Chirky: Eight Cups of Water

As part of Project: Lose Weight, I took the advice of one of my readers, Laura, and signed up for SparkPeople.com. Please stop telling me to sign up for these delicious goodies, because you know that I will, I cannot possibly stop, for the brilliance of the Internet consumes me.

I have approximately twelve different email addresses, many of which I do not use, and three of which I check every few weeks just to see what's there. And do you know what lurks in those old accounts? Junk mail. And every time I begin to wonder why I keep checking any of the accounts, I come across an email from an old friend who doesn't know my new(est) email address, and so I'm compelled to keep checking my old accounts because you just never know what you'll find there. And it's a bother, really.

SparkPeople.com is my favorite new toy for this reason alone: I can track things. You must know by now that I love to make lists simply because I can cross things off of those lists, and it always makes me feel so accomplished. Usually my weekend list looks something like this:

~~Wake up~~
Eat breakfast
Laundry
Grocery shop

And, see? Already, when I wake up, I can cross something off my list. And even if I don't do anything for the rest of the day, I'm satisfied because something got crossed off the list. And that feels good, doesn't it?

On SparkPeople I can track how many calories I consume, and how many I burn, and lots of other things. I can even track whether I'm getting enough folic acid. I can create meal plans and grocery lists, and best of all, I can track the amount of water I'm drinking.

And y'all? I have a problem drinking water. But not just water. All liquids. I'm convinced that I'm permanently dehydrated, as noted by my ashy skin and constant thirst. I think it boils down to a pure, slothful laziness because if I want a Styrofoam cup (my employer is classy) of water I have to stand up, walk halfway across the building to get it, and by the time I get back to my desk the water is already gone. See my predicament? This is why I just try to ignore my thirst. Because otherwise, I might get the teensiest bit of exercise, several times each day, on the way over to the water dispenser, and we just can't have that.

Back at Project: Lose Weight, I was trying to figure out how to, well, you know…lose weight. Yesterday I managed to drink three entire cups of water, which may be a personal record of sorts. I might have also dropped fourteen ounces from my body due to all that walking around the building in search of water. My new goal is to drink eight cups of water each day, and I swear, I’m getting to my point.

The water consumption tracking device on SparkPeople taunts me. It dances around, practically advertising that I’ve only had three cups of water to drink, laughing at me and sometimes even calling me names.

Last night, to silence it, I decided: enough already! I’ll just drink the remaining five cups and be done with it!

So I drank two cups of water, back to back, before dinner. And you know what? I was full afterward. Miserably full. I didn’t even have any room for dinner because all that water was swishing around my belly, taking up all the space in my stomach that is generally reserved for food.

And now I’ve finally figured out how to lose weight quickly: I can’t consume a pan full of brownies – oops, did I forget to tell you that I made brownies while on my diet? – when my stomach is full of water.

All that to say, maybe dieticians know what they’re talking about, afterall.

Comments

Yes, ma'am....Water is the way.
When I worked in the office (before the wonderful world of working from home in my pajamas) I used to take to work each morning a (I think) 24 ounce cup of ice water. When it ran out, on an especially thirsty day, I would walk to the water fountain and just fill up again.
These days, I just keep a cup on my desk and try to drink an additional two (700 ml) bottles of water @ the gym each day.
I dont know that this is what works or if it is all the gym time each week, but you are right...it is seriously hard to eat when you are already filled to the brim with calorie-free water!
Happy dieting!

Posted by: Willow | January 30, 2007 02:28 PM

Hey good stuff, glad you like the site and sorry for sticking you with another addiction! I have the same problem myself, I swear I have to check SparkPeople about 20 times a day. I wish I was exaggerating.

Posted by: Laura | January 30, 2007 03:43 PM

Dude! Get a Nalgene water bottle from REI. I know you're thinking - why would I buy a fancy water bottle, what's the difference?

But there IS a difference!!! I couldn't drink the reccommended amount of water per day to save my life.. until Kyle got me a Nalgene for my birthday. Now - I drink 2 liters per day - minimum!

Try it!!!

(If I had your address I'd totally send you one for your birthday because that would be such a cute and thoughtful present without being overly spendy)

Posted by: Courtney | January 30, 2007 04:13 PM

Courtney:

How could I have overlooked my Nalgene bottle? I actually already have one (well, okay, four: turquoise, hot pink, gray and green)

You're right. Water DOES somehow taste better out of a Nalgene. I'll try it tomorrow! :)

Posted by: jes | January 30, 2007 04:37 PM

Swish swish. Glug.

Posted by: Jayleigh | January 30, 2007 05:20 PM

Dude. I am also the WORST water drinker; I feel your pain. Perhaps drinking it out of your pretty bottle will help you forget what's inside. :)

Posted by: metalia | January 30, 2007 07:28 PM

Off to Google Nalgene.

PS) Does wine count as liquid consumption. If so, I am so awesome and will sign up for Sparkplug.com or whatever the hell it's called.

Posted by: Marmite Breath | January 30, 2007 09:41 PM

I'm SO glad I'm not the only one with twelve different email addresses. By the time I'm done with gmail invites I'm going to need a twelve-step program.

And I'm definitely with Courtney. The container DOES matter. It makes little to no sense WHY it does, but I maintain that water just tastes better out of my Fiji water bottle. Because it's irregularly shaped. Heh.

; )

Posted by: kerrianne | January 30, 2007 09:42 PM

I try to drink lots of water, which is probably why most of my daily calories are burned walking back and forth between my desk and the bathroom.

I bring a big bottle of Ozarka (1 liter) with me to work every day. Generally, I drink it all before lunch time (I have beverage ADD, so it tends to disappear quickly). I find that as long as water is readily available (i.e. in a bottle on my desk) I have no problem drinking it (which, again, means that I'm constantly trekking to the ladies room. I figure it is all worth it in the name of hydration).

Posted by: deals | January 31, 2007 11:04 AM

Don't forget all the exercise you get from the 27 trips to the bathroom you make in an eight-hour period. Woohoo! (Just don't think about the snakes)

Posted by: my life is brilliant | January 31, 2007 01:03 PM

Water sucks! I drink propel, because it's the only water i can stand. Oh! And water with crystal lite packets. Yes.

I totally thought about you as I almost died today.

Posted by: Julianna | January 31, 2007 04:33 PM

I can't follow any of those things where a list is required. I'm just not wired that way. I can however, drink an amazing amount of water. I always drink tons of liquid. I also have started a spin class 3 times a week at 6 AM! This is week 3 and I it is still kicking my butt, but I am sticking with it. Eventually I realize how much pain the food I am eating is causing me and eventually I think I'll change my eating habits so that all the hard work I am doing on that damn bike will start to show. Right now I am still consuming too many calories, eating too much sugar, and in general being a huge laze when it comes to following through with any of my dietary regime. Why can't I do both? Eat healthy AND exercise? If I do one, the other seems to lag. Best of Luck with SparkPeople!

Posted by: eddo | February 1, 2007 08:07 AM

I drink TONS of water during the week while I'm at work simply because it gives me an excuse to leave my desk. I'm constantly getting up and refilling my Nalgene bottle... and having to use the bathroom.

I'm terrible about it on the weekends though, even though I easily get dehydrated and a dehydrated me is often cranky and irritable. I'm loads of fun. :-)

Posted by: Stephanie | February 1, 2007 03:41 PM

Great blog! Thanks for becoming my friend on SparkPeople. Your writing is really funny!! I'll have to drop by again soon!

I know what you mean about the water thing. I am not a liquids person either. But I force myself to drink it by buying a 1 liter bottle of Evian and refilling it twice a day. Two of those puppies = 8 glasses of water. I just fill it up from the Brita in my fridge before I go to work, chug at it all day and refill it once at work, and at the end of the 2nd bottle I know I'm done. Repeat tomorrow. Buy a new bottle when it starts looking crusty. They are only like $2 at the convenience store. It's been working for me!

Posted by: Julie | February 1, 2007 04:18 PM

I know what you mean about the water thing. I am not a liquids person either. But (like a lot of others have commented) I force myself to drink it by buying a 1 liter bottle of Evian and refilling it twice a day. Two of those puppies = 8 glasses of water. I just fill it up from the Brita in my fridge before I go to work, chug at it all day and refill it once at work, and at the end of the 2nd bottle I know I'm done. Repeat tomorrow. Buy a new bottle when it starts looking crusty. They are only like $2 at the convenience store. It's been working for me!

Posted by: Julie | February 1, 2007 04:24 PM

BOOO!! It posted twice! ARG!

Posted by: Julie | February 1, 2007 04:26 PM