You are not a fish. You are a sponge. While the world was dark last night, you dried up. This morning you were a hard, dry thing, laying on the kitchen counter. Okay, I was going for a deep, philosophical metaphor but it’s not working.
But there are similarities between you and a sponge. You dry out overnight so first thing in the morning, down a glass of water. Then drink water all day long. Other people, people who don’t love you as much as I do, will tell you to drink a certain number of ounces of water every day. But, seriously. Who measures? Instead drink as much water as you can throughout the day and take a peek at your urine. Your goal is to make it colorless. That’s when you know you’re drinking enough water.
And then do it again tomorrow. And the next day. And the next.
If you don’t like to drink plain water, jazz it up a bit. I love to steep thin slices of cucumber and lemon in a pitcher to drink throughout the day. I slice up a cucumber and a couple lemons and then divvy them up into small plastic containers where I float them in water and freeze them. Next time I want a pitcher of delicious flavored water, I pop out one of the cubes and drop it in.
I discovered this because I stay in the same Marriott every year when I go to my favorite writers conference. They always have lovely urns of water steeped with fresh fruit. I especially enjoy the strawberry and the cantaloupe flavors, even though I hate eating cantaloupe. Go figure.
Drink a large glass of water before every meal so you’ll feel more full which means you’ll eat less.
Drink water with your meal too. It helps with digestion. Think of it as giving your food a trip to the water park. The food slides down with the splashing of the water, giving it a zippy ride to your stomach. If the slide is dry, the food sticks and will cause a nasty scene asking for its money back from the water park attendant. You must have a strict ‘No Refunds’ policy.
Stay away from soda and sports drinks. There was a study replicating sucking a sports drink through a straw where they soaked cow teeth in the sports drink. The enamel was partially worn away after just 90 minutes!
Drinking water saves you money and calories too. The average person can refuel after a workout with plain ‘ol water. You don’t need any of the fancy sports drinks. Over a year, that saves you $156 and 7 pounds if you work out three times a week, according to sports dietitian Leslie Bonci.
Water washes away the toxins, improves our skin, curbs our appetite, and clears our brain. It rejuvenates us. Go slurp some.
Do you drink enough water every day? Did you like my sponge and water park metaphors? (Oh yeah? Well, got anything better?!)