Making a habit of being happy: 8 things that help me be happier

#1 Posted by Megan M. on November 14th, 2008 10:02 am | link

Oh man, I LOVE this post! How fantastic! You talk about being vegan for a month and I freak out wanting you to try my stew, but it was fresh yesterday and now it’s frozen meals for when we run out of food (so maybe in a few weeks we can coordinate a fresh batch, I want to share the delicious!). I’m with you on caffeine — I used to really love chai every day but I noticed that since we cut back on grocery expenses and haven’t bought it, I’m just not sure we need it. When we eat well and take care of ourselves, there doesn’t seem to be a reason for it. Caffeine seems to be the thing people use to help them ignore the fact that they’re screwing up their body’s ability to function (by sleeping too little, for instance, or eating things that mess them up, etc).

I’m so glad the answer to the cotton-headedness was as simple as water! That’s so exciting!

#2 Posted by Pace on November 14th, 2008 10:08 am | link

I don’t know if it was just water or if it was water and a combination of other things. But the water sure as heck helped.

Looking forward to trying your stew! (:

#3 Posted by Oliver Danni on November 14th, 2008 2:18 pm | link

Water helps SO much. It’s amazing. I’m really glad I got in the habit of drinking that much of it before my surgery, because my lymphatic system’s been a mess since and I HAVE to drink that much water or I get REALLY messed up. Good thing I enjoy peeing. Because I spend half my life doing it. ;-)

The best trick I found for getting the water thing down was actually putting it on my to-do list. I write “water” at the top of the list, then put 10 little circles next to it and check each one off as I go, that an 80% success rate actually accomplishes my goal and 100% success is a bonus (and usually means I drank more tea than water that day, which is also important — herbal tea is a crucial component of my self-care!)

Giving up caffeine will also help you tremendously with your quest for hydration. Did you know that drinking caffeinated soda is basically the OPPOSITE of drinking water? We actually discussed this in class yesterday — I think the figure we got was that your kidneys have to work twice as hard to rehydrate you from drinking Diet Coke as they would if you just drank nothing at all, so if you drink an 8-oz Diet Coke you need to then drink 16-oz of water to undo the dehydrating effects of the caffeine and get the hydration you were actually trying to get.

Good luck with the vegan trial, and let me know if I can support you in any way with your adventures in vegetableland!

#4 Posted by Rebecca Leigh on November 14th, 2008 5:45 pm | link

Oh, I love water! I’ve always drunk a lot of water since I was a kid and have definitely noticed that the ‘afternoon slump’ is much helped by some cool water.

Despite this lifelong affair, I noticed recently that I was waking up (relatively) happy and then turning into a cottonhead, grump bear within an hour. Bad way to start the day.

Eventually I worked out the problem - I was jumping straight into ‘hurry and do stuff’ without taking the time to have a drink of water. I was also waiting too long to have breakfast which didn’t help.

So now I have a little ritual I love: I keep a bottle of water by the bed (cap on means less spills) and as soon as I sit up I have a drink and say a positive affirmation. Perfect start.

#5 Posted by Justin on November 14th, 2008 9:19 pm | link

Mmmm Water is yummy. Especially when carbonated and with Diet Coca-Cola syrup dissolved in it… NO! NO! Bad Justin!!!

Sorry. My addiction to aspartame spoke for me.

I drink way lots of water and, yeah, it really helps. Who’da thought not being thirsty was different than not knowing I’m thirsty?

#6 Posted by Eirias on November 15th, 2008 4:31 pm | link

Just FYI, make sure you’re also consuming enough sodium and potassium; you can actually overdose on water. Your amount looks to be about 7-8 liters, give or take; Wikipedia tells me 10 is some kind of threshold, and of course there’s going to be variability so I wouldn’t get too close to the threshold if it were me.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication

Perhaps you heard of the woman who died a year or two ago of water intoxication during participation in a radio contest. If not, read about it here:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2007/0125073wii1.html

#7 Posted by Pace on November 15th, 2008 5:06 pm | link

Yeah! Thanks for the reminder.

Kyeli buys this neat electrolyte-enhanced water from Whole Foods, and it’s got sodium and potassium in it.

#8 Posted by Eirias on November 17th, 2008 9:59 pm | link

Maybe I’m actually crazy and your amount is closer to 3-4 liters! Regardless, care is a good idea :)

#9 Posted by Carla on November 18th, 2008 2:16 pm | link

My fiancée has noticed a change in his moods since he took a “coffee break” starting last week. He is more open, less edgy and feels physically better. I started eating smaller meals to improve my digestion and its made huge difference as to how I feel physically and mentally. I already do other things like drink a lot of water, eat healthy, exercise 5-6 days a week, etc. This is a good reminder for me to keep it up!

#10 Posted by Pace on November 18th, 2008 2:26 pm | link

@Carla: That’s great! I’m happy to hear it!

Paying attention is so important. If we don’t notice what’s changing, we can’t fix it!

#11 Posted by Oliver Danni on November 19th, 2008 3:22 pm | link

The idea of “overdosing” on water is a little misleading. The problem is if you drink too much water AT ONCE, which is what happens to people in things like that radio contest, when you force too much water into your body for no reason all at one time. If you drink the same amount of water but spread it out during the day so it’s cycling through your system, normally-functioning kidneys will utilize it just fine. You’ll have to pee a lot, but that’s totally okay. The problem is if you drink it faster than you can pee it out, basically…not if you drink more than a certain amount over the course of a day.

#12 Posted by Three months of being vegan / non-dairy vegetarian | Pace and Kyeli on February 2nd, 2009 3:03 pm | link

[...] vegetarian) since November. Here are some of my observations from the last three months. In general I’ve felt much better since I stopped eating cheese; here are some [...]