Friday, August 31, 2012

How do I drink all this water?

First of all, you should know that you need a minimum of 8 glasses of water a day.  That's 64 oz. of pure, crystal clear, no flavorings added water.  Now I know what you're thinking, "I don't really need that much.  I'm fine with what I drink."  Or maybe you're thinking, "Well, I drink that much fluid.  Coffe and soda count right?" 
WRONG and WRONG!

Here's the thing.  Your body is made up of about 70% water (we all learned this in junior high right?)  And when you keep yourself hydrated properly, your body doesn't have to work as hard on a cellular level to do all the things it needs to do.  But when you don't hydrate properly, your body will start to fall out of balance.  You will end up with more salt and sugar than you need, and the ratios get all thrown off.  And when this happens, your body will start to hold on to the water you do give it, and store it!  So how many pounds of water do you want to carry around with you everyday?

When you drink enough, this is what water can do for you:

So now we get to the nitty gritty.  How the heck do you get all that water in your body each day?  I won't lie to you, some days it is really hard to do, and other days it's not so bad.  The first thing you want to do is get a good water bottles (or a few) and know how much water they hold.  Plan to use these every day.  Fill them up each morning, and make sure you get through them by the end of each day!  See?  So simple! 
Ok, maybe it's not that simple.  So here are a few ideas to help you REMEMBER to get in all your water each day.

**Mark your water bottles at every 8-16oz. and write the time of day you need to finish that amount by (or plan to chug it at that time).  Here's an example:


**You can also set an alarm on your phone to go off every couple of hours to remind you to drink down another glass.   BEEP  BEEP  BEEP  BEEP!  DRINK YOUR WATER!
**When you are home, you can keep an extra bottle in your bathroom (I know, it's a little weird, but it works).  And every time you use the bathroom, chug 8 oz. before you leave.
**Depending on how many times a day you are eating (3-5), you can chug 8-16 oz. 30 minutes before each meal.  That ends up being 5 of your galsses if you are eating 5 meals a day, and 6 glasses if you are eating 3 meals.
**Leave a bottle on your nightstand at night and when you wake up in the morning drink 8-16 oz. first thing.

Enjoy your water!

1 comment:

  1. Love the idea about leaving your water bottle in the bathroom. :)

    ReplyDelete