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1. Water is an essential nutrient, and drinking too little can significantly affect how you feel and perform at home, work, and during exercise.

2. While minimal levels of dehydration (less than 2 percent) probably won't impact performance, higher levels of dehydration have a drastic affect on performance, particularly for endurance athletes. High levels of dehydration can increase an individuals risk of heart -related illness.

3. For every day exercisers, water is the best beverage to consume before, during, and after exercise. Endurance athletes and others training at very high intensity, may benefit from the addition of carbohydrate and electrolyte containing beverages during and post-exercise to maintain optimal levels of hydration.

4. The amount of water you should consume varies from person to person and depends on a number of factors including level of fitness, weather conditions, activity, and sweat rate.

Some good hydration guidelines are the following: Drink 14-22 ounces two to three hours before exercise. Drink six to 12 ounces every 15 to 20 min. during exercise. Drink 16-24 ounces for every pound of bodyweight lost during exercise.

Ten Smart Shopping Tips

1.) In the produce section-stock up, the more the better. Aim for a variety of colors to ensure a variety of nutrients.

2.) At the dairy case-choose skim milk and yogurt, choose low fat or non fat cottage cheese, and choose the 2 percent type cheese (usually part skim), which usually contains 5 grams of fat or less per serving.

3.) At the meat section-choose lean cuts of beef such as eye of round, top round and round tip or loin cuts. Look for 90 percent or 95 percent lean labels. Buy skinless chicken breasts and turkey as well.

4.) Try bread that is whole grain, with whole grain being the first ingredient listed.

5.) Choose cereals that are whole grain with at least 4-5 grams of fiber and less than 10 grams of sugar per serving.

6.) peanut butter- choose a lower fat or natural brand to the lower the fat content.

7.) canned chicken or tuna-buy in water, not oil.

8.) fruit and vegetable juices-choose 100% fruit juices, select lower sodium vegetable juices.

9.) canned soups-choose bean based soups. Choose broth based soups instead of creamy soups.

10.) crackers-choose low fat, and low sodium.

A Healthy Halloween

Halloween is a great time of the year. Dressing up in costumes and walking around the neighborhood is a good time, and handing out treats is also enjoyable. Follow these tips to help promote a healthy and safe Halloween:

-try to hand out low-fat, low calorie treats to the neighborhood kids. Good choices include cheese and cracker packages, sugar free gum, cheese sticks, juice boxes, or nuts and raisins.

-try feeding your kids, and yourself, a good meal before hitting the streets. Eating a good meal will prevent that temptation to go over board with the snacks.

-make sure the costumes fit right, and that any masks worn do not interfere with vision.

-have your kids carry flashlights or glow sticks to be safe from cars.

-upon arriving home, check the candy received and discard anything suspicious.

-instead of gorging on the candy that night, have your kids eat it over several days.

"Have a safe and happy Halloween!!!"

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