4 Simple Ways To Make Sure You're Drinking Enough Water

Recently, I had an annual checkup.

It's something I try to be consistent with so I feel like I'm being a "good adult." I consider myself a pretty healthy person, so I was surprised when I was told I wasn't drinking enough water.

I thought I was the poster child for water consumption. As an intermittent faster, I seriously don't leave my house without my refillable, steel water bottle in tow. I mean, this thing is so well-used, it has dents, paint chips and scratches. 

I feel like most of my day is spent refilling the thing! But, yet, somehow, I wasn't drinking enough water.

I thought about arguing and pleading my case, but then I stopped myself and REALLY thought about my water consumption as of late. 

How many times have I left a restaurant with a barely touched glass of water sitting on the table? How often do I take it into my office, only to have it sit on my desk for a few hours without taking so much as a sip? Okay...I've probably gotten a little lax on the whole water thing if I'm being honest.

I used to make sure I was drinking at least two 32 oz mugs of water each day and then some...but the emphasis there is on USED TO. Unfortuantely for me, drinking plenty of water once upon a time, doesn't equal "still hydrated."

It's so easy to forget the little things when you're living your life, especially when you change up your routine. Those little things often end up being big things. 

The magic water consumption formula seems to be half an ounce to an ounce of water per pound per day. So if you're 130lbs, that equals 65-130 ounces EVERY DAY.

If you're like me, you're gonna need some ideas to make sure you're getting the right amount of water in your system. Here are four quick tips for making sure you get all that H2O goodness everyone's raving about.

1. Have Water With Every Meal

At home or out to dinner, always request water along with whatever else you may want to drink, be it wine, soda, beer, etc. I do this, but I'll be honest that I don't always take more than a few sips of it. It's definitley something I'll be working on! 

Bonus: Water can help curb your appetite! So, if you're looking to consume less calories, definitely drink on that water before and during meals.

2. Get a Refillable Bottle and Keep it With You

Okay, I already do this, too and, again, it doesn't work if you don't actually drink the water. But I LOVE my stainless steel, insulated bottle. It keeps the water cold for HOURS (and bonus, saves on adding more plastic bottles to the landfills and oceans). 

Here are some great ones on Amazon AND you can select which size works best for you!

Make sure you're at least taking some decently sized swallows every so often and just sip on it throughout the day. BUT, what if you get busy and completely forget? I got you covered...

3. There's An App For That

Not surprisingly, there are TONS of water consumption reminder apps and most of them are free! I just searched "water reminder" and several popped up. I'm going to do some more research and see which one fits me best. Keep you posted!

4. Invest in a Smart Water Bottle

I'm not gonna lie, some of these things scare me with how sophisticated they are! I mean, they're so cool. Some have Bluetooth integration like this bad boy, that even comes with it's own app...

Or, you could go for this one with an LCD touch screen and temperature indicator...

Or, if you like to keep things simple, here's what my techie friends would probably refer to as the "analog" version with just a simple measure and time-stamp on the side...

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