My offseason is officially here! This is the perfect time to create healthy habits that I can carry into training for Ironman 70.3 St. George and Ironman Boulder next year. I really want to focus on my nutrition since food is fuel for my body!
One of the areas I can really improve on is increasing my water consumption. Did you know that 52% of Canadians consume less than five glasses of water per day on average, while 46% would be more inclined to consume water if it was more fun or tasted better? I find that I drink quite a bit of water while sitting at my desk at work. In the evenings I’ll tend to choose another beverage to drink with my dinner. On the weekends I almost completely forget about drinking water! There is plenty of room for improvement. That’s why when SodaStream Canada reached out to me to see if I wanted to participate in their Drink Water Better Challenge I jumped at the chance.
My SodaStream Challenge kit included a SodaStream Play sparkling water maker, a starter CO2 cylinder, a bottle of SodaStream Free and a sampler pack of soda mixes. To make sure I would have plenty of ice cold sparkling water on hand I picked up some additional bottles as well.
The SodaStream Play was easy to set up. Just screw the CO2 cylinder in to the unit and you are ready to go. It took a few tries to figure out how much carbonation I liked in my water. I found that three rounds of “1-Mississippi, 2-Mississippi” was perfect for me.
With the extra bottles I was able to bring one to work with me, which helped to brighten up lunch hour at my desk.
I also brought some wedges of lemons and limes to toss in, which was really nice to have on hand. I don’t tend to drink a lot of pop so adding in fresh fruit livened my water up just enough for me, although my husband tried the Lemonade Free syrup and he really liked it.
Coming home from a tough workout it was time to rehydrate and refuel at home. I tend to find drinking plain water with dinner is a bit boring, so some bubbles and lime wedges in an Ironman pint glass did the trick.
I also tried muddling some lemon wedges and fresh mint in a pint glass, filling it with ice cubes and topping it with sparkling water. Delicious!
By the end of the seven day SodaStream Challenge Neil and I had consumed so many bottles of sparkling water that our starter 15L CO2 cylinder had run out! Luckily it is really easy to exchange your cylinder – just find the nearest authorized retailer, bring in your empty cylinder and purchase a new one. It can even be handy to keep a spare cylinder on hand just in case.
The SodaStream Challenge inspired me to get more creative with the water I am drinking. We always tend to have citrus fruits on hand, but adding in raspberries, kiwi, blueberries or blackberries would be delicious. Cucumber plus some basil would be great too! There are tons of great recipes for inspiration available. A SodaStream is also great for making sparkling water for the kids. Neil has impressed our niece with fancy fizzy mocktails when she has come over for dinner.
The challenge was the kick that I needed to step up my hydration game and to create better habits. I ask a lot of my body during training so it makes sense that I do my best to fuel and hydrate it properly. If you drink a lot of pop or need an incentive to drink more water why not consider taking your own SodaStream Challenge?
*Full Disclosure: this post was sponsored by SodaStream, however all opinions are my own.
I picked one up too and my favourite drink is to spike my water with a bit of POM juice for colour and flavour.
We’re pretty much obsessed with our sodastream! Have you tried Nuun in your bubbly water yet? It’s awesome – just don’t drop it in a full bottle or glass, it’ll become a little Nuun volcano 🙂
I’ve wanted a soda stream for a while! I love sparkling water. I do really good with water during the week but I’m terrible on weekends too.
Jen recently posted…New Zealand Recap – Auckland, Waitomo Caves & Hobbiton
Oooh, I’ve never heard of this!! So cool!! I think I would LOVE one of these!!
Kaella On The Run recently posted…Weekend In Review – Fall Photoshoot
Wow am I old school! I just chug the water. And when I say water, I mean the regular tap water the City provides at essentially no cost on a per litre basis. Last time I did the math I think it was one seventh of a cent per litre. I can understand that dressing up your water can make it easier to drink more of it. But there was a mention of syrup in your blog. The dinger question for me is how much sugar?
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I think this is a great alternative for people that need that little fizz to drink water. Better than soda. But I never liked the carbination taste. And luckily I do like water and drink it often.
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Wow. That SodaStream thingymabob is supercool! I don’t have a problem drinking water, but I also buy seltzer water. SodaStream is probably a lot cheaper.