Drink water. Plain, good ol’ H2O. Pitch the cokes & coffee. Well, maybe not pitch them, but scale back a bit and augment your liquid intake by drinking some more water. Our bodies are made up of it, and it’s freely available. And it’s good for you. And it fills you up. Always have a cup or bottle next to you to remind you to drink your water. Chug a bunch of water before you eat. It’ll fill you up and you won’t be inclined to eat the huge portion of food in front of you.
I’m learning the drinking more water lesson the hard way. I was diagnosed with a kidney stone this past Friday. On Wednesday night I trying laying down in bed, I tried walking around the house, I tried curling up into the fetal position on the floor in our bedroom in a desperate attempt to rid myself of the unbearable pain I was feeling in the right side of my back, just below my rib cage. I finally woke Elise up at 2 a.m. and had her check my temperature because I thought I might’ve had appendicitis. Long story short, the pain I was feeling was a calcium oxalate stone moving around in my kidney. After my CT scan and confirmed diagnosis of a kidney stone, I learned that I get to wait for its “passing.” The cause? Well, thankfully it’s not hereditary (according to my mom). Since I’ve been running so much, I haven’t been hydrating with plain water as much as I should. And I’d been taking a lot of vitamin C supplements in the form of Emergen-C. And spinach. And salt. And nuts. And chocolate. And tea. And animal protein. All of these things are high in calcium oxalate.
So, I’ve modified my diet and I consciously drink a lot of water throughout the day. You should drink more water, too. If anything, I’d just like to prevent you from getting a kidney stone. They’re not fun.
Drink water.
Very true. I hope you pass the gem soon.
Thank you you for the reminder.