Have you hit it at one time, too? Late last summer, I ran face first into what I now call "the water wall."

Even if I drink two 28-ounce bottles of water during a four-hour bicycle ride in hot and humid conditions, I can still weigh six to eight pounds less afterwards. And sometimes my water weight deficit doesn't end there. Twice a week after a quick recovery meal, I cut the grass, weed, or engage in other sweat-inducing outdoor work.Since I want to work out well the following morning, I need to negate that water loss as fast as possible. Because of this, I sip water incessantly - and guzzle it greedily during the hottest days of summer.And then I hit "the water wall."Despite knowing how important it is to stay hydrated, I couldn't force myself to drink plain water any more. Instead, I used a "Naturally Flavored Sparkling Water Beverage" that's sugar-free, calorie-free, and caffeine-free for much of my rehydration.And now, a temporary suspension of that story to start another.This winter, a cyclist relatively new to the sport rode far less than in the fall and gained enough weight to adversely affect his cycling. He had - unbeknownst to me - been using his smartphone to search for a suitable diet before asking, "What does it mean to 'eat clean'?"Since bodybuilders have been using that phrase for at least as long as I've been writing about health and fitness, I gave him what I've now come to see as the old-school answer.A big-time bodybuilder needs to consume an excess of calories during the period of time he decides to add muscle mass. Breakfast could very well be an eight-ounce slab of steak, a half dozen eggs, a couple slices of whole wheat toast, and a salad-bowl sized serving of oatmeal with raisins and banana added.The extra carbs are needed for the ultra-intense workouts designed to literally tear the muscles apart; the extra protein is required to build them back up and even bigger to withstand the next onslaught. Some carbs and protein are almost always leftover - as well as fat from meat, the most common protein source - so an increase in body fat is inevitable.While less body fat will result because complex carbs and protein require more energy expenditure to transform into body fat than simple carbs or fat, a bodybuilder has to accept that getting a lot bigger means getting at least a little fatter - or he doesn't get that much bigger.The "eating clean" part comes once the muscle-building phase concludes. Slowly, the bodybuilder cuts back on calories to strip off virtually all subcutaneous body fat in order for the muscles to stand out.Now at breakfast, the yolks get tossed and the whites get scrambled. No fruit is added to the oatmeal. Toast becomes a memory. Same with red meat.Broiled skinless chicken and low-fat fish like tuna instead of red meat now provide the protein in the later meals.Today, however, "eating clean" tends to mean avoiding artificial additives and refined foods while eating as many whole and unprocessed foods as possible.Certain preservatives in processed foods, such as BHA, have been linked to cancer and reproductive problems - though the FDA considers the additive safe. Certain food colorings, such as caramel coloring, have been deemed potential carcinogens, partially based on a 2015 study published in PLOS One. Certain flavor enhancers, such as monosodium glutamate, supposedly produce headaches and other unpleasant reactions in some individuals.Another key element to eating clean calls for the elimination of added sweeteners, which not only improves health, but creates weight loss. As a result, the cyclist who posed the question would certainly shed those unwanted pounds by adhering to this diet.But I might benefit from an element of it, too - so it's time to return to the first story.Although I felt that I was the poster boy for clean eating, that "Naturally Flavored Sparkling Water Beverage" that I used to get around "the water wall" contains aspartame. Aspartame has been linked to headaches, which I rarely if ever get, but it's also been linked to insomnia.While I've never seen myself as an insomniac because I don't have trouble falling asleep, I certainly have trouble staying asleep. More often than not, I become conscious after a 90-minute cycle and sometimes use the bathroom. Since my mouth is dry, I often drink a bit of water.But after I hit the water wall, I began swigging that "Naturally Flavored Sparkling Water Beverage." Soon, I found myself heading to the bathroom in the night about every 90 minutes.At first I attributed this to age, but then I read that carbonation can irritate the bladder and increase urination. Because of that, I started drinking less of the "Naturally Flavored Sparkling Water Beverage" later in the day.Slowly, the process paid off.Now, as often as not, I'll stay in bed through two or even three 90-minute cycles without a bathroom break. Whether it's because I've reduced the amount of aspartame I'm consuming or whether my bladder isn't quite as irritated really doesn't matter to me.What matters is that I'm sleeping better and feeling better at the start of my day.