"First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.” --Epictetus

To Note: I decided that I want to be more relaxed about my time constraints with this blog. I think I had unfair expectations about how long it takes to experience and digest the changes I am making. I came to the computer a couple of times with the intention of posting about my water drinking experiences, but I didn't feel as though I had anything substantial to say. But now, six-ish weeks later, I do (substantial is a subjective word, remember). Also, I'm in school full-time, and I have two jobs, so I realized I needed to make this blog more of a priority and actually schedule it into my life in order to be successful. 

Reflections on water:

I am much happier with myself ever since I started drinking the appropriate amount of water. I feel less fatigued and have fewer headaches. I feel more in tune with my body because I spend more time actually listening to it. I also have one less thing to feel guilty about! 

Carrying around a water bottle was definitely the most effective method for me to increase my water consumption. A close second was not drinking soda. I didn't realize how often I turned to carbonated crap when I was thirsty. Also, actually keeping track of my intake made a big difference. 2 liters of water is really not that much. I was carrying around a 700ml Smartwater bottle (my super nice glass water bottle now forever smells like vegetable juice from the days when I was juicing my meals, and I am too cheap to buy another one!) - All I had to do was refill it a couple of times and I was getting enough water. 

Oh! And ordering water without ice at restaurants made a HUGE difference! I actually drank my entire glass of water every time. 

Last but not least: water and alcohol. I definitely did not drink one glass of water for every beer I drank, but I did make an effort to order a water (without ice) every few drinks, and my hangovers have been much less severe. 

I don't even really have to make a special effort anymore - drinking water is a true habit now. It's weird that it wasn't before.

Drink Water

DISCLAIMER: I am a nurse. I have my BSN and am working toward my MSN. I am also pretty sensible. Some of what I say will be based on my medical knowledge. Some will be opinion. Part of the reason I waited so long to do this is because I originally felt like I needed to cite every fact I stated and it became a chore and I don't feel like writing a research paper. This is about my experiences. I will cite what I feel like citing. If you want to know where I found something that I didn't cite, please ask me. Please don't use what I am saying to diagnose yourself. Please don't use what I am saying to treat your diseases. If what I say makes sense to you, do your own research. I might provide links to resources on topics I find particularly interesting.

My challenge for this week: Drink water.

Why?
1. The human body is 60% water. Water is life. Get too dehydrated and you die. Case and point. 

I am going to stick to water, coffee, and tea for this week (AKA I won't let myself drink soda or juice. And I'll try not to drink beer but I can't guarantee it. If I drink beer I'll match my beer consumption with water consumption). I know that caffeine is a diuretic and therefor contributes to dehydration instead of hydration but I'm addicted to caffeine and anyway, one thing at a time. 

I've heard many tips for how to drink more water so I'm going to incorporate a few, including:

1. Have an extra glass of water when you get up in the morning and a extra glass when you go to bed
2. Invest in a nice water bottle and keep it with you
3. Keep track of how much water you drink - we often do not realize how little we consume until we track it
4. Stop drinking soda - people often replace water with diabetes-in-a-bottle during meals, stop drinking high-fructose corn syrup and actually rehydrate.
5. Don't use ice cubes - really cold water is difficult to drink quickly, so you end up drinking less. Also ice slows down your bowels. Don't believe me? Then you've obviously never watched a surgeon put a piece of ice on a section of bowel before. It immediately goes from peristalsis to inactivity. Also I'm pretty sure ice messes with your Qi. 

I can't cite this but I remember reading in some nursing physiology book that 80% of headaches are caused by dehydration.

I googled "the benefit of water" to see if I could find some references for my obviously true statements about its benefits. I came across an article called "6 Reasons to Drink Water" (Zelman, 2008). The end of the article contains a list of tips for increasing your "beverage consumption". Two out of the five tips encourage you to drink non-water beverages. Including the last which says "choose beverages that meet your individual needs. If you're watching calories, go for non-caloric beverages or water." 

YOU KNOW WHAT BEVERAGE MEETS THE NEEDS OF EVERY "INDIVIDUAL"? WATER. 

I get it. The article is trying to draw in the soft drink people. The article wants the reader to at least be more hydrated even if it is not with water. It is being kind to the people who say "I can't stand water, I only drink Mountain Dew", and it is allowing them to feel as though the Mountain Dew is meeting their INDIVIDUAL needs. The reality is that Mountain Dew meets no nutritional needs. Zero. If it did, don't you think the company would try to capitalize on that? If Mountain Dew had any shred of benefit to the human body, it would be advertised like it was a goddamn vitamin (nice talk). 

So there's my soft drink rant I guess. I'll be drinking water this week. Join me!

References:

Zelman, K. (2008.). "Why drink more water?" Retrieved from: http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/6-reasons-to-drink-water. WebMD.

Trauma 4.0

Preface: 
Every week, for the next fifty weeks (AKA one year), I am going to follow a different tip or piece of advice that is supposed to help you become a happy person with a fulfilling life. Then I am going to share my experiences with you. The things that I find fulfilling I will try to just integrate into my daily habits. 

Each week I will:
1. Pick a goal/habit/tip/etc. & post it to the blog at the beginning of the week. (If you think it sounds like fun please try it too!)
3. Spend the week carrying out the activity (read the book, attempt the feat, integrate the advice into my life, etc.)
4. Articulate my experiences repost at the end of the week.
__________________________________________________

I am generally a happy, healthy person. I have a great job, a wonderful, supportive family, I share a beautiful home with the love of my life, I am healthy. So why am I embarking on this journey? Because I want to be happier! I'm pretty big on making lists, so a list it is...

I am doing this because:

1. I believe that we are what we tell ourselves we are and that our internal dialogue defines us. I am working on making my internal dialogue more positive.
2. I think that there are some primal, basic human instincts that dictate much of our reactions and emotions, and that you need recognize those gut reactions before you can stop them from controlling you. I would like to explore the literature about this. I think that my instincts in a lot of situations make me overly defensive, which is NOT HELPFUL.
3. I am interested in meditation and mindfulness and would like to learn more about it
4. I have the plague of knowing what the right choices are and still making the wrong ones, then guilting myself later for not doing "the right thing". I know what foods have zero nutritional content, I know I should drink more water and less diet coke, I know that multitasking is totally inefficient. Yet I find myself on the couch eating Hound Dogs (pizza), drinking a diet coke, watching "Girls" on HBO and trying to read a chapter of my Leadership textbook. Feeling guilty about it later doesn't really help my self-esteem or prevent me from doing it again. I'd like to... not do this anymore
5. I am totally a type-A planner. In the past few years, my love of planning sort of pulled me away from living in the moment and toward planning for the next moment. I would like to live in the moment, since that is all we really have.

If anyone wants to follow the advice of the week along with me, please do! Share your experiences in the comments.