You might already know that you should be drinking around 11 to 15 cups of water a day, but how much water do you really drink? If you’re anything like me, you prefer soda, coffee, alcohol, and anything else that comes with flavor. Well, no worries there because we can also flavor our water! Here are 10 creative ways to drink more water that you can use to make sure that you’re leading a healthy lifestyle:
1. Make water cocktails.
Who says water must be tasteless? If you just add a bit of mint and lemon or a bit of basil and cucumber, you can add a straw too and enjoy your water cocktail. Use these things separately or use limes, strawberry slices, oranges, watermelon, or raspberries. Start simple by adding either cucumber or lemon and see whether you’ll enjoy drinking water more.
2. Get a water bottle.
One of the simplest creative ways to drink more water is to get a water bottle that you’ll enjoy carrying around with you to encourage you to drink more water. Choose a marked water bottle, personalized water bottle, or high-tech water bottle. Whichever you like is fine, just make sure to refill it whenever it’s empty, and doing that will help you keep track of how much water you drink during the day.
3. Use the one-to-one rule.
There is a cure for the hangover that could help you drink more water! Drink a glass of water after each alcoholic drink that you drink. One cocktail, one glass of water, one cocktail, one glass of water, and so on… If you do this, the headache the morning after isn’t going to be so bad, in fact, you might not have a hangover at all!
4. Drink a glass of water in the morning, before every meal, and before bed.
If it rarely crosses your mind to drink a glass of water, find a way to incorporate it into your daily routine. You could drink water in the morning while waiting for your coffee to brew, before each meal, and before you go to bed. Drinking a glass of water before the meal is also a good tip for weight loss. You can also drink water after each bathroom break.
5. Add water to sugary drinks and drink more tea.
Sweet drinks can be too sweet, so one of the creative ways to drink more water is to add it to your sweet drinks. Besides diluting sugary drinks, you can also drink tea. Tea is basically flavored water, and you can drink hot tea during winter or ice tea during summer. Green tea is most effective for weight loss if you’re interested in losing a few pounds too.
6. Eat something salty.
Salted nuts, pretzels, beef jerky, and salted almonds will have you reaching for that glass of water. If you like snacking (and who doesn’t?) choose salty stuff that would get you to drink more water. This is one of the creative ways to drink more water that will also keep you away from sweet snacks.
7. Eat the water.
Did you know that you can also consume water by eating it? Some fruits and vegetables come with high water content and these include cucumber, grapefruit, watermelon, and zucchini. Eating watermelon is also a great cure for a hangover if the one-to-one rule doesn’t work for you.
8. Get a water filter.
Depending on the quality of water at your location, you might seriously need a water filter. However, even if you don’t, investing in a water filter will make your water taste better than regular tap water. When you invest in your decision to drink more water, you are more likely to actually go through with it and make use of the water filter.
9. Track your water consumption.
Do you keep track of how many glasses of water you drink on a daily basis? This could help you in your efforts to drink more, and since there are a lot of great free apps available to help you with anything you need, you don’t have to write things down. Use the app Daily Water or Daily Water Free to track your water consumption and the progress that you’ve been making.
10. Reward yourself.
There are many health benefits of drinking more water and staying hydrated, but this is rarely motivating enough. So, reward yourself with something you like when you persist in your efforts the entire week. Maybe you could get your favorite coffee or reward yourself with a massage. If you persist for a month or more, reward yourself with something more significant.