H2Ohhhhh….I didn’t know that! Drink up some tips on proper hydration.

Okay, so I’ve learned a few humbling things about water as well as caffeine that my know-it-all self didn’t know. For a week, I’ve chosen to focus on increasing my water intake. Before I even started this fun little experiment with my inner laboratory, I learned about how awful caffeine is for you. In all honesty, I had a hunch but ignorance is bliss and bliss was my cup of coffee.

If you are picturing me as this frenetic, type-A, crazed-hair chatterbox, which can often easily be seen in an excessive coffee drinker type, you’d be sorely mistaken. I actually can’t drink coffee per se- that is, not without weird squirrelly side effects. I am one to be a little technical sometimes and thought I could get away with decaf and, believe you me, I did my research, finding the best, most ethical stuff out there: fair-trade, Swiss water (or naturally pressed) coffee. It’s no Sumatran, but it works for me. I thoroughly enjoy it. Or at least, I did. Now, even my sweet, little morning best friend is like the ‘red meat’ of coffee since I’ve learned of its inherent side effects and I have a screaming conscience. [Insert sad face here]. I will just be aware from here on in and see it as a treat if I must have it. So, coffee rant aside, this post is more so about my little liquid journey, the things I’ve learned from way back and from present, and it’s about sharing that with you, straight up.

I am half-way through this challenge, if you can call it that. I actually DON’T feel it’s too far out of my comfort zone. I will say that on days when I’m not home as much, it is a little tougher, so on those days it just takes a simple bottle fill-up to help. Note to self: need a bigger bottle! I, like most of you out there, thought eight glasses sufficed, and that was that. Nope. I’ve learned that the optimal, especially for those of us wanting to look young like Cher forever, is to drink 12-16 glasses of water a day! I thought for sure I’d always be in the bathroom. Not the case. I owe that to my body’s adaptation and to the quality of water I’m drinking.

Anyways….I have some tips for you to help you on your own quest for better hydration! That’s why you’re reading this, isn’t it?! Ok, check it:

• Get yourself a large stainless steel container- like a 40-oz big gulp and increments printed on the side if you can find one.
• Drink room temperature water- it is much easier on your system.
• Drink 16 oz of water first thing in the morning. Boom! Two cups down. 10 more to go.
• Keep it at no more than 16 oz per hour because your body can only process this amount in this time frame without feeling overwhelmed. Your frat days of slamming and/or funneling are over.
• Speaking of which, if you have a ‘cold one’ have another cold one in the form of water. One to one ratio and eight ounces, of course. Save yourself from hangover hell. You’re not eighteen anymore and if you are, still a good tip. What did you think a hangover was, anyway?
• If you are not a fan of ‘boring ol’ water’, add lemon or lime by squeezing the juice or simply infusing it. While lemons are inherently acidic, they are actually alkalized when put into the body and do wonders for cleaning out your piping.
• Diffuse other fruits/berries, veggies in your water, too, if you want to jazz things up.
• Get your hands on reverse osmosis water. It’s the best out there. The molecules are actually small enough to cross the cell membrane, satiating the cell. That is, after all, what we are trying to do. Let’s face it: the quality of our water everywhere has gone down, so our bodies aren’t getting what they need. Do yourself a solid…or a liquid in this case. Wink.
• If you’re feeling extra ambitious, try adding a really good quality sea salt or pink Himalayan salt to your glass o’ clear goodness. The salt will act as a doorman opening the little gateways of your cells for the water to kindly waltz in. I watched David Avocado Wolfe do it on a documentary once and he made it look uber tasty, so it must be, right?

Well, my tenacious readers, I bid you farewell and a little sympathetic encouragement in your own water-drinking journey. You don’t need luck, just a little bit of quirky encouragement from a fellow water worshipper. Our bodies are temples. Let’s treat them as such, shall we?