How do YOU drink 8 glasses of water a day?

2011rocket3touring

Are you exercising? As I get better with my exercising my need for water has gone up.

larydoe

I agree with everyone about getting a good water bottle and just sipping throughout the day. One thing to consider is that if you are eating fruits and vegetables that are higher in water content (watermelon, grapes, cantaloupe for example) you are getting a portion of that daily intake from those items.

Not to be too graphic, but the color of urine will easily tell you if you are drinking enough. Darker bad, lighter good.

Good luck!

Machka9

-- 2-3 cups of plain coffee (approx. 400 ml each)
-- 1-2 cups of plain tea (approx. 400 ml each)
-- 750 ml bottle of plain water
-- 1 litre of Coke Zero

Total: 3350 ml ... 13.4 cups of "water" a day.

More if I go cycling.


Any less than that and my feet cramp.

Dannigreen31

I don't. I have to force myself to drink even a few cups. Even at the gym I force the water down me. I prefer hot drinks. I'm never thirsty

mellyo77

AliceAxe wrote: »

FridayApril01st2016 wrote: »

AliceAxe wrote: »

Ive been wondering this too! I got up to 6 but then it started making me nauseous to drink more so I had to back it off.

but I see many of you count other drinks as well? I thought only pure water counted..

I keep water with me all the time too and try to remeber to down a a glass before meals , usualy as I start too cook.

Water in the food that you cook, counts as well; such as: soup & the nauseousness, was most likely a sign; of water poisoning.

thanks for the info, oh gee so , yeah I wasnt counting all that because I read other liquids counted more as food . Since there is a separate drinks section on MFP from the water tally , Ive been counting them separately. good thing I backed off! I'll have to take a look back at my diary and see how much liquids in general I was actualy consuming. it seemed like I was peeing way too much! haha

I respectfully disagree - 6 cups of water plus water from soups etc will not send someone into hyponatremia (water poisoning). Hyponatremia happens when you consume too much water and do not consume enough electrolytes to balance it and the sodium levels in the body drop below safety points. This happens to athletes (for example marathon runners) who are engaged in extensive long term activity and drink large quantities of water. 6 cups of water and eating things like soup and vegetables will not give someone "water poisoning". The very principal is contradictory - foods have sodium which counteract the fluid intake - 6 cups of water is not a large amount.

nordlead2005

Machka9 wrote: »

-- 2-3 cups of plain coffee (approx. 400 ml each)
-- 1-2 cups of plain tea (approx. 400 ml each)
-- 750 ml bottle of plain water
-- 1 litre of Coke Zero

Total: 3350 ml ... 13.4 cups of "water" a day.

More if I go cycling.


Any less than that and my feet cramp.

You forgot to add all the water in your food. Unless everything you eat is extremely dry.

singingflutelady

I don't

kgirlhart

I don't worry about trying to drink 8 cups per day. I drink 2 cups of coffee in the morning. I usually drink a cup of herbal tea at lunch and then I just drink water throughout the day as needed. As long as I'm not thirsty and my pee is light then I know I'm good.

valerieuk1708

I try to drink at least 2-2,5 litres of water a day (including tea/coffee/soup/etc).

I'm not big fan of plain water so I squeez lemon or orange into mine to give it some flavour.
You can even dilute juice, 100ml of juice + 400ml of water but make sure u count calories in juices as most of them are sugary.

I fill water bottle and then sip throughout the day, if I stop for an hour or so (work etc) then I chug down what's left later on.

benevempress

While water poisoning is real, it is unlikely that a normally healthy individual drinking during the course of a day will experience it because the problem is largely about drinking more than you can excrete or having a significant electrolyte or blood sodium imbalance.

From Scientific American: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/strange-but-true-drinking-too-much-water-can-kill/
Every hour, a healthy kidney at rest can excrete 800 to 1,000 milliliters, or 0.21 to 0.26 gallon, of water and therefore a person can drink water at a rate of 800 to 1,000 milliliters per hour without experiencing a net gain in water.

Let's not let this idea become an excuse to not drink liquids, as the risks of being dehydrated (from Mayo Clinic.org http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dehydration/basics/definition/con-20030056) also include possible death as well as lots of less severe but nonetheless unattractive and uncomfortable symptoms such as dry skin, sunken eyes, low blood pressure/dizziness/fainting, confusion, swelling of the brain, seizures, kidney failure, etc. since your "body doesn't have enough water and other fluids to carry out its normal functions."

So both extremes are bad and can kill you. Find your personal balance where your skin looks its best, you aren't constipated, and you feel good.

enterdanger

I drink a ton of water. I hated it for the first 6 months of trying to drink more water and then one day I just wanted only water. Now I stick with water, a daily coffee, and a very occasional unsweet tea.

km8907

I have a 16 ounce water bottle I try to fill 4 times a day. I love water, so I don't usually have an issue with drinking enough. but work gets busy sometimes and I forget.

MalcolmX1983

I used to have this problem.
I downloaded a water app to remind me.
Just like logging food here, I log my water intake.
I first set my daily goal as 2litres.
Now I'm drinking 4 litres a day.
I fill up bottles and leave them everywhere.
1.5 litre bottles are really good, three of them a day is good enough.
My skin is looking much better these days as well.

Meesamoop

I bought a 750ml water bottle and it is with me all day long. If I go run errands it is in the car with me, it sits on my desk at work, etc.

If I realize that I've been slacking on drinking my water from it I just grab it and chug chug chug!

Also, the water you use for tea or coffee counts towards your daily intake.

sunfastrose

I drink when I am thirsty. No need to work to a #. My pee tells me I am hydrated.

Need2Exerc1se

I usually chug water. I get thirsty and I'll chug down anywhere from 8 - 20 oz at a time. If I'm sipping something it's going to be tea or wine. I never track how much water I drink but I'm sure it's more then 64 oz most days.

Need2Exerc1se

ElvenToad wrote: »

This isn't always accurate though. Vitamins or medications may change the color of urine without affecting hydration.

Gamliela

Water from the taps here isn't safe to drink, so we buy our drinking and cooking water.
Strangely I drink more water having a large bottle of spring water and a glass nearby at all times than when we had potable tap water flowing.

Machka9

nordlead2005 wrote: »

Machka9 wrote: »

-- 2-3 cups of plain coffee (approx. 400 ml each)
-- 1-2 cups of plain tea (approx. 400 ml each)
-- 750 ml bottle of plain water
-- 1 litre of Coke Zero

Total: 3350 ml ... 13.4 cups of "water" a day.

More if I go cycling.


Any less than that and my feet cramp.

You forgot to add all the water in your food. Unless everything you eat is extremely dry.

Well, I don't eat soups and stuff like that very often, however I suppose there would be liquid in fruits and veggies.

kshama2001

ElvenToad wrote: »

Need2Exerc1se wrote: »

This isn't always accurate though. Vitamins or medications may change the color of urine without affecting hydration.

You beat me to it. B vitamins do change the color of urine.

kshama2001

Any iphone users use an app to track water consumption? My OH passed a kidney stone last month and is struggling to increase his water consumption. I thought reminders on his phone would be good.

kshama2001

sunfastrose wrote: »

I drink when I am thirsty. No need to work to a #. My pee tells me I am hydrated.

For many of us, thirst cues lag behind need for water.

kandeye

Not everyone's water needs are the same. Some need more, some need less depending on so many factors. For example I live in the desert so I drink quit a bit, especially now that it's warmer. You'll dehydrate pretty fast here. When I lived in the Alaskan rainforest I can say I honestly don't remember drinking much water at all. The environment was so wet, even going on long hikes or exerting myself at work I hardly ever felt thirsty. Living in the extremes has taught me that the whole 8 cups a day is bollocks. Just find your need.

getfit_fritch26

I have a 28 oz tervis that I bring to work with me. I fill it up 3 times during work (minimum), I usually drink about 2 decaf/unsweetened green teas, and then one big unsweet tea from McDonald's on my way home...then 28 oz in the evening.

I try to drink about 100 oz though...as 64 is the absolute minimum you should have.

Also try putting stuff in it! I LOVE unsweet cranberry and lemon juice in my water, delicious!

lauraesh0384

I have a tumbler that holds 24 oz of water and I aim to drink 3 of those every day. I use the sugar free powder packets, otherwise there's no way I'd get enough water in. A buy a flavor with caffeine and also non-caffeine flavors to drink later in the day. Usually by the time I leave work at 6 I'm close to being finished with my 2nd thing of water.

donjtomasco

How Do Eat An Elephant?

emdeesea

I do have to make myself drink 8-10 cups of water each day because I eat a lot of fiber every day so... yeah... I won't go any further than that one lol.

So to make sure I drink that amount, I do resort to using sugar-free flavoring. It's not the best option really but if I don't use it, I risk not drinking enough because after a while the taste of plain water just really turns me off. So I just account for the additional 30 or so calories a day that the flavoring adds and I get in my water.

tinamarie6624

I take 4 16.9 oz bottles to work. One that is frozen and cold for sipping throughout the day and the other 3 are room temperature which I chug down in about 30 seconds each. Isn't all that nice but it does the trick. By the time I leave work I have over 64 oz drank. If I am thirst at night I can sometimes add 2 bottles at home.

khhregister

I bought a couple large glass water bottles from ello so I always have one clean each day (the other one is in the dishwasher). Having a lovely drinking vessel makes it so much nicer! I take it with me to the gym, and drink at least one during my workout. I drink one with lunch, and one with dinner. That's ~66 oz, or almost 2 L. Additionally, I'll have a cup of coffee in the morning, and one or two cups of tea during the day.

I've also learned over the years that it's much easier for me to drink a lot of room-temperature water. If I try to drink very cold water, my throat feels constricted and I want to stop after a couple of small swallows. YMMV.

jessicalott35

I bring a liter of water with me to work every day. I need more than 64 oz's of water a day, so I feel it up about 3 times a day. I used to be the worst with drinking water, but having it in hands reach at my desk has been what has helped me. Plus I quit smoking and used to be a big Diet Coke drinker. Drinking Diet Coke is a smoking trigger for me, so I just stick to my water.