Though we often say that the drink of a wise man is water, you need to know that drinking adequate water is like cleaning up your insides. Water is required for optimal health and that includes maintenance of the electrolyte balance in your body, lubricating joints, blood pressure, promoting cell growth and regulating body temperature. Since 70% of your body constitutes water, dehydration can make a person feel rotten, constipated, fatigued and you can even develop mild headaches. Worst-case scenarios lead to physical and mental decline or even death.
And the truth is, most people overestimate how much water they drink. Have you ever checked by count, how many 750ml/1l bottles of water you’re drinking? You’ll be shocked to realise it’s a lot lesser than you think. Honestly, trying to drink more water every day can seem like a chore for many and at best boring, repetitive and well, a little torturous because you have to use the toilet so often then. So here are 10 tricks for you to make drinking water every day a fun activity!
10 Tricks To Make Drinking Water Fun
With simple tricks and fun rules for yourself, drinking water doesn’t have to be boring at all. Read on to learn more about the tips.
1. Set Yourself A Daily Goal
Setting yourself a daily water intake goal can make everything easier for you. All you have to do is simply act on maintaining that goal. According to PubMed Central, they say that your goal must be SMART which is the acronym for: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic & Time-bound. For instance, set up your water intake goal to be 1 litre per day and gradually increase that to 1.5 and then 2 litres or more. Make this a habit and record your progress. Nowadays, you even find so many apps like Daily Water Tracker Reminder, Hydro Coach, WaterMinder and so on, which you can download on your phone that will keep reminding you after set intervals to drink water. This will ensure that your goal is attainable. By the end of the week you can measure your progress and see how your water intake has improved with each day.
2. Reward Yourself On Hitting Goals
There’s nothing more encouraging than giving yourself a sweet little reward after you hit your goal. It just makes you want to keep accomplishing it again and again. Make a rule that for everyday you hit your goal, you’ll splurge on one indulgence that day (doesn’t have to be monetary). It could simply be allowing yourself a small piece of chocolate or cheese as dessert, watching that extra episode on Netflix, or ordering a coffee from your favourite cafe.
3. Drink Water After Every Bathroom Break You Take
Thinking of getting up from your desk for a bathroom break? Guess what! It’s time to start linking that with drinking water. Since you’re already getting up, it’s advisable to stop by the kitchen or the water cooler to chug a glass of water. This will set up a great cycle for you. The more you drink water, the more you’ll be actually getting up to go to the bathroom. It’s a great way to create a loop where your body is enabled to keep hydrating.
4. Eat Water-Rich Foods & Herbal Tea
Eating water-rich food and drinking more herbal tea is actually a sneaky way to get in more water in your system. It’s more like eating your H2O. Add fruits and veggies with higher water content to your daily routine. Some of your top picks must include cucumber, watermelon, grapes, citrus fruits, lettuce and so on. Also, tea is nothing but deliciously flavoured water. Make a habit of drinking herbal tea hot in the winters and ice it in the summers. Make yourself some herbal tea during your office break or when at home. Remember that drinking tea has its own benefits, one of the most important being making you feel a lot calmer than usual. Form a tea habit and enjoy the process of hydration!
5. Keep A Reusable Water Bottle Always In Front Of You
Keeping a water bottle with you throughout the day can actually help you drink more water since it’ll keep reminding you about hydration every now and then. A reusable water bottle can help you drink water easily in any setting, be it while you’re in your car, grocery shopping, jogging or even when you’re at work or school. It serves as a visual reminder to drink more water plus, it’s better for your environment as you can ditch the plastic pet bottles.
6. Replace Other Drinks With Water
Reduce your calorie intake & boost your health by replacing any form of sugary drinks, soda and sports drinks with water. Drinks full of sugar are often detrimental to your health so the best way to keep this in check would be by limiting added sugar intake by less than 5% of your total calorie intake. Keep in mind that just a cup of Pepsi can increase this limit. Also, diets that are high in sugar have been linked with type-2 diabetes and heart diseases. Furthermore, replacing this with water not only cuts down your calories and sugar intake but also promotes weight loss.
7. Sip Some Water Before Every Meal
Make a habit of drinking at least one glass of water 15-20 minutes before every meal. If you eat 3-4 meals a day, it’s basically increasing your daily water intake by an added 3-4 cups. Remember that sometimes your body can mistaken your feelings of thirst for hunger so having a glass before every meal can help you be sure about it. Moreover, if you’re trying to lose weight, drinking a glass of water may help you eat fewer calories.
8. Flavour Your Water
This is one of the most fun tricks to increase your water intake. Just cut up your favourite citrus fruits, some watermelon, or even cucumber and basil and infuse it in your water overnight. Sipping on flavoured water is delicious and always feels like a treat compared to boring old tasteless water.
9. Drink A Glass When You Wake Up
Another easy way to boost your water intake is to have a glass of water when you wake up. Be it early in the morning, after a nap in the afternoon or even in the middle of the night make sure to pour yourself a glass. Keep in mind that a glass of cold water in the morning always wakes you up and makes you alert early in the morning. In addition to that, drinking water before bed can actually help you wake up in the morning without bad breath and a dry mouth.
10. Use Apps To Track Your Water Intake
As mentioned earlier that apart from setting reminders, these mobile apps can actually do much more than that. AquaAlert, WaterMinder, Hydro Coach can actually also help you track your daily water intake. These hydration apps help you take note of how much water you still need to drink to meet your goals, especially if you remain forgetful or busy throughout the day.
The bottom line is the fact that you need to make sure to stay hydrated no matter what. So don’t be a drip and take a sip! Tell us in the comments below if you think these above tricks are helpful and a fun to up your water intake.
