Do you drink enough water?

I think it is common knowledge that humans are composed of about 60% of water. If you didn’t know that, you do now. How do we know that we are drinking enough water for our bodies to be at their peak?


Signs you may be dehydrated

Tired all the time. Dehydration causes exhaustion. Dehydration can cause your blood pressure to dip which causes a dip in energy too. My {non-medical} thought is that if your body is trying to make up for the dehydration, it is running out of energy to keep you going.

Increased appetite. Many times, I go into the kitchen looking for a snack. I usually nothing appeals to me but I end up eating anyway, not realizing that what my body is trying to tell me is that it’s thirsty.

Your skin looks pale/dull. I know when I am not drinking enough water, my face starts to look almost sullen and dull. The water that you might be drinking is going toward keeping your organs moving and joints lubricated. After that, there is nothing left for your skin or anything else for that matter.

You’re cranky. Your negative attitude and outlook may not be caused by your job, family life or the traffic you are in. Studies show that lack of water can actually cause these mood swings and cranky moods.

Your pee looks and smells funny. This is more of a self-conscious thing for you, but do you really wanna be that stinky-pee-guy/chick?
So now that we know the signs, lets see how we know we are hydrated enough and how much we should drink.

How much water should you drink?

I did a lot of research on this, but I found it difficult to pin point a specific number since many are fluctuating. When I was in college and took a nutrition class, the rule we were taught was drink half of your body weight in ounces. So that would mean a 120 lb woman should drink about 60 oz of water a day. Easy math.

It gets complicated when you are pregnant or breastfeeding {if you are a woman} or exercising.

For pregnancy and breastfeeding. From what I have read and compiled from sources, it looks like for pregnancy and or nursing, you should drink between 2.5 – 3 liters of water a day. That is about 90 – 100 ounces. {12 – 13 cups}

For exercising. When you are exercising, you need to consume at least 8oz per 15 minutes of activity. When I work out, I weigh myself before and after, this way I know how much fluid to put back in my body. Not scientific by any means, but it works.

How can you tell you are getting enough water?

The best way to tell is your pee. Yes.

First, you will be going to the bathroom a lot more. Your body will be ridding itself of toxins. The increased water is cleaning your blood and filtering through your kidneys, so you will be visiting the bathroom more.

Second, look at the color.
I know we don’t all look at the color of our pee, but it is an easy way to determine that we are getting enough. This infographic from the Cleveland Clinic shows you what your pee tells you. It looks like pale to transparent pee is good. {Please do not tag me on Instagram with pictures of your pee – that is just gross}.

So how does your pee look? It’s ok – I’ll wait….

Are you getting enough water? Next week I will be sharing with you my tips to increase your water intake.

Fill up a water bottle and get drinking!