Second to air, water is our most important need. Even with easy access to it, most of us don’t get enough on any given day. What makes it so difficult to get enough? Many of us are simply buried in negative habit patterns. (During this pandemic while quarantined, however, you have no excuse not to start a new positive habit pattern).
To start the day, most of my adult clients prefer coffee to the point where they are addicted to it. Aside from it tasting so great, one client would get serious headaches if she stopped drinking coffee in the morning. There was also a morning ritual attached to her coffee drinking. Not only did she have a home coffeemaker, but her husband would valiantly dash into Starbuck’s and get her another cup before dropping her off at work.
She’d have two more cups during her workday. I pressed her to stop drinking coffee regardless of the great taste, the obvious caffeine benefit and her husband’s gallantry. I asked her to drink much more water to replace the coffee and wean herself off it.
After two months, lo and behold she said she felt better than ever. Her thinking wasn’t foggy any longer and she felt less irritable. Her digestion was better. She even said she had more energy.
Undoubtedly, water is the king of all beverages; it just isn’t as exciting as exotic coffees and sugary beverages. Also, there’s so much “fun” attached to drinking coffee that most people refuse to give it up, even though their health would improve greatly.
As a solution, I recommend not trying to quit coffee to start. At the very least, drink an equal amount of water as coffee or any sugary beverage. It would be even better if you drank twice as much water as coffee.
Another suggestion: Drink water right before you drink your coffee or any other sugary drink. You don’t have to give up what you truly love—or you’re truly addicted to. But you’re giving your body what it truly needs: Water!
