Staying hydrated is one of the most important things you can do for your health, performance, and fitness goals. Adequate hydration can benefit everything from brain health to body temperature regulation to proper organ functioning. And if you regularly work up a sweat, staying on top of your water intake becomes even more crucial.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise, given that more than half of the human body is composed of water. Because it’s such a big part of your makeup, even a small water deficit can be detrimental, says Stavros Kavouras, Ph.D., director of a Hydration Science Lab at a top university in Arizona. “On top of experiencing a drop in workout performance, especially in hot environments, small degrees of dehydration caused by being a light water drinker can have a negative impact on kidney function and aspects of cognition, including mood,” he explains.
To make sure you’re drinking enough, consider this: according to the Institute of Medicine (IOM), men are recommended to take in 125 ounces (3.7 L) of total fluid from beverages and food each day, and women, 91 ounces (2.7 L); even more water could be needed depending on your age, health status, and the climate where you live. That’s the daily equivalent of nearly a gallon jug for men and more than a two-liter bottle for women, at a minimum. Drinking that much every day requires establishing routines and utilizing all hydration tools possible. The following strategies will help you create the right hydration habits to meet your daily water quota.
Get a Smart Water Bottle
A water bottle can be your greatest tool for staying hydrated—especially if it’s one with built-in hydration knowledge. “Smart water bottles seem to be quite effective in getting people to drink more,” Kavouros says. Take your water tracking to new heights with the Gatorade Smart Gx Bottle and accompanying Gx App. Fully integrated with the app, the Smart Gx Bottle establishes, then tracks your personalized hydration goals based on factors such as your exercise level. A ring built into the cap lights up as you drink, serving as a visual cue to let you know how close you are to meeting your goal, so you can adjust accordingly throughout the day.
Rise and Hydrate
Sleep is inherently dehydrating, as your body loses fluids during the night and doesn’t take in any. As a result, Marni Sumbal, C.S.S.D., M.S., R.D., author of Essential Sports Nutrition, stresses that it’s key to start hydrating first thing in the morning.
To start the day off right, drink 16- to 20 ounces of water soon after waking. Sumbal recommends making a game out of it. “If you have a goal of drinking 16 ounces when you wake up and one sip of water is roughly half an ounce, your mission is to take 32 sips of water,” she says. “You can break this down into eight sips immediately when you get up, another eight sips after you shower and brush your teeth, eight sips after you get dressed for work, and then eight sips before or during breakfast.”
Before you go to bed at night, position your water bottle next to your first activity of the morning—be it your smartphone, coffee maker, or dog leash—to remind you to begin the hydration process.
Make Meal Time Water Time
One simple way to hit your hydration goals is to make a habit of drinking at least one eight-ounce glass of water with every meal. If you eat three meals per day, this adds an extra three cups (24 ounces) to your daily water intake.
At other times of day, schedule water break reminders, which can be something as simple as setting an alarm on your smartphone to go off every hour of your workday. Once you establish these cues, you'll find you're drinking water without even thinking about it.
Monitor Your Number One
Want a free and easy way to assess your hydration? Kavouras says you should look at your urine every time you go. “If it looks more like apple juice than lemonade, this should serve as a reminder that you need to drink more fluid, because you’re dehydrated,” he says. Peeing less than six times a day is a tip-off that you should reach for your water bottle more often, he adds.
While you’re at it, drink water after every bathroom break, one of your most common daily activities. This will set up a desirable cycle: The more water you drink, the more you’ll have to use the restroom, which means the more water you’ll drink. That said, don’t go overboard. If your other water-drinking habits are keeping you well hydrated (as determined by a light yellow urine color), you probably don’t need to guzzle liquids after every bathroom trip.
Flavor Your Water
For many people, plain water is plain boring, leaving little desire to keep drinking. “Knowing how you like your water will make it easier to stay hydrated,” Sumbal says. “For instance, do you like your water to be bubbly (seltzer), sweet (splash of fruit juice), or tart (added fresh lemon or lime)?” You have several low-sugar options for adding flavor. Consider steeping fresh fruit (think orange slices or raspberries), sliced veggies (cucumber, ginger, celery), and herbs (basil or mint) in a pitcher of water, or experimenting with different combos like cucumber, lemon, and mint. You can also add sugar-free flavored powders like Gatorade Zero or Gx Pods to the water in your Smart Gx Bottle.
Hydrate Around Exercise
Going into a workout even mildly dehydrated can negatively impact exercise performance. “It’s a good idea to start all your workouts well hydrated,” advises Kavouros. The American Council on Exercise recommends drinking 17- to 20 ounces of water two- to three hours before exercise, then another eight ounces of water 20- to 30 minutes before the workout.
Hydrating during your workouts is important, too, since you lose fluids through sweating. If you don’t feel that thirsty, drink anyway. “Our thirst mechanism isn’t the most reliable when we’re exercising,” says Sumbal. “To help you stay well-hydrated during exercise, set a timer on your watch to beep every 10- to 15 minutes, reminding you to take 3- to 5 sips of water.” Drinking smaller amounts at regular intervals can help you absorb fluid more effectively and avoid stomach sloshing. Sumbal’s recommendation calls for less than 20 ounces of water over the course of a 60-minute workout and under 10 ounces for sub-30-minute sessions—in other words, very moderate water intake. That said, individual water intake needs vary depending on how much sweat is lost during the workout.
Eat Your Water
Not all of your daily water intake has to come from water itself, or even drinking other liquids. Eating certain foods can help you stay hydrated as well. “Guidelines suggest that 80% of your total hydration intake can come from liquids such as water and the rest can come from food,” says Sumbal. In addition to the obvious, like smoothies, milk, and soups, water-rich foods include watermelon, strawberries, peaches, oranges, cucumbers, celery, and lettuce. All of these can contribute to your daily hydration goals. Eating more fruits and vegetables will provide the added bonus of bumping up your intake of healthy fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
Someone who eats fresh fruit and salads for snacks and meals won’t have to drink as much water as someone who eats packaged, ultra-processed foods. According to a study in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the more you eat highly-processed foods, which typically have low water content, the more likely you are to be dehydrated.
