How To Drink Enough Water — Part 1
Why drink all that water?
I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you that it’s important to drink your water (I mean, really, I’m not your mom… though I *am* someone’s mom, in case that helps). Buuut if you need some sort of reminder, here are just a few good things that staying properly hydrated does for your amazing bod: it regulates your temperature, keeps your joints lubricated, improves your sleep, brain functioning and mood. Sold? Good.
How do I know how much to drink?
The waaaay loose rule of thumb is to drink 1/2 your weight in ounces. So… for example, if you weigh 100 lbs, then your goal is to drink 50 oz of water/day. Sure, that was easy math, but I believe in you… I know you can math your way to your starter number (and, did I mention you have nice eyes?).
Of course, lots of other factors will determine whether your water intake needs to be a little or a lot higher. For example, your environment… is it hot? dry? How active are you… mostly stuck at a desk or behind the wheel of a car? Spend loads of hours on your feet? And, of course, other special dietary needs, like whether you’re on a low-salt diet, or eating keto/carnivore, will have an impact on what’s “best.” Bare minimum, regardless, should be to hit half your weight in ounces.
Since I work with a lot of Athletes, I will just throw in that you would typically add another 20 oz of water for every hour of hard training, on top of your baseline (again, this varies a bit based on environmental factors like heat, altitude, etc., but it’s still a solid place to start ).
That’s a flippin’ lot of water… how am I ever going to consume all that?
Let’s talk timing. You DO NOT want to be drinking water into the evening (try to stop 2–3 hours before bedtime), or you will find yourself with mightily disrupted sleep, from having to wake up once, twice (three times a lady?) during the night to hit the bathroom.
Wake up. Drink a glass (and, when most people say “a glass,” they mean 8 oz) before you do anything else. I, for one, keep a pretty glass bottle on my side table, because a) pretty, and b) it’s a visual reminder to drink as soon as I wake. Side-note: I always use something with a lid in case I flail around in my sleep and knock it over. You, on the other hand, might be a really calm and graceful sleeper… but I am a bit on the clumsy side, so I take no chances.
Wash up. Drink a glass.
Head out to work/school/whatever you’re doing to takeover the world (in a good way, in case that needs saying). Bring along some refillable bottle that delights you when you look at it, and you, too, will be reminded to drink from it throughout the day. I know some folks are fond of those clear gallon jugs with times of the day, or encouraging sayings at various water levels, but since I have limited upper body strength, at this time (see my growth mindset there?), I can barely lift those suckers. I’m partial to cups or glass containers (always with lids, people… have you not met me?) that represent about 3 glasses of water (= 24 oz), and I know how many times I need to drink and refill it. Works for me. You do you, Boo.
Before lunch, drink a glass (a bonus neat trick for helping you to avoid overeating, if you’re ever so inclined). This also helps to ensure you’re digesting optimally, by *not* consuming a lot of water during the meal, which dilutes your digestive enzymes.
Anytime you feel hungry during the day, drink a glass first, and you’ll have a better handle on whether or not that was actual hunger (we often confuse hunger for thirst, fwiw, because we Americans tend to be chronically dehydrated without even knowing it).
Before dinner, drink a glass.
You get the picture.
And now a personal anecdote…
My firstborn, a High Performance Triathlete, having the whole “hydration thing” drilled into him foreverrrr, even takes a refillable bottle to swim practice, and places his bottle on the deck of his swim lane. Then, between every set, he grabs it and takes a sip. This way, he’s never getting what one of his Triathlon Coaches has referred to as “swishy tummy,” which is super uncomfortable… and he still gets in a fair amount of water, over the course of a two hour training.
Now go forth, and drink your water!
