The Mighty Key Lime

Over the last two years it has become increasingly difficult for me to stay properly hydrated.  I went on Adderall to help my ADD brain focus more, since after I had Paloma I had to track two kids, a dog and maintain a home (etc., etc., etc.)  But the catch with the meds, which did tremendously help, is that they severely dehydrated me and cut my appetite.  I've been off them now for about three months, but when I was on them I dropped to a ghastly 108 pounds, and at 5'6, that just looks gross.  It isn't healthy, period.  My skin had no color and my acne flared up because of the inconsistency in my eating habits, or lack thereof.  I was focusing and getting more done throughout the day, but my body was suffering.  I couldn't run because my I was hardly ever taking in enough calories or properly hydrated.

This coming from a girl that loves, loves, loves to go on early morning runs with her dog.  There's nothing quite like just you and the sound of your breath following the rhythm of your feet as they hit the grass (I want to preserve my knees, so I run on the grass, never on the paved trail).  I used to enjoy, almost need, music to run, but now it's just a distraction that keeps me from just blanking out and enjoying God's perfect work in nature.

Now that I've been off my meds I have to learn how to juggle everything AND drink water in order to run again without feeling like I'm doing it with cinder blocks tied to my legs.  I want to drink coffee more than anything, though, because I'm always tired.  Or at least it feels that way. So since I'm now off my meds, I'm a lot spacier, so I forget and lose things a lot more.  It is entirely too much of a task for me to recycle since we live in a highrise, where you have to take all your stuff and drop it in once specific place.  Don't judge.  If you don't have ADD, you have no idea what a daunting task that is for me and my kind!!!  So I don't want to use bottled water because I don't recycle the bottles, and I'm trying to still be a responsible citizen, which leaves me with my 1.5 liter Camelbak that is incredibly heavy, but hey, I'm trying to stay hydrated so I lug it around.  The problem is that I'm sick of plain water.

And they tell you, oh, flavor your water with lime.!  "Yes!" I think to myself, why don't I ever remember to buy limes and put slices in my water?  Well, it's because after I cut a lime and insert said wedges, I put the lime away, and then it gets lost in the fridge, and then it gets old and moldy, and then I don't have limes for my water, and then I don't drink water, and then I don't buy more limes at the store because I don't want to deal with moldy limes I keep forgetting about.

ADD is exhausting.

But I found key limes!  They're so small and cute, and they remind me of Mexico.  I cut one in half, squeeze the entire lime juice in my bottle and throw it away.  Boom!  Done.  I've had about 7 liters of water in the last 36 hours.  No limes to track and my water is flavored, and it tastes like Mexico in the summer, too.  But that's a whole other story.  You have to be Mexican, or have traveled there, to appreciate our fascination and love of the mighty lime.  You can read more about them here and here. 

Key limes are the perfect little size, see?  They're like disposable dishes!  Best idea EVER!  And if you ever want to make key lime pie, you'll never have to worry about missing the key ingredient!  (I couldn't help myself.)  I love key lime pie! 

Wow, I am really excited about my discovery, as told by my many uses of the excalamation point today.  But shouldn't we all be excited about getting healthy?