Water is important for your health because it can help prevent health issues such as constipation from getting serious and painful, but most of us don’t drink enough water. Everyone should make it their goal to drink more water, but it can be especially important for disabled and chronically ill people because dehydration can often trigger pain flares and worsen medical conditions, so you want to make sure you are drinking enough water. People sometimes struggle with drinking enough water because many fitness influencers want you to believe that you need to be guzzling gallons of water a day to reach your goals, but I don’t think that is necessary and might be too much. Everyone’s water needs are going to be different because there are a lot of factors that come into play, such as your activity level, age, and gender. Water is so good for you, and everyone can benefit from drinking more, but not everyone likes plain water. How can you drink more water? In this post, I am going to give you a few easy ways you can increase your water intake.
Eat more foods with a high water content- People often think that the only way you will get enough water is if you fill up large water bottles multiple times a day, but the reality is you don’t need to drink that much because you can get a lot of water from the foods you eat. If you hate the taste of water, an easy way to increase your water intake is to eat more foods such as watermelon, apples, and cucumbers that have high water content. You can get a lot of water through the foods you eat because a lot of the things we eat have some water in them. Do you drink coffee? Coffee is a diuretic and can dehydrate you because it makes you have to pee, but it does count toward your water intake. I would still drink a couple of cups of water because you can’t completely rely on the foods you eat to get enough water, but you are probably getting more water from foods than you think.
Carry a water bottle around with you- My disability makes me more prone to headaches and constipation, and you would think that I would be more on top of my water intake, but even people with health conditions sometimes can forget and not realize it until it’s too late. I struggle with remembering to drink enough water because I don’t do high-impact workouts every single day and don’t always get thirsty, but I am reminded when I have elevated pain levels. It is important to start drinking water before you have a migraine because once you have one, it’s going to be a lot harder to get rid of the migraine. If you struggle to get enough water, one of the things that has helped remind me to increase my water intake is filling up a water bottle and carrying it with me throughout the day. If I am blogging, it’s easy to not drink enough because when I have a good writing flow, I don’t always want to get up and take water breaks, and you don’t have to when you have a water bottle at your desk.
Do a little more exercise- Exercise can improve your physical and mental health but it can also make you thirsty because every time you sweat, you lose water. People who exercise often drink more water than those who sit a majority of the day because the more active you are the more water you will require. If you never get thirsty, try doing a little more exercise because when you do things that require a lot of energy, you will want some water. If you don’t exercise, you will not need as much water as someone who does high-impact workouts, but even though you never get thirsty, that doesn’t mean you don’t need to drink water. Make sure you drink enough water, especially if you did a workout, because there is nothing fun about getting a headache. I started drinking more water after I started walking outside because I sweat more and get thirsty. Exercise is a great way to get your body moving and naturally increase your hydration goals.
Add some flavor- I like the taste of water, and most times I would prefer plain water over sugary beverages because sugar interacts with my stoma, and I don’t enjoy it as much. Some people do not enjoy the taste of water as much as I do, and that is okay because you don’t have to drink plain water if you hate the taste of it. There are a lot of fun ways to make water taste good, and you don’t have to force yourself to drink plain water because you can always get flavored packets to add to your water or add lemon or lime to give it some flavor. Prepare your water in a way that you enjoy it because you will be more likely to drink it when you don’t have to force it down.
Drink some tea– Coffee is a good choice if you want to increase your caffeine intake, but it is not the best choice if you want to drink more water because coffee is a diuretic and dehydrates you. Tea can be a good choice because it has a lot of health benefits and does not have nearly as much caffeine as coffee, which can help increase your water intake in a delicious way. If you want to increase your water intake, try finding an uncaffeinated tea that you enjoy, because a lot of teas are very hydrating.
Set some reminders on your phone– There are a lot of water apps that will send you reminders every hour to drink water. I have used water apps before, and they helped me stay on track with my hydration goals. If you have a bad habit of not drinking enough water, try setting reminders on your phone to help keep you on track. It doesn’t have to be every hour, and it can be every two if that works better for you. Ease into it because if you are used to not drinking any water and all of a sudden force yourself to drink five water bottles, it’s going to be really hard to stick to. Give yourself some reminders because it can help make drinking water a habit, and eventually it will get to a point where you won’t need the reminders.
Water is so important for your health because some of your organs are made mostly of water and cannot function optimally if you don’t give your body the nutrients it needs it cannot function optimally. When you don’t drink enough, it can be hard to be productive because it can make you feel sluggish and unmotivated, so you don’t want to do anything. There are a lot of fun ways you can drink more water that aren’t a lot of calories and taste delicious, and you don’t need to avoid drinking water because you don’t like the taste of it. Sugary beverages are delicious and technically count toward your water intake, but having too many of these types of drinks can negatively affect your health and is not the same as drinking water. You can tell a lot about your hydration needs by the color of your pee, and if it is clear and looks like water, you might be overhydrated, but if it’s dark, you might want to drink some more water. Make sure you drink enough water because there is nothing worse than getting a painful UTI that may have been avoidable. How do you drink more water? If you liked this post, please leave a comment below and share it with your friends.
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