I know I need to drink more water. This is quite ironic considering I don’t drink caffeine or sip on cordials and therefore water is always my first choice for a beverage. It would seem at the moment I’m really not drinking anything.
When I used to work in an office, a trip to the communal kitchen to grab a hot water was pretty frequent. I liked the opportunity to stretch my legs and break up the day. Now I’m working from home I’m finding the hours are racing by and it’s like I’m almost forgetting to drink. Then a dull headache sets in and the dehydration hits reminding me to get to the tap. I have half-finished cups scattered around the house. I live life on the edge and favour a mug of hot water, but the scalding liquid usually turns tepid before I’ve remembered to drink it and then gets left hanging about and seems to really, REALLY irritate my husband. I have even made repeated trips to the Mug Store which is right around the bend, but have never really come across something of my taste.
It seems the common recommendation is to have around six to eight tall glasses of water a day to flush out toxins, reduce fatigue and keep organs and joints in tip-top condition. At the moment I’d probably say I’m lucky to get four so I’m really keen to hear how you get your eight-a-day in.
I recently started taking a large glass to bed with me, not to drink before I go to sleep but to sip on as soon as I wake. I figured this is an easy way to get in one extra pint.
A few other tricks that have come on to my radar:
- Setting myself a timer on my phone every hour or so to give me a nudge to down a glug or two.
- Getting one of those bottles with the time markers on the side. There are loads on Etsy and there are even transfers so I could make my own.
- Making sure I drink before every meal which will help digestion and also fill me up and stop me reaching for any snacks
I definitely need to be more disciplined but I’m not fussed about the bottles with the fancy contraption for infusing fruit as I don’t have a sweet tooth. Speaking of fancy contraptions, if you hate how much room a bottle takes up in your bag, James showed me this flat bottle from eBay the other day. Does anyone else think it might be a bit odd to drink out of?! I’m wondering if I’m missing out on an ingenious way to get more water down my neck? Any other ideas I’ve missed? How do you keep refreshed and hydrated?
This is hilariously timely as I have been awake since 4am purely because I am that dehydrated! How bad is that! I have drank 750ml of water since then and I still feel thirsty.
I also just drink water and normally drink a lot but recently I have been failing. I have one of the bottles with timings on them. I ignore the time markers but I carry my bottle of water with me everywhere I just seem to be forgetting to drink it recently. It also has to be iced water.
Interested to hear everyone else’s tips. Occasionally I add a powdered vitamin fizzy thing like a berocca in to mix it up a bit.
Oh no Stef! Hope you get some rest today. x
The 6-8 classes recommendation has no medical evidence behind it as far as I know-likely to have been touted by the bottles water companies!
However, it is clearly not a bad thing to drink water (tap water is my drink of choice) esp if the alternative is fizzy drinks. The best way, in my opinion to know if you’re having enough is the colour of your urine-
http://goodtoknow.media.ipcdigital.co.uk/111/00001542c/8c48/13-HHB-1407-The-Color-of-Pee-Infographic-FNL-finalnm.jpg
This is so useful Siobhan x
A tip I heard is to set your computer password as something that reminds you to drink more water – then every time you have to type in your password, you are given a nudge. Might not work for you Lauren since you’re working at home, but for office – based folks who have to lock their screen every two minutes, it might.
Brill tip! x
I have a time coded bottle and when I’m at work it works very well, however I’ve been off work with my son for the last 5 months and I’ve been averaging like 2 drinks a day, and sometimes I can get to 3pm and realise I’ve had nothing all day. I don’t know how to get around it really. I do know I feel better when I do have the water!
Maybe a timing bottle would be good to have at you computer with you since you are there all day.
Also I vaguely remember a similar topic on RML and I’m sure a reader commented there is an app you can get to ping you reminders?!
This is the story of my life Claire! It’s so hard to remember to look after yourself when you’re looking after kids. x
I have a hydratemat8 bottle, with timings on which I like to ‘beat’ the times of….pathetic I know but I like the challenge!
However if I’m out with my daughter I’m a bit hit and miss taking it out with me as its just another thing to lug around….
Sounds really obvious but if you do use it, its great…..otherwise its just another half drunk bottle of water hanging around….!!
Lol-ing at this Jane! You sound like Rich who races other people to cross the road! x
I use to be the exactly the same. Then 2 years ago I got a kidney stone because of it (really painful!), on top of that I am now pregnant so really need to keep my water intake up! I find the thing that works best for me is having a 1 litre carafe that I fill up first thing in the morning and then once again if it is empty. I also have a 500ml bottle I use when I go out. I have found being able to see how much I have had to drink really helps!
Eeek. I’ve heard these can be more painful than giving birth?
I know what you mean – if you have a measurement that tells you how much you’ve drunk you feel like you’ve achieved something. x
While I was in hospital a nurse told me they are more painful they child birth! It didn’t help at the time but I guess I will soon find out! X
Hi Lauren,
I use a Camelbak Eddy bottle which has straw in the bottle so you can drink from it really easy and pretty much anywhere.
It really helps me to make sure I am drinking enough water.
Good luck
Becky
When I started in my current job, I was appalling at drinking Water. I was drinking about 9 cups of tea or coffee a day and no water. So although I was hydrated, I was buzzing on caffeine, and my skin was majorly suffering. One thing that helped me was an app called Plant Nanny. The app reminds you to drink water in order to keep a little digital plant alive. I don’t use it anymore because I am in the habit now, but initially it really helped; as the guilt of nearly killing this little plant (even though it was a little digital thing in my phone) really motivated me. It does help that if you keep the plant alive successfully, you get to upgrade to other plants, which my competitive side rather liked.
This is such a good idea! x
Hi. Loving this discussion. I did read recently that it is better to eat your water than drink it as the body will just flush it out via urine. So it’s better to have fruits and vegetables with high water content. Veggies with 92 percent water include cauliflower, egg plant, red cabbage, pepper and spinach. Broccoli contains 91 percent water. Other veggies with high water content include green peas, carrots and white potatoes.
This is really interesting Shakira, I eat so much spinach I sometimes think I’ll turn into a leaf! Good to know it’s contributing to the water intake.
One thing to note is the size of the glass in that recommendation is quite small so 6-8 glasses is only just over 2 pints a day. I’ve got a big (almost a pint) glass so I have one in the morning, one in the evening and then don’t really think about it for the rest of the day.
Good to know Sian x
I’m really good when I’m at work as I keep a glass of water at my desk and drink it on automatic, just because it’s there . It’s at home, or on trips out with my little boy that I struggle. I’m really good at getting him to drink add always take drinks out with me for him, but never take one for me. Then I always begrudge buying a bottle of water out as its so expensive so tend to go without. This is really naughty of me now seeing as I’m 4 months pregnant, so really should be drinking lots.
Maybe if I start making myself buy the bottles I’ll start remembering to pack one with me. Especially as I’ll have lots of empty bottles lying around the house to fill up! Either that or get myself a drink whenever I get one for my boy.
I’m not so keen on the infused water as just think about all the sugar on my teeth, but I’m lucky in that I like plain tap water. I also never knew tat some vegetables contained so much water! Melon / cucumber I expected, but broccoli?! Better get buying those veggies.
Amy, I begrudge buying water too! I hate lugging it about too. We’re in Turin at the moment and I’ve been trying to drink more water but it really weighs down your bag when you’re out and about!
I usually drink about 2 pints of water and 3 cups of tea a day, so I don’t feel I do too badly. When I have tried to up the in take a bit, due to headaches etc, I have spent all day needing a wee! Does your body get used to processing more water if you drink it regularly or are people just good at keeping your legs crossed?!
Let’s hope it gets used to processing more Claire!
I know how you feel! I’m fine in the office usually, I fill a big carafe of water when I arrive and usually it is empty by lunchtime, so I drink a little bit more in the afternoon, and perhaps a cup of herbal tea, about 2 litres a day. But at home I am terrible, it means I end up drinking about a litre before I go to bed because I feel so dehydrated, and then I need to get up and wee in the night (sorry tmi). Not ideal… I do have a “swell” bottle though that is so pretty and also like a thermos flask – so it might be useful for your boiling hot water?? I try to keep that around during the day and reach for it whenever I feel thirsty. Also, the bigger the glass the more I’m likely to drink. I know that sounds silly, but I find I tend to drain a glass and then fail to refill very often, so if it is a big glass I know at least I have drunk quite a bit in one go.
I haven’t heard of swell Annie. Must check this out. Thank you x
I’ve got a yellow Hydratem8 and it’s pretty! It gets a lot of attention from my colleagues and they like to ask if I’m keeping up with my daily quota. I’m doing Weight Watchers and there is evidence that you need to drink plenty of water to help your body lose weight. Plus it fills you up and you burn a few cals drinking cold water!
@Claire B: You do get used to it. When I first started drinking about 2.5 litres per day I had to get up at night more than once. But I really adjusted to it.
@Lauren It helped me to have a bottle with water on my desk and a big glass. And I don’t like wasting anything so I’d rather drink it than pouring it into my plants. But I have no idea what to do with hot water instead of cold. Sorry.
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