It’s soooo important to stay hydrated, yet so many people struggle with this. Believe it or not, our bodies are made up about 70% water. I know – crazy right! Water provides our bodies with many different benefits including digestion, normalizing blood pressure, and increasing energy. Some people say they don’t like the taste and others find it difficult to remember to drink enough throughout the day because it’s not a habit.
How much water is enough? That’s the question we all want to know. And the answer is – it depends. It depends on your gender, your weight, if you exercise, where you live, and so on. A general guideline is half your body weight in ounces. So let’s say that you weigh 150lbs. That would be 75oz of water everyday. Add to that an extra cup of water for every 30 minutes of exercise. The best way to know if you’re hydrated is to listen to your body. If you feel thirty, have some water. Check the color of your urine. YES guys! After you pee, look in the toilet. This is one of the best indicators of hydration. Your urine should be clear to a light yellow. Anything darker than this is a sign of dehydration. See this cool chart.
So how do you make this a habit in your life?
One – Carry a water bottle
Carry a water bottle with you EVERYWHERE you go. That way, there’s a better chance that you’ll drink it. Go to the store and find a water bottle that SPEAKS to you! Decorate it with fun stickers if that’s your thing. Some have straws and some have twist off lids. What’s your preference? For some, having to take a lid off to take a sip is a barrier so find what works best for you because this will benefit you everyday. It’s critical that you like it guys!
Two – Set yourself reminders
This can be an alarm every 30 minutes or hour. There are also lots of free apps that will send you a notification every so often (whatever you’ve told it to do) as your reminder. The trick here is to ACTUALLY drink the water before you turn off the alarm or notification. For some, they ignore the reminder and so this isn’t effective. If that’s you, you might need to give yourself a consequence for not drinking the water when you get the reminder. If you want to change a habit but aren’t fully committed, you need a pain point. What’s that look like for you?
Three – Buy a water filter
Like I said, some people don’t like the taste of water. That’s ok. Filtered water generally helps with this. Some fridges already have the filtered water on the door. Then there are water coolers. Or even simpler, you can buy a water-filtering pitcher. These are all more cost effective than buying bottled water at the store.
Four – Have set times when you drink water
This can be a glass of water when you get up, at each meal throughout the day, and one before bed. Or another method could be to drink one glass of water each hour while you’re at work. This is assuming you work an eight hour day. Fill up a cup and keep it at your desk within reach.
Five – Flavour your water
NOOOOO, this doesn’t mean load it up with sugary sweet tasting powders. Yes, they might taste good, but most of them are not good for you. This means throw some fruit in it. People seem to really like lemon, strawberry and cucumber-lime. They also sell infuser water bottles making this even easier!
Water is easy and getting enough of it doesn’t have to be complicated AND you can even enjoy it. Making it a habit might be a bit of work, but the benefits you will get from staying hydrated outweigh the little bit of work you might have to put in at first. Use the tools that are out there to make this as easy on yourself as possible and have some FUN with it while you’re at it. Cause a little bit of fun never hurt anyone.
What else helps you make this a regular part of your routine?