Twenty Sure-Fire Ways to Drink More Water
Have a goal
Calculate your minimum water intake volume and make it a goal to drink at least that volume each day. Take your body weight in pounds and divide by two. This number is the minimum volume of water you should be drinking each day in ounces. This is only a ballpark number as each individual is different, but I can tell you this much- every adult should be drinking at least two liters per day. Those living in a hot climate or exercising will need to increase their water intake accordingly.
Track it
Having a goal is only effective if you track how much you are drinking. The simplest way to track consumption is to know how much water your bottle or drinking glass holds and divide that number into your goal. Now you know how many fills of your water bottle or glass you need to drink throughout the day.
Find a water bottle you love
Having a water bottle you find cool, colorful, fun to use, and suited to your lifestyle will help significantly. Glass bottles are best, then BPA-free plastic like Tritan, then stainless steel. Avoid copper bottles. Whatever you choose as your drinking companion, most people buy bottles that are too small to be practical. The most optimum bottle size is 22-33oz (650mL-1L). Never reuse a single-use plastic water bottles, but please recycle.
Keep it with you
Your water bottle is your drinking companion and partner in hydration. Keep it with you at all times- in the car, at work, and on the go. Never miss an urge to hydrate and be caught without your favorite water. Now you can avoid tap water at drinking fountains and restaurants while skipping that occasional bottled water purchase. Never sit down anywhere without your water bottle- especially at work.
Drink, don’t sip
Achieving your water intake goal when you can only drink 2-4oz at a time will be a challenge. Not only that, but in the case of an enhanced water like Atla, the health benefits will be limited unless you can work up to an 8oz at a time minimum. How to Drink Atla Water
Watch the clock
Perhaps drinking 8oz every hour on the hour will get you to your goal? Set an hourly chime on a digital watch or timer. Alternatively, create a schedule on your computer’s calendar for a reminder of when to drink and how much. Some of us are so absorbed in what we are doing at any given moment. Constant reminders will be the best way to form the habit of drinking more water.
Keep it interesting
A small wager or challenge can make the most boring of chores interesting. What if you invited a coworker or family member to participate in a Hydration Challenge? First person to miss his or her hydration goal buys lunch or washes the dishes. Be creative and have fun.
Take the mealtime cue
Getting ready to head out to lunch? Preparing dinner in the kitchen? If you know you will be eating soon, drink 12oz of water. You will eat less and digest better. Avoid drinking while eating and for two hours after, except for very small amounts as needed. When properly hydrated there is no need to drink large volumes of water while eating. Doing so dilutes digestive juices and reduces your ability to break down foods and assimilate nutrients. I have talked to many people with chronic digestive issues that have seen great improvements by following this one simple rule.
Urine luck
The color of one’s urine is an excellent indicator of proper hydration. If urine is close to clear it indicates proper hydration. If it has a color, drink more water. The darker it is the more water you need to drink. Keep in mind that some foods, vitamins, and supplements can add color to your urine, making this indicator ineffective.
Use a straw
Some people seem to be able to drink larger volumes with a straw. I’m not one of them, but if it works for you, terrific. Plastic straws can leach chemicals and are an environmental burden. Consider a reusable glass straws instead. P.S. Don’t forget the straw cleaner.
Eat your water
Fill a small jar with slices of carrots, cucumbers, celery, or your favorite veggie and top off with water. Break out these water-logged veggies at snack time to hydrate, mineralize, and stave away hunger, all at the same time. My grandmother made carrot snacks that way, but added sugar to sweeten them. If you like a little sweetness, try adding a low glycemic index natural sweetener such as dextrose (non-gmo), xylitol or stevia instead. Of course, no sugar is better. Never, ever use artificial sweeteners.
Avoid other beverages
If you are constantly drinking soda, juice, tea, coffee, or any other beverage, it will be challenge to consume enough water. If you drink coffee, limit yourself to one cup in the morning, but only after you have consumed a certain volume of water. This will motivate you to drink water. Juice is fine in small quantities, but often the sugar content negatively outweighs the benefits after just a few ounces. A soda habit should be eliminated from one’s diet altogether, as soon as possible.
Balance bad with good
Still occasionally craving a soda or other unhealthy beverage? Drink an equal amount water just before opening the beverage. This will limit your craving and help to offset the negatives. Quite possibly, your craving will disappear before you are even half way through the beverage. Throw the remainder down the drain and pat yourself on the back.
Tame the snack attack
Feel like you are about to give in to the munchies? Drink 12oz of water first. Often this will curb hunger within a few minutes. In fact, recent weight loss studies confirmed most people have lost the ability to tell the difference between hunger and body thirst. You might not even be hungry in the first place.
Be in the know
Knowledge is power. When you know 95% of all headaches are caused by dehydration, you are more likely to drink a large glass of water before reaching into the medicine cabinet. Proper hydration also improves digestion, thinking ability, and even squeezes more benefits from your exercise routine. Want healthy glowing skin? Drink more water. The benefits of proper hydration could fill a whole book. In fact, here are a some books you might want to check out. Specifically, “Water: for Health, for Healing, for Life".
Weight loss
This should fall under the knowledge section above, but weight loss is a hot topic. Proper hydration keeps the kidneys and liver functioning at 100%. Dehydration prevents the kidneys from functioning properly and causes the liver to pick up the slack. This increases the production of fat (often created for storing toxic compounds) while decreasing the body’s ability to burn existing fat for fuel. No weight loss program should ever be undertaken while dehydrated. Perhaps a hydration program is all you need for weight loss? We hear from clients time and again that just drinking enough water throughout the day helped them shed unwanted pounds. Most likely, this is a result of decreased hunger and snacking, increased detoxification, and more optimized metabolic, organ, and cellular function.
The Morning-Liter™
Want a sure-fire way to jump-start hydration, detoxification, and digestion? When you wake up in the morning, before you do anything else, use a natural antiseptic mouthwash, and then proceed to drink an entire liter of water. Imagine having a whole liter out of the way first thing in the morning. Yes, you can do it. Drinking Atla makes it a whole lot easier. Try it for a week. Learn more about the Morning-Liter
Timing is everything
Drinking a liter of water before jumping into the car for a 40-minute commute is not a good idea. Yes, we need to hydrate, and yes, the Morning-Liter ritual of the Atla Cleanse will leave you feeling great. Holding a bladder that feels like it is going to burst is no fun and not good for your body either. Creating hydration rituals that work with your schedule is paramount toward reaching your goal. Sleep is also important. You should not need to get up at night to relieve yourself just because you want to be properly hydrated. Drink earlier in the day and you will not need to drink later at night.
Drink high-quality water
High-quality water like Atla tastes great, even at room temperature. However, purchasing bottled water is not a good long-term solution, so invest in the best home purification and enhancement system you can afford. As long time readers of this blog know, there is more to water than simply removing the bad stuff. Enhanced water provides numerous health benefits.
Make a wish
Everyone has a dream, goal, or wish that makes them feel all bubbly and alive inside. Before you take a drink, hold up your water bottle or glass, close your eyes, and silently make your wish and visualize it happening. Imagine as you drink that universal hands are working to make your wish a reality. You will be surprised by the amount of magic in your life when you regularly invite it in.
Remember, every coin has two sides- keep your visualizations on the positive side. If you are combating disease, instead of thinking “this disease is melting away” think “I am becoming healthier and stronger with every sip. I am in perfect health.” Visualize what you would be doing if you were perfectly healthy. Don’t you feel better already?
