Water Consumption-- does it matter?

bparr

I really have to make myself drink my daily water-- so, often times I drink down 16 oz in one sitting. Does it matter that I drink my water in spurts rather than all through-out the day? :drinker:

laurenward1990

I'd assume it should be spread across the day. Your body shouldn't have too much water all at once. x

HMKan

My personal opinion is that it doesn't. I think what's important is getting it into your body. The more consistently you drink water, my understanding is, the less water your body will retain. But as long as you're taking in a large amount on a daily basis, I don't think it could make a difference whether it's 2 cups at a time every so many hours.

ajbeans

16 oz at a time is ok. Now, if you tried to drink all 8 cups of water in one sitting, that would probably not be good because you'd flush it out all at once and get dehydrated later. But it's ok if you drink a couple of cups at a time.

VP72

As long as you manage to drink it - no! The only problem is you might become dehyrated. If you feel hungry or are getting headaches try not to leave such big gaps between drinking your water.
I find if I drink too much at one time it makes me feel sick!

Good Luck!

jenX1174

I'm the same way, sometimes i drink 16 oz all at once or over an hour. As long as you get your 8 cups in by the end of the day, that's what counts. It definitely isn't good to drink large amounts in a short amount of time as it could throw your electrolyte balance off and you could be in trouble.

Also, if you are exercising, you should be drinking an additional 2-4 cups a day.

Sasha_Bear

Nope doesn't matter at all, My norm is to drink 20 ounces in one sitting. I have a 20 ounce bottle and I just keep feeling it up every time I finish one off. This is the only way I'm able to get mine in.

MsFitnFabulous

I agree that too much too soon may not be good. It does bite having to constantly have to go, but it has to be done to get rid of toxins. Good luck!

lizard9800

I would think 16 oz at once 4x per day is not too bad, but chugging all 8 glasses just because you are focused on it wouldn't be smart. You might lose too many electolytes? I personally never only drink 8 oz at once. Seems too small. I have a 20 oz Sobe bottle at work that I fill up several times throught the day and a 16 oz pint glass for dinner, etc. Just make sure you are drinking enough water after workouts as well.

SoFLYFireman

In a way, it does matter, most hunger feelings are really thirst feelings, your body is being dehydrated, since your body is consisted of 60% water it is very important to keep a lot of water in your system, I aim to drink a gallon a day. It is really hard, but when I do, I am not hungry all day and dont have empy stomach feelings. Water will also keep your metabolism moving up to speed, allowing you to lose more weight.

your daily water should be your body weight X 2/3 and thats how many ounces in reccomended.
Hope this helps, good luck!

MC

Clew

The body is an amazing machine. There is a lot of talk out there about how once you feel thirsty you're already dehydrated so you need to drink drink drink. To me that doesn't make sense. You do need to get adequate hydration but there are a lot of variables. Your activity level, your size, the liquid content of what you eat. Listening to your body for pointers is the best thing you can do.

xo

grouch201

No scientific data, but logic seems to say that how you drink your water may be a significant factor. Your body uses water for cellular respiration (creating energy) and if you drink a lot of water all at once, the body just processes the extra and it becomes waste, leaving a deficiency for later on in the day once the body has used what it did need. So in order to make sure your body has enough and then some, it is probably better to drink more frequently through out the day.

I think the same logic holds true for food. What if you just had one large meal early in the day and then didn't eat for the rest. Your body would take what it needed and then process the rest as waste, or even use the extra to convert into fat. I think this is the reason it's better to eat smaller meals more frequently throughout the day rather than the general three meals.

The easiest way to keep up on both is just to make sure you have a steady supply at hand. Water bottles that you can refill are the best. Just make sure you always top it off once you've run out and drink frequently throughout the day. It's easiest to eat well when you have a good supply of snacks available when you need them so you're not tempted by the vending machines or fast food.

A little bit of planning goes a long way and these habits can last a lifetime.

bizco

Wow, using that calculation I should be drinking 11.5 ounces per day. I'll try to increase my water consumption.

JillyBean819

I tend to chug my cups. I'll finish an 8 ounce cup in about 2 minutes wait about 30 minutes then chug another cup.

I had a lot of training chugging beers in college so taking in water this way is the easiest way for me to ensure that I get my 8 cups a day.