5 Easy Ways to Drink More Water
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Something that's really easy to do for your health but also can be hard to remember — and to prioritize during a busy day — is drinking enough water, so today we're sharing five easy ways to drink more water. Are you always forgetting to drink enough (I'm definitely guilty of this), or are you an eight-glasses-a-day fanatic?
Speaking of the 64-oz. rule, most experts don't know where that guideline comes from — and they say it's not necessarily the gold standard for the minimum you should drink. In fact, many diets or eating protocols recommend drinking half your body weight in water! (In case you're interested, Snopes goes into lots of detail about myths about water consumption on their “Eight Glasses of Water a Day?” page.) For a more scientifically based goal, The Mayo Clinic website recommends 11.5 cups of fluids (i.e., not solely water) daily for an “average, healthy” adult woman. So let's talk about how to do that!
Readers, do you have a daily water target? How intentional do you have to be to meet your goal? What are some of your best tips on ways to drink more water?
Here are some of the products we'll be mentioning…
Here are some great ways to up your water intake:
Easy Ways to Drink More Water
1. Use an app. If you already wear a fitness tracker (this Garmin I recommended last year, for example), its app may have a water-tracking option; if you need an app for your phone or Apple Watch, try something like WaterMinder or Water Drink Reminder.
2. Get a water bottle that cheers you on. This glass bottle from Uncommon Goods ($15) is cute, and this one (Amazon) has thousands of positive reviews.
In case you really want to go all out, I just discovered that “smart” water bottles are a thing — this one from Bellabeat (Amazon) connects to an app to log your water intake, send you reminders, and so on.
3. Flavor/carbonate your water. If a more interesting flavor would help, try infusing your water with something you like. You can use slices of lemons, limes, strawberries, cucumbers, and other fruits; bitters (Kat shared recommendations over at CorporetteMoms; and flavorings such as True Lemon/True Orange; MiO water enhancers, and SweetLeaf Water Drops.
Kat loves her SodaStream — she makes seltzer with with a splash of juice, for example — and she wrote about it here.
{related: 10 Great Mocktail Recipes for Dry January}
4. Get some of your hydration from other beverages (coffee, tea, juice, sports drinks, milk) and from fruit. Those drinks are mostly water — and it's a myth that coffee and tea are dehydrating. (Too much alcohol can be, however.) The most hydrating fruits include oranges, grapefruit, cantaloupe, and honeydew.
{related: The Best Teas: What to Drink to Wake You Up, Calm You Down, and Maybe Even Replace Your Wine}
5. Always have a bottle of water at your desk at work or at home. For me, it's “out of sight, out of mind” with water, so this helps a lot. A few of my and Kat's favorite products for this are water bottles from Ello and Vmini and a stainless steel carafe like this one. (Have a kid? This is my rec — it's leakproof, sturdy, and dishwasher-safe, and it has a covered spout.)
Readers: Do you think you drink enough water? (Or do you ever get a headache, for example, and then realize, “Whoops, that's probably because I've barely had anything to drink all day”?) What are your tips for staying hydrated during the day?
Our Latest Favorite Water Bottles for the Office
Inspired by the 2024 article in the WSJ suggesting that water bottles are a “sign of success” for women in finance, FINE… here are the ones to consider if you're looking for a “professional water bottle“. The WSJ cites the $140 Laksen water bottle, and Oprah apparently loves Beysis. For our money, a basic stainless steel one like S'well or Corkcicle, or a glass one like W&P Porter. Other ones we've featured recently include these:
I have a huge insulated cup (I think it may be 32 oz?) and I find that if I have cool water on my desk, I’ll drink it all day and usually need 1-2 refills. However, I’m lazy. If I pour a regular glass or smaller waterbottle and keep it on my desk, I don’t get up to refill it regularly. This was especially true when I was staying with family and had to walk up and down stairs to refill in the kitchen.
Same. The key for me is having a large bottle. Then I just tell myself “finish this by the end of the day” – no messing around with counters. I have one of the bottles with time markers/cutesy motivational stuff and it does nothing for me. Basically, size matters. My main bottle is 40 oz, I think – at my peak I was drinking one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
It was easier to hit my target when I was working in an office; while I’m WFH, mornings are more hectic because I have to get the kiddo on task for school, too, so water has fallen by the wayside. Working on getting back to that.
Jello, oatmeal/rice/etc., popsicles are great for hydration.