Water Intake

Try drinking X amount of water before every meal/snack (maybe 12-16 oz) ...just do it. Chug it if you have to until you get used to drinking water.

You can also pour 1/4 cup of juice into 20oz of water to make it taste a bit sweeter...only about 30 calories for "flavored water" and it still counts toward your goal.

I can't see your diary, so I don't know how much you are drinking. But are you sure you are NOT drinking enough? some people need less, some need more. A better guideline is to look at your urine. (ya, gross.) in the toilet bowl, is it pale yellow? Then you are drinking enough. If it is not pale yellow, you need to drink more.

***that's not just my opinion, this is what I am being told by doctors and nutritionists at my clinics**

Drinking water has become my specialty. If you need a jumpstart to get going, you can either add the flavored powder packets (e.g. Crystal Light, 4C Totally Light Teas, etc.) or you can buy flavored water such as Fruit2O. Once you get the hang of drinking water, you are going to want it instead of juices, sodas, etc. I personally have a 25 ounce (3 cups and 1 ounce) container that I challenge myself to fill up 3 - 5 times a day with filtered water. On days that I exercise, I get the first one in during the exercise to stay hydrated. Then I drink a can with each major meal (breakfast, lunch, and dinner). Before I know it, I may actually be able to get a 5th one in before bedtime. Although the rule of thumb is 64 ounces a day, the target is really half your weight in ounces. You can do it.

When I first began drinking water I used the water flavors. Now that I am used to it I like the taste of plain ol water. You might want to try some water flavors if flavor is what your missing.

I can easily drink 2- 8 ounces of water by just drinking water when I exercise. I actually can't do my exercise without drinking water and when I work,; I'm a housekeeper, so it's physical work. Also, when I use to do weight watchers, they said that you can include the water when you drink coffee or tea; so I do that too.

i agreed i even buy the wal mart brand.. but the first thing after brushing my teeth in chug at least 16oz down...

Drinking water has become my specialty. If you need a jumpstart to get going, you can either add the flavored powder packets (e.g. Crystal Light, 4C Totally Light Teas, etc.) or you can buy flavored water such as Fruit2O. Once you get the hang of drinking water, you are going to want it instead of juices, sodas, etc. I personally have a 25 ounce (3 cups and 1 ounce) container that I challenge myself to fill up 3 - 5 times a day with filtered water. On days that I exercise, I get the first one in during the exercise to stay hydrated. Then I drink a can with each major meal (breakfast, lunch, and dinner). Before I know it, I may actually be able to get a 5th one in before bedtime. Although the rule of thumb is 64 ounces a day, the target is really half your weight in ounces. You can do it.

YIKES! that rule of thumb wouldn't work for me, 13 cups of water a day is too much. my kidneys would croak! lol it would work for someone who weighed about 150 pounds tho.

I have the same problem!! I just don't like drinking plain water and I'm not drinking nearly as much as I should. The Crystal Light packets do help and are only 10 calories but I'm still not getting enough!

water intake is a grey area ....most ppl tell you 8-9 glasses a day ...what what measurement is a glass ? glass size vary from place to place ...country to country ....so i enquired about this at my gym

my instructors say ....between 1.5 - 2 litres of water daily is a must ....to hydrate and if u are on an eating plan ......

Are you worried about not consuming enough liquid, or just worried because you don't like to drink plain water? Pure water is a good hydration drink because you don't get a lot of crap with it, but even if you get a lot of crap (artificial ingredients, sugar, coffee, tea, whatever) with it doesn't mean you aren't also getting water.

I know there are differing opinions on exactly how much water you should drink. All I can say is that when I do get in 8-10 glasses a day, I lose weight consistently. If I don't drink much water (even though I'm eating well), I just don't lose the weight. So for me, I go for 8-10 glasses of water a day, plus I drink a lot of green tea.

To help get some water servings in, here's what I do in the afternoon-evenings when I'm home:

Fill a PRETTY cup or glass with ice. I usually use a tall, 16 oz glass, but sometimes I drink this beverage out of a water goblet or wine glass - makes me feel so special, lol!

Sprinkle 1 packet Stevia-In-The-Raw over the ice.

Squirt juice of half a lime over the ice.

CAREFULLY pour plain Selzer water over the ice. (The Stevia makes it fizzle and foam a bit so be careful!)

It tastes nearly like a soda, like Sprite, but it's just water and so yummy! Sometimes I do a quarter EACH of a lemon AND a lime. Really refreshing when the weather is too, I can gulp down 2 tall glasses easily, and the glasses are 16 oz so count for 2 glasses of water each.

I get the Selzer water at Walmart - for a one liter bottle, their cheapest brand costs 64 cents where I live.

Good luck, and try to get that water in! Here's your 8 glasses for today...

:drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker:

Ice

Awesome advice from all of you. I drink a lot of tea (as I work in a specialty tea shop) and even on days I say I am going to just drink water at work, it never really work out that way. Im going to see how it goes today while Im at work. Thanks for all of the tips.

If you are drinking the tea without sugar or cream then you are probably doing yourself a favor by drinking it instead of plain water. Not only are you getting all the hydration of water, but you are also getting the healthy antioxidents from the tea.