Drinking water. Just water.

[~clover~]

I've never been a fan of water. Through summer a cold glass here & there, but no where near the 2L minimum.

I don't drink enough fluids full stop. Coffee in the morning, a mouthful of juice here & there. Maybe a coffee before bed. That's it. If I go out, or buy a drink for any reason, it's coke. Thankfully it's not quite the addiction it once was, but probably only coz it was cold & coffee is warm.

So the last week or 2 I've decided to fix it. I am drinking at least 750m of water. Most days 1.5 - 2 of them. Still not perfect, but a damn good effort!

I've tried different ways to drink water. And none of them work. It's plain or nothing. But I've started buying the flavoured pump waters. Not cheap :/ BUT I'm drinking my water.

Am I right to think that they are better than no water at all? Or are they full of sugar that really won't help my cause. Do I have to go back to straight water?

Fresh fruits aren't readily available where I am, so to add my own fruit flavour I'd be very limited. No berries!
Obviously growing my own wont help right now

So are these acceptable? I'm active & also trying to eat well. I'm hoping to see & feel a difference in my body soon!

Btw: it's sad, but the last time I wee'd this much I was pregnant! It's annoying needing to go while out & about! That's how sadly dehydrated I've been for years :/

[leckert]

The weeing will slow down once your body gets used to more liquid.
I figure the same thing with the flavoured water (although I prefer plain water these days). I don't guarantee it's totally better for you

[Chocaholic]

Have you tried a slice of lemon or lime in the water? Flavoured water does have sugar in it but it is better than nothing

[ladybirdflies]

I was going to suggest slices of lemon and mint. I fill a jug with lemon slices and just keep topping up the water you only need to change the lemons everyday. Good on you for drinking more water. The more you drink the more you want to drink and your body will start absorbing it better soon too. If you are drinking a large amount at once it can tend to go straight thru so be sure to sip here and there as well, that way it's easier for your body to absorb. I would stay away fro the flavoured waters because of the added ingredients, but you could start with one 750 flavoured water and one plain and then increase the plain water and decrease the flavoured water slowly too.

Also a slice of lemon in boiling water and drinking it as hot as you can handle it a brilliant way to kick the liver into gear and process any toxins in your system.

[LimeSlice]

Forever, I loathed water, couldn't drink it at all without cordial in it. I used to take packets of Tang on school camping trips, and carry my own massive drink bottles, because I could drink the plain water. So here's how I came to be a lover of water, and it is literally the only thing I drink now (save alcohol LOL).

I started drinking natural cordials, and then began watering it down. Bickford berry cordial goes nicely into 4 litres of water, then it was 5, then 6... Bickfords Lime and Lemon & Barley are nice too. They are MUCH cheaper than flavoured Pump rubbish, about $6-$8 from any supermarket.

I also bought a Brita filter jug. Costs me $12 every 3 months for the filter from KMart, a little more from Coles. I still can't stomach straight tap water - and WA water is worse than Melbourne! I refill my water bottles in the fridge from it.

It is much easier to stomach, I found, if it is really cold - so keep it in the fridge.
Start with 1, but work up to 2, full glasses of water FIRST THING in the morning. Not only is it fantastic for your gut health and metabolism, it also gets 500ml out of the way before you realise what is happening.
Coffee is a diuretic - it makes you pee more, and strips hydration from your body. Not helpful. Every time you drink a cup of coffee, skull a full glass of water before hand. Every. Time. Coke (being full of caffeine) will not be helping.
You will get craving for the sugar. I still get them. For me, it is lemonade, not Coke, but they do go away for the most part.
Skull a glass right before bed - work up to two - it will help you sleep better, will make you feel better in the morning when you wake up, and before you know it 1 litre of your water intake passes without you noticing, simply by drinking the 2 glasses first and last things of the day.
Get a 1.25 litre Pump bottle. Fill it once, and carry it with you wherever you go all day, all round the house, the car and when you go out.
I preferred to have big skulls - can't taste how **** it tastes that way LOL, but you might be a sips kind of person. Either way, it is habitual more than anything. I can't function without water now, I cannot even begin to understand how totally dehydrated I was before. I didn't even drink water on shift. Blergh. I *feel* so much better now! My skin is better, I have more energy, brain works faster, it is quite amazing. I go without water for even a couple of hours, and I feel like crud.

So, total reformed water-hater over here, and that is how I did it. There are still days when I have to force myself to drink those first two glasses of water, but I know that I will feel better for it. I still get days when all I want i lemonade - so I buy can and realise I love it, but it just makes me more thirsty anyway. And I still drink coffee - but I don't *need* as much, because I am actually hydrated and have more energy without it.

Bickford's. Best. Stuff. Ever.

[ciara.e]

Wow, I understand this one!

Did you know that you would need to drink 16 glasses of water to flush one cup of coffee through your system? It's so acidic! So on top of your 3-4L of water you should be drinking each day, you would need to add 32 glasses to flush those two cups you're having.

Fresh berries may not be available, but have you tried frozen berries? I do this in summertime! Very yum. I'm over the lemon/lime thing, so this works well for me. Fresh, organic mint leaves work a treat too!

Here's another way my clients are finding great success in getting their minimum 3-4L per day:

Drink 1-2 glasses around each food consumption time (wait 20mins between food and water at big meal times for healthy digestion)

Wake up
2 glasses of water before you even go to the loo.
20 mins later - Breakfast + 1 glass of water
+3hrs - small snack + 2 glasses water
+3hrs - 400-600cal meal + 1 glass water 20 mins either side of the meal
+3hrs - small snack + 2 glasses water
+3hrs - 200-400cal meal + 1 glass water 20 mins either side of meal
glass of water before bed.... no exceptions on this one

Having a little schedule like this makes it easy to stick to. It's also an awesome plan for healthy eating and weight loss. The idea is that you have no choice BUT to drink water at those times because it's part of your eating plan.

Xx
Hope this helps a little

[Kazzo]

I only drink water, tea and coffee. When I cut out all other types of drink about 10 years ago I have found my weight is so much more stable.

It takes a bit to get use to it but you will if you keep at it. My favourite to add is cucumber and mint to water. I also find that to be able to drink water all day long I drink it from a bottle and I drink it a tap temperature. If it is very cold I find it harder to drink.

[JLeigh29]

I do exactly what LimeSlice does with the diluted cordial and Brita jug I'm down to 1tsp cordial in 1/2L water.

I also find very cold water harder to drink, so add a little tap water.

I also drink a glass of ½ water, ½ fruit and veg juice each morning.

The lemon slices in a jug are a great idea, esp as we have the world's biggest lemon tree in our backyard!

Can you swap the coffee for green/decaf tea?

[AnyDream]

Firstly, I don't believe in the whole 2L myth. Different people need different amounts of water. Having said that, making the effort to drink a little more than you usually do will pay off bigtime.

But here's the thing - all fluid counts as water - except not coffee or cola or alcohol (because these strip more water out than they put in). Eating more soups & salads & fruit counts as water too. The question becomes how many extra calories/sugar you want to consume at the same time.

Here are my tips: try sparkling mineral water. Get a water filter (so it tastes nicer to start with) and if you're chilling water in the fridge, chose a bottle or jug that seals, so you don't get nasty fridge taste in your drink. Even better, use ice cubes to chill your fresh, filtered water. Previous suggestion to dilute cordial is much better & cheaper (& kinder to the environment) than flavoured pump drinks. Also there are fruit flavoured tea bags that can be used for pleasant iced teas. But try to challenge yourself to have at least one glass of plain water each day - start small - so that it becomes more "normal".

PS - it might be worth getting a dental check up if your drinking habits are changing.

[AnyDream]

And get yourself a really nice glass, one just for you, that you love to drink from.

[~clover~]

The dental check up I do need :/ and I will when I have the money & time. I need 3 teeth removed...

Yesterday the only thing I drank besides water was iced tea. Not even a coffee. Still a bought iced tea but better than coke. Green tea too.

Will have to look in the local supermarkets. Only have the local very small iga & another iga 60k away. Anything else needs to be bought online or travel 2-3 hours.

Ive done the lemon. That's how I upped it when pregnant. Ive tried it, not as keen as I was back then.

Im doing one flavoured, one plain most days. But flavoured water costs money. That novelty will wear off soon.

Will try frozen berries. Bet they won't be cheap :/

[Nai]

I prefer sparkling water so we invested in a soda stream and I have soda water with a squeeze of fresh lime.

[~clover~]

I have a soda stream mum loaned me. Cant do it. Mum does the same, with lemon.

On the plain water today. Slowly, but getting there.

[Astrid]

Did you know that you would need to drink 16 glasses of water to flush one cup of coffee through your system? It's so acidic! So on top of your 3-4L of water you should be drinking each day, you would need to add 32 glasses to flush those two cups you're having.

Can you clarify that? That just seems very extreme. If anything there have been articles about the issues with over-consumption of water.

Can you drink too much water? - Health & Wellbeing

Eight glasses a day?

We've been told we need to drink at least eight glasses of water a day, but Taylor says there's no scientific evidence to support this. Health professionals agree men's bodies need around 2.6 litres and women's around 2.1 litres of water a day (pretty much eight glasses a day). But it turns out you get some of this from other drinks and food, Taylor says.

"Approximately four glasses of water, or a litre a day, is obtained from the food that we eat. So we get that from solid foods and things such as watermelon, tea, coffee, milk and yogurt, which all contribute to our total fluid load," Taylor says.

You can also include caffeinated drinks in your fluid intake. While these drinks do have a mild diuretic effect (ie they promote water loss) you get more fluid from them than you lose. However, alcohol makes you dehydrated.

On top of what you get from food and drinks, your body produces another 250mls of water a day when metabolising substances in the body, such as fat, protein and starch.

Taking all this into consideration, Taylor suggests you drink four to six standard glasses (250ml) of water per day. Obviously, you will need more if you are living in an extremely hot climate and are very active. Likewise, if you live in a very cold climate you may need to drink a little less.

So how do you know when you need to drink more water? It isn't rocket science, your thirst can be a guide or check the colour of your urine – it should be pale yellow.

[Frangipani Lou]

Checkout the cordial that's sweetened with stevia- its available from the supermarket. Tastes pretty good and much better than sweet water. How about cold fruit or mint tea?

[Sopdet]

stay away from stevia if you are BF, pregnant or trying to get pregnant, it is a traditional birth control medicine in some countries.

[black_rose]

I do the soda stream too, my eldest dd loves it she calls it bubble juice, I am trying to have more plain water but struggle too it has to be filtered or I feel like gagging.

[~clover~]

I actually read last night why you pee more as your body is getting used to the intake. From what I read, its your body letting go of its stored supply of water, because it starts to rely on the fresh water coming in every day.
Alot of people think the water is going straight through them & give up after a few days because of this, thinking its not working.

I've done 2 days now with just plain water. I'm back to a coffee or 2 a day, but as I've said, for me & my body that is a huge deal. Just the water intake on top of other drinks is going to be a good thing for me. I know water comes from everything you eat & drink, but everything I was drinking included sugar & all sorts of other additives. I'm not against coffee & caffeine. It has its benefits, as does tea, with antioxidants etc.

Any amount of water for me, with or without coffee, is going to have huge benefits compared to before.