Part of my 2015 goal to take better care myself includes drinking more water. I, like many folks, am pretty chronically dehydrated and the culprit is that I just don’t like the taste of water.
The subject of water-drinking came up at the cafe the other day and my coworkers and I had the usual conversion:
Those who like and drink water all the time: “How can you not like water?!”
Those who don’t: “I don’t know, it just tastes gross! I drink other things like tea and coffee, does that count?
Those who like and drink water all the time: “No, tea and coffee are diuretics! Those don’t count.”
Those who don’t: a plethora of grumbles and excuses
………………………..
So that day one of my coworkers and I decided to be accountabilibuddies and help each other drink more water. I did a bunch of online reading and research and we shared some links, turns out that tea and coffee do count toward water consumption, especially if you’re a regular consumer because your body develops a resistance to the diuretic properties of these drinks.
In my research I also came across a LOAD of articles that talked about the benefits of drinking warm lemon water first thing in the morning and so I decided to try it out for myself.
I’ve definitely had to add a tiny bit of honey to the water because, as expected, lemon water by itself is pretty bitter and hard for me to drink straight.
I certainly like to add things to my water – cucumbers, lemon, ginger, fruit and other herbs. I find that the extra flavor really helps me WANT to drink the stuff and it doesn’t hurt that it adds zero calories. I’m still only a few days into the experiment but I have noticed a few things:
- I’m less hungry
- I crave salt less (anyone who knows me knows that I love popcorn, crackers and all that salty, crunchy goodness so this is a big one)
- I have more energy – mentally and physically
- I don’t have to pee as much as I thought I would – “if I drank that much water I’d be in the bathroom all the time!” but nope, normal stuff here
- It doesn’t seem like I have time to do anything BUT drink water, really! Maybe that’s just a testament to how little I typically drink but still, it’s on my mind constantly!
Overall, I think it’s a good thing to focus on and I’m going to keep doing my best at it.
Are you a water drinker? Or a wish-I-could-be-a water drinker?