We all know that there are tons of reasons *why* we need to drink more water (improved organ function, improved brain function, to keep skin looking good, improve digestion, etc). Generally, ~64 oz or 1/2 your body weight in ounces are the minimum amounts recommended. Ask your doc what’s right for you – it is possible to have too much water, and you don’t want to end up hyponatremic!
Here are my top tips to make it easy to get your water in:
- Start the day with 8-16 oz of room temp water
- Invest in some cute stainless steel or glass vessels and fill them with water, infused water, or herbal tea in the morning & make sure to finish them by the end of the day. Sit them out on your kitchen counter or desk so you won’t miss them!
- Have 1 bottle of water on your commute in the morning and leave another in your car to drink on the way home. I used to keep a bottle of my favorite herbal tea in my car to enjoy on the way home from the hospital – if I used boiling hot water in the morning, it was still warm at the end of the day in my HydroFlask!
- Try infused water: add some cucumber slices, citrus slices, frozen watermelon cubes, or whatever sounds good.
- Enjoy added electrolytes (Nuun & Ultima – available at Kroger or Whole Foods – and Omnourish -available online – are the ones I use most).
- Herbal (no caffeine) tea and mineral water (eg Pellegrino, Perrier) count as ‘water’, but I don’t include sparkling waters and definitely not caffeine. The others are fine to enjoy, but shouldn’t count as “water intake”.