Most of us wait for a new year to set goals, best known as resolutions. We set ambitious goals hoping that the new year will help us become better people. The ugly truth is that the new year won’t move a finger to make your goals come true.
Related: Here’s Why New Year Resolutions Fail
According to 2016 data by Nielsen – surprise, surprise – the top resolutions among US citizen are health-related. Living healthier and being fit tops them all with 36%, while losing weight come close in second place. So what better goal to add to your “healthier me” list of not drinking more water?! We all know that drinking more water is healthy because everyone says so, and because we also don’t actually drink enough of it.
Why Drinking the Right Amount of Fluids?
I said “right amount” and “fluids” for a reason. You will see why in a bit, but first, let’s start with some water benefits:
- it keeps the balance of body fluids; we’re 60% water, so we gotta make sure we stay at that rate;
- it energizes your muscles and organs; since we are more than half fluids, our entire body works on them;
- water helps with skin elasticity by hydrating it from the inside.
Related: Small New Year Resolutions that Will Actually Make Your Life Better
What’s the Right Amount of Fluids?
You are probably way too familiar with the 8 glasses of water per day a.k.a. 2 litres. Some experts recommend even more.
But this is not entirely true for everyone. We are all different and according to elements such as:
- age
- gender
- height
- weight
we have to drink different amounts of fluids. In my case, it’s about 1.8 litres/day. You can find out which should be your daily water intake by using a water intake calculator or an app (plenty of them out there).
One last thing that I feel the need to emphasise before starting tricking ourselves into drinking more water is…
WATER = FLUIDS
I want to say this loud and clear because it got me tricked as well.
Did you know that 20% of our daily water intake comes from fruits and veggies? (CNN)
We take fluids from different sources such as soups, smoothies, fruits of vegetables. So here’s the reason why you shouldn’t drink those full 2 litres of plain water.
1. Make it flavoured
It is quite cool these days to drink infused water.
Infused water is basically plain water with fruits or veggies in it. What you have to do it add water in a bottle, add your favourite fruits or vegetables (I like cucumbers or raspberries) in and let it sit in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. In this way, the fruits and veggies will infuse faster. Bonus: you get to eat the fruits or veggies after you drink the water.
Another idea is lemon water: plain water with a drop of lemon juice. Or any other fruit juice honestly.
2. Water comes in many forms
As previously mentioned, we take 20% of our H20 intake from food.
So basically everything that hat water in its composition is considered water intake. Here are some examples:
- soups
- tea
- coffee
- smoothies
- natural juices
I’m quite a tea fan, so most of my water intake is basically from tea because I enjoy drinking it that much.
3. Keep track of your water intake
This is actually the scary thing that made me think seriously about my water intake.
Take a few days (maybe a week) and track your water intake. I mean it! Write down how many glasses of water you had every day if you have to. I did it and it scared me when I realised I was drinking barely 0.5 litres/day!
You might come to the same scary conclusion as I did.
4. Keep a bottle of water nearby
… or any other thing that will whisper you “drink meee…”. Having a bottle of water or a mug near you will remind you it’s time to have a sip or two.
5. First thing in the morning
This is another popular new year goal. Drinking water in the morning will help your organs “wake up” and it will help digestion.
I found this quite tricky. I felt nauseous when I drank water on an empty stomach. And that’s not an encouraging feeling when you want to drink more water. Later I discovered that it happened because I was forcing myself to drink too much water and because of that I was swallowing air too, which caused the nauseous.
If you get the same symptoms, don’t give up. Start by having just a couple of sips first thing in the morning. Your body will start to like it and you will see that soon you’ll feel thirsty when you wake up.
6. Fancy water bottles
This works like a charm on me!
If a get a new mug that I love or a fancy new water bottle I use them for a good couple of weeks and I drink tea and water just because they are pretty and I like using them. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it works.
7. One-to-one
This is more a “how-to-not-get-drunk-so-easy” method, but it can work for raising your water intake too.
The one-to-one method can be translated like this: one glass of water for each drink. So let’s say you had a sugary drink; it means you also have to drink a glass of water for it. Quite simple, huh?
8. Set reminders
Sounds quite basic and boring, but for lots of people, this trick works.
There are a lot of apps that will annoy you with reminders to not forget to have a glass of water. Or you can go the classic way and add a cute sticky note that will remind you to drink water.
9. Awards
Drinking more water isn’t that kind of habit that requires your free will only. Your body also has to accept it.
As I was feeling nauseous when I was forcing too much water in the morning in my system, the same might happen to you. Your body won’t understand why you give it so many fluids all of a sudden. Not to mention you’ll pee a lot because your body’s first instinct will be to eliminate all that water.
So start small and let your body get used to the healthy way and ask for more water. Set small goals that will help you track the progress.
Of course, achieving milestones means nothing if there isn’t a reward at the end of the tunnel. So set small rewards (a new nail polish, dinner out) if you achieve your milestone of drinking more water.
Extra tip
Throughout my struggle of trying to drink more water, I discovered that the temperature of the water influences how much water I drink.
The right temperature
I have sensitive teeth and drinking ice cold water is a huge no-no for me. Those of you who have sensitive teeth know what I’m saying.
So, not too cold, not too hot (makes me feel nauseous). The perfect temperature for me is at room temperature. In this way, my teeth will be pain-free and I can drink more water, without feeling thirsty.
Figure out which is the right temperature the allows you to drink a full glass of water and stick to it. It helped me a lot. Dunno if there’s some science behind this, but it totally worked for me.
Hope you found this article interesting and useful. What are your favourite tricks for drinking more water?
33 comments
Ooooo I never thought about setting reminders, that will probably help me. Also, I need to try adding flavors! Yum.
So many great tips! I honestly think I need to start setting reminders. I don’t drink coffee or tea really so I need to commit. Thanks for sharing 🙂
I love these tips!! I struggle with drinking water without reminders, but I have start implementing lemon water into my morning routine and it has made me feel so much better during the day. But I definitely want to start infusing my water with fruits!
Glad you like them, Michele! Hope you’ll enjoy infused water as much as lemon water.
Yesss tea is one of my favorite ways to drink more water!
Go, go #teasquad!
I was terrible at drinking more water before I came here to the US, but for some reason, that changed when I settled down here. The most effective trick for me is to have a tumbler nearby at all times. That’s also how I measure the amount of water I’ve consumed for the day. I’ve used mobile apps to track my water progress, but I’m terrible with that. I’m glad my husband reminds me to drink water whenever he takes a glass, too!
I have a stainless steel tumbler that I keep on my desk too. Keeps tea nice and warm and also helps tracking my liquids intake.
One thing I’ve been doing lately is adding lime essential oil to my water and I have really enjoyed that! You are so right in making sure we are properly hydrated- and with the right beverages.
oh my gosh I’m SO bad at drinking water i need this article! It’s actually brilliant 🙂
These are really good tips! I need to get myself to drink more water, so I am going to try these out.
Some fun tips here! I bought myself a fancy botle to keep with me! I also cary water with me these days whenever I am outside! Keeps my thrist away and saves pennies too! 🙂
I agree! Having a fancy water bottle that you love and that’s easy to drink from can make all the difference! Once I upgraded my water bottle, I found I never left home without it!
I really need to drink more water and i absolutely LOVE cucumber water, but I don’ make it. What is wrong with me?!! So easy to make, so I’m going to start today. Thx for the reminder 🙂
I’m allllll about flavoring mine – it works WONDERS!!!
This is great! I try to drink a large glass of cold water with lemon juice right when I wake up to get my body moving! I also love using my stainless steel straw- anything with a straw helps me drink more water and faster! Great post!
These are great tips! I infuse my water and that has dramatically helped me up my intake!
If coffee counts… then hey, I’m set! haha just kidding, but for real. 🙂 I need to get a cute water bottle, because that’d totally help me.
I have a great app called Plant Nanny that I use to track my water. I try to get 75 oz. a day because I’m pretty active with running and stuff too!
Never heard of Plant Nanny before. I will give it a try. Thanks, Becky!
This year I have really made it a point to track my water intake and so far I have done really well at drinking a lot of water! I always have to put lemon juice in mine! I can’t drink just plain water!
I have been really trying to drink more water. I have been trying to add fruit to the water and that seems to help a lot.
I’m trying so hard! I might do the one-for-one, it sounds promising!
Or get my best friends mom to vinyl a blogging quote on a bottle.. that’d do wonders
That personalised water bottle sounds so good!
I used to compete w/ my coworkers to see who could drink the most water in a day 🙂
I am notorious for not drinking enough water. I’ve started leaving a full bottle of water at my bed at night and get up durning the night to have a quick drink. I also drink A LOT of tea so maybe that’s a good thing? Lol
Definitely! Tea is always a good idea. And it hydrates you too.
I’ve been craving cold water recently–always keeping a pitcher full of water in the fridge makes it easy to grab a quick cup at any time. We have small glasses in our house–I don’t like drinking a huge glass at once, but I’ve found that the small glasses work great for me to drink water throughout the day!
Love this!! I know I need to drink more water… my Dr. keeps telling me LOL! So I started keeping a large pitcher filled on my work station!!
I have a big water bottle and know how many times I need to fill it up(and drink it ) in the course of the day. That number is 4… so if noon comes and I am behind it’s a daily reality check that I better get after it!
Thanks for these tips! I’m definitely going to try drinking more water as soon as I get up.
Great tips! I drink at least 2 liters of water.. in my coffee ? but I have always been told that it doesn’t count since coffee dehydrates you. Good to hear someone go against that theory!!
Well, yes… coffee dehydrates you but it also has water in it. Even if it’s not a lot of it; a little water is better than no water at all.