I am writing this post for the most part as a response to Amelia, whose number two New Year’s resolution was to drink more water. But also, because I am passionate about drinking water. I like to refer to myself as a water enthusiast, although I am probably more of an aquaholic. (Sometimes I drink more than the recommended eight glasses a day.)
I grew up in the Arizona desert, where the arid air gives you permanent dry mouth and the tap water is undrinkable. Or at least, I had a conspiracy theorist teacher in middle school who spent entire class periods telling us how the fluoride in the water supply would kill us all. That’s when I stopped drinking tap water. Even if it wasn’t dangerous, it tasted like rust to me. So, I got into the habit of always carrying “safe” water on my person. My dad, a serious athlete, kept massive amounts of bottled water in the house, and I got into my water habit at an early age. How hydrated I directly correlate to how good my day is going. If I didn’t drink enough water, chances are, it was a bad day and I was all tense and running around. That is a sad day in my world.
Source: healthline.com
To quote Amelia: “Rachel and Ami have this weird thing they do where they remind each other to drink water all day. They haven’t exactly explained the rules to me, but I’ve noticed it and while I think it’s totally strange that they belong to some secret water drinking club, I plan on asking to join their ranks in 2013, as I am totally susceptible to peer pressure and it might be the one thing that gets me to drink more H20. I hope they’ll have me.”
It’s not a club, but welcome, Amelia. Welcome to all of you who want a drink more. Here are some tips for making it happen:
1. Identify your source. You must always know from what source your thirst will be quenched. Scope out the place where you’re going to be. Is there a faucet or drinking fountain nearby with satisfactory drinking water? Or a water machine? Or a Brita? Do you need to BYOW? If I don’t know what the water situation is going to be, bring your own. I never show up anywhere without water on my person. I also am picky about the way my water tastes, which I know is weird, so sometimes I bring my own even if there is a source nearby.
2. Always keep a bottle in arm’s reach. Once you’ve identified the source, always keep your water within arm’s reach. Mine sits right next to me on my desk. At home, it stays on my bedside table. Or with me to the couch. My water bottle is like a teddy bear that a toddler drags around. Sometimes I cuddle with it. SO WHAT? The point is, that if it’s right there, I will drink it more often. Because who wants to get up every time they want a drink of water? NO ONE. Beginning drinkers should start with a small bottle of water because it feels like less to drink. Eventually, you’ll graduate to a larger bottle because it will annoy you to have to fill it up so often. But it’s a good way to make you feel like you are accomplishing your water goals.
Source: Harvard University
3. Drink one or two big glasses right when you wake up. This is a tip from Julie. She gets a big portion of her water consumption out of the way first thing. Making sure you’re hydrated before you leave the house will get your day started off right. You may visit Waterko for more information about drinking water, water bottle and other water-related information.
4. Build up your tolerance. I don’t know if there’s scientific evidence about this, but I think people build up a tolerance to H2O. It’s like the more water you drink, the thirstier you get. I swear. I started Amelia off with one small bottle of Smart Water and already she’s graduated to three! It only took her two days! Go, Amelia!
5. Learn to enjoy peeing. You’re going to be peeing a lot more often. Get used to it. Embrace it. You are flushing toxins out of your body and you should feel good about that. Yes, it can be a pain in the ass, but really the health benefits outweigh the irritation. Don’t be surprised if you start to get more excited about peeing.
6. Track your intake. For those competitive and anal retentive among us (ME!), there’s an app that transforms water consumption into a sport. Waterlogged lets you set daily water goals, track your intake and set reminders like “DRINK MORE WATER BITCH,” if you don’t have people around to remind you. It even lets you add friends so you can have a virtual secret water drinking club of your own.
Source: Redbook
Happy drinking!
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