Step 4 - Water

Skinny people say you're supposed to drink upwards of 60 oz of water a day, or roughly half a gallon. And for one of the very few times, I agree wholeheartedly with skinny people! Its amazing how that much water cleanses your system, suppresses your appetite and fuels your workouts.

If and when I drank water before, it was bottled. Cute, little convenient 10 oz servings I kept cold in the fridge that were ready to go at a moments notice. And as I started step 4, I made sure I had a bottle in each hand every time I left the house. It didn't take long for me to recognize how many bottles I was blowing through as I tried to reach the expert-recommended level of 60 oz a day.

Now I'm no environmentalist. I'm all for the rain forests and spotted owls prospering, so long as neither one interferes with my God-given right to air conditioning. But the site of my trash can filled with nothing but empty plastic bottles really seemed ridiculous.

Finally, I hit the bottom of the well. With no Sam's run in my immediate future and my supply of bottled water depleted I did the unthinkable. I got out a plastic cup, filled it with ice, walked to the tap and filled it up. It tasted a little different at first, but (just like my taste buds adjusting to less grease and sugar and fat) after a couple of days, my mouth is none the wiser.

Despite my wife's insistence that she can taste the difference between water from the kitchen and water from the bathroom, I'm convinced 99% of humans can't tell a bit of difference between French mountain water, Ozark spring water and the fluoride-fortified tap water that's piped to our faucets for pennies a day. Oh, I know, you say you can. But put your money where your taste buds are – especially since we're considering the taste of a flavorless liquid here.

Water is water is water.

Except now its not "just" water. There are Flavored Waters. Vitamin Waters. Sport Waters. These drinks are 99% water with just enough aspartame or crystalline fructose or citric acid or vitamin supplement thrown in to make them marketable. Not a whole lot different than diet soft drinks - which also claim to be 99% water.

The manufacturers of these drinks claim they're helping Americans get their daily dose of water. OK... but most are also giving you a daily dose of other crap that it's either not that great for you or you just don't need.

So are these nouveau waters healthy? Some more so than others I guess, but overall, what's the point? Plop a multi-vitamin and a glass of tap water and save yourself the two bucks and 125 calories in a bottle of Vitamin Water. If you're a professional athlete, by all means, down some Gatorade, but is a bottle of Propel really going to be that dramatically more effective at re-hydrating the average weekend warrior than a glass of water? I think not.

So I'm saving those calories for someplace else, saving the earth (one tiny little plastic bottle at a time) and saving my wallet - all while I get my 60 oz a day. Which, by the way, is not easy to do. Considering I used to knock out a 48 oz Coke in one sitting, I didn't think I'd have any problem substituting water, but it really does take a concerted effort.

That, and a lot more trips to the bathroom.