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8 Ways to Drink More Water To Stay Hydrated

We all know that water is an important part of taking good care of yourself. However, it is all too common to not drink enough water during the day, whether because you don’t enjoy it, or you simply forget.

When you get enough water during the day, it can help with:

  • Improving your skin, hair, and nails. (Being hydrated even helps with wrinkles)
  • Relieving headaches
  • Reducing muscle cramps
  • Helping to flush out your body
  • Improving weight loss efforts
  • Giving you more energy

My goal with this post is to give you different ideas on how you increase your water intake daily.

How to drink more water

drink more water

Drink Water Before Every Meal.

The first tip for drinking more water on a regular basis is to drink a full glass of water before each meal and snack you eat, including before your morning cup of Joe.

This is one of those simplest ways to remember to drink water. Try training yourself that every time you put anything into your body, whether it is your breakfast or a small snack you have to drink 8 ounces of water first.

The great thing about doing this is that it has multiple benefits. First, it reminds you to drink more water. Plus, it prevents you from overeating since the water helps to fill you up. It is not uncommon to think you are hungry, when in fact you are thirsty.

Make Your Own Infused or Flavored Water

A lot of people find water boring and tasteless. Because of that, they opt for other drinks that are filled with sugar and artifice flavors. The thing is that you do have some options to jazz up your water in a healthy way.

  • The Simple Method – Lemon Water

If you are short on time and just want a super quick way to add flavor to your water, go with the lemon water. All you need to do is add a few lemon wedges into your water,
squeezing in the juice first, then putting the wedges in it. Lemons have a strong flavor so it will flavor your water quickly and easily. You can also try a mixture of lemon and lime, or use other citrus fruits like oranges, grapefruit, or tangerines.

  • Fruit or Vegetable Infused Water

When you are willing to spend more time on your water, you can use other fruits, vegetables, and even herbs to flavor it. This is called infused water since you will keep those ingredient longer causing them to “infuse” their flavors. The cool thing with it though is that you aren’t just flavoring your water with these ingredients, but adding more nutrients to your water.

To make infused water, you should have a glass pitcher and access to good quality filtered water. Prepare your yummy fruits, veggies, and/or herbs depending on what they are. Berries should be sliced so you can access the juice inside, fruits with hard skin should be peeled first. Veggies should also be peeled and chopped. Muddle/chop your herbs to release the oils and flavors.

Add the ingredients to the bottom of the pitcher, cover with ice, then add your water. Let it sit in the refrigerator for as long as you can before drinking it, which really allows those flavors and nutrients to come through.

Find great infused water recipes on Pinterest: Infused Water Recipes 

Choose a Cup or bottle You Love to Use

Do you want to encourage yourself to drink more water? It’s all in the cup! Oddly enough drinking out of a favorite mug, cup, or bottle can really play a role in you drinking more! A good way to have fun with your water and remember to bring the bottle
everywhere with you is to choose a water bottle that works best for you.

This might mean the overall look and color of it or the ease of holding onto it while walking. For example, if you drive a lot, you want it to fit perfectly in your cup holder. Try out a few different cups until you feel like you have found the one that is perfect for you.

For me personally, this is a big deal. I remember recently buying a new 32-ounce water bottle. It doubled my water intake because it was portable and an easy way to measure the amount I was drinking.

Limit Other Drinks You Consume

Another little trick for drinking more water is to reduce all of the other drinks you consume. This doesn’t mean you will only be drinking water 100 percent of the time. You can still enjoy other beverages, but, it does help to reduce them so that when you are thirsty, you go for water instead. This eventually increases your water intake simply because you are going for water when you feel a thirst and not other beverages. This does take some discipline since you will be breaking some bad habits like drinking soda.

Track Your Water Intake

This isn’t something you need to do every day for the rest of your life, but for now, it will be helpful to see how much you are actually drinking.

Start by figuring out a good way to track your water. This can be an
an app on your phone, a notepad, a planner you keep in your purse, or a program on your
computer.

It can be helpful to track your water for a few days before trying to increase how much you drink. This lets you get a picture of your water drinking habits and how much you need to increase.

Set up reminders

Setting up reminders on your phone, computer, or an old fashion sticky note can be a helpful tool. Set a goal that every time you see the reminder drink a few ounces or a cup. Some great apps for setting up reminders and tracking are Water Drink Reminder, Hydro Coach, and Aquaalert: Water Tracker.

Eat Your Water

Some fruit and veggies have a high water content, therefore helping you stay hydrated. Now, this should not be a 100% replacement for drinking water, but this is good for the days when you’re a little below your water intake goal. Some of these fruits and veggies are:

  • Cucumbers
  • Grapefruit
  • Tomatoes
  • Apples
  • Pineapple
  • Lettuce
  • Celery
  • Strawberries
  • Radishes
  • Watermelon and other melons

 Dilute Your Juice When You Have it

During those times when you really want a glass of juice instead of water, you can dilute it so increase your water content a bit. Just think about it if you have a 12-ounce glass and you dilute it with water just by 25 percent, that cup of yummy, fruity juice has also added 4 ounces of water. It is a super easy way to add to your water intake for the day. This is also going to reduce your calories and sugar. Double win!!

I hope these 8 tips help you stay hydrated and healthy! Drop me a comment below and let me know what you think.

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