Yeah, but what about those other affects?

One of the biggest reasons that I don’t enjoy drinking water is because I end up going to the bathroom more. I find that annoying. Of the many pleasant activities I can engage in during the day, that is not one of them.

I was greatly heartened to discover that this trait of water drinking is really only a problem at first. Now of course in the long run, you will end up going more often, but it isn’t nearly as bad as it seems it will be when you first increase your water consumption.

You see, all that time you’ve spent dehydrated, your body has been of the opinion that you are trying to live through a drought. It conjured up mental images of water rationing, and you being forced to drink strange bubbly things or black caffeine filled soup due to the tragic water shortage.

Understandably, being a diligent well-meaning body that really wanted to do it’s part, it tried to retain every last precious drop of moisture it could. Of course this presented a storage problem, but it solved that by cheerfully filling up you hands, your ankles, your tummy, and generally every other place it could find, with all it’s horded water. I’m sure you’re very grateful.

So anyway, when you start drinking water by the glassful, a little celebration with fireworks and party hats and confetti occurs inside you now that the drought has ended. Your body can finally relax and release all that stored water because it’s flowing freely again (no pun intended, seriously).

The more water you drink, the more of that retained water from those thick ankles and fat fingers will be released and excreted. Thusly, you will feel like you are running to the little girls’ room every stinking minute. I don’t know about you, but it makes me feel moderately better about the whole process to know that the more times I use the restroom, the thinner my hands get.

Seriously though, if you have swollen ankles, hands, tummy, or whatever, the fastest way to get rid of that extra water (and much safer than diuretic pills or other “quick fixes”) is simply to drink and drink and drink some more.

Think of yourself as a sparkling clean pipe through which water flows. To date, you’ve been more of a bucket. Personally I like the pipe idea better. Buckets get yucked up after a while as that water sits there and stagnates.

But what I’m trying to say is that this is temporary and will get better soon. Once all that retained water is gone, what comes out is no more than what you put in, minus the water you lose through you skin and what you are breathing out (which is actually pretty substantial).

Drink like a fish and soon everything will even out and the downsides will disappear while the upsides of a slim body, clear healthy glowing skin, improved health, and increased energy will continue to increase.

Those scientists aren’t kidding when they say that water is life.

What the Most Beautiful People in the World do

When you read about the personal habits of models, people who make their entire living off being beautiful, one habit that they all have in common is that they are fanatical water drinkers. Over and over again you can find hydration listed as one of the non-negotiable set-in-stone laws to being beautiful and heaving healthy skin.

I think the reason that those famous beauties drink so much water is more than just for its weight reduction properties. These are women (and men) who can lose an important job if their skin isn’t spectacular. Also, they are intimately aware that if they don’t preserve that incredible skin, their careers will have the longevity of a shooting star.

What would you do if your entire income, your career future, and your fame hinged on maintaining beautiful skin and a beautiful body? Probably whatever it takes. These are folks with a lot to lose, so they are good teachers for how the rest of us humdrum folks can be beautiful too.

Now I’m not saying that models are the end-all and be-all of health habits, especially since they have to maintain a level of body fat that would make most doctors pale. But let’s do learn from models on the things that they do best: hair, makeup (they do their own), and exceptional skincare. Though if I ran into a model who had been working for more than ten years I’d take a pretty humble attitude towards her health tips too, because you can’t maintain a career in that field for the long-term if you have poor health habits.

Anyway, models and long term beauties swear by hydration as one of their most fundamental techniques for preserving the beauty of their skin.

The French have also long believed in the value of being well hydrated. Seeing as how the country has elevated skin care to an art form, I’m inclined to believe them.

According to Mireille Guiliano in French Women Don’t Get Fat, French children are raised to drink water constantly. Bottles are distributed each morning to each cubicle in the offices and is always on the table at meals. We of course see glasses of water at restaurants, but how many of us put a pitcher out on the table at breakfast, lunch, and dinner at home?

If you think that you have properly hydrated skin simply through moisturizing, you’ll be very disappointed over the next few decades. While moisturizers are an important part of skin care, we can’t absorb enough water through our skin to keep it properly hydrated. Hydration happens from the inside out.

Dehydrated skin looks old and saggy and wrinkled. If you want youthful healthy skin that glows with vitality, you absolute must hydrate it.