Water intake

I drink a lot of water after exercising.

The best advice I ever got and now always give is.....just keep drinking it until it becomes a habit for you. I hated water. Now it is honestly all I drink other than black coffee and the occasional margarita. My body craves it. I started buying bottled water and suddenly it's all my family drinks too. Figure out if you prefer cold or tap, bottled or glass, on ice or not and start drinking it more every day. Drink it with all your meals. I promise it does eventually go down much easier and before you know it, it's all that will quench your thirst. Good luck.

Don't glug it just to "get it overwith" so you can drink soda or something, which is what alot of people do! Not to mention it'll just give you cramps and an upset stomach. But try to take sips consistantly and go to a sporting goods store and grab and insulated water bottle so the water stays cold all day so each time you take a sip, it's nice and refreshing!

I used to be like you. After a few months, it becomes a habit and it's easier to get your water in. I had to use flavor packets and brew teas to make it work at first. Now I can generally just drink plain water. I still like to have some green tea each day, though. It will get easier. :drinker:

I also only drink water, orange or apple juice. Not a pop drinking. I have a starbucks 24oz cup with a straw so I drink down one of those and I am almost to my goal. It still surprises me when I say to myself "Wait, I just finished 6 cups of water!" Try to set goals, drink a certain amount for half a week then up it a little more. Another side effect from drinking more water for a while is going to the bathroom a ton, but that will subside as well with time!

I know it has curved some of my cravings for things.

The best advice I ever got and now always give is.....just keep drinking it until it becomes a habit for you. I hated water. Now it is honestly all I drink other than black coffee and the occasional margarita. My body craves it. I started buying bottled water and suddenly it's all my family drinks too. Figure out if you prefer cold or tap, bottled or glass, on ice or not and start drinking it more every day. Drink it with all your meals. I promise it does eventually go down much easier and before you know it, it's all that will quench your thirst. Good luck.

same here.use to hate it,but now i crave it.i drink atleast 150 ozs a day and it has done some great changes to my body.my hair is growing,my nails are growing,clears up the skin and i dont have bad period cramps anymore.never knew WATER was so powerful.so grab a glass,mug whatever and drink

Your body is probably just so accustomed to receiving a pitiful volume of water that it has trouble taking in the amount you should be drinking. Try increasing your water intake slowly over the course of a week. Sip water throughout the day - be sure to have a filled water bottle on you at ALL times. Avoid dehydrating beverages as much as possible. In time I'm sure you can train your body to deal with much more water than that.

I got into the habit of drinking water constantly years ago, and found it has made a HUGE difference in the ease of controlling my weight over a longer period of time. I am much better balanced now - and I was younger then. I would estimate that I drink between 2-4 litres of water a day (more if I workout heavily). It took time to get used to it but I really notice the difference now if I have a day or two of not drinking enough.

I drink water before every meal, usually while preparing the meals. I can easily drink 12 + glasses of water becauseit is so GD hot here! The key for me is to drink it all day long. Also, if I feel a craving, I drink water first, wait 15 minutes and the desire for the not so good food dies down.

Don't force yourself to drink it all at once, just keep drinking it. Also, 8 glasses is not the right number for everyone:

"A person who is 185 pounds
and is exercising for 60 minutes ,
is not pregnant,
is not breastfeeding,
does not live at a high altitude,
does not live in a dry climate,
drinks 1 alcoholic drink(s),
when the weather is very hot or very cold,
and is not sick with fever or diarrhea should have:

122.5 ounces of water today, or 3.7 liters.

If you eat a healthy diet, about 20 percent of your water may come from the foods you eat. If you eat a healthy diet you can drink 98 ounces of water today, or 2.9 liters.


Water is an obvious source for your daily fluid needs. Other good beverages include milk, herbal teas, low-sodium broth, 100% fruit and vegetable juices. Soft drinks will also count toward your daily total of fluid, just remember that sugar sweetened soft drinks and fruit juices add extra calories to you daily diet that you don't need, while drinking water may help you lose weight."

From the calculator on this website: http://nutrition.about.com/library/blwatercalculator.htm

I always knew that I do not drink enough water, but now that I started to measure it, I started to view it as a real problem... I rarely take more than 4-5 glasses of water per day +1-2 coffee/milk/yogurt ones (which, I guess, do not count). When I tried to force myself to 6-7 glasses of water per day I almost threw up and really felt awful... Any advice?

You have to sip water slowly over a period of time. If there is a long drought, and all of a sudden it rains hard for 20 minutes, the water will just run off the top because the ground is so rigid. If it rains slowly and steadily for a few hours, it will have time to soak in and make the soil moist again. Your cells work the same way. They can't absorb water quickly when they are rigid and dehydrated.