5 Tips for Increasing Your Water Intake

With the hot weather rapidly becoming the new norm, the importance of drinking water has again popped up. But how do we make it part of our daily habits?

First, let’s look at a couple reasons why drinking water is so important. Water can help aid weight loss. Drinking water often will replace those high-calorie drinks like soda, juice and alcohol. It is also a great appetite suppressant, we often eat when we think we’re hungry, and we’re actually just thirsty. Being dehydrated can sap your energy and make you feel tired. Another symptom of dehydration is headaches. Also our digestive systems need a good amount of water to digest food properly. Water is used by the body to help flush out toxins and waste products from the body.

Here are some tricks that have helped me make sure that I am getting the water that my body needs.

#1: Wherever you go it goes: I have a water bottle that is near and dear to me!! Someone very close to me gave it to me and so therefore I do not want to lose it. The idea here is to keep water wherever you may be. Keep water in every room; keep water in the car, at the office, in your locker at the gym. If you see it – it’s going to be a reminder that you are supposed to be drinking water!

#2: Set a reminder: Set your watch to beep at the top of each hour, or set a periodic computer reminder, so that you don’t forget to drink water

#3: Track it: It often helps, when forming a new habit, to keep track of it — it increases awareness and helps you ensure that you’re staying on track. Keep a little log (it can be done on an index card or a notebook), which can be as simple as a tick mark for each glass of water you drink. Here’s one I have used: I start the work day with two hair bands attached to my water bottle. As soon as I’ve drank one bottle of water I take the hair band off the water bottle and put it on my wrist. I know I have more bottle of water to drink before I leave work!

#4: Make it a Morning Ritual: Time for some honesty… I often wake up with an extremely dry mouth. Dehydrated before the day has even started!! The first thing I usually do before I do anything else is drink water. I’ve now made it a regular morning habit, and it inspires the momentum to continue drinking more for the rest of the day.

#5: Take Baby Steps. Don’t expect to go from zero glasses of water to half your body weight in ounces. Start with one glass of water in the morning and one glass of water at night. Then add in a glass of water at each meal. Build your way up from there.

Nothing in this document is intended as a substitute for your doctor’s diagnosis and/or treatment. This statement has not been evaluated by the FDA.