Drinking plenty of water. It’s a piece of consistent advice that people are familiar with but that many people often still struggle to achieve.  The benefits of drinking water regularly are well known, but in the busy schedules most people have in their day to day lives we still fail to drink as much h2O as we should.

To help you out with this we’ve put together a number of tips that will help you drink enough water every day to stay healthy and hydrated. Before we get to that advice though you need to know how much you need to drink.

Whilst certain health conditions can affect how much water you need to drink to stay hydrated, most people just need to aim for 6-8 250ml glasses of water every day ( approximately 2 litres). If you’re aiming to lose weight or are very active you’ll likely need to drink more than this ( some places recommend up to 5 litres of water a day), but 2 litres is the minimum you should be aiming for. 

Now we know how much we need to drink we can share with you the tips to make sure you drink enough water.

Tip 1:  Alter the taste of your water

As great as water is for fitness and health it isn’t the most exciting thing to drink, and when you’re left with a choice between flavoured sugary drinks and plain water it’s no surprise people choose the tastier option. To Combat this you should look to add some flavouring to your water. There are a number of ways to do this. You can use water bottles that have sections for you to add fruit that will allow the water to be infused with the taste of the fruit, as well as passing on some of the vitamins and nutrients. You don’t need to add much as a few sleeves of fruits like, melons, limes and strawberries goes a long way to adding a fruity taste that ensures you don’t get bored.

It might seem odd but often you can help hit your hydration targets by eating certain types of foods. This is because some foods have very high levels of water within them so when you’re eating them you’re also consuming a decent amount of water. This means you’re getting the double benefit of staying hydrated and getting one of your 5 a day in. Examples of fruits and vegetables that you should look at include:

a) Watermelon

b) Coconuts

c) Lime

d) Cucumbers

e) Carrots

It doesn’t necessarily matter what you drink your water out of, but it can be very beneficial for you to have a specific water bottle that you use to help track your water intake. This helps as you’ll know exactly how much your water bottle holds and you can keep track of how many times you’ve re-filled it. If it’s a 500ml water bottle and you’ve filled it 4 times then you know you’re on course to drink 2 litres of water that day. Some water bottles come with specific features ( click top bottles which when twisted move  a dial that shows how many time you’ve filled the bottle up for example), but these aren’t really necessary for you to track your water intake. If they help you hit your goals though you should look into getting one with these features.

If you want to know more about how you can improve your health and fitness through proper diet, water intake and exercise, you should head over to My Home Personal Trainer and talk to our experts in personal fitness.