Hydration: Still sippin' water these days?

Murdog

Ok, the big thing with hydration back when I went to Marine Corps boot camp (1997) was to sip it all day. From the moment the lights came on, we were in a dead run doing everything, and we sipped water constantly. I began counting the times I'd fill my canteen; I filled it 11 times in one day. We were taught to drink "ahead of our thirst". Our DI's would tell us "if you find yourself thirsty, it's too late!"

Now, I know studies yield new findings about different things nearly everytime we turn around. What is everyone here reading/doing these days in regard to hydration. I was also taught to drink plenty of electrolytes. Otherwise,drinking all water would wash a lot of those electrolytes out of your system.

I was very green to all this hydration stuff at that time. I would primarily drink diet soda all day and some water/coffee before I enlisted.

Currently, I'm trying to kick sodas (diet pepsi). Therefore, I'm trying to replace it with Gatorade G2. Its a rough go. I never thought it would be this hard!! Heck...I've completely taken red meat out of my diet cold-turkey. But, this is a different animal!! Guidance, thoughts, and comments all welcome. Hope all is doing well. Thanks in advance.

JennLifts

I drink water and only water. Except protein shakes.
I definitely think you should drink it all day long.
I too removed meat cold turkey..

jnfrdawn

I'm on an insurance underwritten program with a team of professionals, and they each have a different recommendation for getting all your water. The one that worked for me was, drink a 16 - 20 oz. bottle every three hours, as long as you're awake. (Plan on having to become "awake" in the middle of the night to eliminate it a time or two as well!) So for me it works out like
8 - 11 a.m. - 1 bottle
11 - 2 p.m. - 1 bottle
2 - 5 p.m. - 1 bottle
5 - 8 p.m. - 1 bottle
and so on. I usually stop there actually instead of drinking right up 'til 11 p.m. With 16 oz. bottles you get 64 oz; bump it up to 20 oz. bottles and you're getting 80. The exercise physiologist told me he recommends everybody drink 88 - 100 oz. per day regardless of weight or fitness level, but there is no way. I normally only get 1/2 - 2/3 that much.

SueInAz

I live in a hot, dry climate so I always have something to drink (usually water, but not always) right next to me from the moment I wake up and chug a 16 oz glass until I drink a few ounces before jumping into bed. That said, I probably drink 64 - 80 ounces of pure water per day so I'm not sipping on it constantly but it's always handy when I feel the need to have a sip.

alicebud

Try diet root beer next time you crave a pepsi. Pepsi has caffeine, but root beer does not. Maybe it could be a step down from the diet pepsi and help you wean off completely.

Murdog

Thanks everybody! Got some really cool ideas for motivating me and staying on track! Y'all rock!

mombii

Our family kicked the soda habit with carbonated water... not the kind with sugars/sweetners but just carbonated water and occasionally flavored. The La Croix makes some nice flavors and our local grocery store has its own brand too. It's hard to break the soda habit because sometimes you just crave something fizzy to drink.

tcfor3

My hubby was a Coca-holic for 13 years. He has kicked his habit and drinks a lot of water with MIO in it. We love it because it doesn't have the aftertaste that some other things you can add to water. To us, it kind of fools our taste buds I also really like lemons and limes, so I'll just add a couple of slices to my water if I don't want MIO.

Give it a try too!! Good luck - I know how hard it is.

HMonsterX

I still drink 0 water a day, as there's no actual need to.

http://www.snopes.com/medical/myths/8glasses.asp

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/jul/13/myth-eight-glasses-water-day

http://junkfoodscience.blogspot.com/2008/07/wellness-water-8x8-myth.html

http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2010/12/08/the-myth-behind-drinking-8-glasses-of-water-a-day/

I get my fluid from plenty of other sources, as do most people. No idea why they still drink bottle after bottle or surplus water.