Most of us have heard about the health benefits of drinking more water. But even with the will, drinking more water can be surprisingly challenging. It’s hard to retrain the brain and reshape your everyday routines. And it definitely doesn’t happen overnight.
Fortunately, there are things you can do to help increase your water intake. This recent MSN post provides a handful of tricks to drink more water on a daily basis. Here are a few of them:
Set a goal – Aim to drink a specific amount. The standard recommendation is 2 liters (or 8 eight-ounce glasses) of water per day.
Get a water bottle with measurements – This will help you keep track of exactly how much water you are drinking throughout the day, and how close you are to reaching your goal.
Create a schedule or use an app – If you have trouble drinking water throughout the day, set alerts every half-hour or hour to remind you to take a big gulp.
Drink water at night and in the morning – Start your day with a glass of water. End it the same way. The MSN post also suggests drinking hot water at these times with lemon or honey.
What Are the Benefits of Drinking More Water?
The noted benefits of drinking more water are numerous—from aiding in digestion and increasing energy to assisting in weight loss and improving the appearance of skin.
Check out this NBC News post about what happened when three co-workers decided to increase their water for intake for two weeks. The author of that post states:
“I didn’t realize that I wasn’t drinking enough water until this challenge. Being able to track how much water I’m drinking and assess how I’m feeling based on that has helped me realize that my body needs more water than I expected and that my afternoon headaches aren’t from stress or a coffee (or three) too many, but were actually from being dehydrated.”
