testing out tasty new teas, supplements full of vitality, and possibly a squeeze of lemon to take in more water.

On my mark...Get set...Sip!

How "Same old, same old" can save your skin

In the last week or so, I have decided that I need to muster up some discipline and establish a routine. As a single mother, my mom would constantly tell me about the importance of routine throughout my childhood to more efficiently get ready in the morning....I was a bit of a dawdler.

But, like the theme of our modern-day sentiments, my motto has always been: if the results are good, who cares about the method? If I'm at my commitments on time, get my work done and keep myself fed, what's the problem, right? Well, the problem is that our bodies need regularity.

Waking, eating and sleeping at consistent times helps us establish habits - and like little planners, our bodies can expect when to be stimulated, nourished and rested. This helps our digestion immensely, helping our skin and bodies immensely as well. Poor digestion has been tied to rosacea, eczema and cellulite. I, myself, have had my share of digestive issues and its no coincidence that I eat on the run wherever and whenever it has fit into my inconsistent schedule. This is why Vatas (those with an abundance of air in their constitution) tend to have poor digestion and bloating. Vata governs inconsistency - whether it is in the mind or body - and when this happens, our systems do not know when digestive fire should be enkindled, and this also creates erratic hunger patterns.

But routine does not only help with digestion, but also with our metabolism. If we do not eat regularly, our bodies do not know when they will be fed again, and often enter "starvation mode" in which they hang onto nutrients in fear of not receiving more. It is proven fact that those of us who eat consistently, avoiding swings of being too ravenous and overly stuffed, also regulate our blood sugar and metabolic function. Many clients who seem like they cannot lose weight despite reasonable portion sizes and reasonable food choices find that their lack of eating at the same times each day is a major factor. Excess Kapha (the earth element in our constitution) is related to this, and Kaphas who have a habit of over-indulging themselves also lack discipline and structure. Establishing a strict regimen of waking, eating and sleeping is one of the best ways to reduce excess Kapha.

And our waking/ sleeping patterns are of the utmost importance. Waking early each day clears out Kapha lethargy. According to Ayurveda, we should be using the sunrise to help wake and stimulate us - and we should not be eating after sun-down (as our bodies naturally slow down). I have blogged about circadian rhythm before, and this coincides with this concept.

Sleeping at the same time each day also helps us become better rested. Fluctuating sleep patterns confuse our bodies and often cause insomnia (another sign of excess Vata). And we all know that a good night's sleep not only prevents the feeling of fatigue, but also under eye circles, skin dehydration (lack of sleep taxes our kidneys which regulate water) and water-retention (due to dehydration).

So, while it isn't as glamorous as a luxurious skin renewing facial or provides the instant gratification of a nourishing body massage, establishing a strict lifestyle routine may provide the most powerful total health and beauty make-over.