5 Simple Strategies for Boosting Your Daily Water Intake

Why bother?

Increasing your daily water intake can help provide lots of benefits like...

- increase energy

- help digestion

- reduce snacking

- reduce headaches

- improve skin

When you choose more water, you also choose LESS higher calorie options.

But sometimes this is easier said than done. Especially, when you're away from home or always forgetting. Here are some tips for bumping up the H20!!

Goal: Ideally, you want to drink at least half your weight in ounces per day. However, an increased amount typically means increased benefits and your body may begin to crave it more.

You will also want to increase water for exercise and/or warm temperatures.

You should always check with your doctor to see what the best water goal is for you.

If you're panicking because you're nowhere near that ..... don't! I started out only drinking a few sips each day and pretty sure I went through all the 80s with none! I slowly built it up using these tips:

1. Set a time goal for how much you want to finish by each marker. Example: 15 ounces by 9:00 AM. Take the daily total you want to achieve and divide by however many markers you want to use (3 work well for morning, afternoon, and evening - also helps you stagger for when you'll be closer to a bathroom!).

2. Increase in small amounts. Instead of trying to add 100 ounces to your day at once, start with small increments. Aim to drink 10 more ounces than yesterday. Once you hit that goal consistently for a few days or a week, then increase by another 10 ounces.

3. Track it. Like anything else you want to change or improve, you need to know how much you're having (rather than guessing) to know how much you need to add. Using an app helps you keep track on the go.

4. Flavor it. Maybe you don't love the taste or don't think about it until it's super hot outside. Very common! We tend to lean towards things with taste, so why not do the same for water? Use flavored seltzers (they count!) or unsweetened tea (counts!) or fruits or water enhancers to make it more interesting.
   

5. Make it your BFF. You can't drink it if it's not with you, so bring it everywhere you go! In the car, at birthday parties, on the sidelines of youth sports, school pick-up. Become THAT (hydrated) person!