Water advice - I'm drowning

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  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    Yes, you are overthinking it. but you are on the right track.
    Basically:
    temperature does not matter
    1 liter is 4 cups (technically 4.22 US cups or 4 metric cups)
    You can judge your hydration by the color of your pee. If you are pale tan to yellow (about the color of a manila file folder) you are very well hydrated. If you are the color of a lemon, drink more. If you are the color of a pumpkin or basketball, get to the doctor.
    8 cups is a good general goal for people to aim for but in reality, each person is different.

    ETA; overhydration and elecrolyte imbalance is possible but extremely hard to do unless you sweat a lot or take high potency diuretics. If you think you need to drink more, do it. The average person in more likely to get dehydrated than overhydrated.
  • Eoghann
    Eoghann Posts: 130 Member
    Water temperature doesn't matter. Drink it the way you like it.

    There is no advantage to "over hydration"

    Any number you see online BS. There are too many factors including exercise level, temperature and diet (moisture in your food is fluid intake) to give a single number like that.

    If you're thirsty drink. If your pee is bright yellow drink more.

    Otherwise... you're fine.
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,961 Member
    I assume that MFP uses 250 ml as a fluid cup (8 oz. in imperial), so your water bottle holds 2 cups.
    A general rule of thumb I've been using for water consumption is to drink in oz what half of my body weight in pounds is.

    Eg. if I were 128 lbs, I'd drink 64 oz a day which is 8 cups (2 litres).
    If I were 160 lbs, I'd drink 80 oz a day which is 10 cups or 2.5 litres.

    Sometimes I find it to be a lot though and it makes me uncomfortable. So if I really truly don't want it (am actually not thirsty), I don't drink that much. Water consumption is highly based on your environment and the individual so you need to just do what feels good. If it's hot or very cold where you are, or windy, etc., you might need to drink more.

    Also, some suggest weighing yourself before and after an exercise to see how much water weight you lose. If you were to lose 1 lb through sweating, you'd drink back 1 additional cup. Something like that.

    Research differs a lot on water consumption guidelines - some say nothing is a good indicator except thirst. And to keep in mind some cravings for "sweet" things are actually thirst.
  • opus649
    opus649 Posts: 633 Member
    If I don't drink 5 gallons of water per day I go into starvation mode.
  • CindeeMaree
    CindeeMaree Posts: 16
    If you take in 1 8-oz. glass of water every hour of an 8 hour day you have succeeded in your necessary water consumption. Coffee, tea, broth all count as water. Also, what is better, room temp or cold? Obviously room temp is easier on the body, not a shock but cold requires energy to bring it to body temp thus burning more calories. I doubt it burns many more calories however, since the body's internal temp is 98.6 I'm sure the water heats up quickly.
    My trick is to fill two 32 oz. pitchers of water in the evening and put slices of orange in the water. The next day the water is delicious and I drink a glass an hour.
  • icrushit
    icrushit Posts: 773 Member
    I aim for between 1.5 & 2 litres a day, but to be honest, really only pay attention to make sure I'm not drinking too little. Water is great for so many things, and our bodies typically need something like 1.5 litres every day just for normal functions. It takes your body a while to get used to higher levels of hydration though, something I learned from a sports bio, so just build it up gradually :)
  • blueboxgeek
    blueboxgeek Posts: 574 Member
    If I don't drink 5 gallons of water per day I go into starvation mode.

    Oh no!!! Get drinking!!! lol.

    Personally I drink about 1 litre of plain water a day. Plus 2-3 mugs of tea (with milk) and a can of diet coke on an evening. This works for me.

    I do tend to notice quite quickly if I am dehydrated and get a headache. With the above amount, I am headache free but not at the toilet every 20 minutes like I was when I tried drinking 3 litres of water a day.

    It's individual. I also find that if I don't drink enough my skin gets crappy.
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    Q1) Cold or room temperature is up to you. Your body doesn't need to work as hard to keep your core temperature regulated with room temperature water so it is less stress on the body but it's not worth getting paranoid over.

    Q2) It's fluid intake rather than water intake which you need to watch out for as well as electrolyte balance (and too much water can mess with that...)

    If you eat plenty of fresh vegetables and fruit per day as well as other drinks containing water then 1 litre or so should be enough, otherwise a bit more. Check the colour of your urine as an easy test to see how well hydrated you are - if it is dark get more fluids.
    This!

    One "cup" as indicated by MFP is 8 fluid ounces which equals 236.5882375 mL.

    The whole "you need 64 ounces of plain WATER each day" is old, outdated, and mis-calculated information. You need 64 ounces (1.893 L) of water each day from ANY source. That includes tea, coffee, soda, food, anything. However, if you live in a hot climate (I do) you should drink more to compensate for the extra fluid loss. You would also want extra to replace what you lose through exercise. You do not NEED to drink 1.9 L of plain water every day or even to track it on MFP unless you'd like to (I don't usually).

    Use the color of your urine to indicate your hydration level. Your urine should be a very pale yellow so if the water in the bowl is clear after urinating you're drinking enough water. Don't overthink it.

    Forgot to add: caffeine is so mildly diuretic that you don't need to compensate for it.
  • canadjineh
    canadjineh Posts: 5,396 Member
    Lots of people think they are hungry when they are actually thirsty and need a glass of water. I usually drink 5 glasses before lunch (250 ml in North America) because I take pre breakfast meds with one glass, post breakfast supplements with another, and 3 in between breakfast & lunch just lugging around my 750 ml bottle. That way I don't have to fit in so many glasses late in the day and wake up in the night to pee. Usually 3-4 glasses in the afternoon/evening.
    I think your 2 litres sounds just fine.
    Pee in the toilet should be almost clear according to my doc except for the first one in the morning.

    edited for clarity
  • ToughMudderAddict
    ToughMudderAddict Posts: 290 Member
    Q1) Cold or room temperature is up to you. Your body doesn't need to work as hard to keep your core temperature regulated with room temperature water so it is less stress on the body but it's not worth getting paranoid over.

    Q2) It's fluid intake rather than water intake which you need to watch out for as well as electrolyte balance (and too much water can mess with that...)

    If you eat plenty of fresh vegetables and fruit per day as well as other drinks containing water then 1 litre or so should be enough, otherwise a bit more. Check the colour of your urine as an easy test to see how well hydrated you are - if it is dark get more fluids.

    This. You can actually get a lot of fluid from the foods you eat. I don't find the need to drink a ton of water outside of my food intake. I drink one capucinno (powder mix in drink) in the morning and usually do not drink anything more until lunch time at which time I will have a cup or so of water and the same with dinner. It's just going to depend on your own body needs and what you've eaten throughout the day.. also what kinds of activities you are doing - more activity may mean you need more water.

    ETA - Logging your water/fluid intake on MFP does not affect anything, it is just a record and reminder for yourself.

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