How much water should you be drinking?

It’s not hard to find articles and equations out there that will tell you how much water you should have, but try not to stress out about the exact amount. While we’ll get to the equation of how much water you should drink per day, there is another way to focus on your hydration. Let’s start there.

Water vs. Everything Else:

  1. Count how many drinks you’ve had today.

  2. How many were water? How many weren’t?

  3. The water number should be higher.

Some people could unconsciously go a whole day without drinking water; drinking coffee and/or juice in the morning, sodas or energy drinks in the afternoon, and then alcohol later in the day to cope with stress. These people may be sabotaging their own metabolism.

Your body needs water for most of its metabolic processes - respiratory, circulatory, digestive, endocrine, etc. - and if you’re not getting a lot of it, your body’s systems won’t be operating as easily as they should and you’ll likely feel less than your best.

Diet cokes and margaritas are certainly more popular, but they don’t help you breathe easier or absorb nutrients for better metabolim and hormone health. Want better energy, easier digestion, less bloating, higher metabolism? Drink mostly water. You’ll feel (and operate) better.

Taste:

Don’t like water? That’s understandable as it’s far less exciting than sugar, caffeine, or alcohol, but the good thing is you don’t have to love it or savor it.

If you can chug a beer, you can chug a glass of water. Toss it back and move on with your day. Don’t make a big deal about it.

Equation:

If you are a numbers person, the usual equation is as follows:

Your bodyweight in lbs. divded by 2 = the number of ounces you should aim for per day.

So a 150 lb person should drink 75 ounces per day, BUT that could vary based on what your diet is like, how active you are, and what your access to water is like.

If you eat lots of fruits and veggies already, you’ll get some water from there and you may not need to drink as much.

If you work near easy access to water, you probably don’t need to stress out about how much you’re getting. Drink water when you’re thirsty and keep the other types of drinks to a minimum, one to two per day.

If you are highly active with frequent workouts, you may need more and also supplement electrolytes to make up for what you lose when you sweat. Chances are though, if you’re highly active already, you’re drinking a lot of water already.

While there are different circumstances for everybody, water should still take center stage when it comes to drink choice.

At the end of the day:

Most low to moderate active people do not need to carry around 3 liter jugs of water to finish twice a day. Most active people are already drinking water during and after workouts. Try not to stress out about the exact amount, just make water your main choice.

If you’re feeling dehydrated, talk to your doctor or a nutritionist and find out for sure.

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