A gallon of water...Is that really necessary?

macgurlnet

I am for half my body weight in ounces of liquid. So that's ~60 oz right now.

Two vanilla coke zeros - 24 oz, plus a glass of water this morning and I'm up to 36 oz. I'll probably be at 48ish today, but I don't feel too thirsty so it's OK by me.

Go by the color of your urine as mentioned. If you want to, log your water and see how much you drink each day and decide if you need to set a goal so you'll actively drink more. Now that I have a cup with a straw on my desk, I usually get in 12 oz in the morning, and then ~24 or so throughout the afternoon, including lunch.

~Lyssa

B_TEEN

superfox12082 wrote: »

I usually drink over 100 ounces of plain water and about 3 cups of black tea also. But this is what my body is used too. The more salty foods I eat or the more vigorous workouts I do, I will need to drink more.

Spot on! My intake is very similar but I prefer green and white teas to black. I sustain a higher water intake because I prefer eat my calories than drink my calories (with the exception of fruit+veg smoothies or pressed juices).

Another benefit to a higher water intake is to decrease the chance of eating when your body is simply thirsty. IMHO, changes to the color of your urine is helpful but often a "last measure" warning sign and may be misleading as certain plants and vitamins may alter the color of urine.

ForeverSunshine09

AllOutof_Bubblegum wrote: »

#8: you ded.

I have had pee the color of 8 and worse and am still here so no you are not dead. You probably have a kidney infection but, by the time you are to that color trust me the color is the least of your problems. I have stage 3 kidney disease so obviously I am an exception to a rule of the general population on this forum.

sanfromny

macgurlnet wrote: »

I am for half my body weight in ounces of liquid. So that's ~60 oz right now.

Two vanilla coke zeros - 24 oz, plus a glass of water this morning and I'm up to 36 oz. I'll probably be at 48ish today, but I don't feel too thirsty so it's OK by me.

Go by the color of your urine as mentioned. If you want to, log your water and see how much you drink each day and decide if you need to set a goal so you'll actively drink more. Now that I have a cup with a straw on my desk, I usually get in 12 oz in the morning, and then ~24 or so throughout the afternoon, including lunch.

~Lyssa

I used to be a diet coke junkie but I keep hearing that they do more harm than good so I've gone to the flavored carbonated water...That counts right?

jessicarobinson00

I don't force myself to drink water..but I find I naturally crave it: not everyone is wired the same or needs the same amount of water. That said: often "hunger pains," I actually find are that I'm thirsty. So stay hydrated: whatever that means for you!

sanfromny

I think I'll stick to 64oz

YalithKBK

I drink until my urine looks the color it should in the charts posted. I'm a tiny person and don't sweat a lot. I tried drinking 64oz of water/day and by the end of the week, my kidneys hurt and I was going to the bathroom every 45 minutes (not exaggerating).

Urine color is how I judge my hydration levels. Some days it's four cups, some days it's 8. I honestly don't know why there's a set number everyone talks about as people have VERY different water needs.

DanyellMcGinnis

The color test is better than trying to drink some arbitrary amount (the 8 glasses a day thing is based on a faulty interpretation of a study from 1945 and has just been perpetuated over time by people who haven't bothered to investigate).

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/25/upshot/no-you-do-not-have-to-drink-8-glasses-of-water-a-day.html

But if you take a lot of B vitamins (above and beyond the typical amounts in a multivitamin) or consume energy drinks or pre-workout drinks (if they have B vitamins in them, that is), your urine will be more yellow even if you are not dehydrated -- that is the excess B vitamins being excreted.

kshama2001

DanyellMcGinnis wrote: »

The color test is better than trying to drink some arbitrary amount (the 8 glasses a day thing is based on a faulty interpretation of a study from 1945 and has just been perpetuated over time by people who haven't bothered to investigate).

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/25/upshot/no-you-do-not-have-to-drink-8-glasses-of-water-a-day.html

But if you take a lot of B vitamins (above and beyond the typical amounts in a multivitamin) or consume energy drinks or pre-workout drinks (if they have B vitamins in them, that is), your urine will be more yellow even if you are not dehydrated -- that is the excess B vitamins being excreted.

You beat me to mentioning B vitamins