Friday, June 10, 2011

Water, water everywhere

I have a weird hangover. And it is not from alcohol or too much consumption. It is from not drinking enough water yesterday. Seriously. I drink at least one gallon of water every day. And on the rare day I don't, I get headaches that feel similar to the headaches I get when I have enjoyed too many delicious martinis. Either way, it feels rough.

So this morning I woke up with lack of water hangover. Yes, I know it is called dehydration. I am already well into the remedy. It often surprises me when people tell me they do not drink water. At all. Oh the horror. In the most general sweeping sense, water is so good for your inside and your outside.  Technically, it
  • Transports nutrients and oxygen into cells
  • Moisturizes the air in lungs
  • Helps with metabolism
  • Protects our vital organs
  • Helps our organs to absorb nutrients better
  • Regulates body temperature
  • Detoxifies
  • Protect and moisturizes our joints
A trainer gave me a metric once that I live by: Drink at least half your body weight in ounces per day. All this water also keeps me going when I desire to run in this godforsaken Georgia heat. Oh, its in the 90s already friends. And sticky. But once you start improving your water intake, it is easy to maintain. The consequence of not enough water: dehydration. Dehydration is bad news all around. Besides the negative impact on your system, it also makes your urine look like Carrot Top is swimming in your commode. Now isn't that a pretty image?

I actually carry a fabulous 24 oz BPA free plastic tumbler with lid and straw with me about 90% of the time. In fact, one day I forgot it and a friend from work, Flam (short for Flambongo) is amused when I say, "Well, &$%#, I forgot my cup!" Her response, "You can use Styrofoam cups you know."  Styrofoam. Ick. So clearly the container is nearly as relevant as the contents.  Drinking water is as critical as eating to me. So you can imagine how comical this scenario was:

Playing around our pool one afternoon with some friends, I am retrieving bottles of water from the cooler and offer one to our neighbor. He laughs and says, "No thank you, I have my water right here" as he lifts he barley and hops refreshment. Oh, I know beer is comprised primarily of water. And our neighbor asserts in a completely serious tone beer is almost identical to water. Really? I believe it. Except for all the ways in which is is not at all like water. If it were identical, drinking too much beer would not cause you to:

Get plump. And not in a sexy kittenish plump lip kind of way.
Bloat.
Yell hideous phrases like "FREE BIRD".
Take a picture of your junk or the junk in your trunk and keep it in your cell phone.


Have a fabulous weekend and water up.

19 comments:

Chain Stitch Crochet said...

I like water too but don't drink as much as I should or you do. My two drinks of choice are water and tea.

Jenn @ Youknow...that Blog? said...

Hear hear! I don't drink nearly enough water either, and am chronically dehydrated. Dumb, I know. Trying to mend my ways!!!

Have a fabulous weekend!

the walking man said...

Surrounded by five Great Lakes and I will stick with my coffee. But thank you very much for the advice that I will be sure to pass on to any withering looking person I meet. "Hey dude go jump in the lake!"

Kristina P. said...

I drink Diet Coke and then water in order to balance it out. I buy a lot of bottled water, of course, to help destroy the earth.

Ed said...

Okay, I'm going to actually be serious for a minute here.

That is a sign of diabetes.

Not saying you have it, but that is an early warning sign. Excessive thirst with headaches.

If you haven't been checked recently, you should.

Probably nothing though.

Just sayin.

Mary | Deep South Dish said...

LOL, funny - especially that last one.

Thankfully I do drink lots of water, but I know EXACTLY where you're coming from because I've been suffering with those same dehydration headaches down here along the Gulf Coast in this God forsaken heat. Since I have that odd condition where I do not sweat (and so no natural detox) it's twice as bad though & once those headaches hit, they are near impossible to get rid of. My weapons are lots of water of course, aromatherapy, Gatorade and Excedrin.

brokenteepee said...

It's all I drink...

The Savage said...

I'm at at least a gallon and a half at work alone. My daily consumption of water is well into the 2 to 2.5 gallon range.
Now the next time you find yourself in a water hangover situation (or any hangover situation), to expedite your recovery place a mere pinch of pink sea salt (I know you have some) on your tongue before the initial chug.... It gets those much needed minerals into your system fast...

Unknown said...

I'm a big water drinker, too! I occasionally have a lemonade, grape juice, orange juice, or diet soda, but water is my staple.

Secret Mom Thoughts said...

I totally get the lack of water headaches too.

HalfAsstic.com said...

You know... this, (it ends up), could just as easily be an anti-beer commercial.
I SO know what you mean about the wicked heat down here in the south. I worked in the yard for a while today. And consumed a metric ton of water when I came back inside.

Melissa B. said...

Do you think Congressman Weiner was drinking beer? I thought he was smoking too much ganja...

Aunt Juicebox said...

I drink a lot of water, but I still tend to dehydrate over night for some reason.

gayle said...

I don't drink near as much water as I should but my plan is to drink more this summer. How can you tell if you are dehydrated?

Kir said...

I really, really try.

Water gives me migraines. I know..you don't believe me, but it does. SO I try to drink about 24 ounces a day and then stop before the pain and ick strikes.

however, I am a firm believer in water for everyone, esp the boys. There is nothing like it.

Little Ms J said...

I thought I was going to turn into a water tank while I was pregnant. Oh wait. I did. I never wanted to drink another drop of water by the time I waddled my fat ankles into the hospital, but here I sit with my 48th oz of water today. I figure - why waste calories on beverages? Well, except wine.

Anonymous said...

I always drink a lot of water. My skin's looking great but man, the toilet must be sick of seeing me by now.....

First time back in Blogville this year. Thought I'd stop by and say hi. :)

Allison Olsen said...

Vodka resembles water. Especially Crater Lake Vodka. Also, not sure I want a bottle that reads in oz the equivalent of half my body weight, as working at Microsoft, I am SURROUNDED by people who are ridiculously adept in the math arena.

Maria said...

I try. And all too often, I end up with terrible headaches because I don't drink nearly enough water...Thanks for the reminder!