Water Questions

[David LoPan]

First off I would like to say that over the last year I have not been drinking as much water as I should, maybe about 2 liters. And then I would drink a lot of diet dr pepper, maybe up to 1.5 liters. Well over the last 2 months that has changed. I saw Ranger D post about water and had a few questions.

I took a job that has been outside / inside and it has been hot. So I dropped my Diet Pop down to maybe 2 cans a day at most. Now I am drinking 1.5 gal or water a day at min and up to 2.5 not counting what I drink with meals or when I get to the gym. I have noticed that I have been getting cramps / charlie houses in strange places. I thought this might have to do with the loss of potassium so I have been adding a K pill a day.

I can say that I have lost a lot of weight that I have put on due to a bad diet there for a while and having to take some time off of the gym due to my schedule and a few minor injuries that have all healed now. Now everyone at work and friends have noticed that I have "cut a lot of weight" and that I am much more vascular. People think its due to me hitting the gym and doing cardio but it is eating a little below my normal calories and much cleaner but I think more the water.

So what are your thought? Am I drinking to much? Is this normal with a high H2O consumption? Suggestions? Also my blood work show that my BUN / Creatine are a little below normal range but I know this has more to do with lack of red meats and a lot of water.

[Rjay]

How much do you weigh? That seems like an excess amount, I don't see why you'd need more then a gallon. 3L a day does the trick quite nicely for me anything more and I start getting bloated

[Roughneck82]

I work in oil fields, go to gym at 4am. Just had this conversation with doc on Friday during visit. I get at least over a gal/day up to 2 gal. He told me I can drink as much as I want, because of working outside and going to gym. He just said to alternate water with Gatorade for electrolytes. I use the MIO fit in my water to get the electrolytes. Hope it helps

[tarmyg]

Doctors recommending Gatorade should have their head examined, IMHO!

[Khazima]

Don't worry about drinking that much water, it's fine. Only problem I've ever had when drinking too much water was feeling like I'd flushed out all my vitamins etc (pretty sure that was actually the case) and I felt drained. Not sure how much water I was drinking but I was walking around with a 1l bottle and filling it up every hour or two.

[GirlyGymRat]

There are sweat and hydration calculators for different fitness levels, including athletes. Many factors contribute. Here's one example. Many more via google hydration calculators or sweat calculators.

http://nutrition.about.com/library/b...calculator.htm

[ironbeck]

Don't worry about it man. drink water and less pop is a win win.

[Deal Me In]

Yeah, I have to agree. I've never seen anything that would suggest you can realistically drink too much water. I think in order to be dangerous you would have to get somewhere near 16L and that to me is not realistic.

[GirlyGymRat]

Yeah, I have to agree. I've never seen anything that would suggest you can realistically drink too much water. I think in order to be dangerous you would have to get somewhere near 16L and that to me is not realistic.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication

[Domraise]

I think around 3L per day is enough water. About cramps... What about magnesium? It helps with muscle cramps.

[Times Roman]

I don't think anyone can accidently drink too much water?

suggest a couple of bananas a day. helps balance the electrolytes