Hydration

What does hydration mean to you? How much water can you drink in a day. I never really pay attention the "supposed-tos" of eight 8 oz. glasses or whatever it is currently. There's so much debate around what's the appropriate amount. There's also a lot of debate as to what counts as a hydrating item. Some say the waters found in your fruit and vegetable intake count; others say it's only water; some say it's water and herbal teas; some say only spring water counts. How do you feel when you aren't hydrated? I never knew I was dehydrated until I started drinking spring water... and then I couldn't get enough! Once I was hydrated consistently, my daily headaches disappeared, my skin was less dry and more vibrant-looking, and my urine was more clear. It was such an easy fix! The alarming thing is that our culture doesn't teach us about proper hydration. We're taught that when you're thirsty you should reach for Kool-Aid or a Lipton Iced Tea or a Coke. There's a lot of baggage associated with those choices: chemicals, refined sugars, caffeine... not to mention the emotional baggage! What changes can you make right now to address hydration? Can you stay present enough to make more conscientious choices about what drinks you choose to ingest?

Note: Capitalized recipes are my own.

Day 68

• 1 c. hot Reishi-Fo-ti-Vanilla tea
• 1 serving of my Apple Crisp (Thanksgiving leftover)
• 1 c. hot Aztec Fire herbal tea with honey
• 1 oz. corn and flax chips
• 2 apples
• 1.5 c. Berber Vegetable Soup (tomatoes, zucchini, onions, sweet potatoes, red pepper, chick peas, dates, water, Berber seasoning, oregano, sea salt) topped with nutritional yeast
  
• 1 c. hot Reishi-Fo-ti-Vanilla tea
• dinner out at Genshi: 1 avocado and cucumber roll, 1 bowl of vegetable noodle miso soup, green tea
• 1 small piece of chocolate
• 2 c. spring water
  

Today's Observations
I was really proud of myself today. I got the chocolate bar for Mo and I to split. I took a small piece and thought, you know, all I really wanted was a little taste. I felt how it felt in my body and knew that eating more than that would give me a headache. I told her she could have the rest of it (which, of course, pleased her to no end... LOL). Now, I'm saying this like it was nothing... It wasn't. This was hard as shit because my head wanted the rest... the same head that would get a headache if I ate more. I kept thinking, I could just ask her for one more piece! A great internal battle ensued. And the cool thing was that I tried to just Be The One Who Watches and not play into it. I let the battle go on without getting emotionally tied to it. Nice.

I've also been really craving soups, hot teas, smoothies, elixirs... another liquid-based. And I originally thought it was just the colder weather coming on, but I'm not sure that's all of it. I've been noticing that my body appreciates less to process at time. For example, the Berber Vegetable Soup did not sit as well on my stomach as the vegetable noodle miso soup. I think this was because of the chick peas. I ended up lapping up the broth and veggies in that Berber soup and loving it, but the chick peas weren't working for me. Foods that are easy (like veggies, fresh fruits, nut or seed butters) work well and blended foods work well. When I ate the Apple Crisp this morning, I had a small piece - and that was good. I knew that if I had a bigger piece then my stomach would start hurting. And that was because of the nuts in the crust. Hmmm... I'm really loving the simplicity though!