Did you make drinking more water one of your goals for 2024? Well lucky you, because today I am going to talk about my favorite 10 tips for drinking more water!!
Over the last few years I’ve made it a priority to drink more water. Not tea, but water. At first it was sort of hard because after drinking copious amounts of deliciously flavored tea with milk and sugar for so many years {and when I say copious amounts what I really meant was 20 cups of caffeinated tea a day} I started getting headaches.
I finally narrowed it down to caffeine consumption. {I’m pretty sure this would have been obvious to most people, but I didn’t want to believe it}.
Yada Yada Yada… Fast forward to the past few years and I am actually drinking more water than tea these days. Which is a good thing! I’ve also switched to almost entirely decaf tea too. {Although I refuse to give up my 1 daily London Fog!}
I typically drink about 80 ounces of water a day {the equivalent of {5} 16 ounce water bottles}. And while it was hard to get used to drinking plain water at first, now I don’t even think about it.
So if you’ve been trying to come up with more strategies to drink more water this year, here are a few things I’ve found that helped me.
10 Tips for Drinking More Water
Make it part of every morning. Start off with 1 glass of water every morning first thing.
Add a little lemon or lime juice to water to make the flavor more appealing.
Whenever hunger strikes, drink a glass of water first to rule out thirst/dehydration.
Drink a glass of water with each meal. It is supposed to aid in digestion.
Add a splash of juice to water. A little cranberry, apple, orange juice, etc. adds flavor without excessive calories.
Get a reusable water bottle. This way you can measure your consumption, take it with you where ever you go, reduce waste, and get something with a little style–which somehow makes it easier to swallow {pun intended}.
Fill a container full of 64 oz of water and put it in the fridge–fill your cup or bottle from this container. It will be a visual reminder or how much more you need to drink before the day is out.
Filter your water. Filtered water tastes and smells better. It will be much easier to get down.
Everytime you empty your glass or bottle, immediately fill it back up. That way, you always have easy access to it.
Go one-for-one with other beverages. For every glass of soda, juice, coffee, tea, etc. you drink, drink a glass of water.
How about you, do you have trouble getting enough water into your day? Do you have any tips you can share?
~Mavis
Cindy R says
I also was drinking copious amounts of tea. No sugar, but mixed perfectly with a splash of half-n-half that over time became a tsp, a tbsp or maybe 2 or more tbsp more than a few times a day. Until those dreaded cholesterol numbers started rising faster than the stock market. I realized changes had to be made. Hot black tea just isn’t the same. Now it is easy to drink only one or two cups of English breakfast tea because I am still getting used to, even after several months, the solitary black tea. My weekly treat is a cup of English Breakfast tea with no more than 2 tsps of cream measured carefully.
Now my goal is to drink more water. I don’t like it cold so I zap my glass in the microwave for 30 secs to a minute or so. I know I need to do much better at increasing the amount of water I drink each day.
Peg says
I bought an electric tea kettle in the fall. I pour the water into an insulated carafe once it’s hot, and I do this multiple times a day. This time of year hot water is so much better for us than cold or even room temperature water (check out what practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine say about it). I use the filtered water from our fridge so no funky taste.
Laura says
I love adding a splash of pomegranite juice to my water, makes it much easier to chug! Also when I’m at work I add this powder called Drip Drop in a berry flavor to my water bottle. It’s delicious and hydrating and I tend to drink that bottle fast.
Tammy says
To make sure I get at least 64 oz. of water daily, I use a quart jar to drink with and fill it twice. A good rule of thumb for me is to have one quart of water finished before noon. It’s not a good situation to wait until an hour before bed and try to get the rest of my water in. 😉 So usually if I can have my second quart finished by dinner, then I know I’ve gotten my water in.
Laura Z says
When they go on sale, I slice up lemons, limes, or oranges and freeze them on a flat tray. Pop those in a freezer bag and they make a nice addition to my water. A few frozen berries also flavor water pretty well. I also really like to brew hibiscus based teas (like the Celestial Seasonings zinger teas) and drink those with out sugar, but iced. Tart, flavorful, refreshing, and without caffeine……
Laura Z says
I meant to add that I drink the hibiscus teas chilled or iced!
eliz says
What is your favorite decaf tea?
Mavis Butterfield says
Biglow decaf earl grey.
eliz says
Thank you!
Denise B says
Drink water with a straw. You get bigger drinks this way.
Nadia says
I was told not to drink water with meals as this will dilute the necessary digestive juices needed to digest the food.. if you MUST drink with the meal, it is better to have juice or a smoothie, because it doesn’t dilute the digestive juices as badly.
I drink 2 cups of hot water with lemon juice and liquid chlorophyll every morning, then try to get at least 96 ounces daily.. really makes a difference in keeping my sweet cravings at bay.
SueD says
I keep 3-5 1 liter bottles in the fridge at all times, and drink 3-3.5l/day. If I have fresh ginger, I try to remember to add several thin slices to my insulated 1l cup with a straw. I’ll vary it with lemon slices sometimes. I found drinking with a straw, I drank more than drinking without one. I drink a mug of black coffee in the early morning, and a mug of tea, no milk, in the late afternoon.
Sue S. says
Thanks for the tips everyone. I need to drink more myself.
Sheryl says
Adding a couple of drops (3-5)of trace minerals to your water is very healthy.
Sue says
It seems much easier to drink water in winter when it’s room temperature.
Jules says
My dentist gave me a talk about cavities one upon a time and suggested more water to wash residue off my teeth after/as I eat, so I began drinking water every time I ate something and now it’s a habit. I take a water bottle everywhere (hydroflask, so it is always as cold I make it). It might mean more bathroom stops, but it also meant less cavities for me, along with other health benefits
LaToya says
I have always hated water. Just haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate it. Then I found HINT Water, so I was drinking that for a while. It’s not cheap, but I was like, it’s for my health! Still wasn’t getting enough in though. Then my college girl got me onto the Stanley craze. And I was like, if I’m going to spend that much on a drink container, I neeeeeds to be drinking my water. I have the Panera Sip Club ($3.33 per month for any drink every 2 hours) and started stopping by there every morning before work and filling up my Stanley with ice water. I was getting it in, but still not loving it. Then! Someone told me about those True Lemon and True Lime packets. LIFE. CHANGING. I fill up my Stanley with ice water and 2 True Lemons or True Limes and I am drinking water like a camel – waaaaaaahooooo! True Orange is a bust though, super mild, no go. Now I am drinking nearly (2) 40 oz. Stanleys a day of water — and that’s a LOT for me!