What do you count as "water"?

frankpappalardo
frankpappalardo Posts: 2 Member
edited November 16 in Health and Weight Loss
Sorry, I'm sure this is posted somewhere but I can't find it...

If I have 8 oz of coffee, do I check off 1 water? What about tea, beer, wine, soup, etc?
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Replies

  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,571 Member
    I count coffee, diet soda, tea, watery veg...
  • Ahanaz
    Ahanaz Posts: 353 Member
    edited March 2017
    I was taught that besides water, tea and coffee only counts if you drink it plain, i.e. no sugar, no cream, no honey etc... All other liquids does not count towards the daily water intake. For my body that seems to be the accurate way of counting due to very tangible fluctuations whenever I go low on any of those three despite drinking/eating(e.g. water based soups) that should have compensated for the glasses of water/tea/coffee I have not had.

    Personally I don't count the calories for tea since it's only 5 and I oftentimes are a couple of hundred below target.
  • If I drink it I count it.
  • CafeRacer808
    CafeRacer808 Posts: 2,396 Member
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    Ahanaz wrote: »
    I was taught that besides water, tea and coffee only counts if you drink it plain, i.e. no sugar, no cream, no honey etc... All other liquids does not count towards the daily water intake. For my body that seems to be the accurate way of counting due to very tangible fluctuations whenever I go low on any of those three despite drinking/eating(e.g. water based soups) that should have compensated for the glasses of water/tea/coffee I have not had.

    Makes no sense whatsoever. They're still composed of 99.9% water. If I put steak sauce on my steak, do I no longer have to log it as a steak because I put something else on it? Of course you still have to log and account for the calories if it's a calorific drink, but the fact that it has calories doesn't mean that it doesn't contribute to your hydration needs.

    Spot on.
  • cbl40
    cbl40 Posts: 281 Member
    wine
  • arrghmatey1
    arrghmatey1 Posts: 91 Member
    I drink distilled or purified water with Great Value Sugar Free Drink Mixes and it works quite well.
    Failed too many times in the past to fail again because of hydration.
    I count my 4 1/2 liter bottles of water everyday its just that its got flavor in it.
  • Ahanaz
    Ahanaz Posts: 353 Member
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    Makes no sense whatsoever. They're still composed of 99.9% water. If I put steak sauce on my steak, do I no longer have to log it as a steak because I put something else on it? Of course you still have to log and account for the calories if it's a calorific drink, but the fact that it has calories doesn't mean that it doesn't contribute to your hydration needs.

    As I mentioned, for my body that is how it works. It may be different for anyone. And sure liquid in general should count, but the body is a funny thing, and does not follow logic. It may just be one of those things that differs from person to person. The question was "What do you count as water?" So there is no need to go to attack and be rude or angry about how I count MY water.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,701 Member
    I don't keep track of my water but it includes coffee, tea, water, coke zero, fruit juice, sports drink ...
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
    cbl40 wrote: »
    wine

    I love you!
  • frankpappalardo
    frankpappalardo Posts: 2 Member
    Thanks all! This is helpful. I hope to get to a point where I don't have to count, but for now I want to shoot for that magic 8 cups and see what happens. From my experience, if I only drink when I feel thirsty I fall way short of that, even if I do count coffee.
  • ChristopherLimoges
    ChristopherLimoges Posts: 298 Member
    Water.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    The only thing i count as water is plain water. If the only fluids i get are from tea and coffee i can feel noticeable water retention that evening and into the next day. But if i also drink a couple Litres of water, I'm fine and have no problems.
  • jayeless
    jayeless Posts: 30 Member
    When I started out on MFP (in winter) I logged water, tea and coffee as water (those being nearly everything I drank). Now that it's summer I only log water, because I find I need eight glasses of actual plain water to stay hydrated. I don't care too deeply about it, though.
  • TonyB0588
    TonyB0588 Posts: 9,520 Member
    I find it interesting that people would log coffee and tea differently than they do plain water. If you swallow some dry instant coffee crystals and then drink a cup of hot water, your body can't tell a difference from putting the crystals in a cup of hot water and drinking that.

    I drink a cup of tea with my breakfast and log it as part of breakfast.
    I drink various juices with my lunch and log them as part of lunch.
    I drink either coffee or juice with dinner and log them as part of dinner.
    I may possibly have coffee during the morning at work and log this under snacks (items consumed apart from my three main meals)

    None of this counts as water for me, although I can see how it helps with hydration.
  • JeanieWww
    JeanieWww Posts: 4,037 Member
    I find it interesting that people would log coffee and tea differently than they do plain water. If you swallow some dry instant coffee crystals and then drink a cup of hot water, your body can't tell a difference from putting the crystals in a cup of hot water and drinking that.

    I found this on webmd. "Although tea contains only about one-third the caffeine found in coffee, preliminary studies show that the caffeine may actually help to increase tea's cancer-protection effects. Caffeine is a diuretic and stimulates urination, and you can actually get dehydrated by drinking too much tea or coffee -- so take it easy." So it appears it isn't the same as plain water after all, which hydrates you.
  • PaulaWallaDingDong
    PaulaWallaDingDong Posts: 4,647 Member
    JeanieWww wrote: »
    I find it interesting that people would log coffee and tea differently than they do plain water. If you swallow some dry instant coffee crystals and then drink a cup of hot water, your body can't tell a difference from putting the crystals in a cup of hot water and drinking that.

    I found this on webmd. "Although tea contains only about one-third the caffeine found in coffee, preliminary studies show that the caffeine may actually help to increase tea's cancer-protection effects. Caffeine is a diuretic and stimulates urination, and you can actually get dehydrated by drinking too much tea or coffee -- so take it easy." So it appears it isn't the same as plain water after all, which hydrates you.

    That's pretty much earned the status of "old wives' tale." Whoever is quoted was just repeating the same conventional wisdom that was passed down to them.
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    I stopped logging water and black coffee. I drink enough that I don't need to worry and my coffee is close enough to no calories to not bother.
  • PaulaWallaDingDong
    PaulaWallaDingDong Posts: 4,647 Member
    TonyB0588 wrote: »
    I find it interesting that people would log coffee and tea differently than they do plain water. If you swallow some dry instant coffee crystals and then drink a cup of hot water, your body can't tell a difference from putting the crystals in a cup of hot water and drinking that.

    I drink a cup of tea with my breakfast and log it as part of breakfast.
    I drink various juices with my lunch and log them as part of lunch.
    I drink either coffee or juice with dinner and log them as part of dinner.
    I may possibly have coffee during the morning at work and log this under snacks (items consumed apart from my three main meals)

    None of this counts as water for me, although I can see how it helps with hydration.

    Well, yes, you'd need to log anything with calories as a food, but you could also add it to water if you wanted. I don't log anything I drink because I have no cause to track fluids, and other than water I only drink diet beverages, black coffee and plain tea.
  • JeanieWww
    JeanieWww Posts: 4,037 Member
    Fine. I wont try to help anyone anymore. Happy?
This discussion has been closed.