7 Smart Ways to Drink More Water
Drinking enough water is a great way to keep your skin healthy, stay energized throughout the day, and keep your digestive system in tip-top shape. Since your body is mostly water, you need a lot of it to function properly.
Few of us actually drink enough water and most get nowhere near 8 glasses 8 times a day. Sixty four ounces is a lot of water to drink, unless it’s spaced throughout the day.
But if you drink enough every day, you will feel incredible. So if you want to feel and perform your best, follow these seven “hacks” for tricking yourself into drinking more water.
1. Flavor Your Water
By “flavor your water” we’re not talking about using sugar-filled flavor packets. The added sugar and chemical additives would defeat the whole purpose of a healthy drink.
Instead, flavor water by adding a favorite fruit or veggie. Try one or more of these popular choices:
- Orange slices
- Cucumber slices
- Lemon or lime slices
- Mint leaves
As the fruits and veggies soak in the water, the flavors are infused throughout, making it taste delicious. And when it tastes amazing, you’ll be naturally motivated to drink more of it.
2. Place Water in your Line of Sight
If you put your water on your desk, or carry it with you wherever you go, you’re going to drink more water. It’s that simple.
When something is in front of you, you’re constantly reminded of it as your eyes glance over the object. For instance, when candy or doughnuts are placed on the breakroom table, they’re a real temptation. But move the treats to a cabinet that’s rarely used? They’re much easier to resist.
The same works for positive habits like drinking water. When you keep your water nearby at all times, it tricks you into drinking more.
3. Use a Travel-Friendly Bottle
In order to bring your water with you to work or on-the-go, it’s important to have a travel-friendly water bottle.
Avoid plastic bottles which can leech harmful chemicals into the water. Even BPA-Free plastic should be avoided, since BPS and other plastic alternatives continue to show the potential to disrupt hormones.
Opt for a glass water bottle when possible. When working out or traveling or you just want a bottle that won’t break, go for stainless steel. You can even find double-walled insulated bottles (like Thinksport) that keep your beverage ice cold for hours.
4. Make it a Morning Habit
One of the first things health experts do when they wake up is drink a tall glass of water.
Not only does this help you reach your daily half-gallon goal, drinking water first thing in the morning is important because your body has been without it for the past 6-8 hours while sleeping.
Add lemon slices to get your digestive system moving and energize the body.
5. Set Reminders or Mini-Goals
An effective way to meet your daily recommended water intake is to set reminders or mini-goals.
If you’re tech-savvy, you can set reminders on your phone to prompt you to drink more water every couple of hours.
Some people don’t like the distraction of phone reminders because they need to maintain a lot of focus during the day, so try this as an alternative:
You can use a wax pen to write visual reminders on a glass water bottle, without permanently staining it. Maybe your goal is 24 ounces by lunch, so just write the ounces and times and it’ll help keep you on track.
6. Eat Your Water
If you still have trouble drinking enough water during the day, you can also try eating your water.
In other words, eat foods with a high percentage of water such as cucumbers, watermelon, strawberries, cauliflower, grapefruit or cantaloupe.
The only downfall to this method is to watch your sugar intake. On the plus side you’ll get added antioxidants and filling fiber with your water.
Or you can bump up your water intake by mixing up a green juice, which provides abundant, energizing nutrition in a convenient drink.
7. Replace Soda (or Sports Drinks) with Water
Are you in the habit of drinking soda with your meals? Even diet soda is detrimental to your health.
We won’t cover all the ways the added sugar is harmful, or how caffeine can add to dehydration, but suffice it to say you want to limit soda intake.
Try swapping soda out with infused water or sparkling water. You’ll feel significantly better throughout the day.
If you do need an extra energy bump, aim for natural sources instead.
The Bottom Line
If you’re not taking measures to drink enough water every day, there’s a high chance you’re not getting enough.
As a result, you can become chronically dehydrated and experience a range of symptoms including mind-numbing fatigue, dry skin, digestive issues, and much more.
And if you’ve felt these symptoms all your life, it’s easy to assume they are just “normal” whereas in reality, they are likely the result of chronic dehydration.
