How much water should I drink?

Are you thirsty? Did you know that by the time you feel thirsty you are already dehydrated?

It is interesting that most people do not recognize many of the signs of dehydration. You might be one of the people who misinterpret what your body is trying to tell you about hydration.

Another interesting sign that tells you that you are dehydrated is hunger. Many people mistake thirst for hunger. An easy way to clear up this matter is to drink a glass of water when you think you were hungry, and then if in 15 minutes you are no longer hungry. You know that this was actually a sign of dehydration.

Other symptoms like fatigue, dry mouth, headaches, dizziness, and dry skin our other signs that dehydration is a problem for you.

Most people are not drinking enough water. But just like a healthy diet, there is no one-size-fits-all ideal water intake for everyone.

The first question you need to answer yourself is, “How much do I weigh?”. This number will help you figure out how many ounces of water you should consume everyday. You take the now you wait in pounds and divide that number two. This gives you the amount of water you should be drinking in ounces everyday.

Seems pretty simple, right? Well, there’s a little bit more to hydration and water intake. You need to make sure that you are getting enough good fats in your diet so that your cells can actually bring the hydration inside.  If you do not have enough good fat in diet your so while not be flexible enough to bring in your water and get out your waste. I’ll talk more about good fats and how much you should eat at another time. For this moment just know most of us need to consume more good fat. Check out this blog post to learn more.

The next thing we need to answer is, “What else are you drinking?” Caffeinated drinks like coffee, green tea, black tea, and soda, are diuretics. This means they’re going to push more fluid out of your body then they provide. This is true for alcohol, fruit juices, and even soda that does not contain caffeine.

So if you are one of those people that wakes up in first thing in the morning has a cup of coffee, and then ends your day with a beer or glass of wine. You need to add two extra glasses of water just to break even with hydration.

Keep in mind, you’ll need to add extra water if you are exercising or if it’s an especially hot day.

To make it easier drink enough water each day, start your day with 2 cups of water first thing in the morning. Carry a sturdy stainless steel bottle that you like to look at so you are more likely to pick it up and drink. I like the brands Kleen Kanteen and HydroFlask. These are sturdy and metal will not leach into your water like poor quality stainless steel or plastic bottles do.

Ready to get hydrated? Bottoms up!