A gallon of water...Is that really necessary?

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  • sanfromny
    sanfromny Posts: 770 Member
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    AllOutof_Bubblegum wrote: »
    #8: you ded.

    lol!

    cooz41u88oox.jpg
  • CindyS858
    CindyS858 Posts: 17 Member
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    I say drink as much water as you can, or whenever you are thirsty everyday. I have never felt bad from drinking more water, I don't really keep track of how much.
  • angerelle
    angerelle Posts: 175 Member
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    I just drink when I'm thirsty, usually a few cups of tea or coffee, glass of water with my tea (dinner) and whatever I sip when running. There's no need to drink a proscribed amount, as others have said it depends on weather/exercise/what you've eaten. Your body will use the power of thirst to tell you when you need to drink :-)
  • azulvioleta6
    azulvioleta6 Posts: 4,195 Member
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    This is one of those things that you figure out my tracking over a long period of times and watching how you feel.

    I have learned that I definitely need more than 8 cups/day and that I feel pretty lousy unless I drink more. In the winter I generally drink around 12 cups, plus 4-8 cups of coffee/day. In the summer, yes, I need something close to a gallon/16 cups...plus coffee.

    It depends on your size, how active you are, how much you sweat, etc. Watch the pee chart, see how you feel and go from there.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    I drink a glass of water with meals and then whenever I am thirsty. I don't track it. My urine is very light in color.
  • smantha32
    smantha32 Posts: 6,990 Member
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    If you have brown pee, dehydration isn't the only thing wrong with you.
  • Merkavar
    Merkavar Posts: 3,082 Member
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    I never force myself to drink, that seems silly to me.

    At a guess I drink about 1.5-2.5 litres. That includes milk, water, icy poles, coke etc Not something I track.

    Probably more if you include water in foods.

    But again I never force myself, I drink when I am thirsty.

    I always find it odd seeing images of 5 litre water jugs with motivational message written down the side.
  • omima07
    omima07 Posts: 17 Member
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    I drink as much as I can. But I'm not going to freak out over amounts...I think the best rule of thumb is to at least have a tall glass when you wake up, before lunch, before dinner, and before bed....and if those tall glasses are 16 oz you are at least getting around 70 oz a day
  • cerulean_blue
    cerulean_blue Posts: 3 Member
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    I'd be interested to know if it matters too. I used to drink juice spritzers but my blood sugar was high so I am just drinking water. I'm definitely more hydrated now. I also sleep with a cup of ice water on my night table, I do get thirsty during the night. I try to drink as much as I can.
  • macgurlnet
    macgurlnet Posts: 1,946 Member
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    I am for half my body weight in ounces of liquid. So that's ~60 oz right now.

    Two vanilla coke zeros - 24 oz, plus a glass of water this morning and I'm up to 36 oz. I'll probably be at 48ish today, but I don't feel too thirsty so it's OK by me.

    Go by the color of your urine as mentioned. If you want to, log your water and see how much you drink each day and decide if you need to set a goal so you'll actively drink more. Now that I have a cup with a straw on my desk, I usually get in 12 oz in the morning, and then ~24 or so throughout the afternoon, including lunch.

    ~Lyssa
  • B_TEEN
    B_TEEN Posts: 95 Member
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    superfox12082 wrote: »
    I usually drink over 100 ounces of plain water and about 3 cups of black tea also. But this is what my body is used too. The more salty foods I eat or the more vigorous workouts I do, I will need to drink more.

    Spot on! My intake is very similar but I prefer green and white teas to black. I sustain a higher water intake because I prefer eat my calories than drink my calories (with the exception of fruit+veg smoothies or pressed juices).

    Another benefit to a higher water intake is to decrease the chance of eating when your body is simply thirsty. IMHO, changes to the color of your urine is helpful but often a "last measure" warning sign and may be misleading as certain plants and vitamins may alter the color of urine.
  • ForeverSunshine09
    ForeverSunshine09 Posts: 966 Member
    edited February 2016
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    AllOutof_Bubblegum wrote: »
    #8: you ded.

    I have had pee the color of 8 and worse and am still here so no you are not dead. You probably have a kidney infection but, by the time you are to that color trust me the color is the least of your problems. I have stage 3 kidney disease so obviously I am an exception to a rule of the general population on this forum.
  • sanfromny
    sanfromny Posts: 770 Member
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    macgurlnet wrote: »
    I am for half my body weight in ounces of liquid. So that's ~60 oz right now.

    Two vanilla coke zeros - 24 oz, plus a glass of water this morning and I'm up to 36 oz. I'll probably be at 48ish today, but I don't feel too thirsty so it's OK by me.

    Go by the color of your urine as mentioned. If you want to, log your water and see how much you drink each day and decide if you need to set a goal so you'll actively drink more. Now that I have a cup with a straw on my desk, I usually get in 12 oz in the morning, and then ~24 or so throughout the afternoon, including lunch.

    ~Lyssa

    I used to be a diet coke junkie but I keep hearing that they do more harm than good so I've gone to the flavored carbonated water...That counts right?
  • jessicarobinson00
    jessicarobinson00 Posts: 414 Member
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    I don't force myself to drink water..but I find I naturally crave it: not everyone is wired the same or needs the same amount of water. That said: often "hunger pains," I actually find are that I'm thirsty. So stay hydrated: whatever that means for you!
  • sanfromny
    sanfromny Posts: 770 Member
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    I think I'll stick to 64oz
  • YalithKBK
    YalithKBK Posts: 317 Member
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    I drink until my urine looks the color it should in the charts posted. I'm a tiny person and don't sweat a lot. I tried drinking 64oz of water/day and by the end of the week, my kidneys hurt and I was going to the bathroom every 45 minutes (not exaggerating).

    Urine color is how I judge my hydration levels. Some days it's four cups, some days it's 8. I honestly don't know why there's a set number everyone talks about as people have VERY different water needs.
  • DanyellMcGinnis
    DanyellMcGinnis Posts: 315 Member
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    The color test is better than trying to drink some arbitrary amount (the 8 glasses a day thing is based on a faulty interpretation of a study from 1945 and has just been perpetuated over time by people who haven't bothered to investigate).

    http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/25/upshot/no-you-do-not-have-to-drink-8-glasses-of-water-a-day.html

    But if you take a lot of B vitamins (above and beyond the typical amounts in a multivitamin) or consume energy drinks or pre-workout drinks (if they have B vitamins in them, that is), your urine will be more yellow even if you are not dehydrated -- that is the excess B vitamins being excreted.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,988 Member
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    DanyellMcGinnis wrote: »
    The color test is better than trying to drink some arbitrary amount (the 8 glasses a day thing is based on a faulty interpretation of a study from 1945 and has just been perpetuated over time by people who haven't bothered to investigate).

    http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/25/upshot/no-you-do-not-have-to-drink-8-glasses-of-water-a-day.html

    But if you take a lot of B vitamins (above and beyond the typical amounts in a multivitamin) or consume energy drinks or pre-workout drinks (if they have B vitamins in them, that is), your urine will be more yellow even if you are not dehydrated -- that is the excess B vitamins being excreted.

    You beat me to mentioning B vitamins :)

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