I Have a Drinking Problem...But It's Not What You Think!

Yeah, it's about the WATER.... 


I know it's good for me. 

I know it's important for muscle function, brain function, kidney health, and beautiful skin.

I know it helps prevent headaches, constipation, fatigue, muscle cramps, and well, hangovers too.

I know it even helps people manage their appetite and sleep better.

But for some reason...I find it SOOOO hard to drink. UGH!  Literally, I could go a WHOLE day and not drink a single drop.  NOT good!

So, I am making an effort.  A big effort.  Because I know it's important. 

Through my struggles, I have found a few little tricks that help.  Maybe they will help you too!

5 Tips for Getting Your Hydration On!

1.  Filter it.  Boston may be my home town but I don't "Love that Dirty Waterrrr...."  Nope.  If I can smell chlorine (or anything else) I just don't want to drink it.  Plus I know that there's a high possibility that there are other yucky things in my water that I CAN'T smell or see (bacteria, chlorine, fluorine, lead, mercury, pesticides and waste particles, just to name a few). So I filter it...someday I will also get around to filtering the water in my shower too.  I'll get into that topic some other day, but if you're a total health nerd like me and you wanna know why, read this article by Dr. Frank Lipman on MindBodyGreen. Eye opening, for sure!

https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-13217/why-you-simply-must-filter-your-water.html


2.  Take it to Go.  Do you have a favorite water bottle?  If not, get one.  Keep it with you. Be like Linus with his security blanket--make it your best friend and never be without it.  My fave?  This one from Life Factory: 

Why?  It's glass, so no funny plastic taste (or chemicals leaching in!).  I can carry it with one finger.  Yes, I have to unscrew the top to drink, but it's like drinking out of a regular glass...I can chug it....no funny suction that you sometimes get with other water bottles with small openings.  It fits in the cupholder of my car.  It's not noisy or likely to break due to the silicone outer cover.  My long handled dish brush fits right in there, so it's a breeze to clean.  Oh, and ice cubes fit easily into the opening too.  All good things.  Plus, this...

Better for the environment!  Yay!

3.  Make it Taste Like Something Else.  Honestly, water is not very exciting.  So, I like to dress it up with things like lemons, limes, oranges, mint, cucumbers, basil, a splash of cran, or whatever floats my boat. And if all else fails, I heat it up and drop an herbal tea bag in there.  Boom!  Delish!  (Side note:  Make sure there's no caffeine in your tea, or else you're defeating the purpose of drinking the water!  Caffeine is dehydrating!)

4.  Schedule it.  Ok, so the schedule that works for me is this...  Upon waking, I drink one glass of water.  Right away.  Before my day gets in the way and I get distracted.  I also have another glass as I'm making dinner (which gives me the added bonus of keeping me from snacking as I'm making dinner).  But two glasses isn't really enough water for a whole day and once I'm typing away on the computer or researching some fascinating health topic, I just totally fall off the hydration train.  So I make a promise to myself that when I get up to visit the loo, I will also drink a glass of water.  (And the more you drink water, the more you have to go to the loo, so....the process kinda does the work for you, right?)  Right!

5.  Keep Track.  Did I drink enough today?  Who knows?  I've been busy!  So to help with this, I use elastics or hair ties.  Wait, what?  Yup.  Elastics and hair ties help me with hydration habits!  I put three elastics around my water bottle and each time I finish and re-fill I take an elastic off and wear it around my wrist.  (One down, two to go!)  This way, there's no doubt in my mind that I had enough water for the day.  Plus, I have the visual cue of looking at my water bottle and if there are still three elastics on there and it's past noon, I know I'd better start drinking or I'll be chugging all my water right before bed and that's not really conducive to a good night's sleep, right?  (And sleep is another thing that's REALLY important for good health!)

OK, so those are my top 5 hydration tricks and tips!  Have you got any you'd like to share?  Feel free to post below!