This is one of those subjects I feel I can give some pretty good advice on and I’m going to tell you why- until more recently I used to be SO BAD about drinking water. SO BAD. I think I would drink water during workouts and take a few sips during meals and that would be it. With summer’s arrival it’s more important than ever to hydrate, especially with the HEAT down here in South Florida.
We should be drinking half our body weight in ounces of water daily. When I first started to actively try to drink more water, I initially started with the old recomendation of 8 cups of water a day (64 ounces). Part of my ‘30 Kinda Hard’ challenge from last year though had a requirement to drink a gallon of water daily and since then I have tried to continue to meet this goal and while I can’t say I’ve met the goal every day this past year, I have been pretty good about it! So how did I go from barely drinking water to drinking a gallon a day? Here are my tips!
1. FIRST thing in the morning- drink 8 ounces of water
A few months back I completed Beachbody’s 3 Day Refresh. This is a 3 day detox where you cleanse your system without starving yourself. If you are curious about it make sure to check out my blog post Beachbody’s 3 Day Refresh. As part of the program, you are encouraged to start your day by drinking 8-12 ounces of water. I did this at the end of Summer 2021 and almost a year later, I still have my 8 ounces of water first thing in the morning. It hydrates you from hours of not drinking water while you were sleeping and I do feel it kickstarts your body to start the day. It also helps me start the day on track to meet my water goals.
A few months ago I went down some sort of rabbit hole on Instagram and decided to start squeezing half a lemon into the 8 ounces of water. Believe it or not, this actually wakes me up more than coffee does. I feel as if the acidity of the lemon is a bit of a shock to my body and it helps me wake up. I have a 5AM alarm on weekdays so I am thankful for anything that wakes me up! Many boast the benefits of having lemon water in the morning some of which include, aiding with digestion and hydration, improved skin, and higher immunity due to the Vitamin C content in the lemon. It helps your body detox first thing in the morning. I really enjoy this ritual and recommend you try for a few days if you haven’t already to see how you feel!
On a side note, some say you should do this with warm water. I started to warm the water but I don’t really feel a difference regarding warm water vs. chilled water. I have continued to have it warm simply because my fridge has a function that warms it so it’s easy but otherwise, I’d likely just have it with water at the temperature the fridge dispenses drinking water.
2. Set a Goal!
I know growing up the goal was always the traditional 8 cups of water a day, however, these days the recomendation is half your body weight in ounces. You can also go big and attempt to drink a gallon a day although I would not jump straight into this if you are slacking on your hydration as it is. I have tried various tools and methods to meet my goals over the years that I will share.
3. Buy a Water Bottle with Times marked on it
If you are a total slacker like I was, I would go this route! This was actually what got me to start actually drinking a good amount of water. I needed a goal and I needed something to make sure I stuck to that goal and did not end up needing to chug a bunch of water at night to meet this goal. Amazon has some great options!
I initially started with a 32 ounce bottle that I needed to refill midday. I remember buying this water bottle being life changing for me! This was years back so I cannot link the exact one, however, I can share this link for a similar one: 32 Oz. Motivational Water Bottle.
Many of these water bottles come with cute motivational words at each time goal which I love! At a certain point, I started having a hard time remembering to refill. I want to say this may have started when I started to spend more time at home during 2020, which is odd since it’s easier to refill the water bottle at home. Nonetheless, at that point I tried a 64 Ounce bottle that was only required to be filled once in the morning. If you do not want to worry about refilling, this is a great option and it’s linked here: 64 Oz. Motivational Water Bottle.
Early Summer 2021 when I graduated to the gallon a day goal, I was still wanting something that I would not need to refill and so I found the gallon version of this linked here: 1 Gallon Motivational Water Bottle. I did really well with this for quite some time, however, I did ultimately realize while it worked well if I was home all day, this was not the best option on the go because it’s big and a bit of a pain to carry around. If it works for you, great! If you think this may be an issue for you though, read on!
4. If you want to go fancy- try hydrate spark!
I eventually invested in a Hydrate Spark water bottle. I am going to give a very honest review on it. If you’re not familiar with hydrate spark, it’s a water bottle that syncs with an app and not only reminds you to drink water but it tracks how much water you drink! It is such a cool concept! It’s definitely attention catching since it lights up at the bottom in rainbow colors to remind you to drink water. You will also receive alerts on your phone and Apple Watch if you have one.
The hydrate spark is smaller, so it was not such an issue to carry around when on the go and since it was reminding me to refill, refilling was not an issue either. I did really well with this for some time.
Unfortunately, at a certain point and for an unknown reason, the app started to glitch on me a little bit. As a result, I found myself checking the app every time I drank water and at times inputting the ounces of water myself when I finished the bottle and needing to do math if it tracked some of the water, but not all. Luckily you can input water intake yourself in case this happens or in case you drink water from another source. You also need to place the bottle on a flat surface after every time you drink water which can get annoying if you are out somewhere.
It is pricey but if it worked perfectly, I would HIGHLY recommend it. If you are interested in checking it out, here is the link: Hydrate Spark. Maybe you have better luck syncing with the app!
5. Use an App to Track your Water Intake and for Reminders
Since I ultimately did get used to checking an app and somewhat tracking my water intake via the app, I decided to start using a free app to track water intake and using a 32 ounce water bottle I bought on Amazon years ago that I keep coming back to! For whatever reason, I find this one easy and convenient.
I like to be able to see how much water is left in the bottle and these are clear. It also closes well so I can throw it in a bag without worrying about the water spilling everywhere. As you can see, I’ve tried different things over the years and I am sure I’ll change it up in the future, but this one keeps coming back. This is the link for it: BPA Free Plastic Water Bottle with Chug Lid. I drink 4 of these a day, plus my 8 ounces in the morning so I end up exceeding my goal of a gallon.
There are a ton of free apps to track water and that remind you to drink water that you can choose from. I currently use this one: Water Reminder App.
In summary, start your day drinking water, set a goal for the day, and find the method that is the most practical for you to meet this goal daily!
I hope these tips can help you stay hydrated this summer!
Thanks for visiting!
-Jenny