Figuring out how to drink more water will do your body good, since staying well-hydrated provides you with many health benefits.
Not only are there many health benefits of drinking more water, but there are also many undesired dehydration symptoms you’ll avoid by learning how to drink more water.
If you don’t drink enough water throughout the day, your body will let you know it’s not happy and that it’s dehydrated. You’ll likely have dehydration symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, irritability, brain fog, dry skin, muscle and joint stiffness and muscle cramps. Dehydration can even cause odd symptoms such as intense sugar cravings.
Our bodies often mistake thirst for hunger, so being well-hydrated also helps you control your appetite and maintain a healthy weight.
We’re supposed to drink at least 8 glasses of water per day, which equals approximately 64 ounces, 2 liters, or half a gallon of water per day. However, on hot days you may want to double that recommendation, and drink a full gallon of water per day.
1. Carry a One Gallon Water Bottle
When you carry a big reusable water bottle with you everywhere, it helps you stay in the habit of drinking more water. This is because you can easily drink water no matter where you are, as long as you have your water bottle with you. Whether you’re stuck in traffic in your car, running errands, at work, at the waiting room in your doctor’s office, on the train – you’ll never be without water.
Always having a water bottle with you will also serve as a visual cue to drink water. Just looking at the water bottle serves as a reminder.
Many people carry one gallon water bottles with them to master how to drink more water. They fill that water bottle up to the top, or almost to the top, with water. Their daily goal is to finish that entire gallon of water throughout their day, or to at least drink half a gallon, which is the daily minimum recommended intake.
Many of these one-gallon water bottles have measurement indicators on the side, so you can track your water-intake progress throughout the day.
If you need to refresh the water in your water bottle with new water at some point throughout the day, you’ll simply dump it out and re-fill it to the measuring point you were at.
2. Make Drinking Water Fun by Flavoring Your Water
Many people find water ‘boring’ to drink or too bland. Many people reach for a juice or some other type of beverage instead of water when they’re thirsty. If this sounds like you, mastering how to drink more water might come down to a simple trick of flavoring your water. Here are some ways to flavor your water naturally or the low-calorie way, while making it more pleasing to drink, so you drink more water.
Some people like to flavor their water by adding cucumber and mint to their water pitcher. You can even buy water bottles with a ‘water infusing’ compartment built into them for easily flavoring water with fruits or berries. Other people enjoy flavoring their water by adding a couple of drops of a water-flavoring product such as crystal light, which flavors your water with just 5 calories.
In general, this tip of flavoring your water will also help you learn to replace other types of beverages with water. You’ll slowly move away from your juice cravings, for example, if you try this method.
3. Learn How to Drink More Water by Setting Reminders on Your Phone
Some people can benefit greatly from setting reminders on their phone to drink more water. Those of you who have very busy, distracting jobs could benefit from having a phone reminder chime every hour while you’re working, to drink a glass of water.
Some people even use smartphone apps that are designed to remind you to drink more water. Some people use water-drinking apps such as ‘HydroCoach’, ‘WaterMinder’ and ‘Aqualert’.
4. Get into the Habit of Drinking a Full Glass of Water Before Each Meal
Many people are already in the habit of drinking a full glass of water before each of their meals for weight loss reasons. This is because drinking a big glass of water before your meal can help you control your appetite and reduces the chances of overeating.
However, drinking a glass of water before each meal is also a habit that will help you learn how to drink more water.
You can take it a step further by also getting in the habit of drinking a big glass of water first thing in the morning. Make it part of your morning routine that the first thing you do when you wake up, before anything else, is drink a big glass of water. Little daily rituals or daily habits like these will have you mastering how to drink more water on a daily basis.
5. Always Have High-Quality Water Accessible
Make sure high-quality water is accessible and available at all times. For example, it would be wise to get in the habit of keeping a full Brita water filter pitcher of water in your fridge at all times. This means you’ll have cold, fresh, filtered and high-quality water always within reach in your home.
Some people even get water filtration systems built into their fridge at home. You may also want to suggest to your boss to get a water filter station at work, if there isn’t one at your work already.
If quality water is always easily available, you’ll be more likely to drink more water at home and at work.
Taking Care of Your Health
Mastering how to drink more water on a daily basis is only one of the many ways you can take better care of your health, and achieve optimal wellness.
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