Water: We all know it’s good for us. It flushes out toxins, promotes weight loss, helps our immune system and is one of the most basic tools for great skin.
Yet, a lot of us have a hard time getting it all in.
The best solution?
Finding some sort of motivator or reminder to drink water that works for well for YOU. Remember that there is no right or wrong way to drink more water. The important thing is that you’re able to incorporate more H2O into your life.
So without further ado, here are some tricks and tips to get you drinking more water.
If You Don’t Mind Drinking Water But You Just Forget…
Set Timers On Your Phone
Having timers going off all the time can be annoying, but it’s a super simple and easy way of reminding yourself to take a drink. Most smart phones now allow you to label your alarms, so label them water and if you want to be super corny you can even put inspirational messages. Such as… Water: Drink 3 Oz, You Can Do It!
Use An App
Similar to setting a timer, an app is a great option to trigger you to drink your water. Many water apps have alarms or reminders to drink water. They also frequently have features that allow you to track the actual amount you’re drinking.
Read: Best Water Tracking Apps
Get More Techy
If you like the idea of using an app you might love the idea of using a high-tech water bottle called DrinKup. This water bottle gives you customized drinking plans and has its own app that sends reminders to drink water. While obviously not necessary at all, sometimes a fun new gadget makes it easier to stay motivated.
Keep A Gallon With You
The water drinking hack I use most often is just keeping a gallon of water with me at all times. I get one with a strap on it that can easily be picked up and toted with me throughout my day. It’s large enough that no matter where I go and what I’m doing it’s easy to see and a nice physical reminder that I need to drink more water.
Drink Up Before You Eat Up
Make it a habit of drinking a big glass of water before you eat your meals. Obviously this habit takes practice to form, and you might need to create some sort of trigger to make it happen at first, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll automatically be drinking a lot more water every day (and in turn potentially eating less- a win-win for many of us).
Drink A Glass After Going To The Bathroom
I have the habit of imminently drinking water when I get back from the bathroom. Now this habit started in the office when I would sit down, I’d grab my water before I started working again. Turns out, it was a great habit to get into. Now, it’s just one less time I have to think about making an effort to drink water. It just comes naturally. Obviously, this is another habit you’ll have to work on building, but once it’s established it’s a great way to drink a lot more water… plus the more you drink, the more you’ll have to go which will in turn inspire more drinking of water! It’s a win-win.
Mark Your Water Bottle
Maybe you’re a goal-oriented-achievement-type-of-person, if so, there’s a good chance seeing your progress will keep you motivated to keep drinking water. You can easily buy a water bottle designed to track your ounces on, or you can make your own by drawing lines on an existing water bottle.
Fill Your Bottles Up Immediately
Have an empty bottle? Fill that sucker up as soon as it’s empty! Why? Because if you don’t do it right away, chances are you won’t. This is another one of those habits that you can incorporate into your life to help increase your water consumption. You’re far more likely to keep up with your water goals if you have a glass ready to go in front of you.
Keep Extra Water Bottles Around
If you have a bad habit of forgetting a water bottle and that’s an excuse to not drink your water, think about stocking water routinely throughout your house, car, and work space. You can even use reusable water bottles if you are good about cleaning them regularly. The key is just to make water overly accessible while you’re establishing a habit of drinking it. In my case I keep my gallon on my person, and I have an assortment of mineral waters and La Criox in other locations.
Get Some Reusable Straws
Straws are just awesome drinking accessories- end of story.
Find Other Opportunities To Create Habits
Just like drinking water after going to the bathroom or before eating, there are lots of times that are perfect for drinking water. Deciding when to drink water is dependent on what your routine and habits look like, but try to think about time habits in your life that would be great to add water around. For instance, maybe before brushing your teeth, or every commercial on TV (Youtube) or before and after taking your dog on a walk. Any normal routine habit you have, can be paired with drinking water and the existing habit will help solidify the new habit making it so much easier to remember!
Follow Me On Instagram
If you want a little water drinking support group action, you can always also follow me on Instagram where I put up daily reminders and polls to drink your water.
If You Don’t Really Like Water Or Prefer Other Beverages…
Make Infused Water
Infused water is definitely a trend, but for good reason. You can spice up your water drinking life by steeping fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs in your water bottle. The number of combinations is plentiful and there’s definitely something for every taste bud!
If this is of interest to you, I would recommend getting a water bottle designed for infusing water.
Dilute Your Sugary Beverages
This has never been an appealing hack to me, but it does work for some people. The principal idea being, that any sugary beverage can be diluted with water or ice to create a less bad-for-you variety of the beverage. If this sounds interesting to you, start by barely diluting your beverages with extra ice and work your way up in water content so that you’re not immediately turned off. Trust me on this one.
Sparkle
Obviouly sparking waters don’t completely replace soda, juice and other deliciously sugary drinks. But, they can help you reduce impulsive or habitual soda habits. In other words, if you’re someone who drinks soda or juice while working, watching TV, or driving, than maybe a fizzy water will be an acceptable replacement.
If you know you like sparkling water and you think that it might make a good soda replacement, you can also look into Sodastream for home carbonation and then flavor your water with fresh fruit juice like lime, lemon, grapefruit, or orange.
Use The One-To-One Rule
If you went to college (let’s be real: high school) there’s a good chance that you’ve heard this hangover hack: For every drink, have a glass of water. Well, this is also a great strategy for increasing your water intake when drinking sugary beverages (but also alcohol). If you’re really craving a soda, juice, alcohol, or coffee beverage, match your intake of water one-to-one.
Herbal Tea
If you’re a lover of hot drinks try on herbal tea for size. You can get herbal tea in a variety of flavour combinations from floral, to chocolaty so there’s a good chance you’ll find a flavour you love.
Drink Water While Waiting For Coffee
I’m not a huge fan of rewarding positive behaviour with food. But, since you probably aren’t giving up coffee and you probably will be standing around waiting for it to brew, challenge yourself to drink a full glass of water before allowing yourself that delicious cup of jo.
Keep Your Water Varied And Interesting
We’ve talked about infused water and sparkling water, but I think it’s important to specify that Instead of just having plain water, try having different types of water available throughout the day. There are various infused water reciepies, sparking flavoured water brands like La Croix, mineral water, sparkaling mineral water, almond, coconut or maple water and of course good ol’ spring water. An assortment of water can help keep you slightly more satisfied if you’re used to drinking sodas throughout the day.
Drink Fruit Infused Tea
Hot water by itself is not exactly what we think of as “yummy”, but you can infuse fruit for a delicious warm morning or evening beverage. Similar to herbal tea, fruit infused teas are more commonly made with fresh produce, particularly orange, lemon or lime slices and maybe just a drop of honey or maple syrup (if you want to splurge).
So there you have it. You now have some new ideas on how to drink more water. Remember that if one method doesn’t work for you, don’t beat yourself up, simply try something else!