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Friday 6th January 2006

I've got a drink problem. There I have admitted it. It's a weight off my shoulders.
My drink problem though involves not alcohol like you might be thinking (although probably I do have a drink problem in that area as well because I just can't afford it and also I drink more than the recommended daily amount). My drink problem came up today when I decided as part of my New Year health kick to follow the advice of the Guardian's personal training man and drink at least two litres of water a day. This, I have come to realise is an insane thing to do. It means you have to go to the toilet all the time. That's the nature of water, especially in large quantitites. it can't be healthy.
What I don't understand is that you can't include tea, coffee, juice or squash in your count. They all contain water, so why isn't that water as good as the pure water? I suppose caffeine and stuff pollute the water's healthiness somehow, but what if you have just drunk a coffee and then drink your water. The liquid in your stomach will be a mixture of coffee and water. So does that water count? Does it make any difference that the water has been mixed with something before when it will inevitably be mixed with all sorts of things when it is inside you? Or is there a special valve in your body that recognises water on its own and shifts a water chute into place when it senses water which goes down into your special water-bladder and then goes back when squash comes down and directs it to the less special squash and other stuff bladder?
And when I was out tonight, a friend of mine who has worked on a TV show about diets and stuff claimed that the whole drink two litres of water thing is a lie made up by bottled water manufacturers and actually drinking so much water means that vitamins and stuff are washed out of your body. I would loved to have heard more about this, but at thie point I had to go to the toilet because of my full water-bladder (plus my wine bladder was pretty full as well. I wish I could consolidate all my liquid intake into one manageable bladder with a bit more space in than this tiny dedicated bladders) and when I got back the topic of conversation had changed.
So apart from drinking a bit more alcohol than I should have tonight (but as a matter of fact I am just a social drinker and usually don't drink at all) it's been a pretty healthy first week of the year. Surely I am bound to keep it up. Just the constant walking to the toilet should be exercise enough for me.

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