7 Fun Tricks To Drink More Water That You Haven't Tried

It’s not new news that if you drink more water, it offers a wide array of benefits: cools the body, keeps clean skin, boosts weight loss, rids toxins and much more. Maybe that’s why the sales of bottled water have taken a spike in recent months. Popular sugary drinks are on the decline, according to USA Today.

In 2015, bottled water consumption reached an all-time high of 11.7 billion gallons, compared to 4.7 billion gallons in 2000. While Americans are consuming more water than ever before, the tempting sugary drinks and carbonated beverages still call to our taste buds. And runners are constantly bombarded with sugary drinks—promising electrolytes and proteins—but at the end of the day, water is what our bodies really crave on a regular basis.

Whether you’re training for a full or half marathon, running a few miles or just weight lifting, you need to pay attention to how much water you’re consuming before, during and after a run.

Drinking just one more glass of water a day should be everyone’s goal. Sounds easy enough, right? However, if you’re one of many people who still struggle to up their hydration, consider these watery tips:

Drink Your Daily Quota

In a recent study, experts suggest that drinking 2 cups of water (8 ounces) before a meal can help dieters lose an extra 5 pounds per year or maintain weight goals. Additionally, if you drink more water daily, it can boost your metabolism. But knowing the right amount for you can be tricky—especially if you’re logging tons of miles.

Here’s a simple way to help you calculate your daily water intake: Weight x .67 = Water Intake. For example, a 135-pound woman should drink 94 ounces of water (135 x .67 = 93.8). You’ll want to adjust your number based on how many times you work out, since you’re expelling water when you sweat. It’s suggested to add 12 ounces of water to the total for every 30 minutes you work out. So if you run for 45 minutes daily, you should add 18 ounces of water to your daily quota.

Hacks To Drink More Water

You can sip with a straw and flavor your water with fruit, but these tricks are so last year. Here are a few updated ideas to help you sip more.

Use Rubber Bands: This might sound weird, but wear rubber bands that amount to the number of glasses you need to drink daily on your left wrist. So let’s say you need to drink nine glasses of water a day, wear nine rubber bands on your left arm. Every time you drink a glass, move one rubber band to your right arm. For example, if you have a 16-ounce bottle of water, take two bands from the left and put them on your right. Your goal is to get all of the rubber bands onto your right wrist by the end of the day.

Have Filtered Water Ready At Hand: Depending on where you live, tap water may not be clean or taste the best. Purchasing a filtration system (like ZeroWater) for your home can help you drink more water. It’s easy, you won’t need to purchase bottled water, and you can fill up your own bottles with clean water so they are easy to grab and go.

There’s An App For That: There are plenty of apps that you can download to help you remember to drink water. The Drink Water Reminder app is one of many that keeps track of the amount of water you’ve had and reminds you when it’s time to sip on more.

Mark Time Out: Just like a meal plan, create an H20 consumption plan. Grab a large water bottle and mark times on the bottle starting in the morning. So by 8 a.m., mark you want to drink 16 ounces. By 10 a.m., mark another glass or two. Have time go all the way to the end of the day. By 10 p.m. all your water should be gone. If not, drink up!

Treat Yourself: Mark your water goal and aim to hit that each week. If you hit it by the end of the week, go ahead and treat yourself to something nice. Maybe it’s a manicure, dinner at your favorite restaurant or a date to the movies. Incentives help motivate people to hit their goals—choose your water goal and work to hit it.

Eat Your Water: There are tons of fruits and vegetables that have a great deal of water in them. If you’re sick of drinking water, substitute a glass for some veggies or fruit. Water-based produce includes cucumber, lettuce, celery, radishes, tomatoes, bell peppers, cauliflower, watermelon, spinach, strawberries, broccoli, grapefruit, apricots, cherries, grapes and zucchini.

Dilute Fruit Juice: If you must have juice, pour at least a glass of water in it. This will help you drink water and get the flavor of the fruit juice. You don’t need a full glass of fruit juice—it’s loaded with sugar. Dilute it to avoid sugar overload.