Number One Anti-Aging Skin Care Tip - and It's Free!

You've heard it before. Drink lots of water. I used to think if I drank 8 glasses of water a day, I'd be Bikram yoga and, let me tell you, when you do 90 minutes of hot yoga, you sure learn the importance of drinking water.

Rocky loves to snuggle under sheets and blankets

floating! Even though I knew I should drink more water, it was hard to find the time to do it, in between green smoothies and green tea, which I also drink for health. For the past 6 months however, I've been practicing

I can easily drink 25 ounces of water during one hot yoga class and another 25 after class. Then for 90 minutes I sweat it out. People who have known me for a while have been commenting on how nice my skin looks.

Still, you don't have to go to hot yoga to make your skin look more beautiful. Skin cells, as well as every cell in your body is made up mostly of water. Without drinking those 8 glasses of water daily, your skin gets tight, dry and flaky. Besides that, water carries nutrients from the food you eat throughout the body for the health and healing of your skin.

And let's talk about toxins. We're all exposed to chemicals continually in our daily environment though the air, our food, the cosmetics, shampoos and lotions we use on our skin. Avoiding all chemicals and preservatives would be impossible in todays' world but if you drink plenty of water keeps toxins from being stored in the cells of the body where they can do damage.

Years ago, I knew a woman who worked in a chemo lab for cancer patients. She was a fanatical water drinker. She said she wanted to keep all those cancer causing things flushed from her body!

The best say to make sure you get enough water is to drink slowly though out the day. I used to wait til afternoon and then realize I hadn't had even one glass of water and try to chug 2 or 3 glasses down. That can make you feel slightly nauseous! Now, I  start every morning with a glass of water to rehydrate my body after a long night's sleep. I carry a BPA free, reusable water bottle with me all day and I try to replace a few of those cups of tea or coffee with plain water. After a while of drinking more water during the day, I've noticed that I actually crave it.

One time I don't drink much water is just before bedtime since I have to get up about 2 times a night anyway to go to the bathroom. I also suffer from puffy eyes and water before bed can contribute to that as well.

Try it for a week. Drink those 8 glasses of water a day and see if your skin doesn't look healthier and more radiant. Since water is free, you can't lose!