Posted by Racer on May 12, 2004, at 11:33:31
In reply to Re: Water, posted by slinky on May 7, 2004, at 4:34:04
You might want to look at the carbonized mineral water again: some of them do contain things that really don't help -- and for bloating, the carbonization doesn't help a whole lot, either.
Here are a few things that I've done over the years to get around the anti-water thing (when I had lousy tapwater):
1. Put a couple of drops of lemon juice into your water. It does make a difference, even without much juice at all. The taste goes a long way, and the citric acid seems to help cut thirst better than plain water.
2. In summer, I freeze water (with or without lemon) in sport top bottles, and drink them during the day. They're very refreshing, and it's a little like having a popsicle.
3. Keep a few bottles of water around, so that you don't have to go through the whole 'find a glass, take it to the tap...' routine every time you're thirsty. If you get bottled water, just refill those bottles and keep 'em handy. If I have to find a glass and keep track of it, I won't do it, but I can manage to figure out a bottle pretty well.
4. If you can find an affordable source of bottled water -- I really like the kind with the sport tops, because I don't have to deal with the caps -- buy those. The easier you make it on yourself, the more likely you are to continue to drink your water.
5. If you've been using other fluids for 'treats' as well as thirst, find another sort of equivalent treat. I use hard candies for this -- Tavenor's Fruit Drops -- because they last a long time, they're surprisingly satisfying, and they don't interfere with the water idea.
6. Consider lightening up on the coffee. Believe me, I know into my bones how hard that is. I was addicted to caffeine for years and years, and tried a number of times to cut down or stop -- sure, must be easier to quit heroin. This year I finally managed, though. Instead of doing the hard way I'd always tried before -- 'one serving per day less per week' which meant paying attention, and no thin end of the wedge -- I just decided what I was going to allow myself, and cut back to that level cold turkey. The first couple of days were rough, but not as bad as I thought they'd be. I've kept it up for a few months now, and am drinking a lot of water to make up for it. (The other benefit is that water doesn't seem to cut my cravings for fluid all that well, so I drink more of it. Plus, I get 24oz bottles, so I drink about the same number of servings, but get twice as much water as I did caffeinated drinks.)
Anyway, I hope that helps a little. Good luck!
poster:Racer
thread:343755
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/health/20040303/msgs/346137.html