The value of water

I never realized how precious water was until I had to go a full 7 days without it. SEVEN DAYS! Imagine it. No shower. No drink from the tap. No flushing the toilet. No cooking. No washing dishes. For a week, I lived off of canned pineapple, peanut butter sandwiches, carrots, and yogurt. I think I've lost 10 pounds in a week.... okay not really but it feels like it. Based on my behavior this week I have come to the following conclusion: When I have easily accessible water I am fat and lazy. Here's why.

I couldn't flush the toilet. Therefore I couldn't go potty at my house! (well, sometimes I did go pee pee in the potty but imagine a week of mine and roomie's pee pee in the potty....STINKY....). I had to get my butt down to the 7-eleven down the road in order to use the bathroom. I, unfortunately, can't go outside because I don't have an "aimer" as the boys do and "popping a squat" isn't acceptable female behavior. That alone forced me to work more in order to go to the bathroom and to really appreciate having a potty in my own house.

I couldn't take a shower. So, I put my "thinking cap" on and signed myself up for a free 7-day trial at 24 hour fitness JUST so I could take a free shower every day. Since I had the membership, I decided to start working out. That triggered something inside me. I realized I liked working out! I got Josh involved and we both signed up for a membership through LA Fitness (cuz 24 hour sucks and was too far away from home). No water, essentially, pushed me to exercise my fat butt.

I couldn't cook. Now, when I say cook, I really mean "make macaroni from a box." I need water to make macaroni. Is macaroni healthy? Nope. No sir. And I used to eat it just about every day. So, without my precious water, I couldn't make my carb-loaded pasta. I lived off of veggies, fruit, yogurt and sandwiches. Waterless-ness made me eat healthier.

Water helped me become healthier because of my inability to cook, shower and potty. And now that I think about it, I appreciate water being gone for a week. It helped me realize how much I rely on water and how easy I have it (even though I'm beyond broke)! It also gave me thoughts such as, "Oh, no wonder Africans are skinny. They have to walk 5 miles to get a bucket of water from a contaminated well" (jk). Now that I know what it's like to live without water, I promise myself to NEVER go without it again. Though, yes, it was good for me in certain ways, it really really pissed me off. Waking up in the middle of the night and really having to go to the bathroom and having to drives 2 miles down the road just to go to the bathroom is NOT fun. So here's a tip: PAY YOUR BILLS ;) And appreciate all the simple things you have in your life that you wouldn't even think twice about. One day, it could be gone.