Off-Topic

[Agent M]

I went on a health kick in February & am going to do it again this month for 17 days starting Monday - as part of it you are supposed to drink 10 cups of water & 3 cups of green tea per day - that's a whopping 2.4 litres of water & 720ml of green tea..... :eek *crosses legs*

I'm pretty good with my water consumption already so found 7 or 8 cups plus the green tea was achievable, the 10 is pushing it, but I just do whatever I can - so this time I thought I'd see if anyone wants to do this with me? Whenever you feel like it, write a short post below on how you much you drank & how you did it. The aim is to meet the 2.4L but if you can't just increase what you'd normally have & be proud of yourself :)

I hope this isn't a boring idea - not sure how many people are interested in taking up little health challenges but I thought I'd see as a way to keep up my motivation!

I find I drink the most if I mix up my options throughout the week so this is what I choose from:
2.4 litre OPTIONS
- plain tap water
- tap water with lemon
- soda water
- mineral water
- Berocca
- cold or hot peppermint tea
Any other ideas?

TEA OPTIONS
- green tea - tastes like medicine to me, icky
- Qi Ginger Green Tea - yummy

Tried Lemon Green Tea & Jasmine Green tea - not a fan. Any others that are nice?

 

[holly]

I put some strawberries or raspberries in water - tastes great. Filling up a 1.5 litre bottle that you always carry helps you keep track of your water intake too.

 

[MichelleShocked]

I work at an aluminium smelter so, because of the intense heat levels, water consumption is a major issue. The TAs who work on the potlines wear a water backpack called a "Camel Back" which they wear & drink from while working. The temps on the potlines can reach 70°C in summer (who the fuck puts a smelter in QLD of all places anyway???)
So, hydration is a very serious concern. To that end, all employees are instructed on how much water is needed for their job role. Also, every toilet has urine salinity gravity testers so everyone can test their hydration. (which they then leave in the goddam urinals & toilets for some poor cleaner to fish out......*sigh*)

 

[Priscacara]

I can give it a try when I know I can stay home a lot more. What is all the water/fluids supposed to achieve though other than making the kidneys (I think) work over time?

 

[Agent M]

@Priscacara The point of it is to get maximum hydration so your body can function better - some of the benefits are clearer skin, better kidney function as you mentioned, increased metabolism, better digestive function, deals with any fluid retention. I was getting sore knees & sometimes swollen ankles when I was on my feet all day - within 3 days of ramping up my fluids and the green tea the problem was gone & I'd lost 1.2 kgs ("water weight") that must have been putting pressure on my joints - was a bit of a shock that it was that easy.

It's actually only a part of the health kick I'm doing, I finally found a healthy eating plan that is easy to understand & follow and it gave me better results that when I was doing crazy amounts of exercise a lifetime ago. There is no feeling hungry or giving up coffee and sugar (completely). The challenge for me is staying organised and saying no to cake & pastry

I've never understood much about diet, exercise and health. I'm used to having perfect health but a few years ago I was very ill for 6 mths and was told I had chronic fatigue. I got a 2nd opinion and it turned out I had a bacterial infection. I had to take meds & go on a diet/detox to sort out my insulin & blood sugar levels.

My red blood cells went from looking like this:

To this in 3mths:

What was interesting is that the naturopath I went to said that new research is indicating that often these sorts of problems are the early signs of major disease that will develop later on in life if left unchecked, like cancer. So I may be avoiding a bullet by getting my body functioning at its best. The diet worked but was really complicated - I could never follow it right even when I thought I was. Recently found a book that explains the exact same method, but is a no-brainer to follow. I tried it out in Feb but got really busy and stopped. Worked really well, I lost 5kg & kept it off. I'm 30 next year and I want to enjoy it and be in the best health I can be so starting up with it again.

It can be difficult some days to get the chance to drink all of your water, I had a delayed start Monday, was on target Tues to Thurs & yesterday I didn't stop much so it sort of slipped my mind. I carry a 1.5 litre bottle around with me, I drink 1 litre in the car on the way to work to wake myself up (I have 1+ hour drive) & if I'm working at a desk, a 700ml thermos of peppermint or Ginger Green tea. I haven't found any employer that has complained about it as long as I'm not going back and forth to the kitchen/kettle.

 

[MagicJ]

I haven't found any employer that has complained about it as long as I'm not going back and forth to the kitchen/kettle.

Or the toilet :p

 

[Agent M]

Yeah well.... at first it is a bit like that if you're not used to drinking much :p

 

[ethana123]

i fill my 1.5 litre pump bottle up about 5 or 6 times a day while at work and drink maybe a litre or 2 when i'm at home lol 2.4 litres of water doesn't seem like enough :P

 

[Agent M]

So you're drinking 7 1/2 - 11 litres per day?? What are you doing to need that much?

The most I can ever remember having is 6 litres - but that was on 1 and 2 day hikes or during 40 degree heat waves working outdoors (I live in Vic remember), which I consider extreme - I had to add some sugar/salt to it too otherwise I didn't feel like I could function as well.

 

[ethana123]

yeah i usually have a gatorade or something like that to keep my salts/electrolytes up. i'm a boilermaker so my job is pretty hot/labour intensive and i train at gym for around two and a half hours a day after work... i weigh about 110 kilos i aim for around 5% body weight of water a day at least ... the most i drank in a day was a 15 litre water jug thing for water coolers but that was to win a bet lol and i felt horrid at the end of the day

 

[Agent M]

Boilermaker in Qld no less, that sounds uncomfortable! So do you just have water and Gatorade or is there other stuff you like? This time around for me the weather has been quite cold, so haven't felt like drinking plain tap water all the time. Been drinking peppermint tea (1.4 litres of it... waiting to get sick of it but hasn't happened yet) and mineral water as well as plain water to get to 2.4 litres, but I'm struggling some days.
I drink more water than most of the people around me - not sure how they can go a whole day & only have one or two glasses!

 

[ethana123]

yeah some of the older blokes i work with i don't see drink water at all while they work which to me is insane dunno how they don't get heat stroke if i only drink a litre i tend to get cramps and get cranky and a headache lol and its mainly just cold water and a sports drink when i have my smoko or when i go home and try to avoid caffeine during the day