Finishing Up My 1st Month Of Drinking Only Water

Nothing else. No juice, no milk. No nothing.

I was drinking about 2.5 liters of diet sodas a day, and when I went for my eyelid surgery, the nurse had trouble starting the IV because I was so dehydrated from all the sodium. That was all I was drinking too.

So I decided to stop that and drink only water - about a gallon a day.

Anyone else do this? Do you drink more than a gallon?

It saves us about $70.00 a month.

Q

A gallon a day is an enormous amount of water. If I drank that much I’d spend half my time drinking and the other half in the bathroom.

a) A gallon a day is a lot. Are you actually that thirsty (in which case, please get tested for diabetes; excess thirst is an early symptom), or are you just making yourself drink that much?

b) You can’t get dehydrated from diet soda. Assuming you’re drinking enough of it, I don’t think it’s possible to get dehydrated drinking any (water based) fluid at all–even seawater kills by osmotic effects, not dehydration, and that has WAY more salt in it than soda. You get dehydrated by not drinking enough liquid.

I easily drink more than a gallon per day, but I’m a big guy. I have a can of soda per day, but other than that I am nearly exclusively water (other than a glass of wine once a week). I think water tastes better the longer/more often I drink it. So good on you Quasimodem for making the move to water!

Wow, you were spending a ton on non-water beverages!

I am trying very hard to make myself drink more water because I know I should, but that stuff tastes like water and it’s hard to choke it down. I tried some of those flavor packets and liquids, but they all taste so fake. Mostly, I drink coffee, tea, and very-watered-down cranberry juice.

On a typical day I have one can of Diet Coke in the morning and then drink approximately 8-10 glasses of water. That is, except for this week as there may be something wrong with the water softener and the taste is so disgusting that I can barely drink it. I may get some gallons in the meantime while I’m out.

isn’t that like 4 litres? please be aware of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication, where it cites at least one case where a woman died from drinking that much within two hours. just drink comfortably and not to excess.

I’d start with a 2-liter soda bottle full of water daily. If that’s enough, that’s good. A gallon is a lot to force down - if you WANT that much, it won’t hurt you, but don’t force yourself unnecessarily.

I almost always have a bottle of water handy (refilled from the tap), but I drink milk and juice as well. I used to drink a lot of energy drinks and some soft drinks, but I’ve greatly cut back on that ever since I got a slight heart problem.

I don’t know how I’d live without milk or juice.

As a side note, I have a diabetic friend who almost never drinks anything besides Diet Coke (and presumably water as well.) He even drinks Diet Coke with breakfast!! He reasons that since it’s “Diet”, it’s healthy enough to drink any time, and it won’t make his illness react. :smack: He’s otherwise quite intelligent.

Regarding the above post:** Sticks and Scones**, you drink Diet Coke in the mornings too, and my post was not in any way meant as a dig at you.
Besides, you said you only drink one can of it a day, which is more than can be said about my friend. :slight_smile:

Oh, I didn’t take it as a dig towards me. I find any more or less caffeine and I just don’t feel right. And, I admit, I like the taste of Diet Coke.

A gallon of any fluid in a day sounds extremely excessive. I’m pretty sure I’m closer to a gallon per week rather than per day, unless I go to the pub. Please don’t fall for the “everyone is chronically dehydrated” myth. Even the much-touted eight glasses of water a day is way more than anyone needs unless they’re breaking rocks in the desert.

Looking at the can of Coke beside me, a 12 oz can (355 ml) has 45 mg, or 2%, of your daily sodium allotment. 7 12 oz cans would just about equal 2.5 liters. That means you were only using up 14% of your daily sodium allowance. I’d look elsewhere for your sodium overload.

But congrats on cutting it out anyway - water has to be healthier for you.

StG

No, I’m not that thirsty at all. I just keep a quart with me all at all times and sip from it throughout the day. It equals out to a gallon. I don’t force myself to drink it, and I don’t cut out any other foods (such as Vienna Sausages) that contain sodium. A nice side effect is that the caffeine doesn’t keep me up at night.

From what I’ve read, a gallon doesn’t seem too much? I also go to the gym 2 times a week and ride my bike about that much too. My energy level seems fine.

Thanks for the answers!

Q

From Livestrong.com:

8 cups of water = 64 oz = 1 gallon.

64 ounces is a half gallon. A gallon is 16 cups of water, which is an obscene amount of liquid.

No. 8 cups is half a gallon.

Also, the 8 cups thing seems to be made up.

:mad:

:slight_smile:

My wife and I quit drinking soda 15 years ago after a diet expert in a seminar warned of the dangers. I drink a couple of 16 oz glasses of water a day, the first one first thing in the morning. It really helps to get the train to leave the station, if you know what I mean. Also a couple cups of coffee and perhaps a glass of apple juice during the day. That’s about it. All that water is pointless, IMO. The whole 6-8 glasses of water a day seems to be a meme that won’t go away, and has little basis in science, as far as I know.

The simple answer to how much water to drink is to drink as much as needed to turn your urine pale yellow/nearly clear. If you have clear urine, you are drinking too much and you may be washing out electrolytes (see above linked story on water intoxication). Yellow/dark yellow urine and you are drinking too little and may be dehydrated. Since everyone is different and has differing needs depending on variables like exercising, this seems an easy rule of thumb. Sorry, no cite, but it is what my physician uncle once told me and it stuck, and seems to work fine.

I cut out sodas many years ago and have not at all regretted it. Once you stop drinking the sugary, sweet stuff it is hard to go back - I can hardly stand them now, and when faced with the self-service soda machine at a restaurant I go with watered-down lemonade. I drink a lot of water, but also coffee in the AM sometimes, and fruit juices here and there, the odd beer and glass of wine during the week. Mainly water.

Good for you in getting rid of sodas - they do you no good at all!