I’ll admit it: I’ve been chronically dehydrated for most of my life. I have written school papers on the importance of drinking water. I’ve read books about it. I know better! So why haven’t I just done what I knew my body needed, and drink my dang water every day??
In short, because… it’s hard! Or at least, I used to think it was hard (now it’s a breeze, but we’ll get to that). I had a lot of compelling reasons:
“I pee too much already! I can’t deal with making that worse.”
“I simply forget to take care of myself while working/mothering/etc.”
“Good water is so hard to find! And… my filter needs changing.”
“It’s hard to get it all down. It’s boring. I’d rather have tea!”
Fast forward to age 46, and let me tell you, I learned the hard way that chronic dehydration eventually catches up with you. I felt awful ALL the time. I wanted to drink water, I knew I should drink water, my body was signaling to me that this was very important - but I just couldn’t get around to doing it with any consistency.
It didn’t help when I found out my fancy water filter – which I was so happy removed fluoride and arsenic along with all the other impurities – was actually dumping alumina into my “filtered” tank!! I had gone to great lengths to eliminate this neurotoxin from every area of my life and kitchen – and here I had been drinking it every day unawares. My water consumption slowed to a crawl at this point, because I had neither an affordable solution nor the time to deal with it one way or another.
Making the Change
Here’s what I learned about dehydration: it is a fate much worse than drinking water that is not “perfectly toxin-free.” Do not get me wrong! If you have the means to install a whole-house reverse-osmosis ionized alkaline mega water system… by all means, please do that. There are a lot of things you can do to ensure your water is as pure as it can be given the challenges of living in our polluted world. But living in a state of dehydration is NOT the answer. We have so many other ways to keep our systems strong and resilient – but none of those efforts are worth a dime if your body is not functioning at the cellular level due to dehydration. There is a ton of information online about what water does for the body – and to keep this blog from running on for a mile, I will let you do your own research on that. Here’s a good basic article about water, and here’s another one relating to water and weight loss.
I knew I had to drink water, one way or another. The way I began to reverse my dehydration habit was buying the best version of a flavored hydration powder I could find. This product (which I am in zero way paid to endorse), Ultima Replenisher, adds magnesium and electrolytes which make you feel extra hydrated when you drink it. I bought it in one flavor, then picked up samples of several more flavors from my local natural grocer. Eventually I had about 4 flavors sitting on my counter to choose from depending on my mood. For about 4 months, this was my go-to – and it REALLY helped. I was, officially, for the first time in my life, HYDRATED! I had tons more energy and just felt all around much better. But, I knew I didn’t want to rely on this stuff forever – especially because it contains citric acid which I otherwise try to avoid. I had just decided at the start that I was better off drinking a little citric acid in the short term to get my hydration back on track – and I was right. I have no regrets. This was never a forever solution, but it did get me through my mental dehydration roadblock.
Doing it Right… Finally
Eventually, as you know, I was introduced to Metabolic Balance and ended up with my own personalized meal plan. In this plan it told me I HAD to drink, at a minimum, ½ ounce for every lb of my body weight or I would not lose as much weight or balance my metabolism. For me that amounted to 3 liters a day – WAY more than I was drinking, even with my happy water powder! But… I knew I would have to just get over myself and do it, even if it was hard – because I wanted those results and I wasn’t going to waste my time or my money not doing the plan correctly.
And…. of course, the water powder was NOT allowed. But by now, I knew that I had developed a bit of a “dependency” on the stuff, and I didn’t like that. So I just sucked it up and measured out my water every day, and began doing my best to get it all down by the time my head hit the pillow at night.
What I Have Learned
It gets easier. WAY easier. I could not finish all my water that first week. I literally didn’t have room, I thought I would pop if I took another sip. Over time, and by starting drinking more water earlier in the day (and just by my body getting used to it), it became so easy that I now regularly find myself drinking more than those 3 liters!
Paradoxically, it is DEHYDRATION that causes you to have to pee all the time. Yes, really. You can read about this counter-intuitive fact of life HERE. Now that I’m fully hydrated, I not only pee WAY less often, but when I do need to go, I’m able to comfortably hold it far longer without any issue. I discovered that glorious fact at the movies earlier this week – it’s honestly no longer an issue at all.
You begin to want it. Now, when I am behind on my water drinking, I receive the signal that says “HEY! You need water, go get you some!” I did not have that signal before. By the time I felt thirsty in the past, I was already so parched I was going to die. No longer. I now crave water long before I’m anywhere close to dehydrated.
Water is an essential part of your weight loss and healing journey. You literally can’t lose weight or heal your body without it. When you’re committed to a Metabolic Balance plan, you drink your water, period. Avoiding self-care is impossible while following your plan. When your head and heart are in the right place, it really is THAT simple.
And, when you are drinking this much water every day, it does inspire you to make sure you’re drinking quality water. We have Berkey filters (which fortunately fit great in our older, more affordable Pro-One gravity filtration tank). The cost is negligible for how infrequently they have to be replaced. The bottom line is, do your research on the best ways to filter your water, but know there are a million theories out there and it can be confusing. Any efforts you make towards filtering your water (beyond a basic Brita filter – as those simply remove chlorine) are worthwhile.
When it comes to the quality of water you drink, I say, do your very best – but, life goes on. You must stay hydrated above all else - no matter what!
I may write more about this subject in the future. For now, I hope this is helpful to you chronically-dehydrated out there. A healthier, slimmer, more empowered and energetic future body awaits you. It is only a few liters of water a day away…
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