How much water should I drink a day?
Well, it depends on a number of different things like your health status, climate, activity level, goals and diet.
Don’t worry- if you are overwhelmed about finding the amount of water you should be drinking, I will lay it out for you.
First of all, I can sit here and tell you to drink more water, but you probably won’t care unless you are interested in it. So let me tell you the benefits of getting all the hydration your body needs (interesting, huh?).
Benefits of Water:
Well besides the fact that we can only survive a few days without water…here are some other incentives to get you drinking more H2O.
Improved Biological Functions:
Here’s the fun stuff: Water helps maintain our core temperature, transports nutrients to our cells, removes waste products and keeps our pH levels balanced.
Your friend during weight loss:
Water can help reduce overall calorie consumption if it replaces high calorie beverages. It can also help by adding feelings of fullness, aiding in digestion, slightly increasing metabolism, or avenge feelings of thirst that can often be mistaken for hunger.
Improved Performance:
Your body cannot adapt to dehydration. Dehydration can decrease strength by 2%, power by 3%, and high-intensity endurance by about 10%
Athlete or not, dehydration also has cognitive consequences, negatively affecting response time, coordination, tracking, short-term memory, attention, and mental focus. On top of that feelings of fatigue take over faster.
That being said….here is your recommended water intake:
(Take notes)
The National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) recommends daily fluid intake for men at 3.0 L (approx. 13 cups) and 2.2 L (approx. 9 cups) for women. If you are looking to loose weight, you should drink an additional 8 ounces of water for every 25 pounds you carry above your ideal weight.
*Another suggestion is to drink at least the equivalent of one-half your body weight in oz.
(So if you weigh 150 lbs you should be drinking 75 oz of water/day.)
Water Intake and Exercise:
| Before Exercise | 14-22 oz 2 hours before |
| During Exercise | 6-12 oz of water every 15-20 mins |
| After Exercise | 16-24 oz of water for every lb of body mass lost during exercise |
*Recommendations from the American Dietetic Association.
Drink up: Tips for success:
-Invest:
Buy a quality reusable water bottle (make sure it is BPA free). Bring it with you everywhere you go, it will be your BFF, so treat it nicely and learn to love it. I have a Hydroflask and I take it with me everywhere! You will also be cutting down the use of plastic bottles- which is something we can all try to do.
-Flavors:
“Water is so boring.”
“Water has no taste.”
“I’m so sick of water, blah.”
If you have said the things above there is still hope, don’t turn to sugary sodas and juices!! You can make your own “spa water” by infusing your water with lemon, lime, cucumbers, mint leaves or your other favorite fruits. Yum!!
Lemon water has many benefits alone—blog post to follow soon.
-Track it:
Log your water intake using an app!! There are many to choose from, but my go to is MyFitnessPal.
Comment below how you stay on top of your hydration!
Share with someone who needs to read this!
Good luck and stay hydrated
♥Kellee
Hey! This is a great post. I love that you not only included ways on how to increase your water intake, but also why it is important! I personally love water, so it’s not too bad for me to drink a lot of it. But there are days when I do get bored with it so lemon water is such a good idea! Thanks for this post, definitely inspired me to drink more water 🙂 – TheFitLife2016 (Sarah)
Thank you!! Glad it inspired you 🙂