Water You Talking About?
Me amazed at the existence of water.
I have an interesting relationship to water. Specifically, to the drinking of water. Now, of course we all know that water is essential to existence, makes up the majority of our bodies and planet and plays a huge role in keeping us healthy. But finding the motivation to drink enough water can be challenging.
Growing up we had water, milk and juice. No soda or punch or any of the other sugary drinks. I mostly drank water as a result, and I thought I was getting enough.
Then one summer during college I was on a beach trip and felt a terrible pain in my lower back when I urinated. I was actually taken to the hospital. They ran some tests and guessed it was a kidney stone. When I got home I was tested for that, and it came back negative, and they didn’t have a good explanation. Just told me to keep hydrated.
It happened again later that year, and this time I downed a glass of water once I could stand (this was some major pain). And the pain eased. That was enough for me to make sure I kept myself very hydrated from that day onward.
The pain happens every few years but never as bad, and I can always point to low water intake as the cause. This is a great motivator for me to always drink a lot of water.
A couple years ago I tried one of those “drink water” apps just to see if my intake was good. It was. I’d usually hit the target by midday.
The current guidelines recommend consuming a half ounce to an ounce of water per pound of body weight each day. If you’re like me, that’s just a bunch of gobbledygook, so here’s an example:
If you weigh 150lbs, you should drink between 75 and 150 ounces a day. That’s between 10-18 cups a day. So about a cup an hour. This is a baking cup, which is small compared to a glass we usually drink out of. Your typical glass holds closer to 2 cups. The point being that it isn’t that hard to get the much water down if you have a glass every hour.
Proper water intake keeps all the organs functioning properly, helps with digestion and even fills us up so we are less hungry. It also provides electrolytes that help us move and exercise. It is also incredibly refreshing.
And in my case, it keeps me from feeling a crippling pain. So I’m all about drinking lots of water. I hope you find a good reason to be on board, too.
