I’ve often said that I have no regrets, and that is true for my journey as a whole,
BUT WHAT IF I could go back to the beginning –almost 7 years ago– and change one thing, what would it be?
If I were to read an article title or opening like that, I’d probably assume it was something like “lift weights the entire time” or “lose weight slower” or “be less strict and enjoy life more.” If you thought so too, I’m sorry to disappoint you in that regard.
Spoiler alert: the answer is that I wish I drank less water and ate more salt.
There seems to be a single constant, a single piece of information that is the same across all other conflicting articles, expert opinions, nutritionists, blogs, and old wive’s tales.
That constant is the idea that drinking more water is the solution to all of your problems. This can lead to the mentality of “more is better”. Everywhere you look, the answer to every single fat loss (or even fitness in general) problem seems to be “drink more water.”
Some common questions that are answered with water are:
Are you hungry? Drink more water.
Are you thirsty? You are already severely dehydrated! Drink more water.
Are you tired? Drink more water.
Did you just have a workout? Drink more water.
Are you out of gas during your workout? Drink more water during your workout.
Do you have cravings even though you aren’t hungry? Drink more water.
Is your pee not clear? Drink more water.
Do you want to automatically eat less without feeling deprived? Drink water before meals.
Do you want to help your digestion? Drink water after meals.
I’ll stop there but you get the idea.
For a very long time, I did take all of that advice to heart. I drank a glass of water before I would drink coffee. I’d drink water right before, during, and after a meal. I would drink diet cola and other flavored diet beverages often. I was confident that I was doing all of the correct things: eating healthier, exercising, losing weight slowly, and drinking plenty of water, but something was still off. Over time I noticed that I was cold all of the time even when it was warm out. I frequently had to pee, especially in the middle of the night, which disrupted my sleep. I was often dizzy when I stood up and had such low energy overall, that I felt reliant on caffeine just to get through the day.
I started to think that there was really something wrong with me, so much so that I went to an endocrinologist, and had an entire endocrine panel done. Thankfully, it revealed that I was perfectly fine, which was great news! Except that being fine didn’t remove any of my symptoms. I didn’t feel fine.
So I did some searching around on some weight loss support forums, and read through blog posts of others that had lost a significant amount of weight. I found many people in those places had also drastically increased their water/liquid intake in the process of losing weight, and many were experiencing some, if not all, of the same symptoms.
I found a few people talking about a book that they had read called “Eat For Heat”. I was intrigued and ordered the e-book. It was a quick read and was mostly anecdotal. Its main premise was that most “health nuts” are over consuming water, and under consuming sodium, and that this was leading to over dilution of vital bodily fluids. The result of this over dilution was said to be the exact symptoms that were causing me to be distressed: cold hands/feet, low energy, dizziness, frequent urination, etc. While not every solution to this problem was something I was willing to try (like cutting back on fruits and vegetables), I was willing to try the primary mechanism for reversing the over dilution: drink less water, salt your food more.
Despite that this seemed counter-intuitive to everything I had done up to that point, I increased my sodium intake and lowered my water intake, doing both slowly, and under medical supervision. If you are going to do something like this, it should be with your doctor as you may be predisposed to have higher blood pressure with higher sodium intake.
But what I found was that by slowly lowering my water intake and upping my sodium intake, I got rid of those symptoms. They didn’t go away immediately, but after a few weeks I began to notice a decrease in my symptoms. Over time, I’ve learned to self-regulate my fluid intake and drink the correct amount of fluids to hydrate me. I can also instinctively use the correct amount of salt.
As a result, I really don’t have to get up in the middle of the night any longer; I’m no longer always cold in the summer, and I rarely get dizzy when I stand up.
I wish that I known all along just how much misinformation is out there. Drinking more water is not the solution to every single fitness issue. I could have saved myself so much grief and worry, many doctor visits and tests, and countless nights of interrupted sleep.
If you are experiencing some of these symptoms, you may want to discuss possible over dilution with your doctor. If you do, and if you are OK’d to increase your sodium while decreasing your water intake, let me know how it works for you!
“Doh” by hobvias sudoneighm – Flickr: /doh. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons – http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Doh.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Doh.jpg
“Salt shaker.agr” by ArnoldReinhold – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons – http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Salt_shaker.agr.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Salt_shaker.agr.jpg