water

Options
starshine420
starshine420 Posts: 95
in Food and Nutrition
How does anyone get all the water they are recommended to have for the day? I always seem to fall short. This site recommends 8 cups a day (assuming 8 ounces each) and then a friend of mine says to take your body weight and divide in half and that is how many ounces you should drink (which is 9 1/2 cups for me). No matter how I seem to pull it, I never get more than 6. Does anyone else have this issue? Or does anyone know what to do or if I should even be terribly worried?
«1

Replies

  • lyvonmc
    lyvonmc Posts: 2
    Options
    I am having the same struggle myself. What I have started doing was breaking it down by the half hour. It is working for me today :)
  • kelley_lynn
    kelley_lynn Posts: 133 Member
    Options
    I carry i water bottle.. so to speak with me, first thing in the morning, i drink a glass, or more. Have worked out if im gonna get 10 plus glasses of water, I need to drink a glass an hour, at least. My drink bottle holds 3 plus glasses. I then never forget.
  • louiseei
    louiseei Posts: 254 Member
    Options
    I drink about 2 cups a day, plus a couple of cups of tea. I've how reached my target weight. I reckon my body's used to it now ;)
  • joshuamhort
    joshuamhort Posts: 81
    Options
    What I tend to do is always have a water bottle full with water and keep it by my side. I just drink when my mouth feels dry and drink when I am feeling a little hungry. If I don't have my water bottle next to me I just forget about it and go to food instead, whicht is why I keep it with me.
  • Faintgreeneyes
    Faintgreeneyes Posts: 730 Member
    Options
    I have a Nalgene bottle- that is 32 Oz- which equals 4- 8oz glasses of water. I make sure to drink a full bottle before noon, and drink the 2nd bottle by the end of the night. It allows me to get 8 cups of water, and I can see my progress so I know how much I have left.
  • rugbyphreak
    rugbyphreak Posts: 509 Member
    Options
    i start and end every day with a full glass. plus i drink a full glass before each meal to keep my appetite low and i always drink plenty of water while i work out. the best thing to do is to keep a tally every day. if you don't get enough one day, just start over the next.
  • skingszoo
    skingszoo Posts: 412 Member
    Options
    Water will make or break me. If I do not have enough I gain. Try to make a habit of say in order for you to eat breakfast you have to have 2 cups of water or you have to have 4 cups by lunch and if you dont chug what you have left before you eat.
  • addiebaby
    addiebaby Posts: 19
    Options
    i have the same problem, i'm always falling short of 8 glasses a day. Now i should betaking in about 100 oz according to the half your body weight advice, but I can barely make it over 6 glasses a day. BUT if i drink alot of water, I get really bad indigestion and I throw up. Does tea (lightly sugared) count towards my daily water intake???
  • xoAmyxo
    xoAmyxo Posts: 110
    Options
    its easy for me..yesterday i had 20 cups..i hope thats not bad lol..but in a normal day i get anywhere between 14-16 a day..i dont know though I've ALWAYS been like this. Way before starting this site.. I think im a fish. flavor your water if you need to
  • hardatwork45
    hardatwork45 Posts: 80 Member
    Options
    I went out and bought a rubbermai 32 ounce waterbottle with the straw attached and I try to fill and drink it 3 times a day, while I'm sitting watching tv I drink from my straw until its gone, its really easy from a straw and while i'm sitting up watching tv, try this i'm sure you'll be successful :)
  • carriem73
    carriem73 Posts: 333 Member
    Options
    add a little flavor to your water- that will help a lot-

    I have a 24 oz coffee mug- at the beginnning of my work day, I brew a caffine free tea in the mugh- evry hour or so, I add more water to it and heat it back up- but lunch time, it is really watered down, and I add more water and ice and start drinking it cold- by the end of the day, I've drank more than 8 glasses, and I don't have to force myself to drink "plain water"... if you water it down as the day goes by, you don't even notice it is getting a weaker flavor!!!
  • FunkyGranolaTree
    FunkyGranolaTree Posts: 399 Member
    Options
    I play games with my self to get the water in. If i am driving, I will drink from the bottle for the duration of the red light. I will take a drink after every email that i write. I will drink if I find myself getting hungry. If I have to get up from my desk for something, I take a long drink before I leave my desk, and then when i return to my desk I take another long drink. I usually drink about 70 ounces a day...
  • joshuamhort
    joshuamhort Posts: 81
    Options
    i have the same problem, i'm always falling short of 8 glasses a day. Now i should betaking in about 100 oz according to the half your body weight advice, but I can barely make it over 6 glasses a day. BUT if i drink alot of water, I get really bad indigestion and I throw up. Does tea (lightly sugared) count towards my daily water intake???

    Regarding tea as counting as water, I have read a couple different things. The first is that the only thing that counts as water is water. No to anything else, which is what I pretty much follow for recording purposes. The second, is that some people drink tea and coffee and count it as water, but they also put it in their food diary for counting the calories added, no matter how minute the amount of calories may be. Hope this helps!
  • ladykaisa
    ladykaisa Posts: 236 Member
    Options
    I start with 1 bottle per 1/2 hour of workout, so that's 8 glasses per 1 hour workout. Then I carry a 32oz bottle with me, drinking one full bottle in the morning and another full bottle in the afternoon. I usually get between 12-16 glasses a day, depending if I have water in the evening. I switch between flavoured water, watered down coffee/tea, and plain old tap water.

    Amy
  • briggsl23
    briggsl23 Posts: 15
    Options
    The challenge for me is the water, Ive always hated water.. what I found that helps me is I went a bout a 34oz jug, and I drink one through the day, and one when I am working out.. You are suspose to get 64oz of water a day, somedays I drink almost three if I had an really intense workout.. but be prepared to use the rest quite often.. I also heard the drink half your body weight also, which would be over 93 oz of water for me, and I dont think I would be able to handle the bathroom time when working.. lol, best wishes!
  • skb32881
    skb32881 Posts: 105 Member
    Options
    i have the same problem, i'm always falling short of 8 glasses a day. Now i should betaking in about 100 oz according to the half your body weight advice, but I can barely make it over 6 glasses a day. BUT if i drink alot of water, I get really bad indigestion and I throw up. Does tea (lightly sugared) count towards my daily water intake???

    I've heard mixed reviews on this as well but what I seem to hear the most is that tea does count towards your water as long as it's decaffeinated. I almost never drink 64 oz of pure water in a day but I do make sure to drink a lot of tea and flavored water :)
  • insyweensy
    insyweensy Posts: 53 Member
    Options
    I generally start my day with two latte-sized mugs of green tea (which i count as about 4 8oz glasses) and then I carry a 24oz water bottle with me everywhere. I am in school, so I try to drink one bottle per class, and usually drink at least three full bottles a day. Then at night I will have at least a glass of water with dinner and/or another latte mug of herbal tea.
  • Cfkearney
    Cfkearney Posts: 184 Member
    Options
    I've read a lot of studies about water intake as well. From what I understand is - the experts differ on how much water you need and how to calculate it, but they all agree that getting enough water is extremely important for your health and for weight loss. I struggle with drinking enough water. I'm usually a dehydrated person. Not that I feel that way. I do my best to drink 8 glasses a day. I have a 2.2 liter jug which is 74.4 oz. That's more like 9 1/2 or so cups (my math stinks but I think that's right) I try to drink at least half while I'm at work and the other half at home. One thing that I do sometimes is add some propel zero or crystal lite. I know some are against this, but if it's two glasses of actual water or 8 glasses of flavored water, well I think it's still a win to drink it flavored. :)
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    Options
    Unless you are suffering effects of dehydration or your urine is consistently dark then you should not be worried at all. Don't force yourself to drink more water than your body needs (and there is no formula to tell you that). You'll likely just get frustrated and that's not going to help you lose weight.
  • kmjenkins
    kmjenkins Posts: 396 Member
    Options
    I have a system that is working for me so far, I make myself drink the water before I get to have my coffee/meals, (i.e. things I want) I am a big girl and get in way more than 1/2 my body weight in ounces per day. This is the how I do it (and I bought myself a 24 oz cup so I don't have to fill a little one all the time, that was the first step :smile: ).

    8 oz before I get to drink my morning coffee
    48 ounces before I can eat my lunch
    Then while I eat lunch I get my afternoon soda (I have one can of diet soda/day)
    24 ounces while I am making dinner/before I can eat dinner
    24 ounces during dinner/evening
    I work out late at night and am still thirsty when I work out so I usually drink one full water bottle that is 27 ounces while at the gym.
    I usually have a snack before bed and might drink another 8-16 more ounces between the time I get home from the gym and the time I go to bed.

    Above is of course ideal and what I try to stick to, it doesn't always work, but I am pretty consistent in getting my 15-17 8 oz cups of water/day, at first it was hard and I had to really force myself to get my water in, and now its not a big deal, I don't pee all the time now either. It just takes some getting used to I think, then becomes easier as you go along.

    Good luck! :drinker:

Categories