GN,
I do my water loss w/o drugs. The principle is very simple:
The body functions in feedback loops, including water homeostasis, that work like the thermostats and the AC (or heater) in your house, car, etc.
If you set the AC to 70 (its setpoint), the temp. much reach some threshold (say 72) before it kicks in. It will cool until it reaches some value below its setpoint, say 68. There is overshoot in the system. There must be some off-set or error to turn the AC on (temp reaches 72) and it will cool to provide somewhat of a temperature buffer (68? = 2? below the setpoint of 70?).
Now imagine how your thermostat, if it were "smart" like the body's, would react if you turned a heater on near the thermometer, but on the other side of the room from the AC. The heater would blast the thermometer (sensor) and the AC would be going full blast to cool the room. If you cut the heater off, the "smart" thermostat would not just cool the room to 68? - it would cool it to some level below that, b/c it remembers that there's a "threat" of heat AND the thermometer is simply is still hot even though the rest (most) of the room is at or below 70?. (It senses a hotter room than is actually the case!)
Water homeostasis is a bit more complicated, but you can use this principle to trick the body into drying out - losing water to a level of dehydration below its normal setpoint. Here's how:
-Turn on diuresis in the body by drinking LOTS of water, flooding it with fluid.
-The body will respond homeostatically by removing this water from the system. It senses that there is too much water b/c electrolytes (especially sodium) are diluted in the blood. When the water is lost, there will necessarily be some sodium loss.
-KEEP drinking water and the body will continue to lose water to try to keep up, but will lose some electrolytes as well. In fact, outpace the body's ability to lose water by INCREASING water intake gradually over several days and it will not quite be able to keep up. You'll be peeing like a racehorse by this point (but even get somewhat drier). (The body (hypothalamus) "senses" you have more water than you do, b/c electrolytes are so diluted.)
-ABRUPTLY stop drinking water and watch as the body continues removing it and "smartly" overshoots previous level of hydration, leaving you dry as a bone.
Additions to this:
-Use every means of diuretic (non-pharmacological) at your disposal, increasing dose as you increase water, turning on diuresis even more: vitamin C (3-5 g), caffeine, herbal diuretics, and finally for the last day of drinking water, a no-carb, purely protein diet. AFTER YOU STOP DRINKING WATER, CONTINUE with these natural diuretics, driving diuresis and keeping yourself dry.
-Take in minimal sodium as your are finishing your water intake and thereafter.
-Supplement with Potassium to prevent cramping.
Here's a sample:
Mon, Tue: No carbs - glycogen depletion workouts
Tues: carb-up, some sodium (none added to food), 7L water
Wed: as above, 8 L water, Add in non-pharm diuretics
Thurs: as above, 9L water, Up diuretics
Fri: no-carbs (more on this later), only protein diet, minimal sodium, 10L of water, finished by 6PM, up diuretics even more.
Sat (show): no carbs (more later), only protein diet, .5 - 1.0 L water, diuretics throughout day.
Hope this helps!
-Randy
P.S. To anyone who has questions about this, keep 'em here in the thread so everyone can get the answer.
(I get a lot of the same questions over and over...
)
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