Gallon a Day

A few weeks ago I read an article about a woman who decided to drink a lot of water; a gallon a day.  She looked so much better at the end of the four weeks, I figured it was worth a try. I mean if all you have to do is drink a quart of water almost every hour to get smoother skin, less puffy eyes, and even look happier, I was in. Water is already my main beverage, though I do like my iced tea in the summer. I felt pretty confidant that not only was I already drinking close to a gallon a day (I was not) and that this would be easy (it was not). And thirty days would be no problem. I didn’t even think of it as a challenge.

On day one I posted a picture of myself on Instagram, Face Book and Twitter,  talking about my plan and suddenly I was getting calls and messages from worried friends warning me about the dangers of over-hydration, called hyponatremia which are quite real. It was something I had just warned my daughter about when her coach sent her home from a crew practice with the instruction that she should drink a gallon of water before bed. I was pretty certain that this would be way too much water for a 105 pound girl to consume over the next three hours, and my research confirmed this. A quart would be plenty. I did find that someone with healthy kidneys can process a quart of water an hour, so I figured that four quarts over a 14 hour period wouldn’t put me in any danger.

After a few days I was looking significantly less puffy, but I was feeling exhausted. I was getting up around four times a night to pee, and that was between 10:00 pm when I made my pre-sleep last trip to the bathroom and 6:00 am when I woke up and ran back. I resolved to drink the last of my water by 7:00 pm which decreased my nightly trips to between two and three, still not enough for a good night’s sleep. I was hoping to feel more energized but so far that wasn’t happening.

By week two I guess my kidneys and bladder had adapted a bit, and I was working hard to get my water drinking done as early as possible, and get that pesky need to pee all the time out of the way, but I was still having a tough time drinking all that water. I felt like I was drowning, and I was starting to dread all that water I felt waiting for me each day. I kept at it, but some days I only managed three quarts, I loved those days. I slept through the night. I didn’t feel waterlogged. That last quart was just a little too much. But I kept at it.

Week three was still a struggle. I was thankful I hadn’t done this or declared it as a challenge, though some people viewed it that way. Strangerswere checking in on me via Twitter to see how my challenge was going. UH… I pressed on. Some days were easier than others. On days I swim I get a late start on my drinking and have fewer hours available. I keep my 20 oz. reusable cup near me all day. Sometimes I stare at it thinking evil thoughts, like ‘I’d like to just toss you out the window” or even “I’d like to flush you down the toilet.” It is implacable, it sits there a menacing sneer on its ugly face, oh wait, it’s a cup, it has no face, perhaps I’m hallucinating.

I am well into week four, just a few more days to go. I don’t look significantly better, I don’t feel different, and from what I can tell drinking all this water hasn’t impacted my happiness. I am just sleepy and damp, and kind of sick of my favorite beverage. Will I finish? Maybe I will, but I think when I’ve done my thirty days I’ll strive for three quarts a day. It’s not as catchy as a gallon a day, and doesn’t make a good hashtag, but I enjoy sleeping. Many of my friends who are my age have trouble sleeping, I don’t, so why would I purposefully do something that I know will interrupt it? Look for #threequartsaday in the Twitterverse, let’s see if it catches on.

Have you ever taken on a project that sounded like it would improve your life, and ended up a wash out ?