Most of us think we drink a large amount of water every day even though we probably rarely ever get the recommended amount. This was my line of thought when I started actively trying to drink 64 oz of water every day. Boy was I wrong. My journey really began back in January of 2017 when, after a fun game night at a friend’s house, I woke up the sickest I have ever been in my life. It was even more surprising to me because I only had a couple drinks thought the night so I was baffled as to why I felt so awful. I then realized that in the days leading up to the game night, I had only consumed 3 glasses of water that I could remember. I made a promise to myself that I would try to up my water intake but it wasn’t until mid April that I made a conscious effort to track my water and make it to 64 oz while at work. Now I will point out that between drinking water after working out and various glass of water to take vitamins after I get home from work my full daily intake of water was around 90 oz. Here are a few things I learned along the way.
1: You go to the restroom like every hour…the entire day
All of the sudden I was using the restroom constantly. I would be in the middle of a meeting or halfway through my morning run and all of a sudden WHAM! I had to RUN to the facilities(or the wiz palace for my Leslie Knope fans). This at first seemed like a tedious ordeal to go through 15 times a day but it really means your body is flushing out toxins
2: I realized I wasn’t always in the mood for food
I am a big snack person. I am like a bottomless pit that never gets full. But after a few weeks of drinking 64 oz a day at work, I realized that 50% of the time I thought I was hungry, I was actually just craving water. So if I wanted a handful of chocolate almonds from the break room, I would drink a full 8 oz of water, wait 5 minutes and then see if I was still hungry. Most of the time I felt full after a glass of water and greatly reduced my snacking calories. A study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found that people ate 13 percent fewer calories than those who didn’t.
3: I didn’t feel like I NEEDED coffee as much
I am not a huge coffee drinker to start with. In college I would maybe have 5 coffees a week(every week day) and even then it was mostly because I love the way sugary Starbucks tastes. I’m a sucker for peppermint syrup. After I started drinking water I felt like I had more energy and I didn’t need my daily coffee in the morning. Now water is not a complete replacement for caffeine. It doesn’t give you an automatic boost of energy or anything, but you don’t have a sugar or caffeine crash in the afternoon and your body feels more refreshed.
4: My skin got a little clearer
Now in all fairness I’ve seen articles were the writer tells people that drinking a lot of water makes your acne clear up and your face glow, but I did not experience this. What I did find was that when I did have a breakout, it didn’t last nearly as long. I did have several coworkers tell me my skin looked great, so I’m not sure if that was the “glow” I’ve heard so much about.
5: I was less bloated
It seems like drinking more water would cause you to be more bloated but studies show that when you are dehydrated your body tries to hold on to more water, this causing bloating and puffiness. Drinking water also helps your kidneys flush out toxins and thus removing the bad stuff from your bloodstream that’s making you feel tired and sluggish. I did notice that after about a month of drinking water constantly I was less puffy and more regular.
How did I do it?
-I bought a water bottle that holds 32 oz. I drink half of it before my daily 9:30 am meeting. I then drink the second half of the bottle before lunch. Repeat for the afternoon.
-I only consumed 16 oz at a time. Your body can only absorb 2 glasses of water a time. So don’t chug a crazy amount in one sitting
– I kept track of my water with my Fitbit app on my phone( there are plenty of other apps as well that do this)
-I always kept my water bottle filled and took it with me to any meetings. If you are carrying it around it puts it in the forefront of your mind
– I drank straight water, no added flavors. If I drank tea, I did not count that in my 64 oz of pure water
Drinking 64 oz of water while at work was not as difficult as you would imagine. I had more energy, felt more full and less bloated and over-all consumed less calories each day. It takes time to see results so if you are going to try this out, stick with it for at least two months before you decide that it is or isn’t working for you.