Vitamin Water on the Cheap

In my last post, I went off on the wacky state of the world where people can now spend $30 on a sleek plastic water bottle. That’s a lot of dough for something that holds something that costs less than a penny. But now, a couple of days later, I realized that I must come clean. I too shell out cash to “help” me hydrate. Exhibit A: I am a bigtime fan of U Natural Hydradion tablets. These $0.50 fizzy tablets come fortified with a moderate dose of electrolytes and vitamins and great flavor. They come in tubes of 16 tablets, and one tablet makes 500mL of agua go down easy.

I use them to help me top off my hydration state in the mornings before my lunch time workouts; the taste is just sweet enough to keep my taste buds excited enough to polish off a liter fluids by noon. As a result, I’ve found that I don’t need to carry water with me during those hour-long exercise sessions; I’m plenty hydrated already, and knocking back a water bottle afterwards returns me to normal. I also find myself eating less and drinking more. Instead of chowing down 700 calories worth of bagels and cream cheese, glazed donuts or some other morning snack, I fill up on water with 7 calories of sugars in it.

If I had any backbone, I’d simply drink plain water straight from the tap. But I’ve got a sweet tooth, and those U tablets satisfy it without leading me to choose juices, sodas, sports drinks or other calorie-laden drinks to quench my thirst and hydrate. So I’m grateful I found the stuff. It’s kept me from pumping quarters into the Coke machine at my office and finding excuses to run down to 7-Eleven for a snack, and that’s been good for my wallet and waistline.