Let Me be Clear

**Warning: The following blog post talks about the President and peeing.  (Not the President peeing, though.)  If you can't handle such topics without getting upset, you might want to avoid reading this.  p.s. Please keep political comments to yourself.**

As you may or may not know, the State of the Union Address is happening tonight.   I will avoid any commentary about President Obama because I don't wish to start any debates, but one thing can be said about the man, he sure has his catchphrases.

In fact, one of my co-workers has a drinking game with his buddies.  When they watch President Obama speak, they take a shot every time he says, "Make no mistake", "Here's the deal", "Win the future", "It will not be easy" or any time he uses the word "clear".  (They take two shots when the President makes reference to the past administration.)  Needless to say they are pretty wasted by the time the President is wrapping up. 

The Obama phrase I want to focus on is "Let me be clear". Thanks to my crack news staff here at the radio ranch, we have figured out that he has used this phrase about 1,034 times since he became a public figure.  

This got me to thinking.  (Scary, I know.)  I want to offer a challenge.  I call it "Water Wednesday".  

I will get to the challenge in a minute, but first, I should back up and tell you how I came up with this challenge.  

Ever since I started this path to health I have become a bit more obsessive than I ever was.  I set daily goals for myself in almost every aspect of my life and at the end of the day I do an inventory on how I did that day.

One of the things I like to do is to try to see how clear I can make my urine.  I do this by drinking a lot of water.  I try to drink at least eight cups - 64 ounces - a day. (Some days I go way over that.)   It's not hard for me to drink that much.  I drink water in the morning before, during and after my workout.  I drink at least 2 cups when I'm taking my vitamins & supplements in the morning.  I even keep a huge mug (52 ounce) of ice cold water at my desk and drink it throughout the day.

So, as I was thinking of Mr. Obama's usage of "Let me be clear" and my quirk of trying to make my urine run clear, my warped mind came up with an idea. 

Tomorrow - and every Wednesday - I challenge you to drink NOTHING but water.  No coffee, no tea, no pop, no milk, no juice, no alcohol, no gravy!  (That is for the folks in Wisconsin that use gravy as a beverage.)

On top of that, for tomorrow only, I will add one ounce to my eight for every time the President uses the word "clear" in tonight's speech. 

I know this sounds difficult, especially to those of you that "have" to have coffee in the morning.  I'll sweeten the deal for you.  Once you get your eight cups (64 ounces) in for the day, I'll allow you to drink other beverages.  

Obviously this is going to be based on the honor system, but the benefits of drinking water far outweigh the excuses not to:   

• Lose weight
• Eat less
• More energy
• Hydrates the skin
• Flushes out your system of toxins
• Aids digestion
• Can reduce the risk of certain cancers

(Not to mention the amount of walking you'll get in as you make frequent bathroom trips.) 

So please join me tomorrow for "Water Wednesday".  

And let me be clear, you will see a change in your health by doing so.  (That's more than any President can promise.)