15 glasses of water?!

Kamirose9047

Just remember that there *is* such a thing as too much water!

I just go by my urine color. I try to keep it slightly colored. If it's clear, I've had too much, if it's looking more like lemonade/apple juice I know I'm not drinking enough.

RLMsFitnessPal

I've always heard eight 8 oz glasses of water per day as a rule of thumb. Tracking my water intake on MFP, I've discovered I drink 10 glasses of water on an average day. That's including my coffee and tea. I only count coffee and tea if I'm using Splenda like I do at home. If I drink sweet tea when I go out to eat, I don't count it. If I drink coffee with sugar or anything other than Splenda and a little nondairy creamer, I don't count it as a water ration. I probably drink even more than that because I do visit the water fountain several times a day to take a few sips. I don't count those because it's just a few sips here and there. Every little bit adds up, though.

Personally, I think you'll be fine doing what feels right to you so long as you are mindful about it. The main thing, in my own opinion, is to be honest with yourself and check the results as you go. You can always fine tune your habits as needed. I go with the assumption that my body will tell me whether what I'm doing is right or wrong so long as I listen and pay attention to what it's telling me.

For those who don't like plain water, I will suggest doing pitchers of fruit and herb infused water or Mio flavorings. I experimented with infused water pitchers last summer and lost 16 pounds just making that change. Since then, I've taken to drinking infused water rather than sodas. I like infused water much better than diet sodas, and I can change it up with club soda for a little carbonation. Keep some frozen fruits on hand for infusing in water. My wife and I recently did a couple of pitchers of apple cinnamon water, and that was quite good. I also tend to like oranges and other citrus fruits. Cucumber and watermelon is also good, but you'll want to change out the watermelon chunks much more frequently than other fruits. I've been looking at other recipes to try. I'm also one of those who is more likely to drink ice cold water.

Chris_Pierce

I drink at least that much. More when it's hot and I working outside. I weigh 184 currently.
Try it and see how you feel.

viciouslitany

uh... yeah. I don't do less than 12 a day. per that calculation, I need 13.75. I go from 12-18. one day last week, I even did 22.

CA_Underdog

I weigh 240/2= 120/8 = 15 GLASSES OF WATER A DAY!?!

I wanted to ensure the flip side was presented. Anything in excess usually isn't so great for you.

First, are you over-hydrating? Look at your pee. Aim for a "pale straw color". If you pee clear, back off!

http://health.clevelandclinic.org/2013/10/what-the-color-of-your-urine-says-about-you-infographic/

Second, heard of hyponatremia? It's a fancy scientific term for drinking so much water you die. That doesn't require a gallon a minute, rather a few liters of water over a few hours. Look up "Cindy Luceros".

While I doubt you will die of over-hydration, ask yourself if there are any serious studies showing benefits to such high water consumption? How will you replace any minerals, etc. you lose? How will you avoid going too far? Many in the medical and scientific communities have transitioned from "Drink ahead of thirst" to "Drink to thirst" for health and performance. Good luck choosing what's best for yourself!

Aaron_K123

If you actually track how much you drink on a given day (any liquid) you might be surprised at how much it is.

I don't track it myself but I can kind of think back on my day.

2 12 oz coffees, so 24 oz. Two 17 ounce juices, so 34 oz. One cup of juice, 8 oz. Three 12 oz bottles of juice, 36 oz.

24+34+8+36 = 102 ounces. I weigh 177 pounds so I'm actually drinking more than that formula naturally without even thinking about it really.

15 glasses (120 ounces) might sound like a ton but if you track what you are drinking currently you might find its already close to that.

punjabirocks

I DRINK Like 1.5 gallons of water everyday. That's like 192 oz = 192/8 ... I LIFT 5 DAYS A WEEK , 90 MINUTES EACH DAY. IF YOU WORKOUT.. ITS FINE. IF NOT, ITS STILL FINE. AS WATER DOESN'T HURT UNLESS YOU ARE DRINKING MORE THAN 1-2 GALLONS A DAY. WATER SHOULD BE DRUNK THROUGH OUT THE DAY.

cajuntank

Its in one of these episodes that Eric Helms makes a couple of statements about water/fluid intake. If I'm not mistaken, I think the suggestion is if you have 5 or so urinations a day that are on the clear side, then you are hydrating enough.

lemurcat12

If you actually track how much you drink on a given day (any liquid) you might be surprised at how much it is.

I don't track it myself but I can kind of think back on my day.

2 12 oz coffees, so 24 oz. Two 17 ounce juices, so 34 oz. One cup of juice, 8 oz. Three 12 oz bottles of juice, 36 oz.

24+34+8+36 = 102 ounces. I weigh 177 pounds so I'm actually drinking more than that formula naturally without even thinking about it really.

15 glasses (120 ounces) might sound like a ton but if you track what you are drinking currently you might find its already close to that.

This. People have distorted ideas about serving size for beverages too. 8 oz is not very much--one of those small water bottles is 16 and there's water in all your beverages (and food too). I try to drink a good amount of plain old water since I don't want to drink calories and can easily go overboard on coffee if I'm not drinking water (I like to have a beverage by me all day when I am working), but there's no reason that you need to add in that much water if you are already drinking lots of other beverages.

Also, like others, I say just go by the color of your urine and don't worry too much. I do find that when I work out and when the weather is warmer (or especially both) I tend to drink more naturally.

CA_Underdog

I DRINK Like 1.5 gallons of water everyday.. AS WATER DOESN'T HURT UNLESS YOU ARE DRINKING MORE THAN 1-2 GALLONS A DAY. WATER SHOULD BE DRUNK THROUGH OUT THE DAY.

1.5 gallons (6 liters) total is coincidentally what killed Cynthia Luceros. A post-mortem showed she would have died sooner if she had sat more that day (she ran 20 miles), had drank pure water instead of sports drinks, or drank it more quickly than over the course of several hours. Thus, the above statement is false. If you're going to drink in excess, it's worth learning more about the limits of the human body to avoid catastrophe, or alternatively simply drinking in moderation for peak health and performance.

Aaron_K123

I DRINK Like 1.5 gallons of water everyday.. AS WATER DOESN'T HURT UNLESS YOU ARE DRINKING MORE THAN 1-2 GALLONS A DAY. WATER SHOULD BE DRUNK THROUGH OUT THE DAY.

1.5 gallons (6 liters) total is coincidentally what killed Cynthia Luceros. A post-mortem showed she would have died sooner if she had sat more that day (she ran 20 miles), had drank pure water instead of sports drinks, or drank it more quickly than over the course of several hours. Thus, the above statement is false. If you're going to drink in excess, it's worth learning more about the limits of the human body to avoid catastrophe, or alternatively simply drinking in moderation for peak health and performance.

What kills you about drinking water is diluting out the sodium in your blood so low that your salinity drops to a fatal level (your cells start lysing). This can happen by either drinking too much water or by depleting your sodium without replacing it. Its a balance.

If your body has plenty of sodium drinking that much isn't going to harm you. Whether it serves an actual purpose to drink that much is questionable though.

What killed that woman based on your description was she was probably low sodium, went for a 20 min run where she sweat bullets and depleted her sodium even more then drank a ton of water diluting out what little sodium she had left to a point where it was fatal.

bethlaf

one of the biggest things is , all liquid is part of that "water" goal , coffee tea, all of it , and an 8 oz glass of water is not much most home glasses of water are 16+ oz , mine is 24 , so in reality its only 3 "glasses" a day, if i went that low i would feel dried out like a prune ...
just saying ..

its easier than people think.

Aaron_K123

one of the biggest things is , all liquid is part of that "water" goal , coffee tea, all of it , and an 8 oz glass of water is not much most home glasses of water are 16+ oz , mine is 24 , so in reality its only 3 "glasses" a day, if i went that low i would feel dried out like a prune ...
just saying ..

its easier than people think.

Yeah when people say 8 "glasses" of water or 15 "glasses" of water they are using the term glass to mean one cup or 8oz however almost any actual physical glass is going to hold much more than that. So if you think 15 cups and equate that to 15 glasses then picture your glass at home which actually holds 20oz of liquid then yeah it sounds like a lot then.

huzuri

I have been trying to drink 1 gallon per day which is 16 cups. And in the beginning I was running to the bathroom A LOT. But after about 4 days, my body adjusted and I didn't have to go as much. And my skin has cleared up immensely!!

So, I will try to keep it going. Some days I fall short, but I try to pick it back up.

CA_Underdog

What kills you about drinking water is diluting out the sodium in your blood so low that your salinity drops to a fatal level (your cells start lysing). This can happen by either drinking too much water or by depleting your sodium without replacing it. Its a balance.

Well said.

What killed that woman based on your description was she was probably low sodium, went for a 20 min run where she sweat bullets and depleted her sodium even more then drank a ton of water diluting out what little sodium she had left to a point where it was fatal.

Per the detailed account I have, her sodium levels actually began at 140 mmol/L (normal), she ran lightly for five hours at about 4.25mph on a cool day sweating very little, and drank 1.2L of gatorade per hour. Drinking Gatorade instead of water--which has some sodium in it--is credited with allowing her to survive 5 hours instead of 4 hours. Don't give them too much credit, though! She we actually following their hydration guidelines when she died, and better for her health and performance was clearly drinking less.

If your body has plenty of sodium drinking that much isn't going to harm you. Whether it serves an actual purpose to drink that much is questionable though.

Agreed, a high-sodium diet is a good companion to high water intake, and brings it into a safer range. This is what I do when I must drink excessive quantities of water (multi-hour endurance events). Long-term, you may dilute other nutrients, and it's questionable high-sodium w/ water retention is best for you.