How many ounces of water should you drink daily?

lmeldrum23
lmeldrum23 Posts: 54 Member
edited December 2 in Food and Nutrition
So the doctor told me to drink around 158 ounces a day in water. That would be half my weight. (I'm just started to log food and currently weigh in at 314.4 lbs). So far I can barely make it to 100 ounces a day. It's kind of a pain having to go to the bathroom every 1/2 hour. I'm interested to see how much others drink in water in a day.
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Replies

  • Unknown
    Unknown
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  • genpopadopolous
    genpopadopolous Posts: 411 Member
    I drink 100-120oz.

    Your body will regulate and you won't pee so often. I go every couple hours, which is what we should. I have kidney issues so hydration is super important to my health.

    I do try to stop drinking around 7-8 so that I can make it all night without waking up to pee.
  • lmeldrum23
    lmeldrum23 Posts: 54 Member
    Ok that makes sense. Thanks
  • MelissaPhippsFeagins
    MelissaPhippsFeagins Posts: 8,063 Member
    My doctor wants me to drink at least 80 ounces a day, which happens to be roughly 1 ounce per 2 lbs of body weight. I often drink more than that and I drink 64 ounces of coffee a day as well.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    I don't drink a set amount. I drink enough to make sure I'm hydrated, judging by my urine color.
  • T1DCarnivoreRunner
    T1DCarnivoreRunner Posts: 11,502 Member
    I drink more or less depending on activity. There are times when I'm out hiking in warmer weather, sweating a lot and drinking a lot of water (1L every 2 hrs.), and yet still end up not urinating for very long periods of time (sometimes as much as 6-8 hrs.).

    Also, I get headaches and can tell when too much sweating and too much water intake is causing sodium levels to be very low, so I like to bring the snack sausages that are made to not need refrigeration because of how they are made. Whatever your choice, when sweating a lot and drinking a lot of water, be sure to replace the sodium you are losing also. I don't notice this, but my dad would lose so much sodium in the summer when sweating that you could see the salt left behind on his arms after the sweat evaporated... he just had white powder all over his arms. I don't have it quite that bad, but I definitely notice craving salty foods when I've been sweating a lot.
  • cgfernandez329
    cgfernandez329 Posts: 12 Member
    The nutritional cleansing program I'm following recommends exactly what your doctor suggested - half your body weight in ounces - and I do my best to follow it as it helps.
  • Unknown
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  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    Sometimes zero. I drink a lot of coffee and the water in food counts too. Drink enough to keep your pee pale and don't be peeing more than every 2 hours.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    I have no problem drinking 2-3L of water in summer, but it's winter here now and I'm struggling to finish my 1.5L water bottle.
    Half my body weight in ounces is around 70oz i think. I do however drink a copious amount of tea with milk all throughout the day, hoping that's enough.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    yarwell wrote: »
    Sometimes zero. I drink a lot of coffee and the water in food counts too. Drink enough to keep your pee pale and don't be peeing more than every 2 hours.

    I pee every 30 minutes or so, and get up at least once during the night. I usually stop drinking around 5-6pm
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    Drink enough so that your urine is somewhere between pale/straw colored to nearly clear. That can vary from person to person according to what your daily activity levels are, the climate you live in, how much you're outdoors vs. indoors, etc.

    All the one-size-fits-all recommendations (64 oz., half your body weight in ounces, etc.) are rules of thumb made up by one person or another - but somebody who's working outdoors all day in a strenuous job or training hard is going to have different requirements than somebody who sits at a desk all day in an air conditioned office. Going by urine color is a more reliable indicator.
  • ericwilsonew
    ericwilsonew Posts: 1 Member
    I just wanted to point out that you said you weighed 314lbs. 158 OUNCES is significantly less than half your weight. 158 ounces is nearly 10lbs of water.
  • lenoresdream
    lenoresdream Posts: 522 Member
    Keep in mind if you are taking multivitamins they can discolor your urine.

    GNC guy warned me my pee would go neon yellow and it did. And I was drinking around 140 oz of water. It was the multivitamin.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    edited June 2016
    ericwilsonew wrote: »
    I just wanted to point out that you said you weighed 314lbs. 158 OUNCES is significantly less than half your weight. 158 ounces is nearly 10lbs of water.

    It's supposed to be half of your body weight in ounces of water, not half your total body weight. So half of 314 is 157 ounces of water which equals 4.6L.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    That's an Americanism that doesn't travel.

    Expressed properly it would be the number of ounces of water to drink is half the number of pounds you weigh. But it's bollocks anyway.
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
    It doesn't matter. Just stay hydrated. How you get there is up to you.
  • queenbea77
    queenbea77 Posts: 404 Member
    I try to get a gallon. I have an app on my phone "waterlogged" that I synced with MFP so once I log it on there it automatically is logged on here. I found it helpful to set an alarm on my phone to go off every hour so I can remember to drink water and get up and move around.
  • UpEarly
    UpEarly Posts: 2,555 Member
    I don't drink a set amount. I drink the amount of fluid it takes to stay hydrated. I consider myself hydrated when I need to go to the restroom every few hours and my urine is clear to light yellow. I used to force myself to drink extra water because "it was good for me" (lie) and "it made me feel full/hunger is actually thirst" (lie) and "it flushed out toxins" (lie).

    Now, I just listen to my body and drink when it needs the fluid. Oh, and I also quit on the faulty belief that "only water counts". Water is a primary component of all beverages and many foods (fruit and vegetable especially). I count tea, coffee, flavored seltzer, diet lemonade, etc toward my fluid needs now.

    I feel better and don't have to pee every 45 minutes! Also -- and I know this sounds counterintuitive -- but quitting the forced overconsumption of water stopped my heartburn. I was drinking so much water (about 100-120 ounces a day on top of other beverages) that it was making my stomach volume so high that it backed into my esophagus and caused heartburn.

    So - in short - drink what you need to keep your body hydrated. This will change from day to day depending on heat, activities you do, medications you take, etc.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    Water doesn't aid weight loss but it keeps us hydrated and can help hunger pangs. (sometimes we're not hungry but thirsty)
    Drink to keep you hydrated, I average around 8 glasses a day but I also drink alot of tea/coffee - all count as hydrating drinks.

    I find the more water I drink the more I want.
  • msmccabe
    msmccabe Posts: 14 Member
    It depends on where you live too. I live in Arizona where the high temperature is 119. If your an active person or spend any portion of your day outside then it's recommended to drink upwards of a gallon of water a day
  • codename_steve
    codename_steve Posts: 255 Member
    My fluid intake comes out to about 120 ounces a day (including water, coffee, and tea). I used to have to pee every 15 minutes, but my body has adjusted and now it's about once an hour.
  • iecreamheadaches
    iecreamheadaches Posts: 441 Member
    ericwilsonew wrote: »
    I just wanted to point out that you said you weighed 314lbs. 158 OUNCES is significantly less than half your weight. 158 ounces is nearly 10lbs of water.

    lololol. not quite.

    I use the general rule of thumb of half your body weigh in ounces, so I aim for roughly a gallon. (I'm 250. Divided in half is 125. So it'd be 125 ounces, and a gallon is 128. /shrug). Do I always drink that much? No, but I try to stick pretty close to it. I may drink less or more depending on what i've done and my workout for the day.
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
    edited June 2016
    No set amount. Everyone is different. That's just silly. The amount of water you need depends on several factors. Why stick to some silly set number?

    I use the hydration charts online such as this one. Easy
    http://www.ehealthstar.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/urine-color-chart-7.png
  • canadianvampyregurl
    canadianvampyregurl Posts: 231 Member
    I drink 10-15 cups per day :) that seems to work for me :) It's hard not to do the pee dance at work when I'm waiting for someone to watch the phone while I dance down the hall !!
  • SCoil123
    SCoil123 Posts: 2,111 Member
    I have an app on my phone to track water. It uses weight, age, and gender to determine how much and then reminds me to drink during the day. I update the weight when it changes. Currently I'm drinking just over 80oz a day
  • shortcdngirl
    shortcdngirl Posts: 56 Member
    Drink when your thirsty. The color of your urine will tell you if your hydrated or not. I don't buy into all of this so many glasses or ounces a day.thingy. Your thirst and urine color is accurate of what you need
  • Josh_lol
    Josh_lol Posts: 317 Member
    I have no idea how much an ounce is.
  • SugarySweetheart
    SugarySweetheart Posts: 154 Member
    a minimum of 64oz daily
  • chonji4ever
    chonji4ever Posts: 120 Member
    Josh_lol wrote: »
    I have no idea how much an ounce is.

    1 ounce is 29.6 ml
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