ok dumb water question

TheRoadDog

Of course you can add it. Hell, you can add the water from when the ice melts in your cocktail if you like.

agentscully514

Anything with sugar or sodium in it (soda, some flavored waters) doesn't count in my book.

Looking at my can of diet soda, I notice it has 2% of daily requirement of sodium (55 mg). Interestingly enough, a liter of water can have 50 mg of sodium. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/sodium/AN00317

So, IMO, even your drinking water from the tap has sodium due to the water softening process, and the sodium in a can of diet soda isn't enough to 'not count' as water.

why would sodium matter? Sodium doesn't turn water into not-water.

tigersword

ALL non-alcohol liquid, including water in your food, counts in the 8 glasses.

Some alcohol counts, too. Beer and wine count, as they have far more water to hydrate you than the diuretic effect of the relatively low alcohol content would pull out of you.

wellbert

All H2O you consume is water.

suziblues2000

I've read somewhere that a new study came out about drinking warm water with a T. of fresh lemon juice in it, twice a day, helps to lose a pound per week.
I've been doing this (drinking a warm glass of lemon water in the morning and one at night) and guess what? It works! (for me).


Plus, I usually count it as part of my water intake.

BarbWhite09

Personally, I wouldn't count it...But many others would. Im just super strict about whats h20 & what isn't. Lol.

Angie80281

You just brought back so many memories from my childhood! I never see the sea ponies anymore. Time to get on ebay and find some for my daughter!

dferbio

weight watchers doesn't like to count caffeinated beverages as a water because caffiene acts like a diuretic, and doesn't actually hydrate.

Psychoanalytic

Before anyone tries to argue with me or anything like that, my opinion is due to the fact that I've had massive dehydration issues before and had to be careful with what I drank.

My rule of thumb is if it's got some sort of artificial something in it, then I personally don't log it in my water. (That doesn't mean I won't log it...I have a "beverages" section for anything other than water I just might happen to drink on rare occasion, like gatorade, etc.)

Listen to your own body. If you feel like you're getting enough water, log it like it's water and stick the 5 calories in a beverage or snack section or something like that. If you feel like you're not getting enough water, then log it under something else, and drink more water.

If spicing up water to not make it so blah is the issue, fruit is your friend. Squeeze a lime or lemon in it. Drop some chunks of pineapple, strawberries, etc and give your water bottle a good shake. Even though some things don't have calories or carbs, a lot of them do have sodium, artificial sweeteners, etc which have different physical effects on different people.




Edit: and by the whole "before anyone argues with me" thing, I mean that in the sense of, my opinion is based on personal experience.... not "Well weight watchers counts this," and "such and such famous writer person who tells you random things that you should know about yourself says that"

agentscully514

weight watchers doesn't like to count caffeinated beverages as a water because caffiene acts like a diuretic, and doesn't actually hydrate.

WW is wrong about that. The diuretic properties of caffeine are exaggerated.

graciemom828

I have found the colder the water is the more I could drink it while I was getting into the "drink water" mode - I use the Crystal Light sorts of drinks as well. I live in North Dakota and we have a discount store in our town called Alco - they have this drink called Ice something or another and it comes in many flavors, is cheap and has zero calories, zero everything so that is kind of fun.

allisonlerner

try adding MIO!!

zoeluiisa

My Doctor said that tea and coffee count as part of your water intake - yes, they have a slight diuretic action, but not enough to counteract the amount of water in the mug. And certainly not enough to leave you dehydrated.

I didn't ask him about soda (pop) because I don't drink it.

SuffolkSally

ALL non-alcohol liquid, including water in your food, counts in the 8 glasses.

Some alcohol counts, too. Beer and wine count, as they have far more water to hydrate you than the diuretic effect of the relatively low alcohol content would pull out of you.

I don't know the science, but as someone with a long familiarity with both wine and beer they HAVE to be dehydrating just from the after effects! Hangovers are supposed to be due to dehydration, and like everyone else who's ever had a seriously dry mouth, dark wee and griity eyes after an excess I believe it! I log all fluids as water, but list alcohol and diest sodas as snacks so as to count the calories they contain.

Herbal/green/mint tea can be a great way to wean yourself onto "cleaner" drinks if you don't like plain water. We don't have Mio and crystal light etc in the UK, so I read about them after I saw them metioned here - personally wouldn't go anywhere near them.

I'm also trying to get off my occasional diet cokes, and have found carbonated water with or without fresh lime juice to be the great salvation.

GB333

I count Crystal Light! and Mio, too. I rarely drink just water.

I also count my decaffeinated iced green tea - I usually drink that all day long. I loooooooooooove it! I sweeten it with Splenda, but it's still "water" as far as I am concerned. Plus, I get the metabolism boost from the green tea!

JustJennie1

You can count the crystal light and other "flavors" as water however keep in mind that they're still sweet and loaded with artificial crap and the fact that it still has calories.

marticapitt

It counts. But what is your goal? For me I have to count caloires right now, so that 5 calories I'd rather spend elsewhere. Find a water you like the taste of! Propel is good if you like flavored water. I drink a really good reverse osmosis water because the tap water here is awful. If you just want to cut out sugar - you found a winner!. I also will drink green tea (ones with wild blueberry and pomegramate) and sweeten with Toranni syrup (either vanilla or raspberry) which has 0 calories. Tea is a natural diruetic and I get the decafe version. I found that artificial sweeteners tend to make me thirstier so I try to stay clear of them as much as I can.

jmweber76

I wanted to throw out a couple of suggestions for those people that don't like drinking plain water....because I know it gets boring.

I bought a water infuser. It's basically something that you can drop in your favorite fruit or herbs and let it flavor your water the natural way. They make water pitchers with a place that keeps the fruit separately so you don't end up with a mushy slurry of stuff in your drink. So add some strawberries, peaches, watermelon, cucumber, or mint (or some combo of those) to the infuser, let it sit for a few hours in the fridge, then dump the fruit (or eat it in a smoothie) and enjoy your own flavored water. You can get pretty creative. I actually bought an infuser you can drop in your own pitchers if you don't want to buy a new pitcher. Check out Amazon.com and search "Water Infuser".

Or else....I've been loving the new Coconut LaCroix carbonated water for a little something extra. It's yummy!

wvtracyann

I am only eating 1200 calories a day but sometimes I do bump it up to 1250 or 1300 because I usually burn 400 calories or more with excerise. The only reason I asked about crystal light is because it was a cheap way for me to get water on the go. I love a lemon slice in my water and can drink it just fine that way if I am at a restaraunt or something but it isn't something that is easy for me to carry in my purse through the day. Plus when I do workout I dont mind to drink plain water because I am just that thirsty. I just have a really hard time getting to my 8 glasses of anything so I am trying to switch it up a little to make me drink more. Even before I started exercising I didnt' drink much at all. So I am really trying.

Psychoanalytic

I just have a really hard time getting to my 8 glasses of anything so I am trying to switch it up a little to make me drink more. Even before I started exercising I didnt' drink much at all. So I am really trying.

This.

I think at some point in time we all had this problem. Nowwwwww I understand more specifically your concern.

You can't cart around a bag of lemons in your purse (ok well I guess you COULD......) but one thing you can do is take a small bottle of lemon juice in your purse! Or lime, or whatever. I know groceries around here sell them in little glass bottles, or there's the little quirt bottles shaped like lemons and limes too.

One thing that really got me going on my water intake was a fancy-schmancy water bottle. No, you don't really *need* a fancy-schmancy water bottle, but it gives you a little incentive. When I was looking for a bottle, I looked for something 32+ oz because in my mind, the way I broke it down was that after two of these babies, I've reached my MFP water goal! (Personally, I got a 34oz Bobble bottle because our tap water tastes awful.) And what have I found? I end up drinking anywhere from 3-5 of these a day. Yeah. You read that right. Not just 64oz of water that they'd like you to drink. 102-170oz of water a day. Trick your mind. You'll build up the habit in no time.

Oh. And eat your exercise calories back. (I felt really weird not saying something about that.)

blen85

Try MiO -- its real good ((: