Do you get enough water? While most of us spend a fortune on face creams and beauty procedures (monthly waxes, anyone!?), it seems we don’t appreciate the simplest, easiest way to boost our radiance and skin – drinking enough water. If eight glasses a day seem impossible, here’s some great ways to trick yourself to make sure you get enough water.
Carrying a water bottle around with you has two benefits – it means you always have water with you for when you start feeling thirsty, and you can easily track how much you’ve drank. Search around to find one that you love, and carry it everywhere with you. To work, in the car, on your bed…everywhere. If you can see how much you are drinking, and make it really easy and convenient, you are much more likely to get enough water.
Being a Pepsi Max fiend, this is one I really should try! While anything you drink will count towards your water intake, fizzy drinks have a high sugar content, which will cause your blood sugar levels to spike and then dramatically fall again. Even the diet versions are bad: the sugar is simply replaced by chemicals that have the same effect. Try replacing them with sparkling water if you can’t face plain water, so that you get the fizziness without the sugar.
Don’t like the taste of water? You aren’t the only one. Rather than ditch it for something nicer, though, it’s time to get creative. Try infusing honey, fruits or herbs through the water, or adding a few strawberries and a bit of mint. A lemon is perfect for a zingy morning pick-up! Try adding the fruits and herbs to a big jug and drinking from it all day.
Not managing eight glasses of water? Try eating your water instead. Fruits and vegetables are full of water, especially watermelons, grapefruit, tomatoes and broccoli, which are at least 90% water. Diary products also have a high water content, and fish and seafood is about 70%. Try adding some of these to a soup, and you’ll effortlessly get more water.
Every hour or so, get up and get yourself a glass of water. Stretch your legs and use the opportunity as a screen break, and a way to gather your thoughts. Soon, you’ll have created a habit and be drinking more than enough. It’s a great opportunity for a quick catch-up with work friends in the kitchen, too.
Have you tried chia seeds yet? The latest superfood, these seeds are now being added to a whole variety of recipes, and they make a great snack too. As well as being packed with protein, they absorb up to three times their own weight in water, helping you to retain much more. Try adding them to smoothies or sprinkling them over cereal.
Coffee is a bit conflicted when it comes to trying to get enough water – it’s a diuretic, meaning it causes you to urinate more frequently, and therefore could add to dehydration. Recent studies have suggested that the benefits of drinking coffee do outweigh the negatives, though – just limit yourself to three cups a day.
So make it a personal challenge to get enough water this week, and see how you feel. After a week or so, your skin is likely to look much healthier, you’ll feel great and you’ll be much less puffy. It can even soothe conditions like eczema. Do you have a water trick? I’d love to hear it!