You’re Soaking In It

by Regyna Longlank

Image by Iona Verse

My iPhone is no longer really a phone. I have finally relinquished my insanely expensive service with AT&T, on the anniversary or thereabouts of their finally dissolved monopoly. Without the phone aspect I can still use it around the house as a wireless device, so it’s still a cute little handheld computer. Now it is just an i. No Phone. I have another phone now, one that is cheaper, and much less obtrusive. It is still smart, but it does not interrupt. When there is a call it rings, otherwise it does not disturb my peace. If there is a message the little light will flash. If I look at the phone to see the light I may choose to pick it up and check messages, answer texts, see notifications on Facebook. But it does not engage me like the i does. I am not compelled to spend hours playing with my phone. This is a good thing. 

New World Water – Mos Def (explicit)

Now that the phone is just a phone, and the i is my portable computer, things are working out well. The i is great for dinking around on FB or Twitter, and the apps are very fun. This whole thing of trying to drink more water has been hilarious. I found two apps to track personal hydration, and have used both simultaneously for a week or so, amounting to spending a lot of time tracking nothing, as it turns out my intake is perilously low. But I have a lovely graphic interface to track it in and I’ve been pretty faithful with keeping track, if not with actually drinking more h2o.

Water Your Body Lite by FoWare is the first of the two free apps I found, and the cutest.  You just tap the table and the water you drank appears so throughout the day the table fills up with little glasses of water.  The other one I have used is Hydrate Yourself by Will Winder and it is also fun.  I was hoping by now it would be obvious which one had a better analysis of the data.  They both have a little graph showing how you did each day towards your goal, but so far I’m not clear on the usefulness of either one.  For me just tracking how much I drink is useless.  In fact I think I may have drunk less water during that week simply to avoid having to go get the water, and or track how much I had on the apps.  Yes I am that lazy.

Now that I have set an alarm on my phone to remind me to drink water every forty minutes I am drinking four ounces at regular intervals like clockwork.  Apparently if it is an alarm on my phone I will do it without question.  Note to self – try using this for other things, it could prove quite useful.  Last night after the alarms ended I swear I got thirsty exactly forty minutes later.  It’s amazing how fast the body adapts to new routines and wants them to continue.  Now if I could only get that to work for exercise!

According to my weight and level of activity I need to drink eighteen four ounce glasses of water each day.  I have never hit that mark, in fact I haven’t even gotten close.  My goal at this point is to drink at forty minute intervals from 9am to 7pm each day, which is seventeen glasses of water the way I set the alarms.  If I get thirsty between 7pm and 9am the next morning I will have some of what’s by the bed and that will be the eighteenth glass of water.  I have measured it, and I chug about four ounces at a time when I drink from a water bottle.  That seems like a good amount to drink at one time for me, so that’s the size glass I chose in the apps.  I am only counting plain, clear, non-bubbly or flat water for this test.

I also drink coffee, tea, juice, soda and a host of other liquids like beer and wine for reasons other than thirst.  Some because I like the taste, some because I like the effects they have on me.  So far I have not noticed a decrease in other beverages although I have not been tracking that aspect.  I don’t seem to be spending an inordinate amount of time in the bathroom, which is a little surprising.  Maybe the amount has increased but I don’t think the number of times per day is going up.  That would be another interesting thing to track had I done it from the start.  I always crave salt, so that hasn’t changed either, I still crave it.

So far I cannot say I have seen any changes that I would attribute to the increase in water intake.  Here is what I hope to see, and what I have seen in the past.  My skin will be less dry and seem more elastic.  My overall mood will improve and my energy levels will rise noticeably.  I will begin to crave healthy foods like salads and steamed veggies and will be drawn towards fruit and vegetable juices rather than sodas and other sweet stuff.  I will tend to eat smaller amounts of food throughout the day and not a couple of large meals.  I will naturally get up and move around more, tending to break into song like I am in a musical while spontaneously performing complicated choreography that includes passerby.  Ok I made that last part up, but I swear the rest of it is totally real.  Stay tuned for more on water, and if you have a story please share!