Cognitive dissonance is one of the most fascinating tricks the mind pulls on the body. It’s the mind saying, “Nope!” even in the presence of hard facts. Here’s an example:

You consider yourself a responsible dog owner, but one day you’re out for a walk and you’ve forgotten poop bags. Halfway through, Fido does his business. You look around and no one’s on the street. You tell yourself you’ll go home and get a bag and come back. But when you get home, you don’t really want to walk another mile to the house and back. You tell yourself you’re not the only person who’s dog has done this and it was only one time.

You’ve just done the thing that you don’t believe in doing, and rationalized it to yourself, acting out of alignment with your own personal integrity. This is an example of cognitive dissonance.

Ockham’s Razor states that the simplest explanation is most likely the correct answer. If the lights don’t turn on in two rooms in my house, is it more likely that all of my lightbulbs are somehow cursed, or that the circuit breaker needs to be reset? You got it – Ockham’s Razor would lead you to the correct answer, that my circuit breaker needed to be reset.

We humans have some common places in everyday life that cognitive dissonance arises: eating dessert when we’re trying to lose weight, drinking alcohol when we’ve promised ourselves to cut back, smoking a cigarette when we’re trying to quit, and not taking the supplements that we paid good money for and make us feel better to name a few. But there’s another place I see it that really sneaks up on people, and it’s particularly prevalent this time of year.

In fact, I’d estimate about 80% of the people I see in clinic carry this particular cognitive dissonance, especially this time of year. How can I tell? Because the symptoms are pretty dramatic and easy to identify. However, many of them are THE EXACT SAME SIGNS AS AGING, so I see a LOT of people believing “I’m just getting old and I’m SCREWED!” But what if you’re not really aging THAT fast, and you’re just in cognitive dissonance?

Do experience any of these things on a weekly basis?

  • Low energy, ranging from a little low to very low.
  • Low motivation, also ranging from a little low to quite low.
  • Brain fog! And when you can’t think your way out of a paper bag, it’s hard to think your way out of cognitive dissonance.
  • Back pain, especially around the kidneys
  • Headaches, especially on the front of the head.
  • Light-headedness or dizziness
  • Heart palpitations
  • Less stable emotions
  • Infrequent urination
  • Low will power
  • Low libido
  • Dry skin
  • Weight gain
  • Constipation

Energy drinks and coffee don’t pick you up as much as they used to.

In fact, there’s a reason that most people think they might just be signs of aging. Compare that to the list I mentioned last week of kidney deficiency – which is Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for aging, and you’ll see they’re quite similar:

Signs of kidney deficiency in TCM are:

  • Dizziness
  • Lack of energy
  • Low motivation
  • Slower growth
  • Brain fog & Memory
  • Libido/Sex Drive
  • Teeth
  • Hair
  • Back pain
  • Knee pain
  • Night sweats
  • Tinnitus & Hearing Loss
  • Frequent urination
  • Possibly desire to drink less water
  • Lingering cough

But, is it MOST likely that you have chronic kidney disease? Or does Ockham’s Razor have some wisdom to share with us?

So, what’s the cognitive dissonance? I ask every person I see how much water they’re drinking, and almost every person says, “Plenty,” or “Enough.” But then we stop and we actually do the math – I was an engineer first, as you know, and “Plenty” isn’t a number. And 80% of the time, the person in front of me is dehydrated, and often has been for a long time. Why does this happen? The simplest reason is often that we don’t like getting up to go to the bathroom, or just that we’re so focused on what we’re doing that we forgot. That’s easy to happen when we’re a little brain-fog dehydrated.

Two years ago I learned a new way to drink water. Since that time, I’m hardly ever running for the bathroom anymore, unless I overdose on green tea. And to be honest, 25 years ago, I really disliked drinking water! But I had moved to the VERY DRY mountains of Colorado, and there wasn’t a choice. I also pretty much gave up drinking then, because it made me feel tired, stupid, and slow-reflexes…altitude + alcohol compounds the effects of alcohol alone. But that can be a story for another time.

So let me share some information and tips with you that might help.

1. Know that if you live in a humid environment, you will feel less thirsty, but you actually need MORE water than those dry Coloradans do. Why? Because in a dry climate, when you sweat, it evaporates, and you cool down. Your mouth feels drier, too, so you’re naturally more inclined to want to drink. In tropical areas, you’re wet all the time. Your sweat does evaporate – it ACCUMULATES! You become your own little greenhouse, just getting hotter inside. And this part is a little more complicated to explain, but it is a fundamental teaching in TCM – once you have reached a certain point of chronic dehydration, you actually become less thirsty. So if you live in a hot humid climate, you’re going to have to use some clear thinking and some will power. But there are some things that help.

2. Know the math. You need half your body weight (in pounds) of water (in ounces). So if you’re 200 lbs, you need 100 oz of water a day.

3. If you’re sweating, you’re losing salt and electrolytes. WHERE SALT GOES IN THE BODY, WATER WILL FOLLOW. You may need to drink some electrolytes to properly hydrate those cells. Ways you can do this are: electrolyte drink of water, lemon, a little honey and salt. Or a little coconut water: I really like the brand Harmless Harvest because it seems to hydrate much more thoroughly – 4 oz a day should be fine for most people.

4. 1. Know that if you live in a humid environment, you will feel less thirsty, but you actually need MORE water than those dry Coloradans do. Why? Because in a dry climate, when you sweat, it evaporates, and you cool down. Your mouth feels drier, too, so you’re naturally more inclined to want to drink. In tropical areas, you’re wet all the time. Your sweat does evaporate – it ACCUMULATES! You become your own little greenhouse, just getting hotter inside. And this part is a little more complicated to explain, but it is a fundamental teaching in TCM – once you have reached a certain point of chronic dehydration, you actually become less thirsty. So if you live in a hot humid climate, you’re going to have to use some clear thinking and some will power. But there are some things that help.

2. Know the math. You need half your body weight (in pounds) of water (in ounces). So if you’re 200 lbs, you need 100 oz of water a day.

3. If you’re sweating, you’re losing salt and electrolytes. WHERE SALT GOES IN THE BODY, WATER WILL FOLLOW. You may need to drink some electrolytes to properly hydrate your cells. Ways you can do this are: electrolyte drink of water, lemon, a little honey and salt. Or a little coconut water: I really like the brand Harmless Harvest because it seems to hydrate much more thoroughly – 4 oz a day should be fine for most people.

4. Know what IS water and what is NOT. What isn’t water: coffee, green or black tea, chai tea, sugary drinks, energy drinks, anything caffeinated, milk, milkshakes, even SOME decaf herbal teas – ones that are spicy (like Bengal Spice or Good Earth’s Sweet & Spicy) are also drying. What is water: water. Most decaf herbal teas, like fruit flavored teas, chamomile, and hibiscus to name a few. Decaf coffee and black / green tea have less caffeine, but are still a little drying in nature. When in doubt: water is water.

5. BUT, I HATE DRINKING WATER. I did, too. Here are some things that have worked for me and my clients over the years. Try mineral water – the minerals will help pull fluid into your cells and help super-hydrate you. I like it with a little lime or lemon. Cucumber water or orange water – water with fresh slices in it – is another super-hydrator. Mineral supplements are easy to add in and come in many flavors: I like Young Living’s add ins: Lavendar-Lemon Electrolyte Vitality Drops, although there are 3 other yummy flavors – just ask me about CLEAN supplement! Just make sure you’re not adding sugar to your water, because that DE-HYDRATES you. That’s the secret of Coke, by the way – in addition to 65 grams of sugar (wow! That’s ALMOST THREE TIMES as much as it’s recommended to consume in ONE DAY!), it also has 75 mg of salt in there to make you thirsty, so that you buy more Coke. You can also a teaspoon or less of fruit juice to a glass of water to make it palatable.

6. What about that new way of drinking water? It turns out your belly can only hold 2-3 ounces of water at a time. So in order to get the water into your cells, you have to simply sip! Drink a couple of sips, then drink again 20 mins later. At my clinic, you’ll notice I keep a pitcher of water right by my side. This is so I can visually see how much more I need to drink that day. Some days, I’ll realize I’ve missed the mark at lunchtime, and I’ll start working it back in. On a few days, I didn’t notice it till 4 pm. But that’s a heck of a lot better than missing it all day, and waking up dehydrated the next morning! Hydration is very forgiving – start as soon as you notice, and you’ll be right back on track.

However you have to do it – think of Nike and JUST DO IT. And if that cognitive dissoance tries to show up and tell you that it’s not that important, just tell IT that you’re not interested in being tired, dumb, old and fat!

And if you do drink your water and still have those aging symptoms, we can help! We offer a free 5-minute consult, and our initial consult is just $300.