Everyone knows that when it comes to quenching thirst and staying healthy, the best option is water. For those that don’t care for water and for kids especially, it can be very hard to make sure you drink enough. Water is vital for everything from healthy skin to weight loss and for overall good health, so increasing the amount you drink is highly beneficial. Here are some tips for increasing yours and your child’s intake of water.
Ways to Increase Water Intake
Keep water fresh, cold, and available at all times. There are several ways to do this.
- Use a filtered water pitcher in the fridge
- Use your refrigerator’s water filter
- Purchase bottled water (be careful of this option due to the water being stored in plastic for long periods of time)
If the water is always there and always the right temperature, you are more likely to drink it.
Get yourself and your kids fun to-go stainless steel water bottles. Keep one full for yourself and take it everywhere and do the same for your kids. You will be less tempted to stop at the store while out and about for a soda or something else that is unhealthy to drink when you have a fresh water right there with you.
Don’t drink anything but water between meals. If you are having a hard time giving up soda and switching to water, just limit your intake by only having it with meals and in between, only drinking water.
Add some infused flavors to jazz it up. Here’s my Sweet Watermelon Water Recipe. You can buy pitchers that allow you to put things like sliced cucumbers, lemons, oranges and anything you can think of into the pitcher and add water to give yourself a nice mild boost of flavor or you can just add a slice of lemon to your water each time you get a refill. Try different things like mint and lemon, for instance, to keep things fun and interesting.
Eat foods that contain a high amount of water. Fruits like watermelon are made of mostly water, so eating them will increase your water intake without making you feel like you are forcing it down!
Add some essential oils to your water. Most of essential oils can be ingested, so add in oils like lemon, grapefruit, lime, orange, or tangerine essential oil to give your water a boost in flavor, as well as nutrition.
Drink decaffeinated green tea for a boost in antioxidants as well as an increase in your water consumption. As long as you only add natural sweeteners (here’s the one I personally use), tea can be a great alternative to plain water while still helping you retain the benefits of increased water intake. For best results, try to go for teas that don’t contain caffeine as it is a diuretic and can cause more frequent urination.
Experiment with different temperatures and even containers you drink from in order to find one that works best. You may like water better if it’s in a glass container and it’s ice cold, for instance, and seeing what you like best will help you increase your daily intake of it.
If all else fails, try looking at the cost comparison of drinking water versus other beverages. You will see that not only is it the healthiest option for your body, but it is the healthiest option for your wallet and budget as well and this may be a fantastic motivator!
How have you tried increasing fluid intake? What tips and ideas do you have to make water more flavorful, while still retaining its health factor? What do you think about my story of how in an attempt to drink more water, I gained more weight?
