So over the weekend I attended a nutrition conference, hosted by the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. I always look forward to these things but for some reason I was not up to this one. There are many reasons why I did not want to go, but I can tell that in another post or five. The point is I was unprepared and not in the mood which then caused a trickle down affect that landed me in bed for two days.
How did I imprison myself in bed after a health retreat that was supposed to be invigorating and motivating? I asked myself. The answer is simple. I did not take care of myself! I did not follow my own rules. How many of us make rules for our children that you yourself do not follow. Have you ever been guilted by a child to do better... I have. And in this instance I should have done better, I would not have let my kids take on anything so unprepared why did I do this to myself?
I got back from the conference exhausted and dehydrated. I was not even mad at the fact I was tired, because I knew why I was tired. I was tired because my body was thirsty. I was angry that I had not given myself any hydration for two days. And now my body was giving me major backlash. Have you ever had a headache so bad that it hurt to move, that was me after returning home. My body was yelling at me and it was making sure I had to stop and take care of it. Yet and still I pushed through a workout and tried to hang on, but the body won. I was guzzling water with no relief. Hot water cold water nothing was helping, so I slept. And that did it, sleep was the missing ingredient.
So why did I deprive myself of water for two days. Well, I went on a car ride...didn't want to drink would have to stop to use the bathroom. Then I sat through 6 hours of lectures that I did not want to miss a minute of, so I refused to drink for fear of being locked out of the auditoriums. Repeat that for two days, then add a night out with an old friend, which only involved only one glass of wine, but also included a very late night and some overly salty mediterrainian food. Top it all of with a restless night of sleep because I plain ate too much and Voila!
I write this long description because this happens to everyone in some way or another, we forget to care for our basic needs from time to time to make room fro more important stuff. And then our body retaliates and we wonder why.
They say it takes 21 days to form a habit, some say more some say less, I make it out to an even month. So I encourage you to challenge your self to take care of a basic need. WATER. Your body is made up of 70% of the stuff and it is a basic need. We absorb water from foods also but it is easy to drink it to make sure you are getting enough. After this weekend I am doing a hydration challenge, to reprogram in my head to take care of this basic need. These are the instructions below. Try it for thirty days and see how you feel. It can't hurt.
Wake up: Drink one glass of water.
Breakfast: Sip room temperature or hot water with breakfast.
Between breakfast and lunch: Drink a glass of water.
15-20 minutes before lunch: Drink a glass of water.
Lunch: Sip room temperature or hot water with lunch.
Between lunch and supper: Drink a glass of water.
15-20 minutes before supper: Drink a glass of water.
Supper: Sip room temperature or hot water with supper.
Between supper and bedtime: Drink a glass of water.
This has been taken from Lifespa.com it is a great website about Ayurveda.
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