Drowning Myself Slowly?

It's common knowledge that you should drink eight 8 oz. glasses of water every day. The almighty "they" also recommend that while on a weight loss regimen, you drink an additional 1 oz. for every pound of weight that you wish to lose. Since I have an additional 55 pounds to lose, that means:

8 x 8 oz. = 64 oz.

55 x 1 oz. = 55 oz.

55 + 64 = 119 oz.

I have a 32 oz. bottle on my desk at work. I fill it with water from the cooler as soon as I arrive in the morning. By 11 AM, I have usually finished my first refill, thereby completing my 64 oz. requirement for the day. From this point on it is all about the weight loss. By the time I go home at night, I have usually finished off 2 more refills, bringing my total to 128 oz. To put that into perspective, that is exactly a gallon. In the course of a week, I am responible for drinking an entire 5- gallon water cooler bottle.

Now, according to my calculations, this is more than enough water for someone who is trying to lose the weight that I am. I didn't even include the other (sugar free, caffeine free, non-diuretic) beverages that I drink with my meals, or the water I drink while exercising.

The problem becomes apparant when I get home. I get thirsty.

Wandering-in-the-Sahara-Desert-for-decades parched.

Last night I drank another 32 ounces of water, a 32 ounce glass of Metamucil (the lack of fiber on Atkins is a little, shall we say, tough to pass), and 2 cans of Diet Rite (no caffeine, no sodium). This morning, I still woke up feeling like I hadn't drank in a month. Even my eyes were so dry I had to put drops in them before I could get my contacts in comfortably.

The worst part, though, is on the weekends. I don't have the five-gallon water cooler in my kitchen like I do at work, so getting the regular doses of H2O just doesn't happen. By Monday morning, I am parched again, ready to go back to work and rehydrate.