my water consumption.....

Based on the original post, I am wondering if you are drinking tap water, or if not, what kind of water?

The flavor or water can vary considerably. For instance, I dislike the taste of Dasani, which is Coca-cola's engineered version of mineral water. I love the flavor of Evian, a natural light mineral water. There are all sorts of varieties. Bottled water can be an expensive habit. Still, you might want to find a trusted brand that you like, try a few. I suspect you will find some that taste better to you.

I wouldn't consume a lot of straight tap-water. It is chlorinated, awful taste, and has been clearly linked to bladder cancer. However, treating it with a Brita filter pitcher, or the equivalent, usually improves the flavor and removes the chlorine.

mint tea bags, especially refreshing if it's hot outside.

I hate tea lol... plus I am concerned about caffeine

You can buy herbal mint "tea" bags. No tea, no caffine, all of the mint. Very tasty. (Or you can buy loose mint - I like "Moroccan mint" from the Teasmith - and use a tea-ball.) Nice iced in the summer and hot in the winter at night.

Mint water is also good - especially the chocolate mint water - Tastes kind of like Thin mints (IMO). I think Kroger usually has the best prices.

The nuun tablets are pretty good (most flavors of them anyway).They give you tase options without sugar and you get vitamins, too.

I place a cinniman stick in my water cup and then fill it up with ice and water. The cinniman lightly flavors the water and helps me drink it. I too was not a water drinker and don't care for the "fake sugar" taste. Hope you find something to help

I love warm lemon water. If you don't like the taste, add some honey. If you don't want to add calories, use stevia sweetener. There are a lot of health benefits to lemon water as well. Water really is a habit you have to make though. I had a hard time at first but now I crave it.

I made it a habit to keep a glass around me when I'm at home, and just absentmindedly drink from it and refill it whenever it's empty. It not only increased how much I drank in a day, it also got me used to the taste to where I don't care.

The part I *don't* like, that also helped, is something I got from a gastroenterologist. He says if you put two glasses of water on your stomach before taking in any food or drink, first thing in the morning, your digestive system works a lot better. I hate doing it, but I remind myself that in 20 seconds it'll be over with and I can move on to breakfast and coffee.

I HATE water but no water - no weight loss. I tried the additives and they just pinged my sweet meter and then binging happened. SO FAR I have been using lemon and it works(one of my MFP buddies told me about it (thanks)). No sweet meter and I still can drink it without it being such a chore. But yeah- I don't like water either.

Eight glasses of water a day an urban myth'?

Water and a well-balanced diet 'do far more than water alone,' Australian researcher says

CBC News

Posted: Jun 10, 2012 12:51 AM ET

Last Updated: Jun 10, 2012 12:48 AM ET

The common advice to drink eight glasses of water a day doesn't hold water, say nutrition and kidney specialists who want to dispel the myth.

"What drove us to drink two litres of water a day?" asks an editorial in this week's issue of the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health.

The recommendation was driven by vested interests rather than health, suggests author Speros Tsindos of the department of dietetics and human nutrition at La Trobe University in Victoria, Australia.
Other beverages also help us meet the body's fluid needs, say nutrition specialists. (Aaron Harris/Canadian Press)
"Humans need to maintain fluid balance and need to drink water when required, but should also consider fluid in unprocessed fruits and vegetables and juices. There is further evidence that water and a well-balanced diet does far more than water alone," Tsindos wrote.

"Water is important for health; however, the recommendation of eight glasses of pure water per day appears an overestimation of requirements."

Even a baked potato is 75 per cent water, said nutrition Prof. Susan Barr of the University of British Columbia, who sat on a Canadian-U.S. committee that looked at fluid intake.

"There's nothing magical about water from a glass of water as opposed to water from a food or any other beverage," Barr said.

Drinking caffeinated beverages such as tea and coffee do not lead to dehydration, said Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, a nephrologist at the University of Pennsylvania who reviewed research claims on drinking eight glasses of water and studied how the kidneys handle it.

Let thirst guide you

"Drinking the coffee will count towards your total water intake for the day," Goldfarb said.

Goldfarb said despite the common idea that it's important to "drink eight glasses of eight ounces of water" a day, "There’s no evidence that benefits health in any real way and it really represents an urban myth."

There's no evidence you need to drink more water than what thirst dictates, Goldfarb added.

Studies on desert nomads showed people can consume minimal amounts of water in harsh environments. The military has also looked at how much water soldiers need to take with them when patrolling in hot climates without harming their performance.

"If one is just playing a game of tennis in an indoor facility, for example, or having a short run on a treadmill in an air-conditioned gym, the need to maintain hydration during that is just non-existent," Goldfarb advised.

People have died of dehydration and from drinking too much water too quickly.

A good guide to tell if the body’s finely tuned fluid balance is to check the colour of your urine. If it's very dark, you're on the dry side; if it's very light or translucent, then you need to drink a bit less water, said Dr. David Price, head of family medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont.

I slice lemon, lime, cucumber, cantaloupe, OR peaches and put them in my water bottle in the morning. They keep my water slightly flavored all day long. I just leave them in there and keep filling up my bottle. It makes it easy to drink 8+ cups of water a day. I know my water bottle holds 3 cups, so it makes it easy to keep track.

added bonus *Lemon water boosts metabolism.