By Leigh Ann Dutton, Contributing Writer
One of the most important things you can do for your health is to increase the amount of water you drink.
Increasing your water intake is a healthy change that is simple. In fact, it’s doable for anyone no matter how far along on your journey you are!
On average (and be honest) how much water do you drink a day?
If you are like me (before I knew better), you might get a glass down a day, and that’s only on the days you remember that water is there and you’ve run out of other things to drink.
Are you smiling and nodding your head? Well, it’s okay. I understand. I’ve been there.
Water is essential to life. Did you know that you can only live a mere few days without it? Isn’t that fascinating?
Facts that you need to know about water:
- Water makes up 60% of the human body and 70% of the human brain.
- Water is what enables your cells to transport nutrients and minerals throughout your body more effectively.
- Water helps transport wastes, including toxins, out of your body.
- Usually when you think you’re hungry, you are actually thirsty.
As you can see, water is essential to the functioning of our bodies because it makes up the majority of our bodies, and it is used as the means for transporting nutrients throughout our bodies. Plus it helps eliminate toxins, which is very important to our overall health.
You can make all the changes in the world to your health and lifestyle, but if you neglect water, you’re neglecting one of the most important health changes you could make.
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Additional benefits of drinking water:
Drinking water helps increase your energy levels.
Dehydration, even minor dehydration, can cause various bodily systems to slow down, which makes you to feel sluggish, tired and irritable.
Remember: our brains and bodies are made up of mostly water! It makes sense that proper hydration will help increase energy levels.
An extra tip: Someone once advised me to drink one quarter of my daily water intake upon waking. Instead of starting my day with coffee, I’m purposing this year to make it a habit to drink water first. Try it and see what you think.
Drinking water improves your skin.
A lot of our skin troubles are due to the fact that we are not getting enough water. Have dry skin? Try increasing you water intake and see how your skin feels then.
Drinking water is a natural headache remedy.
A lot of headaches are due to dehydration. When you have a headache, try drinking a few glasses of water while resting and see if the symptoms don’t ease.
Drinking water helps you lose weight.
Water helps with protein synthesis. This means that the food you take in is being converted to muscle and the fat is being burned. Without water just the opposite happens.
Therefore, increasing your water intake can help you shed those pesty pounds you can’t seem to get rid of.
How much water is enough?
The best way to know how much water you need to be drinking is to do the math.
- How much do you weigh?
- Divide that number by 2.
- You now have the amount of water that you need to drink in ounces.
For example, a 150 pound person must drink 75 ounces of water a day or just over nine 8-ounce glasses of water a day.
I know what you’re thinking, “How can I drink that much water? That sounds like a lot of glasses of water!” At least this was what I was asking when I started making this simple change to boost my health.
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4 tips to help you drink more water:
Buy a reusable water bottle.
Using a reusable water bottle
has helped me tremendously in my efforts at increasing my water intake. I know that I have to drink my bottle empty three times in a day to meet my requirement for water. I hated refilling small glasses over and over and over. However, only having to refill my bottle three times a day helped.
Set small goals.
Setting goals is one of the best ways to ensure you are making progress on drinking more water.
For example, using our 150 pound person from above, he or she could resolve to drink 2 glasses before leaving for work, 3 glasses before lunch, 3 glasses before leaving work, and one glass before bedtime.
By setting little goals throughout the day, you can be sure that you’re meeting your daily requirement.
Add fruit to your water.
Some people just abhor the taste of water. Adding fresh lemons or limes or kiwi to your water can make it more palatable. Plus lemons help increase the detox value of the water.
Ask a friend to do this with you.
Challenge each other to increase the amount of water that you take in each day. Then, make a game of it. See who can meet their requirements more days in a row. Hold each other accountable. Then, go out and celebrate when you’ve met your goal.
As you can see, water is essential to life and it’s one simple way to boost your health! I don’t know about you, but I like love simple!
Any increase in the amount of water you drink is a step in the right direction. Some of you will hit the ground running and won’t look back. Others of you will hop, skip, and jump around this topic. That’s okay as long as you’re moving forward.
Resolve to increase your water intake by just two more glasses. Resolve to replace one soda a day with a glass of water instead. Start small, and build up. Don’t grow stagnant. Don’t be afraid to push yourself. Your body will thank you!
How do you drink more water each day? What tips can you share that work for you?
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We all have refillable water bottles. Every time we leave the house they are with us and they are toted around the house as well. It has helped my kids drink more water. It has also helped on the number of cups and glasses in sink. When my teenager complains of having a headache, the first thing I ask him is about water. It is usually a combination of lack of water and sleep.
Another thing that helped us was setting limits on other drinks. So by default we were left with water. It was far too easy to drink the pot of coffee until it was gone or fill up yet another cup of milk or juice for the kids.
I am the worst at drinking enough water! I KNOW I should drink more but I just don’t like the feeling when my tummy is full of water. I agree with you that having a water bottle around is the way to go, sipping often and regularly. I have also found that drinking herbal tea helps me increase my water. It is warm and enjoyable, and I can change up the flavors. Ok, you have inspired me….I am going to get my water bottle out of the cupboard!
I love water, so this is less of an issue for me, although something I can always work towards more. One tricky thing for me is that taking care of three littles, I rarely have an extra hand/space for my own water bottle! So, I resolve to always have a water bottle (or Tervis or something) in our van (full!) so I am never without water as we are out and about. Even if I don’t take it in when we get to our destination, I know I will have a big container waiting for me to refuel!
I always have a full water bottle with me, but rarely did I drink from it. I realized I don’t do well with wide mouth bottles or a too wide/heavy bottle. I drink more when I use straws, so I found a refillable bottle with a straw like top that doesn’t spill, or kept a glass & straw at my desk. When I worked at an office all day, I did best filling a mug up and drinking 1 an hour. It didn’t feel like much that way. I used to need ice water, but the water at our office tasted nasty & my ice water didn’t stay cold all day, so I cut up strawberries and put it in the mug too. They’d start to fall apart on the second mugful, so my reward for drinking 2 mugs was to eat the strawberries. Then I’d repeat the rest of the day. I put rubber bands around my bigger bottle I brought to keep count. Now that I’m a stay at home mom, I need to find another technique that will help me get my water.
Start early and set your alarm phone for 90 minute intervals to be finished with total water done by 6-6:30 pm and you will make it thru the night without trips to the bathroom. Seems like a lot of thought for water but it works and you will feel so much better as the days go by.