Tips for Drinking More Water

One of the simplest but most profound things you can do for your health, your complexion, your energy level, and to lose or maintain your weight, is drink water. We hear it over and over, so why, oh why, does it seem so hard to choose water?!

There are too many other, sugary, caffeine-infused quick fixes that are so easily accessible.
I am almost always drinking something. Or I want to be. I feign thirst all the live-long day. Once upon a time, I was a full-blown coke addict. Coca-cola, that is. I realized that if you will load your three little children into the car and drive to the store because mommy is getting a headache because she’s run out of caffeinated beverages, you’re addicted. It is what it is. I decided the first thing I would have to do is remove the temptation, so I stopped buying soft drinks to have at home. From that day to this, we don’t keep soft drinks in our home. Occasionally we have purchased a two liter with some pizza or for guests. It has saved us lots of money and calories by not having easy access to soda.

Don’t keep soft drinks at home.

This doesn’t mean you have to stop drinking them altogether. I know that would be the best option, but sometimes that’s not realistic. When faced with a better or best choice, better is better than nothing at all! So while the best choice may be to never let a soft drink get near your lips, but I don’t want to commit to that. I can, however, live with the choice to not keep them at home where the temptation to consume excessive amounts of soft drinks is just too great.

Replace your usual mealtime beverage with water.

I did this years ago, when I was in high school, and the results were amazing! I was not a water drinker; my family drank sweet tea with meals. I decided I would drink water with my meals, and I found it to be an easy way to add water to my day. Incredibly, after doing this for a while, I began to WANT water more than other beverages. I would even order water with fast food meals when I was out with friends, and back then, there was no discount, the soft drink was part of the price. I still chose water. To this day, I find it easier to add water to a mealtime than any other time of day if I know I really need some H2O.

Find your favorite.

This may seem ridiculous or obvious if you’ve experienced this. I used to think water was water and it all tasted the same. I have learned that is not true. When I went to Haiti, we drank water all day for a week. As in, there was water in my hand almost around the clock! They didn’t want us to dehydrate, so we were constantly reminded to drink more water. We were sweating all day, every day – it was a great detox. When I came home, I realized that my taste buds recognized slight nuances in various waters!
Make sure you try different brands of water. You may find one to be more to your liking. We have well water that I enjoy, but my daughter in law from Honduras does not like it at all.
Although you may not realize it, there are slight differences and it could make all the difference in your enjoyment and your ability to persevere.

Don’t flavor it.

Some people may say it’s better than no water at all, but I’m challenging you to train your palette to enjoy water, not yet another sugary, flavored drink. Trust me when I say I’m sympathetic. I’m typing while sipping a caramel latte (but I also just had a glass of water). When you’re going to have sugary drinks, have a sugary drink, but when you’re going to have water, have water.

I’m not referring to lemon or lime slices or other natural, healthy additions. And those may be great options to add variety throughout the day and keep you choosing water.

Know what motivates you.

I have a gigantic container that has inspiring and encouraging quotes on it – it motivates me to drink that many ounces when I’m trying to get to the bottom of that thing! Other people may find it daunting and discouraging to start the day with a water tank like that.
If you are more encouraged by putting two 16 ounce bottles in the fridge as your goal for the day, and increasing it over time, do it! If you’d rather see your progress as your water level in a big ole thermos decreases, do that. Know what motivates you to keep drinking, and use that to your advantage. It doesn’t matter what works for me because if it doesn’t work for you, it’s not good advice. So try a few different ideas, find out what works for you, and do that!
And by all means, remind yourself how great this is for you, how incredible you are for sticking with this, and reward yourself with a caramel latte every now and again. 😉
Bottoms up!

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• I love to have a drink in hand at all times, so I understand the struggle when you want SOMETHING OTHER THAN WATER! Try these tips for a super simple smoothie – healthy and satisfying!