How do you, personally, determine how much water to drink?

I just drink when I'm thirsty.

There's no set amount that anyone "needs". It varies from person to person, day to day depending on activity, weather, how much water is in what you eat and tons of other factors. Just keep in simple and drink when you're thirsty. That's how we're designed.

(And i never did figure out those color charts. Did they mean the color in the toilet, because then it's diluted by water, and some toilets have more water than others... and if not the color in the toilet, do they expect you to pee in a cup or something? Probably overthinking...)

I drink when I'm thirsty, usually about100 ounces a day more or less depending on salt intake and/or exercise.

BrunetteRunner87 wrote: »

But I always hear that if you're thirsty you're too late. And for example I could go all day sitting in the air conditioned office not feeling particularly thirsty and not drinking anything, then go for a jog in the hot evening sun and feel thirsty and dehydrated, so I'd have to drink something prior to going jogging - how would one know what is enough?

They used to say that but it's not evidenced based. It's ok to just drink when you're thirsty and not force it. Here's some quotes from articles on a recent drinking study that might put you at ease:

"Farrell says the discovery is further evidence that controversial advice to deliberately drink fluids is wrong. “It shows we have several very subtle mechanisms for regulating the amount we drink. If left to your own devices, you will drink the requisite amount of water to maintain balance.”

Farrell says even people doing exercise just need to drink according to their thirst. “These are well refined mechanisms forged on the anvil of evolution.” -New Scientist

"If we just do what our body demands us to we'll probably get it right -- just drink according to thirst rather than an elaborate schedule." -Michael Farrell

I go by thirst too. In summer i can easily get through 3L a day, but in winter i struggle to finish my 1.5L bottle.

I go by whenever I feel like which is pretty often.

BrunetteRunner87 wrote: »

I always hear so many different things about water needs. Some people say drink half your weight in ounces per day. Some people go by the 8 cups rule, but I don't think either of those are really based in science, just suggestions. I have no clue how much water to drink in a day. I think I sweat more than most people, so that's a factor. Also I don't want to drink too much water, as it'll deplete the electrolytes from my body so that's bad too. And what if you drink a lot of water in the morning but taper off in the afternoon? I can't really use the pee test because I take multivitamins that make my pee yellow (which I know is excess vitamins my body doesn't need, but I don't want to stop taking supplements completely, just probably should take ones with less vitamins). I just want to hear how you personally determine how much water to drink.

My mother-in-law always told us we weren't drinking enough. Then her doctor told her she was drinking too much!! Her body was deficient of stuff that the water completely washed out.

I aim for 8 glasses but sometimes don't even get halfway there.

Thirst.

AlabasterVerve wrote: »

By thirst.

Yup.

I tend to drink throughout the day, so I imagine I end up drinking a lot (and I am not worried I will drink too much), but I really think your body can handle this. Check pee color if you are worried.

since i started taking creatine, i go by the way my overall body feels. there's a very discernible sweet spot i can get to when i've fed the creatine enough water to let it fully do what it does. it literally feels like being a well-oiled machine. every joint feels like the bones are just floating inside their capsules, every muscle feels like all the fibres are moving smoothly and nothing is sticking or catching on anything else.

anecdotally, it seems to take about four litres of water to get myself into that zone. i weigh 140 on a heavy day atm, so that's a whole lot of water going by 'standard' standards. but that seems to be what it takes in my case. so i aim for that zone but i'm fairly philosophical about not being there.

I take a medication that increases thirst and can have serious health consequences if dehydration occurs.

It also can cause you to pee larger volumes of dilute urine which makes measuring hydration by colour of out put unreliable.

As a base, I drink 3lt of water over a 24 hour period to avoid side effects such as tremor, nausea and diahorrea. If it's hot or I am strenuously exercising I drink more.

For most generally healthy adults 2 litres is adequate with a urinary output of between 800-2000ml.

This does vary for individuals depending on factors such as electrolyte balance, heart failure, kidney function.

This is tough for me, too. I can't go by thirst because I am always dehydrated when I rely on that.

When I researched it a long time ago, I found that you can be in a state of chronic dehydration and it will require increasing water intake slowly to get to a new balance, otherwise you just piss a lot and are still dehydrated.

What worked well for me was to evaluate how much I naturally would drink. After that, I increased it by one glass for a week, give or take, and kept doing this until I got to a point where I didn't pee constantly but didn't feel dehydrated either. Of course, it will vary by day depending on activity and weather.

I feel dehydrated when my lips become chapped, my skin is less elastic, I do not pee for a long time, the pee is dark, my throats is dry, and I feel tired. Feeling thirsty is usually the last sign that I'm super dehydrated.

Initially I forced myself to drink the 8 glasses. Then I drank as thirsty. Now the 8 glasses is almost a minimum based on thirst. I've learned to listen to my body more

Sued0nim wrote: »

By thirst generally and an occasional colour of pee check

This. Aim for straw coloured urine. Its the best personal indicator there is. The darker the urine color, the more dehydrated you are. If the urine is clear and stays that way for a while, back off from the water for a little while...over-hydration is never a good thing.