H2Overdose

64 ounces per every 24 hours is the daily recommended dose of water for the "average" person. A little more if you drink coffee, tea, soda or alcohol, of course and definitely more if you exercise. That sounds about right. Rarely do people actually fulfill this recommended prescription though. But, we all love a nice ice cold glass of agua now and then, right? Well, here at training, you had better love it . . a lot. Staying hydrated has been a major theme here at BYTT and rightly so. Practicing twice a day in temperatures of 110 and higher can really drain one of vital nutrients, electrolytes and moisture. In order to maintain proper hydration and electrolyte balance, the staff at training has urged us to drink 5+ liters of water throughout the day (more or less depending on our personal needs and weight), to put salt, lemon, sugar and/or honey in our water to replace nutrients lost through sweat, and to consume copious amounts of coconut water and Gatorade as well. That's a lotta liquid. On a daily basis, it feels as though I am drinking some beverage at all moments and if I'm not I'm in the bathroom peeing. In sum, I'm in H2Overdose. Which one also has to be careful of as well because drinking too much water can flush the nutrients right out your system and deplete you of energy. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. The effects of too much water (or simply a really hard class) hit me last week when I returned to my room after morning class and literally projectile vomited nothing but water all over my hotel floor (your loving this visual image I'm sure). That was a less than pleasant experience (as was explaining to my roommate, who was in the shower at the time, why there was a towel spread out across the hotel room floor). Ah, just another day at BYTT . . but I definitely learned my lesson regarding consuming too much water.
One beverage I haven't sacrificed through all this is my morning coffee. I generally don't check e-mail, put my contacts in or even open my eyes fully until I have my morning cup of jo and I wasn't planning on altering that routine for training. As mentioned in a previous post, I purchased an inexpensive coffee maker from the local CVS just to facilitate my morning java addiction. Some mornings, after having watched the a Hindi film with Bikram until 3 a.m., it is my saving grace. Of course, that also means more water to balance out the dehydrating effect of my coffee. I can live with that.
However, I, like all of the other trainees have sacrificed one type of beverage throughout this training: alcohol. Initially, I must admit, I thought it would be tough not enjoying an ice cold beer or soothing glass of wine for 63 days. However, I have not even thought about imbibing since I arrived and am not even tempted to do so . . . after all, doing so would just mean drinking more water and, like I said, I'm already in H2Overdose.