Hydration

There was a point in my life when I would say things like “Oh, I know I’m perpetually dehydrated, it’s just how I go about doing things. Besides, not having to go to the washroom every few hours has to be a positive, right?”

Accepting your bad habits and finding “good things” that come from your bad habits is probably just about one of the worst things you can do, and I know from experience that you’re aware that you’re not fooling yourself. You KNOW your habit is a bad one and that won’t change no matter how much justification you give it.

Back when my dehydration habits were at their worst, you would likely only find me drinking any beverage when it was time for food, rather than when I was actually thirsty or needed one. Then, even when I did have a drink, it was usually always some kind of pop. Coke and Root Beer were my two crutches, but I could drink any number of sodas if put in front of me. Looking back on that now, I can only imagine what kind of havoc that was playing on my body.

Yes, okay, I still drink pop with meals and occasionally in between them, but I find myself now more than happy to have water as a substitute instead. I’ve always enjoyed having cold water to drink, but our countertop filter pitcher takes up a lot of fridge space and we more often than not just have room temperature water on-hand. So, I ended up getting myself a small pitcher that allowed me to have about two and a half glasses of cold water at a time that I could store in the fridge, and it has definitely made a world of difference.

The thing about cold sodas is that they were so easy and portable. Cans make them just about the most accessible beverage in the fridge, only requiring you to crack it open to allow it to be both the drinking and serving container in one. No chance of spill while you’re transporting it, and far too easy to just set down next to your workstation while you work.

Now that I have the pitcher, yes, I still have to get a glass to drink the water I’d like, but it has become way more enjoyable than the room temperature water I would have to settle for otherwise. I go back to it many times throughout the day, not just at mealtimes, and my only limit is how much can be chilled at any given time. I have also since started seeing a personal trainer to improve my personal fitness, which also involves often drinking the contents of a fairly large water bottle over the course of an hour. Since starting this new routine, I have felt so much better and much more alert compared with when I was dehydrated all the time.

If I try to describe the difference I feel, I feel as though I wouldn’t do a good enough job, as there are no adequate words that can describe this difference. Instead, I will just say that even the most stubborn will find the difference so striking that they will never go back once they experience it.

Find a way that works for you to introduce more fluids into your life and stick to it, and I can pretty much guarantee you that you will never again want to go back to your old ways.