Keeping up with water intake

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8/7/12 9:59 P

I have a 25 oz stainless steel Camelbak water bottle that I keep with me all the time. I drink more water with this bottle! Love it, I bought it from Target for around $15.

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8/7/12 7:05 P

Be careful about re-using disposable commercial drink bottles, like old store bought-water, soda, juice, or sports drink bottles. They aren't intended for multiple uses and break down over time, leaching nasties into your water. Send all those bottles to the recycler and invest in a couple dishwasher-safe, BPA-free long-use drink bottles. They'll be great for your water, iced tea, lemonade or whatever else you may want to take along.

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8/7/12 5:00 P

Dear Becky, Thanks so much. That answers a question that I had too. I can't drink 8 glasses of water but if my other drinks such as coffee and tea are added I have more than that. Yahoo! I wasn't too concerned because my urine was just fine.

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8/7/12 1:13 P

Get a good bottle or two and get in the habit of carrying it with you everywhere. If you need to keep it in your purse or bag, choose a slimmer one that will fit. I like the ones that have a loop that holds the top on. Recently I got insulated, double-walled HydroFlask bottles that hold 40 oz. I try to drink one while I am at work. They are kind of spendy, but do an amazing job at keeping water at the temperature that you prefer. If you always have it with you, you're more likely to sip regularly, vs. remembering to get up and go get a glass of water.

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8/7/12 10:57 A

I reuse the hubby's gatorade bottles. Each one hold 4 glasses of water. Keep it with me all day. Have a few in the fridge for when I am done, and just swap them out. My goal is to drink 1 bottle before 11 am, and the 2nd before 3 pm. Then I have my 8 glasses, and anything else is just extra water intake, and keeps me from munching all day long!!!

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8/7/12 5:34 A

Yay for DietitianBecky! I don't have to bother posting debunking-the-water-myth type articles :)

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8/7/12 2:16 A

How often do you eat? A little water with every eating could help.

But ultimately - listen to registered dietitian Becky Hand. You do NOT need 3 litres per day. There are plenty of misguided advice sites online claiming that we need to drink ourselves silly or we'll suffer the consequences, but they're just not true.

If your urine is a pale yellow colour, you're getting enough water. If it's clear, you're getting too much and need to cut back.

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8/7/12 12:35 A

SAMJ - I'd say a bottle per meal is a good start, as long as it doesn't cause digestion issues :) (most people are fine, but I've heard that some people seem to feel that it dilutes their stomach acid too much, and so they have more trouble with indigestion)

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8/6/12 8:08 P

There may be a little error in your calculations.
1. For most healthy adults---thirst is a good indicator of fluid needs. So drink when you are thirsty. For folks who work in hot, humid heat or non-air-conditioned homes, factories, constuction work, etc---they may need to stay a little more focused on forcing fluids throughout the day.

2. All beverages count: water, coffee, tea, milk, juice, etc.---all are used by the body to hydrate the body.

3. A big part of meeting fluid needs are the foods you eat---soups, vegetables, fruit; but even things like bread have a high percentage of water.

4. Look at your pee color. While your first morning urine is probably darker in color, the rest of your urine should be pale to light yellow in color.

5. Finally, once again---drink when you are thirsty!

SP Dietitian Becky

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8/6/12 7:36 P

Its not that I dont like the taste, I just completely forget to drink water and usually wont remember until im climbing into bed. There isn't alot I do repetitively through the day that I can make water associations to. The best I've been able to come up with is every time I eat, drink a bottle of water?

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8/6/12 7:30 P

Is it that you don't remember, or don't like water? Or a combo of both?

Can you carry a water bottle around with you all day and fill it as you go? My coworker (a Diet Coke addict) would freeze a large bottle of water over night then bring it to work, so she'd have cold water all day long, and it'd slowly melt, letting her sip on it all day. She may not have been getting her normal amount, but it was a start!

Or maybe put little post-it note reminders up around your home/work area.

Is there something that you do regularly through the day that you can start to associate with water drinking? Like, if you work somewhere that you're on the phone often, every time the phone rings, take a sip (or chug!) of water? (Maybe put a note on the phone handle to help you get this habit trained at first) Or if you listen to the radio a lot, every time they go to commercial, or a fast song comes on, or the host talks, etc - make that a trigger to drink.

If it's a flavor thing, you can try flavoring your water at home with fresh fruit! Put a bunch of juicy fruits and/or herbs in a large jar (I prefer glass), mush it up with a spoon or such, fill with ice, then top off with water! Let it get nice a cold and for the flavors to blend, and - tada! - fresh, fruity water! (You may have to pour through a strainer though...)

Common flavor combos: cucumber and mint; lemon and lime; mango; strawberry and pineapple; orange and cinnamon....

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8/6/12 6:27 P

This one used to be so hard for me. I never drank water at all. But now after a long walk, I actually crave it. I bought a water bottle that has a built in filter ( @ old navy, imagine that,lol)
That is helping a lot as long as I keep it full at all times.
I tried those flavor packets to make it taste good but most are made with artificial sweeteners, which triggers my migraines. So I gotta stick to plain H2O.
I also tried putting less sugar in my sweet tea and even drink green tea. It's hard to get used to the taste but once I cut out the surgary drinks I feel more hydrated. Boy was it a tough eoad.road.
Hello my name is Kim and I'm still a recovering Dr. Pepper addict!
Good luck. If you find a useful tip let me know, lol

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8/6/12 6:14 P

How do you make sure you get your minimum daily water intake? I did some research and discovered for my age and weight I need to be drinking around 3 liters a day. I'm a serial offender for not hydrating, up until i actively started overhauling my diet I was lucky to get 600mls of water in a day

I did download an app that throws up a reminder every so often but it drained my phones battery so much it got uninstalled after 2 days. I tried another but it would turn the alarm off after 30 seconds so if i didn't hear it, i would forget.

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