What to track as "water"

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dannyyates
dannyyates Posts: 2
in Getting Started
I've just started tracking my diet and exercise with MFP today. What should I track as "water"? Any fluid? I've just had a carbonated drink (I know, I know - it's day 1!). Obviously this is mostly water. What about a cup of tea? (Again, ignoring whether I should be drinking it at all!)

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  • gypsy_spirit
    gypsy_spirit Posts: 2,107 Member
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    Nothing wrong with a carbonated drink if it fits in your calories for the day.
    Nothing wrong with tea or coffee for that matter.
    I drink water when I am thirsty - especially after workouts.
    Try not to overthink this too much, it's your first day.

    The most important thing in losing weight is to stay in a calorie deficit. :drinker:
  • cedens312
    cedens312 Posts: 20 Member
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    Personally, I only track plain water. No flavoring, no powder mixes. I might add lemon or cucumber, I think to get an accurate idea of how much water I'm consuming it's easier to log only "pure" water.
  • CatyaKiller
    CatyaKiller Posts: 10 Member
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    What I like to do is track only water as water. If it is a drink of any other variety (calories or not), I track that into my diary with my food because I like to keep track of other things in the beverage (like Sodium for example, prehypertention is scary!).
  • 120by30
    120by30 Posts: 217 Member
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    Do it however you want. I don't think there is a right or wrong way. Some will say that it only counts as water if it's plain water. Others say that if it has water in it, it's still working to hydrate you. The bottom line is, it's your diary and as long as you are keeping yourself hydrated, which can be judged by the color of your urine, you're getting enough water. You probably won't believe me, but these kinds of discussions actually get pretty heated around here. Lol! Good luck!

    ETA: If you choose to, it's quite simple to log your beverage in your diary while also clicking the little up arrow for your water tracker. It isn't an "either/or" thing.
  • MattyFTM
    MattyFTM Posts: 68 Member
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    Your body does not care if other ingredients are mixed in with the water, it will still process the H2O in exactly the same way. Some people will tell you that anything with caffeine is a diuretic and therefore dehydrates you and not to count caffeinated drinks as water, however that is inaccurate. Caffeine is a diuretic, but it is a very, very mild diuretic. The amount it dehydrates you is far, far outweighed by the amount of water you consume whilst drinking it. In fact, scientific studies have shown that people who regularly drink caffeine experience no diuretic effects from it at all.

    The bottom line is that pretty much any fluid will hydrate you, and you can log a cup of water if you drink it.
  • dannyyates
    dannyyates Posts: 2
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    Wow! Quick replies! Thanks everyone.

    So tracking water intake in MFP doesn't affect my calories recorded or anything? It's just for information.

    In which case, I think I'll try tracking my drinks as actual food items - especially as I do tend to drink a lot of carbonated drinks. That way I'll be capturing the sugar, etc.

    Thanks a lot! :-)
  • MattyFTM
    MattyFTM Posts: 68 Member
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    Wow! Quick replies! Thanks everyone.

    So tracking water intake in MFP doesn't affect my calories recorded or anything? It's just for information.

    In which case, I think I'll try tracking my drinks as actual food items - especially as I do tend to drink a lot of carbonated drinks. That way I'll be capturing the sugar, etc.

    Thanks a lot! :-)

    Yeah, the water tracker is an additional thing to help ensure you are properly hydrated. You'll want to log any drinks that contain calories in your food log also.

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