I hate drinking water. It’s something I force myself to do, it’s a thrice-damned chore for me! It has to be cold… frosty cold before it even gets near my mouth. Warm water makes me throat feel funny and my stomach hurt. Plus, warm water tastes gross! Why is it so damn hard for me to drink it?? I know I need it, I just can’t stand it.
How do you chug the required daily amount of water? How can I make drinking water more pleasant so that I’ll keep drinking it?
First off, are you drinking tap water? Some tap water is extremely disgusting. Try bottled, or a Britta type filter pitcher. Keep it in the fridge and you’re fine.
Or, if you really just don’t like water, maybe make Kool-Aid? I mean, it’s just water with some flavoring and sugar.
I drink bottled water and it still tastes bad when warm. But honestly, I freeze my bottles at night (I do live in Hellizona, btw) and still, chugging down four or five bottles a day is impossible! I can’t make myself drink it. I don’t know if it’s me forgetting to or me just seriously NOT wanting to. I can’t drink that much Kool-aid either due to the sugar. Our tap water is truly foul so bottled water it is. I still hate water… even though I need it.
P.S. Unless you have some sort of medical requirement…obviously…
The only way I can make myself drink a lot of water is if I am doing heavy physical activity. I also like juicy foods (tomatoes, grapes, oranges, celery), so there’s some of my water “requirement” too.
You have to force yourself to drink? I am seriously puzzled.
If you’re thirsty, drink. If you’re not thirsty, don’t drink. If you don’t like water, drink something else – anything else you might drink has water in it. Up to the age of 20 I probably didn’t drink even 6-8 glasses of water a month; I drank soda, O.J., etc., and never once suffered dehydration (though all those liquid calories contributed to weight gain).
In other words: I don’t understand what the problem is.
Regards,
Jer
I could be wrong here but I think the concept of drinking that much water is to speed up the metablolism as opposed to replenishing what you use. The 8 glass a day thing is usually advice given to those trying to lose weight.
For me water is an aquired taste. I had to force myself to drink the stuff for quite some time untill now, I actually prefer water over flavored drinks. (except in the mornings I gots to be having me a (diet)soda!!)
Tell me, SanguineSpider, do you just not drink a lot, or are you just concerned about your actual water consumption? I’ve had to coax myself into drinking a lot of water over the past several months because, typically, I just don’t drink much. I’d have a cup of coffee in the morning, something with my meals, and that was pretty much it. Nowhere near 8-10 glasses a day, but at the time, I wasn’t the most active person in the world, either. I’ve been exercising a lot lately, so now it’s something I’ve had to force myself to do, but then again, after being really active, it’s not so hard to desire something to drink.
As has been pointed out, you don’t necessarily have to drink water, because all fluids contain water in some sense. Go for something like iced tea (you can sweeten it to your own tastes), or try sipping a cheap bottle of wine every night It’s a perfect way to end the evening, sitting by the pool, reading a good book or talking with friends. It’s not all that healthy for you, but better than getting all your fluids from soft drinks.
But if you’re just one of those people who doesn’t drink much…I wouldn’t worry about trying to drink more than your body wants. If the tank’s full, why pour more into it, you know?
I have a friend who also claims to hate the taste of water. I don’t get that, it’s virtually tasteless (or should be).
But the point is that the recommendation of 6-8 glasses a day includes water from all sources - food, coffee, etc. You do not have to gulp down 8 glasses on top of all that! As someone else here says, drink water when you’re thirsty and you’ll be OK.
Caffeine is a diuretic, which means it will cause you to pee more than you would normally. More water is passing through your body than being absorbed by it if it has caffeine in it. So colas, iced tea, coffee and such aren’t a good way of getting water if it isn’t decaffeinated.
Also, non-diet pop is high in calories due to the large amount of sugar in it. Take a look at the nutrition info on a can or bottle next time before you lift it to your lips. You will probably be surprised, especially if you multiply the calories by the number of pops you have a day.
My old doctor used to take one look at the dry skin on my hands and say, “You’re not drinking enough water.” Yes, it helps your skin look better too. I still don’t drink enough because like Sanguine, I don’t like it, but I can’t say I haven’t been warned of all of the above.
Sanguine, have you thought of getting some lemon or lime juice and adding it to your water? Or maybe get a bottle of your favorite flavor of Italian syrup and adding a little bit of that? There’s still the sugar thing but if you use just enough to liven up the water and don’t use a flavor that has caffiene, then it just might help you drink more water. Maybe I’ll even try that myself.
I’m guesstimating the percentage here, but probably 90% of my daily liquid intake is coffee. I live on it and figure I get plenty of water from the coffee and whatever eat throughout the day. I don’t think I’ve ever been dehydrated except when I worked outside all day in the sun. From then on, I don’t ignore my thirst when I’m laboring heavily and sweatily in the hot sun and usually stick with plain water or carbonated lemon water.
I’ve never felt the need to drink that much plain water, but the one time I tried (on a bet that I would feel so much better if I did drink that much), I threw up. Solved that dilemma for me.
Someone I work with once told me I should be drinking 6-8 glasses of water a day; I tried it, but I needed to pee about every twenty minutes. That can’t be right.
I don’t like to drink water either.I’d drink at least a 6 pack of cherry Pepsi a day if I could get away with it,so I hold it down to one.Even so,my doctor gives me rolling-eyes daggers.
Too much sugar in Kool Aid? There would be if I used sugar.I go to Safeway and buy 8 or 10 packets of lemonade flavoring;the only kind I like.Then I go to the health food store and get some powdered STEVIA.I’ve found that the powder that comes in a jar is seriously weak. Get the bulk kind and put as much as you like in a plastic baggie,or whatever they provide. Yes,it’s somewhat pricey,but it goes a looooong way.
Get a pitcher.Measure in one half teaspoon Stevia. Pour a little hot water in and swirl it around to make sure Stevia is dissolved. Pour in Kool Aid packet. Fill pitcher to two quarts.(Or whatever volume tastes sweet enough to you.)
I like really cold drinks too,so I go through a lot of ice (which I chew) with my Kool Aid. So there’s some more water;and it’s all tap water,so the whole thing doesn’t cost much.
No,having to pee every 20 minutes is certainly not right. Try upping your consumption to 12 to 16 glasses a day. You’ve got to get your peeing time to about once every 5 to 10 minutes to really be healthy. And don’t forget,the longer you hold it in, the more pleasurable the release is.If your bladder bursts,just remember I told you IANAD!
Oh,how I yearn to press your bee-stung mouth against my lemonadey lips and breath each other’s snout exhalations while we cross our eyes and gaze soulfully at each other from a distance of three quarters of an inch until we explode and are left mewling in hysterical laughter. I probably shouldn’t have revealed this. You might take it amiss.
Oooo,I seem to have digressed from the reason for this post.
I forgot to tell you to stir your mixture of Kool Aid and Stevia once you’ve added water to the pitcher. I’m certain you know that,but I’ve been certain of many things in the past,only to find out I was completely wrong.
Or maybe it was just an excuse to flirt with you. Oh,woe,the perfidy of man!
I’m all about the Snopes link – and I believe I linked to it in the last thread.
Just popping in to mention those tasty infused waters. They are not carbonated, nor sweetened significantly (and certainly not with sugar or high fructose corn syrup – mostly Splenda and the like). They taste great and you feel like you’re drinking WATER. I find them wonderful when I’m at the beach and increase my fluid intake without increasing my caffeine intake.
Another vote for you don’t have to drink that much water. (I was recently converted from my rabid pro-water stance by some excellent arguments in GQ; however, since I run about 6 miles a day, I still drink a LOT of the stuff :D.) You really don’t need to force down that much water. But if you’re determined to drink it, adding a little bit of fruit juice or drinking something like Crystal Lite if you’re dieting, or regular lemonade if you’re not, should work. Another way to determine if you’re hydrated enough is the pee test. If your pee is pale, that’s a good sign. If it’s bright yellow or darker, you may be dehydrated.
On another note, though, 90% of your daily fluid intake is coffee?? I like coffee a lot, but doesn’t that make you jittery, or have you just gotten used to it?
It’s a perfect way to end the evening, sitting by the pool, reading a good book or talking with friends. It’s not all that healthy for you, but better than getting all your fluids from soft drinks.
