I don’t think I ever drank plain water growing up. I mostly drank milk and juices. This seems so strange to me now.
You might have grown up the same way and it is now really hard for you to form the habit of drinking water.
Well, first off you might wonder why you should care. Why would you want to drink water? It’s no secret that a large part of our body is made up of water. So obviously, if the body consists of water, it needs water, just like it needs all the other nutrients it consists of or needs for energy production.
Most people that don’t drink enough water are in a constant state of being dehydrated. Did you know that thirst can easily be confused with hunger? Dehydration can also cause headaches and take away your energy.
If you are interested in losing weight, drinking water has its advantages. First, if you replace high calorie / high sugar sodas with water, you just reduced your calorie intake significantly without having to diet.
Also, what happens when you lose weight, as the fat practically melts away, lots of toxins are set free that were stored in your fat cells. You need to drink plenty of water to flush out those toxins from your body.
If you exercise and sweat, you need to drink even more water to replace the fluids lost.
Water also serves for transporting nutrients throughout the body. A large part of vitamins are water-soluble. So if you take your multi-vitamin, but don’t drink enough water, you will not get the desired benefits.
By now you are getting a better idea of how important it is to drink water. Now the question is: How do you get started?
What you need to do is form a habit of drinking water. It’s a good idea to drink a glass of water first thing in the morning, since you haven’t had any water for many hours by then and are dehydrated.
You might also consider drinking 1 glass of water before each meal. This way, you will know whether your hunger feeling was actually thirst, and you will slightly fill your stomach, so that you will eat less, which again comes in handy if you are trying to lose weight.
As mentioned above, water consumption is really important when you exercise. Have water before, during, and after exercise.
If you’ve ever met me, you have also met my water bottle. I don’t go anywhere without it. I even keep a bottle of water in my car at all times. You can’t drink water if you don’t have access to it. I’ve installed an under the sink water filter in my kitchen, so that it is easy to refill my water bottles while saving money and preserving the environment.
When I finally started drinking water over 10 years ago, I basically did it by making the decision to do so. It’s like every other decision you make about your health. Commit to it!
And one last note… When I first started drinking water, I did end up going to the bathroom more often. I thought that eventually my bladder will get used to it, but that doesn’t seem to be true. Today I drink lots of water, and I go to the bathroom plenty. Unless you don’t have access to a bathroom, this really isn’t a bad thing!
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