thirsty thursday

Okay, not that kind of thirsty. At least, not at this hour of the day! 
As I'm typing this, I'm sitting cross-legged on my yoga mat on the floor. I just finished a Blogilates workout and now I'm cooling off and chugging from my water bottle. (If you're wondering, this is the video in question. My legs are CRYING!) 
Every time I go to the doctor and have to do a urine test, my physician might as well be beating a dead horse for all the times I've heard You're really dehydrated, you're not drinking enough water, you'd feel better if you drank more water.
I want to roll my eyes and ignore them, but I know they're right — because there's a huge difference in my body from when I'm hydrating and when I'm really, really, really not. I am not a healthy-living kind of person, and you all will hear about that more in the future. But lately I have been trying to exercise, be healthier, and all of that. And that means I'm also trying to drink at least 64 oz. of water every single day.
This isn't going to be a preachy kind of thing, but I really think that I'm not the only 20-something really struggling to up her hydration game. So here are the tips I have gathered from my doctors, friends, family, and my own experiences — things that have worked for me to increase how much water I drink in a day!

Get a cute water bottle or a water cup. I've found that the more I like the cup I'm drinking from, the more likely I am to fill it up and carry it around! I really love the bottle I use every day, so I'm happy to throw it in my purse and I don't mind dragging it around. That cup or bottle is your new best friend!

Calculate how many times you need to fill your bottle/cup up and empty it a day to hit your water drinking goal. (My goal every day is 64 ounces, which is 8 normal sized glasses, but I try to go above 64 ounces depending on how much I walk around campus or exercise that day.) 

I have a 32 oz. Contigo Autoseal bottle and I know that I only need to empty it twice in a day to meet my goal. I also use an 8 oz. mason jar mug with a straw for when I'm sitting around in my room or in the office, so I know how many of those I need to drink in a day as well. Cups and bottles usually make for easy math.

Consider how long you're awake every day. For example, if you're awake from 8 a.m. to 12 a.m., you know you have 16 hours to complete your water goal — if you wanted to drink 8 glasses of water a day, you know you should drink a glass every two hours. 

It's really important to not drink everything all at once. You need to space your water intake out, making sure to focus on drinking water when you're outside in the heat, exercising heavily, etc. 

If you have trouble remembering or staying motivated, use an app or write it down. Sometimes, the best way to stay accountable is to keep the number right where you can see it, whether it's on your phone or on your planner cover or desktop! It's always really satisfying to check off another glass or record another glass, don't you think!?

The app I use to track how much water I drink is Waterlogged, but you can also track it with My Fitness Pal and even the UP app lets you record water. My favorite thing about Waterlogged is that you can set alarms that space out your water drinking through the day — and also, the badge on the app can be set to show how many ounces of water you have left to drink in that day! If you're like me and you hate that annoying little badge, this app might be your best friend.

(And it's free!)

Remember one thing though — what works for me may not work for you. I'm not an expert by any means, just a girl whose doctors really get after her for not hydrating.

Don't limit yourself to a goal that the internet tells you or how much water the people you know drink every day. These aren't rules, just things that work for me — drink water when you're thirsty and you feel like your body needs water, and talk to a doctor if you want to know what your goals really should be. Your body knows best, not me or the internet!