Tips for Increasing Your Daily Water Intake

by Kim Neyer | More from this Blogger

Drinking water is always important for your health, but when you're pregnant, it's even more essential! To make sure you drink enough each day (see "Are You Drinking Enough Water?" below), try these recommendations:

Designated Water Bottle with Straw I tend to drink a lot more water when I have a reusable bottle handy that has a straw. For the simple reason that I don't have to drop what I'm doing to unscrew a cap, I'm much more likely to take a sip if my water bottle has a straw. I can pick up the bottle, flip back the straw, drink, and set the bottle back down, all with one hand. It's so easy, I don't even think about it. I keep the bottle close by throughout the day, and I always end up refilling the bottle multiple times.

Set a Timer If you tend to get wrapped up in work or projects like I do, you might go hours without drinking until you are finally so thirsty that you cannot concentrate. When I used to work in an office, I fought this cycle by setting a timer in my calendar program to alert me every hour to drink one 8 ounce glass. One glass each hour throughout the workday fulfilled my goal of drinking 8-10 glasses of water a day. My coworkers thought it was hilarious, but I felt great so I didn't care. Eventually I no longer needed the timer; I automatically would drink every time I noticed the new hour.

Pre-fill Your Water Bottles If you have a hard time keeping track of how much you've been drinking throughout the day and you're determined to reach your goal, begin each morning by filling up enough water bottles to equal the number of ounces you want to drink. For example, you could fill two 32oz Nalgene water bottles and keep sipping throughout the day until they are both empty.

Add Some Flavor If the taste of water is what is keeping you from drinking enough, flavor it! The beverage section of your grocery store has tons of options for flavoring water. You can turn it into lemonade or tea, for example. There are healthy options, too, like Vita Splash. All you have to do is add an individual packet to your bottle of water and shake.

Related Articles:

Are You Drinking Enough Water?

How Much Water to Drink in Labor?

Is Your Drinking Water Safe?

Learn more about Kim Neyer

Kim is a freelance writer, photographer and stay at home mom to her one-year-old son, Micah. She has been married to her husband, Eric, since 2006.

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