Thing Number Twenty-Eight | Drink

Water. For years and years I took it for granted and kind of avoided it. I preferred soft drinks or lemonade or tea or almost anything other than water. Why? No good reason; water’s just kind of bland. It’s a nothing sort of drink. It’s just, you know, good for you and healthy and stuff.

Well, after years and years of drinking anything but water, I am now trying to drink mostly water. When I drink more water, I get fewer headaches. My lips are less likely to chap. My heels don’t crack as easily and my skin looks better. It’s not just propaganda:  water actually is better for me than anything else I can drink.

It’s taken some retraining, however, to adjust to reaching for a glass of water before I pop open a soda can. I had to get used to the flavorlessness of water. Yes, I know you can add water flavorings but I really hate those. Talk about bland with a hint of something fruity. I either want my water plain or a truly fruity drink. In restaurants, I usually order water with lemon but I don’t know why. I guess it seems more refreshing and somehow cleaner that way. But at home, I take it in a glass, no ice. I like to drink water straight from the fridge or at room temperature. We keep a Brita water-filtering pitcher in the fridge and that has definitely helped me to drink more water. I pour a glass (I generally use one of my “cow” glasses from Crate & Barrel) and leave it on the counter, drinking from it throughout the day and refilling it as necessary. I usually have some left in my glass when I go to bed and then I finish it off first thing in the morning and start over.

The hardest thing was eliminating my lunch-time soda. I’ve been carrying a soda in my lunchbag ever since I started working, usually a diet Sunkist. But now I fill a water bottle and take it instead. I try not to use disposable water bottles, although I keep them around the house for Jon and for guests, but I’ve broken two reusable water bottles already. In fact, I need to go get a new one.

I don’t just drink water, of course. Here are some of my other favorite drinks:

Breakfast:  a tall glass of half non-fat white milk and half low-fat chocolate milk. If it’s winter, I may substitute a mug of Earl Grey tea and if I’m sick I sweeten that with honey.

Lunch:  well, yeah, this one is water.
Dinner:  a soda, either diet Sunkist or diet Coke. Sometimes water if I’ve already had one soda since coming home from work. If it’s summer, a glass of lightly sweetened iced tea.

My favorite restaurant drink is the Freckled Lemonade with light lemonade at Red Robin. I don’t drink alcohol. Mind you, I’ve tried and I realize there are strong health benefits associated with red wine, but I honestly just can’t stand the taste.