If you’re considering making any changes to your diet or your lifestyle because you have been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, you aren’t alone in that. I feel like so many of us have this epiphany after being diagnosed where we feel compelled to do absolutely everything to make ourselves as healthy as possible. We feel this urgency come over us because we think that it has to be now so that it won’t be never. In so many ways, I am thankful every day for my disease because it caused me to stop and reevaluate everything in life and how I prioritized myself. If you are like me and you have come to the conclusion that you’re determined to take control of your life and live the best that you can, I applaud you and I have some humble advice for how to get started. It’s the one thing I can truly say was the ultimate turning point for me when it came to committing to the process of massive change over time.
My advice is to start with drinking a gallon of water a day. WAIT! Don’t leave! Give me 3 more sentences and then decide if you want to keep reading or not; I know how triggering that may have felt.
Sentence 1: I KNOW how many times so many of us went to the doctor and tried to vocalize the insane things happening to our bodies just to be told that these feelings were normal and to go home and drink more water.
Sentence 2: This has absolutely nothing to do with that, I promise.
Sentence 3: My suggestion to drink more water has far less to do with hydration or “solving” for anything than it does proving to yourself in a very approachable way that you’re capable of implementing new habits.
If you can get through a gallon of water a day, you’re already doing wonders for yourself. If you’re even considering changing your diet, your sleeping patterns, or taking vitamins and supplements, drinking a gallon a day is a foundation for all the good stuff to take place and to build upon. You can still do all of those things, but start here!
When I decided to change my life, I knew that I had to start small because I was so overloaded with information and pulled in a million different directions by people who were on certain diets or workout plans. Everyone thought they had the answer, and maybe it was for them, but I needed to go at a pace I felt comfortable with. My bandwidth was so limited at that point, I needed to take a baby step when it came to thinking about doing anything but surviving in such a turbulent time. Drinking water is universally agreed upon. It’s the one thing in the world that everyone needs to consume and I knew I wasn’t getting enough, so it seemed like the obvious place to start where I would be sure that no matter what, it was a good choice.
What was comforting to me was the fact that although drinking more water would benefit my body and likely improve my overall health, it didn’t make me feel like I had to sacrifice immediately. When we tell ourselves we have to go on a new diet, we have to eliminate certain foods we love because they may be causing inflammation, etc., we are starting the process of restriction when we are beginning a lifelong journey of self-discovery. I didn’t want to start with the mentality that to be well, I had to give things up. The reason I don’t agree with doing that immediately is because getting a diagnosis makes us feel like our future that we have always imagined for ourselves is being ripped away. We feel like we have been robbed and the last thing you want to do when you’re robbed of something is to give up even more.
That’s why I began my process by only adding things to my routine. I added a gallon of water to my diet before I even considered cutting out coffee or other things we are often told to avoid. I went on amazon, bought a plastic gallon water jug and committed to drinking at least one full jug a day until I no longer had to think about it anymore. I found that having a gallon jug was essential for me because I didn’t have to refill it. I knew that I would start my day by filling it up and that it had to be empty by the time I went to bed. It was simple and I didn’t have to remember to refill it or count how many bottles I’d had. I also found that making sure the jug was see through was helpful for me because I could see clearly how close I was getting to my goal every day and I found that motivating.
Doing this created a daily goal for me that I could set and feel proud of myself for accomplishing. If nothing else, I drank my water that day and that’s something even the “healthiest” of people forget to do for themselves sometimes. It showed me that I enjoyed a challenge and I could get so much satisfaction out of these small triumphs. I was excited to add more of these to my day. I started looking for other ways to add wellness to my day. I added more color to my plates of food, more fresh herbs and vegetables, before ever considering cutting carbs or gluten or dairy. I made sure to never eat a plate that had less than 5 colors on it and my love and appreciation for fresh, healthy foods grew tenfold.
For the record, I want to say that I never ended up cutting out carbs, dairy, sugar, gluten, alcohol, or any of the other things. Overall, I eat a well-balanced mixture of fresh, wholesome foods that are nutrient dense and made from the highest quality ingredients that are available to me. This is customizable for anyone and totally doable no matter what your budget may be. I added water, supplements, several forms of exercise, and balance to my life and I’ve never felt better or been able to do more. By taking on the mentality that my disease made me add so many things to my life, it has helped me to cope and live in the spirit of always feeling like my MS has given me so much more than it has ever taken away. I hope this is helpful!
Reasons to Start with 1 Gallon of Water Every Day:
1. It is something we all have access to and a fun and easy way to challenge ourselves.
2. You won’t find any source that will tell you that this isn’t a great way to boost your overall health and wellness whether you have a disease or not.
3. Unless you’re drinking the right amount of water, you’re not getting the most out of any of the other things you’ve put into your body to achieve greater health (i.e. food, supplements, medicine.) Water is the vehicle that moves everything in our bodies to where it needs to go.
4. Water helps to protect your body from the inside out, cushioning your brain, spinal cord, joints, etc.
5. Water helps to regulate everything from temperature to energy levels and it can massively impact your mood and outlook.
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