I’m not drinking enough water, you’re not drinking enough water, no one is drinking enough water. We all need to drink more water.

Have you seen those tools walking around with Nalgene containers, or a metal-canteen-looking flask clipped to their commuter back-packs, as if they were trekking the Sahara dessert and will be deprived of liquid if they forget their precious, trendy Hydroflask? I always thought, “pfft you can get something to drink literally ANYWHERE, must be some cool, hipster trend that I don’t need to be affiliated with.” Then I found out from a friend that the container is a helpful reminder to drink water plus it cuts down on waste when you re-use your container - that is if you don’t constantly forget it at work or in your car. With this mindset, my opinion about these trendy, tool-bags softened. So lets get into it. How much water should you be drinking?

GENERALLY. . .

I’ll throw some numbers at you. According to the Mayo Clinic, the general guideline to follow is men should consume 3.7 liters/15.5 cups/124 ounces and women should consume 2.7 liters/11.5 cups/92 ounces DAILY. Fortunately, our food contains some water. In fact, we consume about 20% of our daily water intake through food. If I do the math, that means that 0.74 liters of the daily amount of water that is recommended for men is consumed through food and 0.54 liters of water for women. Think about a 2 Liter container of delicious, delicious Mountain Dew. That means that, I as an (alleged) adult man, would need to consume 1 entire 2 liter container of water plus another 1 liter to break even for the day. THAT IS A LOT OF WATER! It’s almost a part time job to consume this much water . . . I hate to say it but the the trendy hipster kids might be on to something.

EXERCISE & WATER

There are so many factors that can alter the above mentioned amounts such as environment, exercise, pregnancy, and your personal medical history. We will focus on exercise here.

If you are a daily exerciser, you may benefit from considering some pre-hydration. If “fewer than eight to 12 hours have elapsed since the last intense training session or fluid intake has been inadequate . . . an athlete should begin pre-hydrating about 4 hours prior to the exercise session” (Douglas). The recommended amount is 5-7 mL/0.17-0.23 oz per 2.2 lbs/1 kg of body weight (Douglas). For example, I weigh 200 lbs, this means that I should be consuming, at a minimum, 455 mL or about half of 1 Liter of water prior to working out if less than 12 hours have elapsed since my last workout session.

During exercise, you generally want to replace the same amount of fluid you lost through sweating during the workout session. Alternatively, you can keep in mind that every 10-20 minutes during your workout consume 200-300 mL/7-10 oz of water (Douglas). An easier way to say this is, drink a cup of water (8 oz) every 10-20 minutes during your workout. After exercising, consume 16-24 oz for every 1 pound lost during the session which is equivalent to 450-675 mL for every 0.5 kg of body weight lost (Douglas).

HOT TAKE

I’m not a fan of water. I was raised in the 90’s when sugary drinks such as orange soda, Capri Suns, and gallons of Hi-Ci were the norm at home, at school, and at friend’s houses. I am addicted to sugar. It is something I am working on. I sometimes CRAVE a regular Coke like a heroine addict and give in to these cravings at times. We are human, this is fine. The intention behind this blog was to provide some numbers to the water question. By the way, there is a possibility that consuming too much water could reduce sodium levels in the blood. This condition is called hypnoatremia but it is very rare. Hopefully, these numbers can help you determine where you fall. To keep it simple, watch your urine color. The goal is for it to be colorless to light yellow, if it’s not, it’s time to drink up.

My boyfriend is an avid water drinking, and hell hath no fury like an avid water drinker who left his Hydroflask container at work. I would tease him about it but I’ve learned that these containers can truly be beneficial. However, you do not need to shell out $50 for a Yeti container. I actually save all of the glass Kombucha bottles and repurpose them as water containers or shaker bottles for protein powder or pre-workout. This way if they get lost or left some place it’s not a big deal. To sum up - DRINK WATER until you’re peeing clear.

How fancy is your canteen?