Getting enough water

OK, I really have two questions.

1. I know that I really need to start drinking more water. I'm going to shoot for about a gallon a day. How do you guys break that up? How do you know how much water you are drinking? Do you have a schedule like with food?

2. Does drinking tea count as drinking water? I usually slam some green tea when I study at night.

Thanks in Advance.

 

I just don't fill up my water bottle until I finish it completley so I know exactly how much i've had so far. Latley, I've been drinking about 2 gallons a day so if I fall short, I'll still have well over a gallon.

I guess you could count tea as water but I would use it as a more of a relaxing thing then a method of hydration.

 

i take a big gatorade jug around and liek LCD i dont fill it back up until im done. I like the gatorade jug better because i dont have to refill it every 30 minutes when im in class or something.

 

I chug a 16oz bottle of water 6 to 8 times daily. At worst, I'm getting 96oz and if I hit all 8 I'm getting a full gallon. The reason I chug is because if I sip at it, it'll take me all day to finish a single 16oz bottle. Forget that. Every 2 to 3 hours, I'm chugging. The first thing I do when I wake up is chug 16oz and the last thing I do before bed is chug 16oz.

Water counts as water. Nothing else counts as water. The water in your soda, tea or Gatorade doesn't count. I usually put down 16oz of Gatorade a day on top of my water intake.

 

I look at my piss. If it is colorful (not right after a multivitamin) I'll pound a glass of water or two. I don't go for a "set amount" of water, but I do try to drink a lot. Just make a consious effort. If you realize you havent had some in a while, just drink some then.

Yes, drinking Tea counts as water. The caffeine is a diuretic, but not as much as you are drinking. This means overall you are hydrating, but not as much as if you drank the same amount of water.

Don't overthink this, drink when you are thirsty. Unless someone has info stating differently, I don't think this is a big deal.

 

I've read many time that by the time you actually FEEL thirst, you're already dehydrated. Better to be pro-active.

I hear you on making a conscious effort witout necessarily drinking to a set amount. If you can get away with this, more power to you. I suspect everyone has to find a method that suits him. Being an uptight engineering type, if I don't plan and measure my water intake plan for the day, it doesn't happen.

 

Hey, thanks for the replies guys...

 

Green tea is better than just drinking water actually. It is great for you, good choice. As for a gallon of water a day...a gallon is a little excessive....but if you get one of the poland spring squirt bottles, when I am thirsty I just take a chug and squeeze the bottle and like half of it is finished already in one big gulp. You'll be pissing a lot, but if you consume a lot of protien and other supplements like creatine or l-glutamine water is especially neccasary to help clean out your kidneys, all that shit can be very harsh on your kidneys.

IMO .

 

Damn I thought a gallon was a hell of a lot to drink a day

 

It's pretty easy to drink a gallon of water a day. You just have to break it up. I have six small meals a day and with every meal I drink water, even when I'm not hungry, I drink water. After I workout, I drink water.

Especially when you're training or after you have trained. That's when you become the most dehydrated and you drink alot of water.

Drinking Tea is very good for you but can not really substitute as drinking water.

 

I usually buy a gallon of water every morning from the grocery store and just chug on it while I'm at my desk. The only bad thing is I have to pee every 15 minutes and the secretary (whose desk it outside the bathroom) probably thinks I'm weird.

Oh well.

 

Tea is actually a diuretic, so you'll lose more fluid than if you drank regular water. I definetly wouldn't use it as a substitute

 

I don't think a gallon a day is a lot at all. Shit, I try to dirnk 2 gallons a day for the reason that I don't wanna get dehydrated.

 

I use my piss as in indicator of if I'm getting enough water.

 

I have a big gut of all water weight, it sucks, I am trying me best to cut down on my sodium intake

 

I carry around a 1 liter bottle of water wherever I go and sip on it throughout the day. I use the water cooler at work to fill it up. drink 4 of those and thats a little more than a gallon. I also try to drink at least 1 glass of water (I generally drink too) with each meal except for breakfast. It'll help it wash down the food.

 

While we are on the subject of water, does anyone know if too much water is a bad thing?

 

Too much water is not a bad thing as long as you don't drink so much water that you might drown your self, no joke.