Drink Yo' Water!
A huge impact on how your body feels is hydration! Drinking enough water during the day is so important to our overall health. Staying properly hydrated can make you feel more energized, keep your skin healthy, and improve digestion.
To help get you in the habit of drinking more water, start your day by drinking a glass. You can put in next to your bed the night before so it’s all ready to go as soon as you wake-up. You can also try switching your very first cup of coffee or tea with a glass of water (and then of course getting your caffeine fix.) I’ve found that by starting my day off by drinking water, I’m more likely to continue drinking more water throughout the rest of the day. Another thing that really makes a difference in my water consumption? Carrying a water bottle with me all day! I’ve been doing this for years and have gotten to the point that I feel like something’s missing if I don’t have my water bottle with me. There are tons are great water bottle options out there and you can get some pretty good quality ones that are fairly inexpensive. Choose a cute or cool looking water bottle that makes you excited to carry it around and drink from it! Hydration doesn’t have to be boring!
So how do you know if you’re drinking enough water? One option is to track it. There are several different ways to track your water consumption. One way is through technology. There are many apps out there that can help you track your water intake (just search from some in your app store). There’s even a water bottle that tracks how much you drink and syncs with an app on your phone!
A technology-free way to track (that’s also fun to do!) is to put one rubber band around the bottom of your water bottle for every bottle of water you’d like to consume that day. If you want to drink 4 bottles of water throughout your day, put 4 rubber bands around the bottom. (Pro Tip: Colored ones makes it just a little bit more fun.) Every time you finish a bottle of water, take the rubber band and move it from the bottom of the bottle to the top of the bottle. You’ll have a visual of how close (or far) you are from your goal to keep you motivated!
Tracking your water intake can be a great tool. However, if it’s causing you any extra stress or obsession in your life, it’s probably not worth it. Just listen to your body, it’ll tell you when you need to drink.
The simplest (and most reliable) way to see if you’re adequately hydrated is by the color of your pee. Yep, every time you go to the bathroom, take a quick glance before you flush and see where on the spectrum your last bathroom trip falls. Is it dark yellow? Is it pale yellow? Is it almost clear? The darker yellow your pee is, the more dehydrated you are. The paler yellow your pee is, the more hydrated you are. Aim for a pale yellow color (close to the color of lemonade), but not clear - you don’t want to over-hydrate! If your pee is too dark, drink up! If your pee is clear and you’re having to run to the bathroom every few minutes, you probably can back off on the water consumption.
-Chelsea