At the beginning of the summer Willie started this water drinking thing because he felt like he wasn’t getting enough.  He started doing it so of course I jumped on it too.  I just didn’t use that annoying app that has reminders to drink all the time.  (Truth: Every time that sucker went off I was more inclined to use the bathroom instead of drinking water.) But it really got my thinking, do I drink enough water?  We’ve been told since we were little that we needed 8 glasses of water per day.  But then I read this on PBS:

The old adage of 8 glasses a day is no longer true. Instead, think about how much you weigh and divide that number in half. That’s how many ounces of water you should drink per day. For instance, a person who is 200 pounds, should drink 100 oz. of water per day to be adequately hydrated. (That’s 12.5 glasses of water!) An athlete with a high level of muscle mass should drink even more, about two-thirds of their body weight in ounces per day.

Now that’s a lot of water! But if you really think about it, it’s not. I’ve been aiming for 84oz of water of day. Most days I hit it, sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I’m just not that thirsty but I end up paying for when I go on a hot sweaty run. The best way to see if you’re hydrated is to go by your urine color. Basically if you’re urine looks like a dark ale, you’re not doing something right. Willie always tells me it should resemble lemonade, not apple juice. So go with that folks!

Most importantly, drink water when you’re exercising. I always start off each cycle class with this little tidbit. Water keeps your metabolism up and helps you burn calories during your workout. It also helps you complete your workout without feeling like your dying a slow death. If you’re struggling through a workout, you just might be dehydrated.

My tips for drinking water:

I try to only drink water throughout the day. I don’t do sports drinks or anything special, just good ole natural water.

I keep a glass of ice water on my desk at work and sometimes just force myself to drink it down.

I start out every morning with a TALL glass of water. It’s been called my “potty cup.”

I drink a glass of water before every meal and while I’m eating. I always drink water while working out.

Water is great! It’s a natural resource and it’s free unless you want to drink bottled water then you’ll probably have to pay a $1 or more for it. It depends on if you don’t want your water touched by human hands and rushed over the rocks. LOL!

Do you drink enough water a day? How many glasses do you drink?