Start Drinking More Water This Weekend

Start Drinking More Water This Weekend

You can live without food for a month or more, but only without water for a week. We, as humans, are mostly made up of the stuff, and it’s very important we drink plenty of it. That said, you may not enjoy water and find it a bit of a challenge to drink enough — a challenge you should overcome this weekend.

Photo by Gareth Haywood.

Know How Much You Need And What Type

First things first, you need to know how much water you need on a daily basis? Some say eight glasses, others say a little more and a little less. When we asked a doctor who took a closer look at necessary hydration, we found the numbers depended on sex. Men need about 3 litres (13 cups) and women need 2.2 (9 cups). If you exercise or spend a lot of time in the sun, you’ll need more. You don’t want to over-hydrate, as that can cause serious problems, but if you keep it around 13 or 9 (depending on your gender) you’ll be good to go. It helps to know the signs of dehydration, too, so you can listen to your body to know when you’ll need more.

As for the type of water, you may prefer the taste of filtered to tap but in most cases it doesn’t matter. Unless you have a specific health concern regarding the water in your corner of the world — in which case you probably shouldn’t bathe in it, either — you’ll be fine.

Make Sure You Get Enough

Drinking up to 13 glasses per day is easier said than done, of course. If you need some help, start tracking yourself! If you have a FitBit fitness tracker, you can use the built-in app to log your intake of H20. If you just want an app, you can get Waterlogged for iOS and Water Your Body for Android. Alternatively, the Trackthisforme webapp will track anything, so you can use that.

Some people use other methods to drink enough water because a reminder just doesn’t do the trick. It helps to make it a habit, so figure out where you can include water consumption throughout your day. Some people use it as a procrastination timer. Others use it as a way to get up and walk around during the day if they’d otherwise sit down too much. Pick a method that works and integrate it into your lifestyle so you never go thirsty.

Improve The Taste

Personally, I love the taste of water. Many people seem to hate it. Citrus fruits like lemons and limes, or herbs and spices such as ginger can all add a nice flavour without adding calories. If you experiment with additives, you can learn to love the taste of water and start drinking it regularly.

Have a a great, hydrated weekend!


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

Here are the cheapest plans available for Australia’s most popular NBN speed tier.

At Lifehacker, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.

Comments


8 responses to “Start Drinking More Water This Weekend”