# How do you stay hydrated?



## PaMike (Dec 7, 2013)

We have had a brutal hot weekend so far in the northeast. I am prone to dehydration so a carry a 1.5 qt water bottle with my while haying. Saturday I filled it 3 times while haying, but I still woke up this morning with a spliting headache from dehydration. I also get cravings when I get in from the field. Almost like I need salt or minerals or something... Anybody have any tricks? I know I know, drink more water..I was drinking so much I had to jump off the tractor and find a tree, but I still had a headache this morning...


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

I drink some of the Gatorade type drinks along with water for some variety..Try to stay away from the pop but drink to much of it.


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

Eat high water content fruit like watermelon.

And drink more water before you are working. Not just when it gets hot.


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## PaMike (Dec 7, 2013)

swmnhay said:


> I drink some of the Gatorade type drinks along with water for some variety..Try to stay away from the pop but drink to much of it.


I dump a little Gatorade powder in with my water, not much though. Don't need all the sugar..


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## Tater Salad (Jan 31, 2016)

Well now that your runnin a "Cab Tractor".....turn on the air and enjoy some sweet tea !!!!!!!!!


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

I drink G2 then water then G2...

Regards, Mike


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

2 frozen 2 litre pop bottles of water and a couple of small gatorades. Refill the bottles around 4 pm.

I try to wrap one of the bottles up so it stays frozen longer.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Squeeze or juice a whole lemon into a 12oz glass of water. Dont add sugar or anything else. Drink it down with breakfast. Then drink water the rest of the day.

Gatorade has too much sugar in it, but nothings better when you're thirsty.

I love iced tea, so I'm in trouble when I start drinking it, I cant stop.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

JD3430 said:


> Gatorade has too much sugar in it, but nothings better when you're thirsty.


That's why I drink G2.

Regards, Mike


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## Bishop (Apr 6, 2015)

We dump two teabags in a mug with hot water at breakfast until it is really dark tea, remove the bags, dump the dark tea and 2 heaping spoons of gatorade powder into a 4L (1 gallon) jug with water and a small amount of ice.

I also don't like making and drinking gatorade at full strength. I also don't like drinks too cold or I don't drink enough.

We call it gatortea.


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## PaMike (Dec 7, 2013)

Tater Salad said:


> Well now that your runnin a "Cab Tractor".....turn on the air and enjoy some sweet tea !!!!!!!!!


I still gotta climb out every once in a while to unjam the baler. 57 bales with no issue and it jams up with 5 bales left, at 8 pm. Gotta love it...


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

I like G2 as well, what we do is refill the empty bottles with water and freeze em, I may go thru at least four a day when its hot out. When its hot enough out the wife will make what she calls a melon salad, it will have watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, grapes, strawberries and kiwi in it, if it's brutal enough out I'll skip eating lunch and just have a few bowls full of that.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

PaMike said:


> I still gotta climb out every once in a while to unjam the baler. 57 bales with no issue and it jams up with 5 bales left, at 8 pm. Gotta love it...


Of course your baler is going to jam-up at 8PM.

Way past baling time down here. Never had any luck baling that late.


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## glasswrongsize (Sep 15, 2015)

I also get headaches from time to time if I am not careful. Stay away from caffeine as it is supposedly a diuretic (dehydrates you). I don't use much salt when I cook, but I try to force  myself to eat extra bacon at breakfast and put more salt on my supper. I drink @ 2 gallons of water on a hot day and keep drinking after I come inside for the night. I know it's a little taboo, but I drink ONE beer 2-3 times a day (and I AM NOT a "beer guy"...not light beer; I drink Coors full flavor. There are a lot of nutrients in a can of beer that keep me going. NA beer is another option.

Gatorade dehydrates me...can't keep it down; that stuff tastes like chemical to me.

Short answer, 2 gal water, salt, food, and beer are applicable.

73, Mark


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## Grateful11 (Apr 5, 2009)

We usually do water and Powerade. Refill the empties with water and toss them in the fridge in the equipment shed.


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## FCF (Apr 23, 2010)

As others have said we *use* to drink Gatorade then made the switch to G2, too much sugar in Gatorade. Now it's G2 or Propel. Propel is also from the makers of Gatorade and G2 but has zero calories, does have electrolytes and vitamins. Propel comes in various flavors, so you can get something sweet or tart, I'm partial to black cherry.


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## PaMike (Dec 7, 2013)

JD3430 said:


> Of course your baler is going to jam-up at 8PM.
> 
> Way past baling time down here. Never had any luck baling that late.


Yeah, it was last night... had to get it done. Wasn't too bad though. It was hot enough it stayed decent till about 8. I finished after that by a bit...


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## IHCman (Aug 27, 2011)

I freeze plastic bottles of water like others have said. I agree with mlappin about just eating fruit on a hot day. When its scorching hot it seems I never feel hungry, about all I like to eat when its really hot is fruit salad exactly like mlappin described.

I know I drink lots of water when I'm on an open cab tractor out in the heat but I still feel run down and dehydrated in the evening. Usually just keep drinking water all night and feel a lot better in the morning. When I wake up with a headache I usually blame my pillow. I was gonna try a My Pillow but seemed to expensive and had some bad reviews on Amazon. I ended up buying a different memory foam pillow for a lot less that seems to give me better support.

Could your neck be messed up and giving you headaches? Lots of turning around and looking back during haying can be tough on my neck. I've never been to a chiropractor for it but have thought about it.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

IHCman said:


> I freeze plastic bottles of water like others have said. I agree with mlappin about just eating fruit on a hot day. When its scorching hot it seems I never feel hungry, about all I like to eat when its really hot is fruit salad exactly like mlappin described.


Me and my wife get up early and make frozen fruit and fresh vegetable smoothies for us and the kids. They are very hydrating. They have a long lasting, nutritious energy burn and I don't feel as thirsty on hot days. My kids saw that they make them play better at their sports and won't leave for school without them. I rarely eat lunch when it's hot after the fruit/veg smoothie. I prefer to hydrate and maybe a little snack at about 1-2 pm. I'll eat dinner between 7-9pm.



> Could your neck be messed up and giving you headaches? Lots of turning around and looking back during haying can be tough on my neck. I've never been to a chiropractor for it but have thought about it.


Yes absolutely. I just spent some money I really didn't want to on a front mower for that very reason. Neck injuries. I had a neck like a bull, but man it gets sore from turning back for hours.


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## Swv.farmer (Jan 2, 2016)

I am a heavy drinker of water but when it's hot out the wife makes me drink power aid zero so I don't get the sugar but I still get all the electrolytes and stuff.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

What yall looking backwards for?

Sweet tea for us......Gatorade if it's on sale, water always.....


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## IHCman (Aug 27, 2011)

sickle mower makes you look back a bit. I still haven't upgraded to a disc mower yet.

Seems everything I do involves looking back in a tractor. Whether using the bale processor or feed wagon in the winter feeding. Moving bales with the hay hiker isn't quite as bad but still alot of looking back. Need a tractor like my neighbors JD 8100 where the seat and controls turn a bit.


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

glasswrongsize said:


> I also get headaches from time to time if I am not careful. Stay away from caffeine as it is supposedly a diuretic (dehydrates you). I don't use much salt when I cook, but I try to force  myself to eat extra bacon at breakfast and put more salt on my supper. I drink @ 2 gallons of water on a hot day and keep drinking after I come inside for the night. I know it's a little taboo, but I drink ONE beer 2-3 times a day (and I AM NOT a "beer guy"...not light beer; I drink Coors full flavor. There are a lot of nutrients in a can of beer that keep me going. NA beer is another option.
> 
> Gatorade dehydrates me...can't keep it down; that stuff tastes like chemical to me.
> 
> ...


Ah... the ol' "hydraulic sandwiches" in a can... LOL BIL swears by 'em.

Later! OL J R


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

Stay away from soda, like Coke, Mountain Dew, etc. They are loaded with salt to cause you to want to drink more. And the salt taste is covered up with sugars.

And Gatorade, Powerade, etc. are missing some of the essential secondary electrolytes like magnesium.

The human body needs to maintain a very precise balance between water, sodium (salt), potassium, magnesium and calcium. When the balance get off, the kidneys go into overdrive to correct it.

The best hydrating drinks I've found are 10% real apple juice (most other fruit juices work just as well) in cool water (not ice water) and melons like watermelon or musk melon.

The high moisture content along with natural sugars peps me right up.

I avoid the dinky cantaloupes, seedless watermelons and honeydews from the supermarket, They are bred for looks and shipping, are usually picked before ripe, and have had a lot of the nutritional value bred out of them

Ralph

Life would be so much simpler if I didn't read and think so much.


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## hillside hay (Feb 4, 2013)

I start off with a pot of coffee. Then water and ice tea with sweetened with maple syrup and lemon. My version of switchell. Sometimes water cut with some cider vinegar and a little ginger. Definitely an acquired taste but keeps me ticking and keeps my antioxidant levels up.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

IHCman said:


> Could your neck be messed up and giving you headaches? Lots of turning around and looking back during haying can be tough on my neck. I've never been to a chiropractor for it but have thought about it.


Absolutely, up till the end of March if I looked down for too long I'd eventually feel nauseous (or maybe it was a migraine? never had one before), same with welding if looking down, the helmet really made it bad.

Kept up with the exercises from PT, can actually look down or weld without feeling nauseous as long as it isn't for more than an hour. Still feel the looking back at the end of the day but some time doing the stuff from PT ends that, but I've had quit a few 18 hour days in the last week trying to get done before a rain shuts us down.

A messed up neck or back can cause all kinds of other problems. Thought I might have been getting sciatica from the accident in 2014, turns out tail bone was stiffened up and not flexing properly when sitting down, some exercises for that ended the sciatica symptoms, also had carpal tunnel symptoms, on a bad day that fell on a dart night I'd be dropping darts before I could even throw them, months of PT on the neck ended that as well.


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