WATER CONSUMPTION

Why does it matter? You're doing the same thing either way. Do you just want to make yourself feel better about hitting your quota? If that's the case, just count everything you drink because it's all mostly water. You could count alcohol, soda, milk shakes. Maybe even count water that sneaks into your mouth while showering or in the pool...

The "drink more water" idea isn't just about being hydrated (it's not like everyone walks around chronically dehydrated). Probably the biggest benefit of drinking more water is that it replaces calorie dense liquids that you would otherwise drink (like sugary coffee).

You're just wasting your time and effort by twisting it to include other liquids. Water means water, that's it.

The 8 glasses of water daily is meant to be a guide of your total daily water intake. Does not necessarily mean water in its purest from. If your urine is pale yellow or clear, and you are not thirsty, then you are drinking enough to be hydrated. If you exercise more then you should drink more water to replace what you have sweated out. Drinking water is good for you, and it is also better to replace sugary drinks and juice with water but not necessary.

The premise that coffee acts as a diuretic on your body is a myth and not true. You do NOT need to balance out coffee with water.

Personally I count coffee as coffee, tea I don't count at all and I don't record my water consumption. I have a bottle I carry with me all the time and I drink from it constantly. I do not feel the need to make sure I get enough water since if I don't drink enough I know I will get a migraine telling me to drink more water or I just get thirsty.

First of all... you really should be getting more than 8 cups... the latest research shows that sedentary women should be getting 9 cups per day.. and active women should get 10 to 16 cups... sedentary men 13 and active men 14 to 24..... Coffee...tea...soda...and alcohol are all diuretics and subtract from your water and dehydrate you... so for every cup of those drinks you need to add an additional cup of water to your daily water consumption.... I promise you that if you achieve this level of hydration you will feel amazing.... EVERYTHING works better .... your focus, your circulation, your performance... EVERYTHING!

^^ Myth

I should mention that you should count the calories from coffee or tea if you add sugar or dairy products since those add up.
I drink mine black so its less then 5 calories a cup.

And a disclaimer that while it is true that coffee or the coffee been is a diuretic. It is so small that it does not have the effect on your body. I have heard several schools of thought on this. 1. That if you drink it regularly your body becomes used to it so to speak, and 2. Only if you are drinking a lot of coffee does it have a diuretic effect and 3. The water in the coffee already counters the diuretic of the coffee. Which is why a normal coffee drinker doesn't need to balance out coffee with extra water.

I don't remember all the science behind it.
Glad I had some words of wisdom for you.

Don't get hung up. You pour hot water onto a teabag, the water is still in the cup. If you drank a cup of water, then ate the tea, the same thing would happen.

Just drink plenty of water. If you start feeling sick, you might be drinking too much for pete's sake. If your urine appears/smells very concentrated you probably need to drink more.

Any nutritional standard that recommends the same intake regardless if you're 4'11" or 6'5" is a stupid standard.

I'm having some troule with consistant water consumption.
I'm good for a day or two, then find myself not drinking anything the next day.
Some day i'll go all day without consuming any liquids at all.
Any tips on How i can be more consistant.

I keep a bottle with me at all times. Any time I think I am thirsty, I drink. I notice the bottle, I drink. Getting a bit peckish? Have a sip first. My husband and I share bottles, so we always have water around. Last night we went for a ten minute walk to get some of the cobwebs out and we had the bottle with us out of habit.

It took us a while to get into the habit. We lost a couple of bottles. And all of our bottles have dents in them, most of them can't stand up straight, because we kept dropping them. We broke all of the tops, and I ended up ordering twice as many as we have bottles left. But now that we are several years into the habit, the paint is starting to wear off some of the bottles and we each have our favorites that we take to work.

My timex has a function where you can program food or water intake intervals.
I haven't tried it yet and my timex isn't fancy.

You could also set a timer on your phone every hour or so to remind you to drink water.

The information I gave you about water is not a myth at all but research based ... information that comes from health and fitness research from UNC that is used as a basis for the coursework for the National Academy of Sports Mediciine... through which I am a certified personal trainer... I live by it and tell everyone I know... and everyone that follows through with staying properly hydrated has enjoyed the same benefits as me including better skin and complexion, more energy, better focus, improved circulation resulting in improved EVERYTHING including muscle and athletic performance... among other things.... Sedentary women need 9 cups ...active women need 10-18 cups.... sedentary men need 13 cups... active men need 14 - 24 cups. The positive results will speak for themselves when you are properly hydrated... this is not just from a book but also from personal experience from me, all my fitness friends, and my personal training clients... hope this helps!

I believe this.

I was not aware that our body needed to consume so much water per day. It's something we always read in high school health class, but in the late 80's and 90's not many companies where marketing bottled water yet, mostly soda. I grew up thinking you drank when you felt thirsty and that it was rude to stay too long at the water fountain at school if there was anyone behind you waiting. Plus there was always a fear someone would give you a wedgy if you stood bend over for too long! lol

Since then, going through university and feeling what real dehydration was after a massive morning hang-over, I started to understand the need for water. haha

I make a conscience effort to drink min. 64 oz of water but generally drink about 96 oz or more now that I'm trying to loss weight thru good nutrition and exercise. I want the food that I eat to digest properly so that it can absorb as quickly as possible. I also think it helps my number 2 movements, but most importantly because now I am running on a daily basis, I know my body needs it.

I have less headaches and I have noticed that I sleep much better. When I wake up, I feel refreshed and rarely sleep in (mainly because I need to rush to the bathroom) lol

Anyway, I do believe most of what is written about the need for hydration throughout the day.

My personal experience.

Read this yesterday - found it interesting.

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2014/01/28/everything-you-need-to-know-about-hydration/

Read this yesterday - found it interesting.

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2014/01/28/everything-you-need-to-know-about-hydration/

I'm very glad you posted this and saved me the trouble of digging it up. Quoting so hopefully more people read it. There is so much false information when it comes to hydration

whats absurd is arguing against my point without trying it for yourself and seeing the results for yourself....

I am not questioning validity or arguing points. It's not a debate; I told you that you were wrong and why. You've made your case and I've made mine. :flowerforyou: