8 glasses of water a day...I'm trying!

Good grief!

I'm on a new mission to drink the advised eight glasses
of water each day. Hubby bought one of those nifty water
dispensers one might see in an office, so it might be a bit
easier, but good gosh, I feel like I live at the water fountain!

I've even made a chart for the fridge next to the cooler to
keep track. As I was raiding the refrigerator a bit ago, hubby
informed me that I had more water to go. I thought I would use
four ounce jelly glasses and just drink sixteen of them a day, as
nothing is harder for me than having to drink a full glass of water
at a time.

Do any of you meet, exceed or find yourself far from the daily
requirement?

Karen Marie

I try, I really try. But it's a challenge. We don't drink the tap water here so buy cases of bottled water. I set four 16-ounce bottles at the front of the fridge, then keep one with me at all times. I just keep sipping from the bottle until it's empty, then bring out another. No matter what room I'm in, the water bottle goes with me, and I keep one in the car as well. It's very dry in New Mexico and usually I can comfortably drink three bottles, which is 6 glasses, at intervals over the day. In the hot summer weather I can maybe finish a fourth bottle, but I'm happy if I just finish three.

No way can I drink a full glass of water at a time. That just makes me feel bloated. Plus the need to be in close proximity to a bathroom!

June

Do yall have a favorite water based drink like iced tea or such? They do just as well. Second 8 glasses of water a day are recommended but not necessary, the purpose of the water is to flush your kidneys and to hydrate your lower GI but it can be over done and have the opposite effect. Its also to help lower your bodies salt content which you can do by adjusting that as well. The best thing you can do is just detoxify once or twice a year, most detoxes are a joke so be careful.

Don't forget your swimmies and enjoy the water yall!

Don

PS: WUVIE I'll send you the email that on line services sent me it's a hoot.

Don

PPS: Found Dave!

This message was edited Mar 15, 2007 7:42 AM

I drink all eight. I do it my telling myself that I "can't have(breakfast; or wantever) until I drink a glass; or "can't go play in the yard".
Someone recently told me that for every cup of coffee I drink I need to replace it with yet another cup of water...I Won't be doin' that.
I fill a jug that I've marked with "cups" so I can see my progress.

This message was edited Mar 15, 2007 7:48 AM

To me, I think the bottled water works better when I'm trying to get the water down. It just seems easier to keep track of.

Susan

Prior to my water intake phase, I was a tea drinker. I haven't had
tea in three days now and I'm not dying, but snipe's post made me
wonder something.

I have always heard that tea does not digest as straight water does.
Is there any truth to this?

Karen Marie

Tea will do you as well as water, as for the caffeine content use Lipton Decaf I ran a burger joint and no one ever knew it was decaf. The reason for decaf for women is because caffeine causes cysts in the breast. Lower the caffeine get rid of the cysts.

Don

This message was edited Mar 15, 2007 12:04 PM

Dr's always advise to drink 8 glasses of water a day. Well what size glasses? One day I measured amts. I drank all day. When I got up I drank a 12 oz. glass of water with my morning meds. At breakfast I had 1 cup of oj and 1 cup of milk. Then I had a 12 oz. glass of tea. Later on I had another glass of tea. Then I had a lrg. glass of water. At supper I had another 2 12 oz. glasses of tea. Then before bed I drank a 8 oz. glass of oj. That did not count the water content of the vegetables I ate at supper. It is really easy to drink the water that you need. Get a measuring cup and fill it up, pour into a glass and drink that down. You can drink 8 oz. of water in about 12 swallows. Do this 8 times a day and you should have all the water you need. I have found that if I want a soda, measure out 8 oz. of water, add ice and a drop of vanilla and that will take the wanting for a soda away from me. If any tries this and finds that it works, let me know. LIZ

I refill a 20 ounce coke bottle with tap water and put pony tail holders on the bottle, when I drink one I push one holder down lower on the bottle, I try to drink 3 of them a day.
Sandra

wuvie, you sure do come up w/ thought provoking topics. I've been thinking about the "who you were mean to in grade school". Now this.

I am confused by the literature out there. Some people say MUST be eight 8oz glasses of strictly water; some say eight 8 oz glasses of fluid, ANY fluid; some others say not necessary that it be eight since there is water in the stuff we eat, ie. fruit and veggies, and just the other day I read of the woman that drank 2 gal. of water on a dare hosted by a radio show and died (meaning, too much water can kill ya)!

I try to drink about 60 oz of water daily (that's more like seven 8 oz glasses) and do it from early in the a.m. til about 6 pm. Don't want to disrupt my sleep time going to the bathroom. I find that the longer I do this, the more I "need" to drink, so it's not as big a chore as when I initially started this practice.

and water must be room temp. I simply cannot drink ice cold water--gives me brain freeze. Now a tall glass of Coke with crushed ice, ahhh, a once-in-a-blue-moon treat. Or an almost frozen beer, double ahhhhh!

I also remember reading somewhere that warm water was ideal for some reason or another, but I don't remember why. I quickly disregarded that tidbit of info.

Surely the temperature and level of activity have a bearing on the amount of water needed daily.

Hit the nail on the head Indy.

Don

All you folks tryign to drink eight glasses of water a day. I ask you to be careful. Liek somebody mentione d up above. It can have an adverse effect on your body and your system.

Vossner... That bit about warm is not a myth. Maybe not so much warm as to the hot side, but it better not to drink ice cold. The human body has an internal thermostate. it set for the majority of folks to 98.6F That includes the insid e of your tummy , your brain and all your othe r important organs.

We you guzzle an ice cold drink you actually send your tummy and othe r organs into a mini shock. For some folks instant brain freezes is the result. Your body just can't cope with such temp differenc e so fast.

I know it hard not to drink ice cold drinks especially when you have a facet of water dripping down your body of sweat from the heat, but actually that the best time to drink things a bit on the warmer side. You don't shock your body and you actually wil sweat less.

Anybody thinkign of starting on a water regiment, I would ask you to consider starting small. drink 3 or 4 of the baby bottle s a water a day and slowly build your body up to acceptign the fact that it now has enourmous amoutns of this fluid runnign through your system.

I have also heard of people drinkign so much water that in the end they became bloate d and the kidneys and stuff starte d not functionign right and they ended up retaining water and had things like leg swelling and other problems.

Drinkign water is good thing, but like all things do it in moderation and start out slow.

Well, I mostly lurk, but thought I would comment on this. I drink my 8 glasses of water a day during the week for the most part, but don't do as well on the weekends. Anyway, this started last year when I was pregnant and needed all the extra water. I have a large plastic cup that I fill and sip it through out the day. At first, it was a real pain. I never have been much of a water drinker and I really never thought that I would be able to do it. I have always disliked water when I eat always wanting something with flavor.

I can tell you that this is all a matter of habit (at least in my case). Like most things, once I got in the habit, it really isn't any big deal. I have gone from 3 or 4 sodas a day to maybe one. Now if I drink other things with my lunch, it doesn't taste right. Dinner is another story. I usually have my one soda with dinner or tea if we go out.

So don't despair. If you keep trying to do it, you will get to the point that it is second nature and you won't even notice that you have drank that much. Oh yeah and the needing to go to the bathroom every 5 minutes thing got better for me over time.

My 2 cents...

shuggins

i have been drinking about 100 ounces of water a day for the past three years. i find it much easier in the summer than the winter. i started that 6 week body makeover diet which recommends 100 ounces of water a day. i lost 93 pounds that way but i put some weight back on because i could not eat veggies just boiled so i started the medifest diet and now my total weight lost is over 100 pounds

i contunie to drink the water as its more a habit now. i used to drink cans of soda or ice tea but the water is better. i see no bad side effects.


This message was edited Mar 17, 2007 5:47 AM

I'm not concerned about the water being cold. The body will warm it up tout suite. I am a a bordereline diabetic so it is easy for me to drink plenty of water. But even when I wasn't concerned about diabetes, I got used to drink a lot of water anyway. I just didn't drink anything except a glass of milk at bedtime. it seemed the more i drank it, the more i wanted it. I know, that is weird. But it sure helped me get through the required amounts.

If this about drinking 8 glasses of water on top of coffe/tea and food is right well then I am dead from dehydration cause I havent had one single glass of water for over a week...
Vossner the woman died from overwatering in her brain. After the authopsy it landed in our newpapers too and yes it is dangerous to drink to much water/liguid more dangerous then drinking to little if you dont work hard or are moving around in hot temperatures.

If you fast (not eating) you should drink 8 glasses (9 oz or 2 1/2 deciliter) a day of fruitjuice and/or water a day.

One also have to count in your bodysize, weight and if you dispose of water easily. some people sweat a lot easier then others meaning the have a higher rate of disposing water and then need to refill more then others. Some people never sweat no mather how hard they work or how hot it is and therfor need to refill less. not to mention the peeing as that is the same. Its different for everyone EVEN when drinking or eating the same amount of liquid wether it is a soupe or water and have the same bodysize. ALL liquid should be accounted for not only water.

About the coffe water issue that is not true, if it where I would "live" in a box 6 feet down HOWEVER it is true when it comes to drinking boos, the reason people get hangover is due to dehydration in the brain, if one alters drinking one drink and one glass of water ( in slow pace)and keep altering you dont get a hangover because you rehydrate the braine but you have to do it while you are drinking not after as that is not good for the brain OR the body to countedrink the water after.

You should NEVER force the body to drink ANY amount of liquid. If you drink to the point that you feel bloated or nausea that is your body telling you that you are way off base in what you are doing. Flushing you system is not good at all if you are not sick and that is what your Dr have ordered you in order to get well.
Flushing you system can easily lead to hearttrouble, kidneyfailiure and even liverfailiur not to mention owerwatering you brain and that is just the most dangerous ones from flushing your system like all the trends are saying.

I had a lot of trouble with severe asthma and was regularly going to a lung/ heart specialist and I also was "collecting" water, turned out to be COPD but as you I have heard about this "flushing your system" thing by drinking 8 glasses of water that you write about here and I asked him about it he said ARE YOU CRAZY it would kill you in a couple of weeks.
I did drink a lot of liquid more then I should have AND I had trouble with my heart and my kindey and liver test where way bad and from what.... not from any sickness but just from drinking/eating to much liquid.
I dont have trouble with my heart nor my kindeys or liver any longer but I advice you from first hand experience. Dont listen to those trends about drinking liquid in those amounths. they can shorten your life and sadly also kill you if you are one of the "unlucky"
I now count in all the liquid I drink/eat all day and I stay leathy and if I am working hard in the garden on warm days I SLOWLY sipp luke water as that is easier for the body to handle and iot make me sweat less as the body dont have to heat it when I chill my tummy with icecold liquid.
Janett

Well, Janett certainly puts a different spin on this. We are getting information from her from a different medical community. It is true that too much water or any liquid can be bad for you. I don't count my liquids in a day, but I seem to require a lot. There is some diuretic action from tea and coffee so some nutritional advisors say to only count those drinks as half the amount you consumed.
I must say I am lucky, my tap water is good that I don't need to put ice in it. But I think a lot people paying outrageous prices for bottled water would be just as happy with tap water. Now those municipalities that add chlorine turn me off, so if I get tap water there, I let it sit out for awhile and the chlorine disipates.
Yeah, it stands to reason that if you're really forcing yourself to drink a specific amount of water, you probably are over-reaching the good it can do.

For those who can't seem to get into the water, I found that after drinking more water I would not want the diet pepsi's that I usually drank and didn't really have to have the coffee, I just wanted the water. But after getting away from drinking the water, I started opting for the sodas again.

Susan

here's my two cents worth, lol

as a 'general guideline' to the amount of water you would require per day, take your body weight (in pounds) and divide by 2. the result is the number of ounces of water per day you should drink.

According to this formula, a person weighing 100 lbs would require 50 oz per day, a person weighing 200 lbs would require 100 oz per day.

You are all getting Hydrating and Dehydrating kind of mixed up. Sodas, tea and coffee are all DEhydrating. So is alcohol. Just because you put ice cubes in your drink whatever kind as listed isn't going to undo their effects. Trying to force food or drink of any kind is not a good idea. All the above can cause all kinds of trouble. I have a daughter who drinks lots of water because she just loves water. But let her have a glass of ice tea at lunch and she has an attack of colitis within minutes. Same w/coffee - if she drinks coffee in the morning, same thing. It is a FACT that sodas are used to clean car engines and the hands of the mechanics. Just try it on a oil/grease spot in your garage or driveway. We all know what can happen to people who drink alcohol besides making them drunk. It does horrible things to your organs: kidneys, liver, etc. And you don't have to abuse it. It depends on the person. This applies to any food or drink. The idea of 8 8 oz. glasses of water is a myth just as many supposedly healthy drinking eating habits. The trick (is there is a trick) is to know your own body. Drink if you are thirsty or if you are outside and sweating heavily drink a glass of water, slowly, to rehydrate yourself. If you are feeling hungry, eat a couple of bites of whatever appeals to you (within reason). If you have children whom you have fed in their highchairs you can understand what happens when you try to shove that last little bite into his mouth. He has(had) a definite way of telling you "ENOUGH, ALREADY!" Listen to your body. It will tell you when it needs something.

Ann

Needing 8 glasses a water is most likely an urban myth. Please read any of the countless medical reports that debunk it. Here are a couple. http://www.health24.com/dietnfood/Water_centre/15-167-169,33402.asp or http://dms.dartmouth.edu/news/2002_h2/08aug2002_water.shtml. I bought into it for years until I had a friend get into some serious medical problems (salt levels) by drinking too much water. But I do believe that 'water is medicine' Patti

This message was edited Mar 18, 2007 4:38 PM

http://www.snopes.com/medical/myths/8glasses.asp

How very interesting...at a young age I needed a kidney operation and was advised to drink 6 - 8 glasses a day...well, during my illness I could not eat anything and spent over a 2 year period 1 year in hospital..every bit of liquid being monitored..they were force feeding me water to the point I bet I don't drink 1 cup a year..know it's bad..keep wanting to go back to drinking a least 1 or 2 a day..always has been pro's & con's so what to do, what to do....it's like eating slime, I just gag when drinking a full cup...

I've been drinking much more fluid than usual, and
oddly enough, I now get thirsty. Odd, huh?

Since switching to tea without sugar, I drink more
and find myself drinking more at one time.

:-)

Ah, found more interesting information today!

http://tinyurl.com/3bbgvc

Wuvie, I drank an 8oz bottle of water yesterday and was so proud of myself..that's the most water I've drank in years...so hard to do!!!! Does tea count for same???

Gosh, I sure hope tea counts, because I start drinking mine
early and don't stop until close to bed time.

No sugar, decaf, mainly iced. Tons of it. Can't be without it. LOL

If there were some device I could use to just pour the daily requirement
in, I would do it. But a constant glass of tea, now that, I can do.

:-)

Someone always told me that 'tea' didn't count...tea I can drink..water..it's like forcing dow cod liver oil...yuk!