Scott in Florida - 38 weeks - the Water Experiment

[scottinflorida]

What a week of learning this has been.  The funny thing, some of the things I learned I already knew.

First, weight is down 2.2 pounds this week.  Happy with that.  Definitely need to go clothes shopping sometime soon.

Second, this past 7 days was my experiment with drinking more water.  I started last Wednesday and I drank at least 3 quarts every day.  On the days that I ran it was easy to drink 4 quarts.  I got myself a nice 1-quart water container at Target and take it everywhere.

Some observations:

I thought that drinking this much water would mean I was up several times during the night to go to the bathroom.  I was surprised to find out that is not true.  This is because I have one quart just about done before I leave for work, the second quart done by noon, and the third one done by 5 pm when I leave to go home.  So I am not drinking a lot during the evening.

I do pee a lot.  I expected this obviously, but wow.  I have become aware of where the bathrooms are wherever I am, and if I am going into a long meeting, I definitely make sure to go ahead of time.  My nephew's piano recital was a little uncomfortable toward the end 

Part of this is also eliminating Diet Coke.  I was at 3-4 cans per day. I have not had any since last Tuesday.  When I was in college, if I wanted to stay up all night studying, I would try taking No-Doz or drinking Mountain Dew because of all the caffeine in it.  Didn't work - I could still fall right asleep. 

So I have gone through life with the idea that caffeine just doesn't affect me.  Well, that was wrong.  Wednesday afternoon I could hardly keep my eyes open.  I was actually a little confused at this, and I didn't figure it out until the next day - lack of caffeine was doing it.

Then came the caffeine withdrawal.  This I was totally not expecting.  Nausea, aching all over, and even heart palpitations for a few days - all because of depriving my body of caffeine!  So much for it not affecting me!  I even skipped one of my scheduled running days because of it.  That's all done now, and I am done with caffeine.  Not saying I will never have another soda again, but I definitely don't want to be addicted to caffeine like that.  And my craving for it has gone away too.

"Drink more water" is pretty much common knowledge and everyone knows it's good advice, but this week really demonstrated it for me.  And it obviously helped along the weight loss process.

I would love to keep writing, but I have to go pee now.

 

[mouseissue]

Hi Scott!

Hooray on the 2.2 pounds loss this week!!!
You're less than 12 pounds from your goal, YIPPEE!!!

Also, congrats on drinking more water and giving up caffeine.
Over time, you will see the benefits of drinking more water.
The only downside is the extra peeing.
But when you think about it, don't you want the toxins that water flushes out, leave your body ASAP?

Since you're not drinking much (if any) water from 5:00 PM onward, you may become dehydrated over the course of the night while you're sleeping.
This is NOT a good thing to do on a constant basis.
I would suggest drinking at least one 8 oz. glass near bedtime to help avoid dehydration.
Dehydration is flat out BAD for you!... Especially, since you're a runner.

I've known folks that gave up caffeine and found that they slept better and had much steadier nerves.
We all know that it's better to not be addicted to anything!
But my doc tells me that 2 or 3 cups (max.) a day, is good for me.
So I'll stick with it unless it starts to effect my sleep or my nerves, or he tells me otherwise.

[scottinflorida]

But my doc tells me that 2 or 3 cups (max.) a day, is good for me.
So I'll stick with it unless it starts to effect my sleep or my nerves, or he tells me otherwise.

Interesting - I don't think I have ever heard anyone make the case that caffeine is good for you.  Any idea what the science is behind that?

Yeah, the goal weight is creeping ever closer.  I think I am going to change it slightly though, to 178.6 - it's easier to tell people I lost 80 pounds than 78.4 pounds.

[mouseissue]

Hi Scott!

My doc told me that coffee (2-3 cups per day) is good for me.
However, he did NOT say caffeine itself is good.

He did not cite research for this (of course I normally don't ask him for it).
I suspect it may have something to do with the antioxidants in coffee.

Here's something from WebMD that cites some research.
http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/coffee-new-health-food

And there's this...
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/QAA400146

And there's this...
http://hubpages.com/hub/coffee-pros-cons

[umpa]

Congrats on your weight loss Scott! I drink as much as I can everyday.But the funny thing is when I am in the Keys where it is hot I have to force it down,but in North Carolina at 4000 ft I am thirsty all the time! I too use the plastic quart bottles and I am always chugging water or infusion.