Hyponatremia

Posted by bodybuilder

Posted: July 8, 2008 - 1:09 pm

I drink A LOT of water every single day. In high school when I competed in my first bodybuilding competition, I didn't know what competing entailed. One of the things I kept reading over and over was that if you are going to put yourself through the rigors of training for a show- you must consume at least 1 gallon of water per day. This sounded insane! I rarely drank even a liter in a day back then, how was I going to consume 1 gallon?

This would be interesting. I went to the grocery store and bought a gallon of water to bring to school with me the next day. First of all, it annoyed me to no end. I had a handful of books, binders and science projects every day and this gallon of water weighed almost 9lbs. I soon realized there was no way around this. I decided to make a game of it in order to get the gallon of water out of my life as soon as possible each day. I would take no less than 5 drinks each time I picked that beast of a water bottle up. The sooner I drank the gallon, the sooner I could toss it and focus on carrying my books and other school junk.

It made perfect sense because I was doing so much cardio and eating so much protein everyday, that I knew I would need to stay hydrated and flush my system to stay healthy. I kept that in mind and soon the gallon a day turned into a lifelong habit.

8 years later, I'm still lugging around a gallon of water wherever I go. If I go on vacation, the first place I go when I get off the plane is the grocery store for a gallon. Of all the places I've been, Maui charges the most for a gallon- about $2.30. Washington the least, about $.60. See, things like this matter a lot to a person who drinks so much water. Not to mention where I can find the next bathroom!

I do hear a lot of interesting comments from people when they see me carrying the gallon of water around. Most are just curious and ask if I really drink that much water in one day, and to this I shock them even more by telling them that I actually drink all of this and then REFILL IT! I've had people ask me if I'm trying to pass a drug test and I laugh and say no, I just want to make sure when I donate my kidneys after I die- that the recipient gets some really healthy ones.

I rarely get negative comments about the gallon, but there was one time when I did. I was in the restroom at work, washing my hands while my trusty gallon waited patiently at my feet. A woman walked in and told me bluntly, that you can get very sick and possibly die from drinking too much water. Ha! I'd never had anyone say this to me before and I was excited to engage in a little argument with someone who clearly did not drink water, let alone take care of her body in any way.

She proceeded to argue about how you can diiiiie a horrrrible death from the evil consumption of H2O as she walked into the bathroom stall to do her business- still pleading her case about death from a beverage. The thought of continuing this conversation with someone who was using the toilet was creepy, so I just walked out while she was still babbling on.

I realized this lady who liked having arguments with strangers while using the potty, must have heard about the unfortunate instance in California where a woman on a radio talk show had recently died from Hyponatremia; a rare electrolyte disturbance caused by drinking an excessive amount of water in a short period of time (considering this person had a clean bill of health). Hyponatremia can also be a side-effect of other illnesses. I also heard rumors that the woman in California had neglected to use the bathroom and this was the possible reason she had died from excessive water drinking.

All I know is that there are days when I work out heavily and end up drinking 3 gallons of water per day. I listen to my body and give it what it needs and I'm still alive and drinking! It makes me happy when my clients bring in their own gallon of water to our workouts. I'm always thrilled to have that positive influence on them because drinking adequate water every day is one of the healthiest habits you can adopt in life.

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