Tuesday, January 14, 2014

5 Ways to Drink More Water

I have never exactly liked the idea of a New Year's Resolution. I have the opinion that if you need to make a change, then you should do it when you figure out that it should be done instead of waiting around.
Keep Calm and Drink On
But I always wait around. It's the perpetual problem of my life: procrastination. And since I wait around, I make New Years Resolutions. It's a cycle and I'm okay with it.

So this year I decided to make my New Year's resolution that is so simple, but also something that I really needed to do for a lot of different reasons.

I should really drink more water.

I've known this for years, but as I said-- I procrastinate. I always have made the excuse that as a nurse I never had TIME to drink more water. In fact, I would like to blame my nursing career for making me become accustomed to being chronically dehydrated. Now my body doesn't even think of asking for any kind of refreshment because it's become so efficient on running on hardly anything. So now I have to remind myself that I need to drink. That's the hard part because, well, I already admitted it-- I like to procrastinate.

But now I'm not working as a nurse and I'm a student again. I have plenty of time to do lots of things especially drink more water. Now there is NO excuse!

Drink water and lots of good things happen
  • You get better looking skin
  • It keeps you looking young. Yay!
  • It helps your hair stay healthy
  • You can lose weight (maybe I can get rid of those 5 pounds after all!)
  • Water really helps your kidneys and PREVENTS Kidney Stones (definitely don't want those)
  • Reduces Constipation
  • Helps you to build muscle so you can look lean and fit for Bikini Season
  • Reduces Joint pain by keeping everything lubricated
  • Helps to fight off or prevent illness and keeps you healthy!
All of those things sound good to me! So I have devised a plan to help me remember to drink more water and I'm sure that it can work for you, too.

LifeFactory Water Bottles #water
1. Buy quality water bottles to use at home and on the go.

These are LifeFactory water bottles and they are such a cool concept. First, they are glass which is healthier than plastic and they are wrapped in this silicone cover to cushion them against breaking. I've had them for about 6 months and they've held up great.

I got one with a straw (the raspberry color) and one with a pop top (the blue one). I will say that the pop top is better than the straw for the most part, but the tops are all interchangeable. You can buy a top in a different color or style for the water bottles so it's really customizable.

Brilliant!

I fill one up and carry it around with me. And they are dishwasher safe! ;)

2. Want a snack? Drink water instead and then re-evaluate in 5-10 minutes if you're still hungry 

It's kind of amazing because it's seriously cut down on my snacking. I feel those five pounds dripping off my body!

Also, we can get the hunger and the thirsty cues in our bodies mixed up and most people will lean towards the idea that they are hungry when, in fact, they are thirsty.

3. Cut down on the calorie filled drinks and use flavored water instead.
#Water bottle with fruit infuser #drink
For Christmas, The Man bought me this awesome infuser water bottle because he knew I needed to drink more water. And, man, did he do a great job. This is seriously genius. You can put whatever fruits you want into the infuser to make custom flavored water such as…
  • Lemon
  • Cucumber Mint
  • Strawberries with Rosemary leaves
  • Cinnamon and Apple
  • Raspberry and Lime
  • "Sangria"-- lemon, lime, peach, and orange
  • Ginger and Lemons
  • Hibiscus
  • Honeydew and cucumber
It has a glass body, but the infuser is BPA free plastic. There is no silicone cushion to this water bottle so it's my "stay at home" bottle, but I love it! 

4. Drink a glass of water first thing in the morning and with every meal

This will help you to actually cut down on how much you eat and boost your metabolism at the same time. Win-Win baby!

5. Know how much water you should be drinking and keep a daily chart

I'm a big list person so this really works for me. If I have to keep track of my water consumption and write it down at the end of the day, then I'm more aware of what I'm drinking and I'll be more likely to meet my goal.

But how much should you drink? There's actually a simply math formula to get you started. Take your body weight (in pounds) and divide it by 2. Whatever the result is should be around the amount of water you should drink in ounces.

Example: I am 125 pounds so I should be drinking around 62 oz of water a day. Math: 125/ 2= 62.5 

Obviously if you workout or if you are sweating a lot, then you should drink more, but this is a great place to get started.

Not to get too personal, but...

You can also use your urine as a gauge to how well you're doing. It should be clear to pale yellow-- not dark. If it's dark-- drink more! 

And remember…
Mark Twain Quote
If you're interested in buying any of the water bottles I mentioned-- here's some links (they are affiliate links which means Amazon pays me a referral fee-- your cost stays the same):




Sherri Griffin
Sherri Griffin

Thanks for checking out my blog. I get serious about a few things in life: animals, chemicals, and food. For the rest I can't promise anything so keep the bar low. For more about me check out my "About Me" page! Happy DIYing!

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