It's a tale as old as time. Simply burn as many calories as you use up in a day, and you maintain your weight. Except, it isn't always that "simple" for a lot of us. This is where things like portion sizes, weight of foods, genetics, and nutrient composition play a big role. Some of these factors are what play into fluctuations that aren't TRUE weight gains or losses. This is why I do not recommend weighing yourself more than once per week. Getting on the scale every day, ESPECIALLY multiple times per day can be very discouraging.

                                                                         (Creator: tmeks.   Credit: Getty Images.   Copyright: tmeks)

The photo above is a good representation of choices we can make while attempting to engage in a healthy diet. Let's say the bigger ball represents one large or main food item that contains 600 calories. The three smaller balls represent 3 separate foods that are 200 calories a piece. When deciding on a meal, try to opt for the three smaller balls. This route usually will provide you with much more variety, subsequently fueling your body with a slew of various vitamins and minerals. BONUS: you get multiple flavor profiles from the combination of foods too, which will be more likely to satisfy you.

You ever go for a good, long, sweaty workout and weigh yourself before and after? If you lost weight, you can go ahead and attribute that "immediate" weight loss to mostly water weight. Water weight is probably the single biggest culprit in weight fluctuation, because our bodies are made up mostly of water. So when we sweat, the water loss reflects on the scale rather quickly. Fat loss is a more complex process that takes a little longer.

While 8 cups of water is recommended per day, there are some other ways to meet this fluid intake requirement other than plain old water. Now, you may or may not find this alternative particularly helpful, but fruits and vegetables are quite high in water content. So, if you are lucky enough to have a taste for things like melons and berries or tomatoes and celery, this could be another way to meet your daily water requirements. See the percentage of water that makes up some fruits and vegetables below. Hopefully you can manage at least one or two of these a day!

Tea and sugar-free/low sugar flavored beverages are also healthy alternatives to fluid intake. However, you still should aim for 8 glasses of water per day, because food sources are of course less significant than getting it straight from the source.

Why hydration is particularly important to ME, is that I also love wine. Which will rather quickly dehydrate you. So, throughout the day, I sometimes enjoy mixing things up with Mio Water Enhancers. Depending on the kind you get, Mio Enhancers can provide a 0 calorie or low calorie option to add a little flavor to your water and make things a little less boring. Nobody likes boring. And let's face it, water can just be boring!

***Anyway, it is advisable to have a cup of water between each alcoholic beverage consumed in order to maintain hydration, and quite possibly your dignity. ;) ***

Please feel free to reach out and let me know what you struggle with most with calorie balance and hydration. I'd be glad to help!