Getting enough water in my body on a daily basis is always a huge challenge for me. Coffee, yes. Wine, yes. Water, not so much.

But let me tell y’all, if you are working towards a healthier lifestyle then you need to ensure you’re hydrating.
Roughly 60% of our body is composed of water, therefore we need to make sure we are drinking enough of it. To calculate how much water you personally need, it’s crazy simple. Just be sure you are drinking half your body weight in ounces. For example, if you weigh 200 pounds, you would divide that by 2 and know you need 100 ounces of water a day.
Everyone knows that hydration is important, yet our nation is chronically dehydrated. It’s bad, guys. With the over-saturation of drink products on the market, people don?t reach for water like they used too and it?s causing a lot of health issues. Some of these issues include high blood pressure, acne, bladder or kidney infections, weight gain, sleep issues, headaches, and digestive disorders.
There are a vast number of health benefits to drinking water and staying hydrated, but let?s focus on a few key ones. Because, seriously, you don’t have hours to read a blog post on hydrating. That’s how many benefits there are to drinking enough water.
1) Water helps aid in weight loss! Say what?! Many times when we think we are hungry, we are actually dehydrated and should reach for water instead of food. This helps suppress that extra appetite, digest our food better, and increase our metabolism. If you’re still hungry after you drink water, then you know for sure your body is asking to be fed. But if that “hunger” goes away, you know you were lacking on the H2O.
2) Being hydrated increases your energy levels. When your body is dehydrated, it is fatigued and causes you to feel tired and weak. Drinking your recommended amount of water each day should help you feel more energetic throughout the day without the aid of extra caffeine. So maybe for us moms, we don’t need to pound cups of coffee throughout the day… hmm…
3) Your kidneys need you to hydrate! Kidneys use the H2O to filter and cleanse your body of toxins. The less you drink, the harder it is for them to work. This can lead to MANY other internal issues while bacteria ferments, toxins move to other parts of your body, and your bladder becomes unhappy, so hydrate to make sure you stay cleansed.

4) Your skin is craving water. Pimples? Wrinkles? Sagging? Discoloration? Though many of these skin issues are going to happen as we age, they can be prevented from being onset to early with the proper amount of water being pumped through your body. Water will support good skin health – both on the outside and the inside.

If you are used to a little flavor in your drinks and feel like consuming nothing but water all day will be hard for you, then feel free to create your own fruit infused water. Here are some fruit water combos you can try.
Simply allow the fruit to sit in the water for 1-4 hours, then drink!
-orange, strawberry
-strawberry cucumber
-cucumber mint
-pineapple, strawberry, orange
-cucumber, mint
-strawberry, blueberryYou can also hydrate with caffeine free hot tea – it?s simply water flavored with herbs!

In addition to those tips, I want to take this opportunity to remind you that you can EAT your water too! The vast majority of fruit is composed mostly of water, so if you eat your recommended servings of fruit per day you can get BOTH hydration and fiber. Just don’t exceed your recommended amount so you don’t get too much sugar in your diet.

Lastly, if you know you have a hard time remembering to drink enough water then be sure to use your smart phone to help you out. There are several apps you can download to help you track your H2O intake manually or send you reminders to drink up. Regardless of how you remember to do it, you simply need to drink your water.