Camels and back

Camels are said to be able to carry water stores for several days' worth of desert travelling in their bodies. While that may not be entirely correct zoologically, I have, once again, caught myself acting as if I, too, were carrying such stores. Namely, whenever things get too hectic around here, I forget to drink. One cup of coffee in the morning, one glass of water or beer at night, and nothing in between. Which leaves me at about a quarter of the recommended intake, slowly getting into dehydration with all of the attendant symptoms. Of course, on my scales, that dehydration shows up as a loss. So, when it dawned on me once again this weekend that I might have slipped back into the habit of underhydrating myself, it was clear that by upping my water intake, I would, at first, show a net gain. Which is exactly what happened. But, as I know what that gain (two pounds) is, I'll rather have that than losses that are not fat but water.

What I (and DH who commented about it) have noticed after just two days of forcing myself to drink two extra litres (half a gallon) of water a day is that my skin is already looking better. 

Of course, there was the flip side that regularly happens when I start to rehydrate my body after starving it of water for too long, namely, having cramps in my kidneys and bladder while they are readapting to having to process that much liquid. Fortunately these usually last just one day.

What made the transition back to better hydration even more unpleasant was that I must have made a wrong twist when getting up yesterday, which gave me a bad case of lumbago that kept me mostly chair-bound and immobilized all Sunday and has not gone away completely yet. So, I am moving carefully today, so as to not make it worse. 

OMG this sounds like Lyn. But it really was so bad yesterday that I could not straighten my back even as far as to be able to reach the upper cupboards in my kitchen. 

So, I'll continue watching my water intake, and my back, too. And see which way the scales move without me starving myself of water. 

Julia