How much water do we really need to consume?

This is an age old question.  This is a question that you will find an answer to in every diet that you try.  How much water do we really need to consume?

Yesterday, I told you how have been retaining water and am finding that I need to watch my sodium intake.  I received a comment about water consumption being related to water retention from Lois.  She is absolutely right and yesterday as I was writing about sodium I was thinking that today I might write about water.  Lois' comment confirmed that thought.

Water consumption is directly related to water retention.  The more water you drink, the more water you will expel, the less water you will retain.  (Is that a nice way of saying what I said yesterday?)  This is a great way of flushing out your body.  I have certainly noticed that I don't drink as much water as I used to.  I'm wondering why.  I still have my favorite water bottles.  I take them everywhere I go.  I used to drink 64 ounces of water per day without a problem. I think many days I am lucky to drink 32 ounces these days.  I have to concentrate more on that.  I actually think that it became a habit to drink less water.  When I was pregnant with Samuel I would consciously stop drinking water after 7pm because if I drank too much I would wake up several times to go to the bathroom.  I got tired of waking up to go.  That habit has worked it's way into the rest of my day too.

Sometimes I find myself just too lazy to get my butt up to go get my water bottle from the fridge when I am thirsty. (Hold on a second.) (Okay, my water bottle is on my desk now.)  I have these nice water bottles that are marked with the ounces right on the side. The close tightly so I never leave the house without one.  I have several so I always have at least one clean and filled with water in the fridge.  I have taken all of the right steps to be successful but don't drink enough water.  Maybe I need to buy limes and cut them into wedges ready to drop into my water bottles.  Maybe that will make them more special and inviting.

I know that I need to make it a goal to drink 64 ounces of water per day again.  I have found some definite benefits to drinking more water in the past:
-Sometimes I am thirsty and not hungry but I reach for food.  If I reach for water instead I will save myself calories.
-I have always had oily skin.  When I am drinking lots of water my skin is healthier.
-I physically feel better when drinking lots of water. Maybe because I am well hydrated.
-I have fewer headaches when I drink my water.  I don't suffer from chronic headaches but I have had plenty of them in the past. I never take medication for them until I drink lots of water to see if it goes way with hydration.  Many of times it works.
-When at a party it gives me something to do besides eat.

I know that there are many "rules" out there for water consumption.  WW recommends that you drink 48 ounces of liquids per day.  This can include any liquid except for alcohol.  That rule is fine and dandy but I like to drink water instead of other stuff like soda, juice, tea, etc.  Since watching my weight my favorite drink has become water.  It's refreshing.  It quenches my thirst.  It has no calories.

I have noticed that since I have started eating more fruit I drink less water.  I'm sure that's because there is juice in the fruit that makes me less thirsty.  Bryan once heard a doctor on the radio say that we don't really need to regulate how much extra water we drink.  He said that we get plenty of fluids from our food.  That certainly sounds possible but I still subscribe to the idea that drinking extra water helps my body function better.

I know there are many guidelines out there for drinking water or liquids.  I'm still subscribing to my theory that I want to drink 64 ounces of water per day.  Will I spend more time in the bathroom? Maybe.  At least the door locks and it's quiet in there;)

I drank 10 ounces of water while writing this.  Just a little attention goes a long way.

Have a great day,
Corinna

"On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, 'Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, 'Out of the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living water.'' Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified." -John 8: 37-39