Water??

How do you not like the taste of water? It doesn't taste like...anything. It's just cold refreshing liquid.

If you like the taste of lemon, cucumber, berries, etc try infusing them in your water. It'll take on a slight taste of what you infuse it with and it's really refreshing. Really, though, you need to train yourself to like it. Basically, force yourself to drink it. You don't need to chug glass upon glass, stressing about reaching 8 glasses a day, but you have to drink it. There's really no way around it. Buy a water bottle and sip it throughout the day. I have a 24oz bottle and I find that when I use that, I tend to drink more water. I usually fill it up 3 times throughout the day.

ETA: I read the info on the link posted and though I'm sure drinking coffee, tea, milk and/or beer works for some people, I don't think these things should comprise the majority of your liquid intake. Yes, those things are tasty, but water is far more hydrating and refreshing.

Before people come in here spouting a bunch of bunk and nonsense, here's the straight scoop:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/821181-myths-and-facts-about-hydration-requirements

Thanks for posting that link.

Nice to see that Dr. Valetin's study is getting some traction here.

My stock answer:
"Why do you feel that you need to drink more water than your body wants you to drink?

I've found two reasons to drink more water than my thirst mechanism tells me to drink:
1 - I run. And, per advice from running sources, I drink 8 oz of water about 15 minutes before I run. During my run, I drink about 7 OZ every 20 minutes.

2 - When people are trying to lose weight, drinking water gives a "full feeling" so people tend to eat less.

Other than that, I've never found a credible, scientifically-based study that shows that there is any value in drinking more water than our thirst mechanism signals us to drink.

Two sources:

http://ajpregu.physiology.org/content/283/5/R993.full

The author is a medical doctor. There are lots of those floating around but this one has some cred. He's on staff at Dartmouth (or Princeton, I can't remember…) and that's a good sign that the fellow has some moxie. Second, he wrote a text book on how the kidneys work.

Take the 60 seconds that you'll need just to read the abstract and that will help kill the myth. Oh, yes, 100 citations to published medical documents.



Second source, is the Runners World book "Guide to Road Racing". I got my copy for $5 from Amazon. In the "Fuel" chapter there's a section entitled "Hydration". First sentence under the heading "How Much do I Need?" (page 221)

"The old formula—everyone needs eight glasses of water a day—is out."

It then goes on to give a formula for men and women:
Men = body weight (in pounds) * 0.35
Women = body weight (in pounds) * 0.31

That's the "drinking requirement in fluid ounces" for water.

The authors go further and cite the decision of the International Marathon Medical Directors Association (isn't that amazing - they have their own association!), who, in 2006 threw out their old guidelines which was to drink more water than you felt that you needed so that you could "drink ahead" of your thirst because "the message being that by the time you feel thirsty, you're already on the road to dehydration."

They tossed that out and support the "increasing scientific evidence to support the notion that thirst is actually the ideal way to gauge hydration needs."

They quote Timothy D. Noakes, MD, a professor of exercise and sports science at University of Cape Town, South Africa, and the author of "Lore of Running" "It is the only system used by all other creatures on earth. Why should it not also be ideal for humans?"

(page 224)
According to the medical director of the New York City marathon, who is also the chairman of the board of the International Marathon Medical Directors Association, "We're used to hearing that thirst follows too far behind what you really need, but that doesn't hold true scientifically.…Your body's thirst mechanism is giving you real-time feedback on your internal fluid balance."

My thinking about water and weight loss?

If you need water to curb your appetite, drink water until you learn to control your appetite. But drinking 8 cups of water a day 'to flush toxins" or "because your muscles need it to work smoothly"? Sorry, our bodies have evolved over millions of years to tell us when we need water. I'll stick with that, thanks."