How do you remember to drink your water?

For almost a month now we've been talking about ways to water our bodies and feed our souls -- but when it comes to water, do we really know how much we need? The age-old standard is to drink eight 8-oz glasses of fluids a day, but that's just a guideline for an average adult living in a temperate climate. The actual number depends on quite a few factors, including weight, activity level, the climate in which you live, whether you're pregnant or breastfeeding, and so on. Check out this hydration calculator to see how much water you need to drink per day, and you may be surprised to find out how much you actually need. Once you've figured out how much water you need, the question becomes, how do you make sure you drink enough each day? That's always a challenge for me, especially when I'm stuck in front of the computer and don't remember to get up for water -- even more so on cool days when I don't get thirsty enough to remember. Thing is, once you actually feel thirst, you're already dehydrated, which makes it even more important to remind yourself to take regular water breaks during the day! So how do I remember to drink enough water during the day? I've tried pouring my daily requirement of water into a pitcher and drink from it during the day until it's all gone -- but when all that liquid is all in one place, I get depressed about how much I have to drink:

I can almost feel my stomach bloating and my bladder bursting when I think of having to drink that huge pitcher of water!

What works for me is building the habit of drinking during certain times of the day. I always drink a big glass of water for each of my three main meals -- breakfast, lunch and dinner. I also take a big glass of water with me to bed, and take sips throughout the night (if I happen to sleep deeply during the night, I wake up so thirsty that I end up drinking the whole glass anyway). Each of those 4 glasses contains a cup and a half of liquid, which makes 6 cups, so the remaining 2 cups of my daily requirement fits nicely into a water bottle, which I can sip throughout the day without feeling like I'm being waterboarded.

Breaking my daily requirement up into glasses and meals works much better for me, especially when some of those glasses have Crystal Light in them!

Of course, it's not always plain water in those glasses; I love flavored drinks like Crystal Light iced tea or Crystal light pink lemonade for a nice, refreshing change. Throw in some high-water content foods like watermelon slices, bowls of soup or cherry tomatoes, and I'm hydrated for the day!