How do you, personally, determine how much water to drink?

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  • Red_Pill
    Red_Pill Posts: 300 Member
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    I drink to thirst - which is loads. I piss like a race horse.
  • canadianlbs
    canadianlbs Posts: 5,199 Member
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    since i started taking creatine, i go by the way my overall body feels. there's a very discernible sweet spot i can get to when i've fed the creatine enough water to let it fully do what it does. it literally feels like being a well-oiled machine. every joint feels like the bones are just floating inside their capsules, every muscle feels like all the fibres are moving smoothly and nothing is sticking or catching on anything else.

    anecdotally, it seems to take about four litres of water to get myself into that zone. i weigh 140 on a heavy day atm, so that's a whole lot of water going by 'standard' standards. but that seems to be what it takes in my case. so i aim for that zone but i'm fairly philosophical about not being there.
  • H_Ock12
    H_Ock12 Posts: 1,152 Member
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    If I'm thirsty (which is rarely), I'll drink some water. If my pee turns brown, I'll force myself to drink water.
  • crackpotbaby
    crackpotbaby Posts: 1,297 Member
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    I take a medication that increases thirst and can have serious health consequences if dehydration occurs.

    It also can cause you to pee larger volumes of dilute urine which makes measuring hydration by colour of out put unreliable.

    As a base, I drink 3lt of water over a 24 hour period to avoid side effects such as tremor, nausea and diahorrea. If it's hot or I am strenuously exercising I drink more.

    For most generally healthy adults 2 litres is adequate with a urinary output of between 800-2000ml.

    This does vary for individuals depending on factors such as electrolyte balance, heart failure, kidney function.

  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,575 Member
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    By the color of my pee. It's almost always extremely pale yellow, almost clear (unless I'm eating nutritional yeast by the pound). If it's a little dark I try to drink more.
  • Basilin
    Basilin Posts: 360 Member
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    This is tough for me, too. I can't go by thirst because I am always dehydrated when I rely on that.

    When I researched it a long time ago, I found that you can be in a state of chronic dehydration and it will require increasing water intake slowly to get to a new balance, otherwise you just piss a lot and are still dehydrated.

    What worked well for me was to evaluate how much I naturally would drink. After that, I increased it by one glass for a week, give or take, and kept doing this until I got to a point where I didn't pee constantly but didn't feel dehydrated either. Of course, it will vary by day depending on activity and weather.

    I feel dehydrated when my lips become chapped, my skin is less elastic, I do not pee for a long time, the pee is dark, my throats is dry, and I feel tired. Feeling thirsty is usually the last sign that I'm super dehydrated.
  • lilac_bunny
    lilac_bunny Posts: 137 Member
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    I have been reading recently that drinking more than 1000mls in 1hr is bad for you. That is how I've always drank. I can go all day without drinking then suddenly feel really thirsty and down 6000/1000 ml in about 10 minutes. I am trying to just take sips throughout the day now.
  • Trish1c
    Trish1c Posts: 549 Member
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    Initially I forced myself to drink the 8 glasses. Then I drank as thirsty. Now the 8 glasses is almost a minimum based on thirst. I've learned to listen to my body more
  • bwhitty67
    bwhitty67 Posts: 162 Member
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    I probably have 120-160oz a day. I just like water and if I'm thirsty I drink. I have a hydroflask because I like cold water.
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
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    Sued0nim wrote: »
    By thirst generally and an occasional colour of pee check

    This. Aim for straw coloured urine. Its the best personal indicator there is. The darker the urine color, the more dehydrated you are. If the urine is clear and stays that way for a while, back off from the water for a little while...over-hydration is never a good thing.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    98% thirst, 2% urine colour.
  • ValerieMartini2Olives
    ValerieMartini2Olives Posts: 3,041 Member
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    I drink a lot of liquid. Water, sparkling water, unsweetened tea, coffee. A lot of it. Sometimes a gallon+ a day. I drink until my pee is basically water. And I do pee a lot. I just feel better when I drink more. And I take a lasik pill by prescription so that forces me to go. I drink enough to replenish what it forced out.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,575 Member
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    Gah! My roommate just bought one of those toilet bowl thingies that keeps the water blue. I want to tell her to stop using them because I like to look at my pee but we are not friends or close and I think she will think I'm insane.
  • kelseymallen
    kelseymallen Posts: 85 Member
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    I also take a multivitamin that turns my urine radioactive yellow, but it's only that color for a few hours after I take the vitamin. The same should be true for you; you should be able toaccurately judge your hydration based on the color of your urine a few hours after taking your vitamin. If you still don't think that would be accurate, try drinking about half your body weight in ounces per day. I've found that's about right for me.

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