How can I drink more water?
Last week I started taking a 32-oz bottle to work and the goal was the drink it by lunch, then refill and drink the rest by quitting time. I seriously felt like it was torture to be drinking that much water. What should I do?! |
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| Well when I started having kidney problems and was told I needed to drink a gallon of water a day esp. if I wanted to steer UTI's away which are chronic with kidney problems..... I thought how the heck am I going to?
Well, remember those college days? YOU CHUG A LUG. ........you do it because you want the end result (except this end result isn't to impress or get drunk but to reach your water intake goal). 
After doing this for so long, I can drink over a gallon a day with no problem. ......shoot, easily in a 15 min time period if I had to. I start off every day by finishing off 64 oz water jug I bought at wal-mart (has ounces written on side). If I don't, I get a UTI by the end of the day. Of course you could always add a sweetener/flavor you like. If you don't like one, try another!! |
| I had to force myself to drink water too, and it's taken a while, but I'm drinking water all of the time now.
We have a Brita water filter on our spicket which makes the water taste really refreshing. Also it helps me if the water is really cold. I just keep water next to me all day and it becomes habit-forming quickly to sip it all day. Just think how much your baby will love you for it too!  |
| Steph,
I normally am a water drinker...but the flavor of water has gone really bad to me...I need to drink lots of water too to wash the poision thru and yet when it tastes bad, you really dont want to drink it.... Ive found that if it is REALLY cold, i can gulp a good amount. Ive also been doing a ratio of 1/4 to 3/4 naked fruit juice to water with lots of ice..... real lemons help (none of that liquid junk) also, i havent tried it but what about those waters with fruit flavor... |
I have had a hard time drinking water since my surgery, too. And, like you, I'm supposed to have LOTS of it. I don't know if it's the same for you, but if I drink unsweetened, decaffinated tea, I can count it as water, since basically, it's just flavored water. Just a thought. I don't like any other flavored water products, though. But, if you like the fruity ones, maybe that would help.  |
| When I was pregnant I asked my Dr the same thing.
He basically said as long as I was drinking lets say, decaf Tea or something like that that it counts as water. Maybe try to find a good flavor of Propel water. If I had drank 8 glasses of water a day I would have been in the bathroom the entire day. Also remember that they think that a glass of something is = to only 8 ounces See link regarding drinking 8 glasses a day: http://www.snopes.com/medical/myths/8glasses.asp |
| Be careful about drinking too much water too fast. I remember a couple of years ago a fraternity kid lost his life as a result of an initiation stunt involved in "chugging" water. While I think it is rare occurence is does not hurt to be cautious. Here is a link about drinking water safely:
http://chemistry.about.com/cs/5/f/blwaterintox.htm |
| Oh, I don't think I could ever drink that much water to get in danger of anything! If I get through like 5 big gulps at once (sips, not the 7-11 drink) then that's a miracle.
I guess I'll have to peruse the grocery store for products. I don't like the flavored waters...and I'm looking for near zero calories...I love carbonated water, but since it's bubbly, I can't drink it fast enough for me to be able to drink enough...Ugh. Last dr.'s appt he said I had protein in my urine, which meant I was either dehydrated or had kidney issues...so I'm hoping it's the first... |
| i know youre used to your mind set of zero calories, but at this time, its really okay to add a few calories....
revisit the zero once the baby is born...and i know, i know easier said than done coming from the horses mouth  |
| I drink Crystal Light in my water. But I am sure there is some chemical or antoher that you aren't suppposed to have when preggie. |
Darcy wrote: i know youre used to your mind set of zero calories, but at this time, its really okay to add a few calories....
revisit the zero once the baby is born...and i know, i know easier said than done coming from the horses mouth I wanted to say the same thing as it immediately caught my eye. What's great about being pregnant is the fat tends to zero in around the belly. If you're worried about the extra calories, cut out something else. ...not essentials.  |
I'm not really worried about the calories, but I don't want to just get empty calories from drinks. I'd rather eat more  I mean, I'm not a very big girl, so calories add up quickly with me and I'd rather not gain 50 pounds if I can help it...
And I'm not sure about the crystal light. I've heard conflicting things about artificial sweeteners. I'm not worried about using them occasionally, but if I'm planning on a massive drinking binge daily, I don't know if they are the best choice for that. |
| How about just squeezing a bit of REAL lemon juice or an orange into really cold water. I love lemon water that is really REALLY cold! |
barney1 wrote: I'm not really worried about the calories, but I don't want to just get empty calories from drinks. I'd rather eat more
I mean, I'm not a very big girl, so calories add up quickly with me and I'd rather not gain 50 pounds if I can help it.... MAKES PERFECT SENSE TO ME!!! 
BTW, you know when you hit around 20 wks or 6-7 months, you'll need to post belly pics (assuming at one of those points, you'll actually have a belly)!!! I mean, you are the someone who always wanted me to post them.  |
| I would also prefer some calories over those artificial sweeteners.
They are not exactly safe and are known to cause developmental problems in fetuses. See link: http://www.genome.gov/25020037 A friend of mine said her Dr said it was okay for her to continue to regularly drink Diet Soda through out her pregnancy. Her daughter was born with a very tiny head and has developmental problems. I kept saying it was NOT okay, but she didn't listen. I wish I had known this as I drank a ton of Crystal Light (which contains Phenylalanine) when I was pregnant with Ryan. Better safe than sorry. I don't mean to scare you. |
| For me, it's everything in moderation. If I listened to everything they have out there regarding what you can (and mostly can't) do while pregnant, I'd be starving to death. I still have a cup of coffee a day *gasp*! The horror! And if I want a diet coke or a caffeine free diet coke every once in a while, I'm not going to stop myself. I'm trying to eat as best I can and do the best I can, but I'm still living my life! |
| ^^
That's what I believe. I've not met a doctor who said I had or others had to avoid it completely, and I just am not convinced that 1-2 sodas a day will have damage. Same goes for the mercury. Heck, I even eat any deli meat I want and only avoid places like a gas station here things tend to stay there forever. I just don't believe in all that crap. On 60 minutes/Dateline or one of those shows, they covered this exactly. They said doctors are trained to say this but the TRUTH is... they know if they say "moderation" for most people (in general) ...people tend to eat more than moderation. So by saying none at all, they EXPECT moms to do things in moderation. They just don't tell you that in any pregnancy book. |
| It's nice to hear another pregnant person say that. On the one pg forum I go to, it seems like NO ONE is eating deli meat, hot dogs, pepperoni, caffeine, fish, etc...or at least admitting to it. And people seem to feel that my view of moderation is weird. Like they talk like a drop of caffeine will automatically make your child a low birth weight child and have developmental problems.
I have a hard time believing in a lot of what's out there regarding what's okay and not okay. I'm sure there have been cases of listeria when people eat bad deli meat. But I'm sure there are a million more people who HAVE eaten it and were just fine. And the studies about caffeine talk about having something like 8 cups of coffee a day. The people on the board are saying, well if SOME can be bad for you, then ALL must be bad for you. Sorry about the rant...just felt like getting it off my chest! And sorry if I upset anyone who believes in all this! |
| My kids were born almost 30 years ago. I drank coffe (a couple cups a day), diet soda, ate deli meat and all the things that pregnant women are supposed to avoid. My kids turned out quite healthy.
I think we have more chemicals and toxins now than "back in the day" so some caution is a good thing. But I think that sometimes we go "overboard". |
| oh heck, who knows what to believe anymore...i saw something on the news a few weeks ago that talked about drinking not being bad....of course they prefaced it with moderation...
eat and do all things in moderation and you will be fine! "you have a fine head on your shoulders young lady, use it" (thats my grandpa talking |
| I ate hot dogs, tuna fish even seafood (Lobster and Crab) while pregnant of course not every day.
I do have an aversion to anything diet so I guess that helped me.
Mostly my diet consisted of crackers when I was pregnant. I found food very unappealing during my pregnancy. But after the kids were born.... Food never tasted so good. I guess that is why I had a hard time losing the pregnancy weight. My cousin was given permission to drink 1-2 glasses of wine a night while pregnant, as to help with her stress issues. Both of her kids are fine. I was shocked that her Dr told her to drink.  |
| Actually I think "back in the day" they used to believe that a glass of wine or two when you were pregnant was HEALTHY , I was never a drinker so I had forgotten about that. I do remember my DOCTOR telling me to drink BEER when I was breast feeding. Something about the yeast increasing milk production. |
| My mom smoked and drank (moderately) when she was pregnant with us kids. And we're fine.
And honestly, I'm not opposed to an occasional glass of wine or beer, but I haven't had any and it's not like I'm seeking it out either. It's one of those things that I probably won't do but I don't feel like it's necessarily a bad thing every once in a while. When my husband starts drinking again I'm definitely going to have a sip of his beer (if it's an interesting one). So far, the majority of my food/diet has consisted of various chicken noodle soup type things, crackers, bean and cheese burritos and sprite (oh, and my daily coffee!). It's funny when I mention things to my mom, like Oh, I wish I could have a turkey sandwich and then have to explain the whole deli meat thing, she always says she's surprised children ever were born with all that they ate/drank, etc. |
| dont you have any left over turkey from thanksgiving?? i like the real turkey sandies better than deli any day! not that that sounds good to me at the moment either....
unfortunately, we must be on the same karma stomach path...a plain cheese and bean burrito sounds okay...ditto on chicky soup and crackers...... |
| Ummm, Thanksgiving disappeared DAYS ago from our fridge. I had a few turkey sammies out of it. I only made the turkey breast, so there wasn't a TON of leftovers.
I agree--real meat is better. But since I haven't been feeling up to cooking, I don't have any leftovers to make things from... I love how this topic turned from suggestions to drinking more water into this! |
| okay so back to the original subject.....its now 344 your time...how much water have you drank today? |
| What if you set up a chart or an alarm clock and broke the water up a little more? Say every hour you have to consume so much and physically mark it on a chart or set the alarm and you have to race the clock to finish by the end of an hour or so?
If you are accountable on paper or make it into a competition of sorts, maybe that would help? You could always just watch that old episode of 3's Company where Chrissy was only allowed to have water and she was figuring out all of the different ways to consume it. Ice, boiling, etc. |
| Well, when I brought that bottle in last week that had the ounces on it, I would do things like make myself drink to a certain line, etc. And it DID get me to drink the whole thing...but like I said, it was like torture to me!
Darcy, I have a regular-sized water bottle at my desk and I've filled it up 3 times today (and it was full before then) so I've had about 68 ounces so far today...and I've been peeing a LOT! |
| good girl! dont forget to get yourself a new water bottle every day...... |
| P.S. you pregnant people are nuts!!! My best friend went her whole pregnant and breast feeding time without eating peanut butter because one doctor said that it could cause a peanut allergy in the kid. This info was only based on initial research and the best part was that even if it was proven true, it was only during the gestation period not during the breast feeding period so she could have been eating it for weeks!! She's such a peanut butter addict that I couldn't believe she had done it and I couldn't believe she didn't go postal right there in the doctor's office when she found out! |
| Ya know, another option is sugar free popsicles, Steph. You can buy them in all sorts of flavors. I ate a couple of boxes of them in the weeks following my surgery this past summer because I could not drink water and had a terrible time staying hydrated. So, think "alternate forms". |
| I think the sugar free popsicles are probably from artificial sweeteners, though...
Mandy--I know. Pregnant people are crazy. I've heard that about the peanut butter too, but seriously, people have been eating peanut butter FOREVER and are fine, so even if it causes like 2 people to get allergies, oh well! (Yes, I am mean!) I have a friend who is breastfeeding and she's gone completely off of dairy products because her baby seems to be allergic or sensitive to dairy--I'd be like, Time for Formula! And, totally off topic, but goes along with crazy people, I just read a story about a woman who breastfed her child until she was 7. How gross is that! Oh, and I just read another story where a woman was asking if it was gross that her daughter reaches into her (the mom's) mouth while she's eating and takes out food and eats it. The grossest part was that all the people responding said that they do that too! |
| See, pregnant people are absolutely crazy!!!
I've seen those older kids who are still breastfeeding! They walk up, rip open the mom's shirt and yank everything out and go to town. I'm sorry but if your kid thinks that you are a buffet, there is a problem. I'm not shocked by much but that did it!!!! |
| Steph and all the pregnant ladies out there, please remember that fruit has natural water in it and it is so good for you. Also, if you are eating soup, you are also getting water. Relax and enjoy your pregnancies. |
Maxmm wrote: See, pregnant people are absolutely crazy!!!
I've seen those older kids who are still breastfeeding! They walk up, rip open the mom's shirt and yank everything out and go to town. I'm sorry but if your kid thinks that you are a buffet, there is a problem. I'm not shocked by much but that did it!!!! Totally. If your kid knows how to unhook your bra to get to the goods, I think it's time to wean. |
| Glad you drank more water today. |
Maxmm wrote: See, pregnant people are absolutely crazy!!!
I've seen those older kids who are still breastfeeding! They walk up, rip open the mom's shirt and yank everything out and go to town. I'm sorry but if your kid thinks that you are a buffet, there is a problem. I'm not shocked by much but that did it!!!! OMG, I have a long distance friend that breast fed her kid until about age 3 and it was the strangest sight seeing this 3 y.o. toddler breast feeding on her. Of course Chris was with me and didn't mind so much.  |
| So...you know what's the worst thing about forcing yourself to drink water all day long? You have to freakin wake up the next day and do it all over again! |
| lol, you forgot "and peeing......."
Hang in there!!! How you doing today? |
| Eh, the peeing I can handle. It's going okay. I've had 2 1/2 water bottles and a 500ml bottle of Perrier. It's just so FORCED!
When you've had kidney problems, does it hurt in your lower back? |
| The latest is found is that you should ignore the 8 glasses. Take your body weight and divide it by 2 and drink that number of ounces per day (Ex: If you weigh 100 lbs, drink 50 oz of water per day).
I try to drink enough water but it does get old. Sometimes I reward myself by drinking 2 bottles (about 23 oz each) then 1 with Crystal Light) I know it isn't as good as straight water but it does change it up a little. I used to also twist a lime or lemon in the bottle to give it a little more taste. |
| ok you guys don't know this about me, but I'm a health FREAK ! I promised myself not to comment but I will only say this about drinking water. Make it fun .. use a glass of wine fill it with water, add a slice of orange and a couple of grapes .. just use you imagination .. I know being pregnant and drinking water can be , well, blah ..
In the morning, I don't have my green tea or coffee before drinking my water, so there's a start. Hope this helps a bit ... as for the peeing part better times ahead |
| I'm a health freak too!
Why did you promise not to comment? Thanks for the suggestion. However, no matter how FUN the glass I'm drinking out of is, it's still water! I could be drinking out of a party hat and still be forcing it. I'm getting used to it. My routine has become to drink as much as possible during the work week and then give myself the weekends off. Meaning that I'll still consciously drink water, but not to the forced extent that I do during the week. So far that seems to be working. |
| My mother is limited to how much she can drink but believes water is good for you. Each night she carefully sterilizes her glass water bottles (Snapple tea bottles) and lids, fills each bottle and then sets them in the fridge. She gets up and drinks a bottle as she takes her meds. Then throughout the day she polishes off each bottle. She is so proud when she gets them all 6 of emptied.......she's 91.
I only like cold water in summer. The rest of the year I'm happier with room temp or even hot or a weak decaf tea flavor. Some days straws help get the water down, other days bottles or oversized glasses. I've been lax about water lately, thanks for the nidge. |
| eeech....the water issue.....well, i didnt think it would be hard to get water down....now i totally sympathize with steph and what she went thru.....
i am gagging on water now...yup, gagging....the taste of water is like pond scum (who knew water had a flavor)..... the 2 and 3rd go-rounds, i added crystal light to the water and that seemed to help...the 4th one...not so much....in fact not at all.... i need to get down at least 64 oz of water a day for the first 4 days...and since everything tastes bad, im really at a loss.... yesterday i bought sparkling mineral water, hoping that that might work...but im thinking it may taste even worse..... will clup soda work as water?????? please throw out more ideas guys....i have 2 more left....... |
| I really like water with a couple of slices of cucumber. That's nice and refreshing. |
barney1 wrote: I really like water with a couple of slices of cucumber. That's nice and refreshing.
(need that puking emoticon) Yuk! I hate, hate, hate cucumbers!!! Even the cucumber scented lotions make me gag. |
| does club soda count as water??????? |
| I've never heard that club soda doesn't count, but I have heard that caffeinated drinks don't.
I'd say if you can drink it, go for it -- and burp out all the bubbles! |
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