How can I get myself to drink more water?

Question

I have been trying, but it's only working a little. I drink water every day, but I need to drink more. Is a gallon a day too much? The most I've been drinking was like 2 bottles.

Answer 1

Make it the first thing you drink each day even before your coffee/tea/cola (or whatever you drink to wake you up). It's hard the first few days (trust me) but soon you'll notice that it wakes you up better than caffeine.

Always carry a bottle of water with you and keep it where you can see it. Most store bought bottles are between 12-16oz you need between 64-80 oz a day, more if you are VERY physically active and/or it's very hot. Don't try to add all this water at once, you will spend all day and all night going to the bathroom. Add a glass a day until you meet your goal, your kidneys and bladder will thank you.

Answer 2

If you are healthy you work out about 2 liter day. Is enough there is such of thing to much of a good thing. You have to take into consideration body weight, age, fitness level, etc. There is a problem when you consume to much water. You can basically dilute electrolytes. You don't want to do that it is not only dangerous it could kill you. One easy way to know if you are properly hydrated is the amounts of times you go to the bathroom. And the color of your urine. If your urine is a very faint yellow or almost clear that is also a sign your are properly hydrate. I could see someone drinking a gallon during an intense activity like marathon or triathlon. But every day I wouldn't recommend it. Good luck.

Answer 3

Hi,
We should all be drinking 7 litres a day. At first when I tried drinking heaps of water I thought I was going to drown. It is better to work up to drinking that much water.

Start of with drinking 1 or 2 litres a day. Have your bottles filled with water and leave it on the counter and make it your goal to have drunk all of the water before 5pm or you will be up all night going to the toilet.

If you do it that way your mind takes it as a challenge to finish the water. As you get use to it increase the amount of water.

1 gallon [US, liquid] = 3.785 411 8 liter
1 litre = 0.264 172 051 gallon [US, liquid]
7 litre = 1.849 204 359 gallon [US, liquid]

regards from Downunder

Answer 4

1) Stay away from diet sodas, teas and flavored fruit waters and Crystal Light as much as possible. Have one once in awhile, but it has been proven that the sweeteners in these products actually do not help in the weight area. They actually can promote weight gain if you are not careful, especially soads considering they do contain sodium.

2) Drink clean, purified water - not just filtered. Purfied water is the best, and if you can find a system that filters out the junk yet leaves behind the essential minerals your body needs and kills bacteria, the better. My husband and I found one, and we will never use another system again. It is awesome!

3) Drink accodingly to your weight. Weather.com actually has a great calculator to help you. http://www.weather.com/activities/health/fitness/?from=breadcrumbs

4) If you do not like the taste, try freezing it so as it melts it stays ice cold; put ice cubes in it and/or flavor it with slices of lemon, lime, grapefruit or orange.

Remember this, nothing can replace pure water. Do not get sucked into the mainstream and think these bottled fruitsy things will get you by, it is far from the truth. Pure, clean, purified water is what you need and want. Flavor it with natural flavors from nature.

Answer 5

You should drink at least 64ounces of water a day - which is like 4 bottles of water. If you measure it out into bottles it isn't so bad because you know exactly how much you need to drink.

Answer 6

The way I got my little girl to drink more water was to buy the small bottles at Walmart. They are called kids connection and just the right size to drink right then. Your not carrying it around all day and letting it get hot.
I keep them in the fridge, let them get ice cold, and she has no problem going to the fridge to get one.
She and I usually drink about 10 of them a day if not more. We should drink more then that but she is in school all day and I am drinking my coffee for the first few hours in the morning.

Answer 7

Hi, and good for you on increasing your water intake!!

My sister had some success by putting in lots of crushed ice and using a straw. She said it made her feel as though she was drinking a fountain drink instead of just water.

If it's flavor you're after, you might consider an orange or lemon slice. I'm lucky, I love water and have no problem drinking it. My niece had a Brita pitcher that she wasn't using and so I 'borrowed' it a few years ago. I've been using it ever since and I really like the flavor of the water after it's filtered.

Good luck...

Answer 8

Start off by drinking out of water fountains whenever you see them(just like 2 or 3 seconds), then move on to bottled water when you get used to the fountain

Answer 9

Try lemon or lime wedges. Buy individually bottled water and keep it stocked and really cold in your fridge. Make it a habit to grab one before you hop in the car/train/subway and it will be gone before you know know it. Try emergen-c packets with it, they come in several flavors and also add needed minerals and vitamins (and taste pretty good too) they will give you some extra natural energy to start your day off right.

Answer 10

64 ounces is a great amount of water to drink. More is better. Maybe cap it off at a gallon. Stop buyng sodas or whatever else it is you are drinking. Nothing replaces just water. No flavors, no sugars, not tea or whatever else.