Having trouble drinking enough water

hlamartiniere
hlamartiniere Posts: 5
in Motivation and Support
Im having a problem drinking more than 4 glasses (8 oz) of water a day. Is anyone else having this problem? Ive even started to do 30-45 min of cardio a day and I sweat A LOT. I just want to make sure my body is getting enough water. Tips, tricks or anything to help me drink more water would be awesome.

Replies

  • Kenzietea2
    Kenzietea2 Posts: 1,132 Member
    Are you drinking other things that hydrate you? So long as you aren't dehydrated, typically means you are getting enough liquids but it never hurts to shoot for more h2o :)
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
    I have a bobble water bottle (has an internal filter) that I keep with me at all times. I need to be drinking about 2 gallons of water a day (I live in the high desert and am breastfeeding), so keeping my water bottle with me means I never have to be without filtered water. Drinking from a glass makes me feel like I have to chug it, but with a bottle, I can sip on it throughout the day. It makes drinking water a lot easier!
  • KharismaticKayteh
    KharismaticKayteh Posts: 322 Member
    The best thing to do is just to sip water constantly. I hate guzzling water and trying to power through it, so I just start my day with a glass of water (with a tinge of lemon juice 'cause I don't have a water filter and am very picky). For the rest of the day, I just sip. If I'm at work, I try and bring water with me to sip on. However, I work at a portrait studio in Walmart, so if I forget to bring water with me, it's not really out of reach (and I can find some distilled water! Yum)!
  • 1Kristine1
    1Kristine1 Posts: 697 Member
    I have never drank much water and now that I am counting I see how much I actually drink some days (or don't drink).
    I don't really like plain water unless I am exercising, its weird.
    I have low blood pressure and sometimes get headaches that remind me I haven't drank anything.
    However, any liquid "technically" counts as your fluid intake
    -coffee
    -milk
    -soup
    -jello
  • hlamartiniere
    hlamartiniere Posts: 5
    Thanks for the advice everyone! The bottle idea seems pretty good. It has already helped me drink more water. It is a scary thought but I used to drink a lot less than 4 glasses a day...

    I think I'm going to get back to drinking some green/ white tea too, but maybe putting it over ice. It gets hot here in Louisiana lol. The extra flavor might help, plus I get antioxidants to boot.

    I know I must be dehydrated most days as I get headaches pretty often, and my skin is so dry. I made it one day drinking the recommended 8 glasses of water, I had to force it down...
  • hlamartiniere
    hlamartiniere Posts: 5
    I'm the same way. I have a water filter at home because my water tasts like swimming pool water without it lol. If I drink water , I prefer it filtered!
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,423 Member
    I drink plain green tea or lemon and ginger herbal teas - which are a great way to get in more water without adding sugar or extra stuff I don't need.
    If you really can't get enough water and feel that you are dehydrated, try to make sure you are getting more liquids in your diet - soup, smoothies, fruit, veggies can all help. I'm not a fan of fruit or veggie juice because I feel that you are losing the fibre which is one of the best parts of veggies. But, if you like them, drink them, maybe juice mixed half/half with water.
  • lauren128m
    lauren128m Posts: 75
    Tea counts. Plus adding the crystal light packets help, unless you do not like aspartame in your diet.
  • mouth21333
    mouth21333 Posts: 4 Member
    Hi, ever try drinking the water ice cold? I buy deer park water and have a cooler of it at home. I love it when its cold especially on hot days.
  • sarahrbraun
    sarahrbraun Posts: 2,261 Member
    I used to be guilty of not drinking nearly enough too. That changed last June when I landed in the ER with a 14mm kidney stone. It took 3 surgeries ( stent, lithotripsy, and a laser scope) to deal with it. For 3 weeks I had to drink 3-4 quarts a day or the stent would bump the inside of my bladder and make me feel like my pelvis was going to fall out.

    A few things I find that help are having the right sized container to drink out of--I prefer a 32 oz jug-- and having it taste good. If it is good and cold, or has a flavor I tend to drink it faster. Try getting some of the Mio water enhancers to add to your water. When I use a 32 oz jug, it is easier for me to tell myself that I *just need to drink ONE by lunch* then *just need to drink ONE by dinner*...before you know it, you are drinking 3 or 4 a day, maybe even more! I usually drink 12+ glasses a day now. The other day I drank 6 glasses AT lunch (remember, a normal drinking glass really counts as 2)
  • DalexD
    DalexD Posts: 236 Member
    Fill up a bottle with water and keep it near you, you'll find yourself drinking it.
  • militarydreams
    militarydreams Posts: 198 Member
    It doesn't have to be water by itself. It could be tea, decaff or weak coffee (careful with this), sugar free squash etc. I personally enjoy a cup of green tea every now and again and some camomile in the evenings
  • MzVonda
    MzVonda Posts: 87
    Get a 24oz water bottle and fill it up and that is a total 3 cups, do that 3 times and you have downed 9 cups!!! I do it everyday :0) (my dairy is veiwable)
  • TrailRunner61
    TrailRunner61 Posts: 2,505 Member
    I hate to drink water too so I decided to drink one 8 oz cup when I get up and take my vitamins, another 8 oz or more in my oatmeal for breakfast, another if I have a midmorning snack, lunch, snack, dinner, then one after dinner.

    I make a pitcher of generic, diet koolaid and try to drink it all day. I don't usually finish the pitcher but I'm more likely to drink something if it tastes better than plain water!

    I also try to drink some during or after a workout. I just sip it or just drink enough to quench my thirst at the moment.

    You can also count soups and any other beverages you drink. Fruits, yogurt, pastas and veggies, etc. all have water in them too so you're probably getting more than you think.

    I know this is gross but, check out the color of your urine. If it's dark, you need to drink more. If it's light, you're doing awesome!
  • gpstrucker
    gpstrucker Posts: 930 Member
    I agree about monitoring the color of your urine, dark urine indicates dehydration.

    I was never one to drink much water, but over time now I have come to drink it all day long. I started by drinking it with food, that got me used to it. I now have a 32 ounce insulated mug which I fill with ice and then with water. Water goes down much better when really cold. I sip on that all day long and before I know it I have gone through two of them without even noticing.

    I keep a Pur filter pitcher in the refrigerator of my truck and have found the filtered water is easier to drink, tastes better, and costs me a LOT less than buying bottled water.

    If you don't have a filter at the moment and your water tastes of chlorine or chloramine, just fill a pitcher and let it sit out for an hour or two before putting it in the fridge. The chlorine dissipates pretty quickly in open air. I do recommend getting a filter though, as it removes a lot of stuff you really don't want in your body.
  • lil_pulp
    lil_pulp Posts: 701 Member
    I drink way more (of anything) with a straw--preferably bendy.

    Also, I usually bring a (strawless, sadly) bottle of water with me in the car and make a deal with myself that I can't get out of the car at my destination until I've had a certain amount of the water (usually the whole bottle, sometimes half).

    (I have gone from drinking very little water to drinking it almost exclusively.)
  • Ravenesque_
    Ravenesque_ Posts: 257 Member
    I use lemon squash and throw it down my neck. our water is very hard and horrible to drink, so I have to put something in it.

    I've found too that eating dry food makes me want to drink. I'll even drink 2-3 glasses when eating soup.` I guess I like to have a clean palate to help taste my food better.

    Which reminds me, I need to have some tea. Thanks!
  • simplysassi
    simplysassi Posts: 137 Member
    I agree with MzVonda. I also use a 24 oz insulated cup with a lid and built-in straw. Something about drinking out of the straw and sipping just seems to make it easy to do. And it goes with me in the car every single time I drive somewhere.

    I'd be careful taking on some of the advice some of the posters here are saying about anything liquid counting as water. That is not true. The body needs water to function properly and that really is the idea behind getting your 8 glasses in a day. Decaf and sugarfree liquids can count for a portion (about half) of your daily intake if you really find it impossible to get the water in otherwise.
  • tjungkunz
    tjungkunz Posts: 39
    This is coming from a person who LOVES water, at times too much :) mI encourage everyone to make it a priority, you will feel SO much better! My daughter is the only one in our house who does not "love"it. When I see she is not drinking enough I make her drink 1/2 a cup (adjust however) before she eats ANYTHING, and also small amount after she eats. It really helps get it in. I drink I HUGE cup 1st thing int he morning (it's like my cofee :)) To me it's best ice cold (also helps speed metabolism), but do what works. Make it a habit and it will stick w/ you, you will not regret it, best of luck! :bigsmile:
  • hlamartiniere
    hlamartiniere Posts: 5
    OMG I'm filling up my bottl now!! I don't want to get kidney stones lol.

    Thanks again everyone!!
  • WILSONBA
    WILSONBA Posts: 197
    just read a blog that used the rubber band trick. for every glass/bottle/cup you need to drink put a rubber band on. for instance: i need to drink 5 of my water bottles to get to my goal so i put 5 on. every time i finish a bottle i move it to the other wrist. so far it seems to help motivate me becasue i visually see my goal. good luck to you!
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    Drink when you are thirsty, stop when you aren't. It's that simple. Most actual medical recommendations are for 4 cups of fluid a day. 8 cups is a myth. Most of the water we get a day actually comes from food, some people get enough fluid from food that they don't need to drink anything. Drinking more than you need doesn't have any benefit, other than wasting water.

    So again, if you're thirsty, drink. Otherwise don't worry about it, and don't get hung up on an arbitrary number.
  • Ssicaaa
    Ssicaaa Posts: 15
    Get a water bottle, and sip on it all day. Start sipping on it as soon as you wake up, then start chugging it towards the afternoon.
  • NU2U
    NU2U Posts: 659 Member
    Make your water colorful.......add bits of dried fruit, sliced strawberries, lemons, lime, kiwi..even grapes and cherries.

    You'll find yourself WANTING to refill your glass when the water is so "pretty". And all the fresh fruit makes it extra yummy..with very few calories.

    Water for the body is like sunlight for flowers....ESSENTIAL!!!
  • sarahrbraun
    sarahrbraun Posts: 2,261 Member
    OMG I'm filling up my bottl now!! I don't want to get kidney stones lol.

    Thanks again everyone!!

    I have had them 3 times in 11 years, and only once did I pass it on my own. It is like being in labor! The time I passed it, it was so brutal that I still had trace blood in my urine a month later. The first time I had to have surgery, and they went in with a claw and grabbed it ( can't remember size)...and then I had the 3 surgeries with my third one.

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