By: Dominica Morris

I don’t know how I’ve survived this, but somehow I’ve managed to stay alive on one cup of coffee and less than 12oz of water a day. I did this for years and not only did I stay alive but I didn’t suffer from any adverse effects from it, or so I’ve thought… I actually had been struggling with extremely dry skin, and bad constipation due to dehydration (I know TMI), but somehow I ignored the problems and moved along with my life as if everything was just fine. Until I came across an article that explains what happens if you don’t drink enough water. Not only does staying hydrated help with some of the issues I was facing, but it controls body temperature, assists in preventing memory and attention loss, negative moods, and temporary brain cell loss. Learning this was enough of a reason for me to focus my attention on staying hydrated, and here are three very simple ways that I learned how to drink more water.

1.) I Got The H2O Pal App

This app is awesome and it took me less than 2 minutes to set up. Right after you download it, it’ll ask you to put in your height, weight, age, and activity level. It will then ask if it can have access to your current location, so that it can track the temperature. Once you put all of this into the app, you’re ready to go. It will then let you know how many ounces of water you need to consume each day. From there on out you can let the water drinking begin. The thing I love the most about the app is that it will send you reminders throughout the day if you’re not keeping track of your water intake, this way you can stay on top of it. I also love that it’s just so easy to use.

2.) I Bought A Nalgene Water Bottle

Since I have no clue how many ounces are in each one of my glasses of water, I decided to buy a Nalgene water bottle. It’s light weight, sturdy, and best of all it’s marked the ounces on the side of the bottle (32 ounces to be exact) in 2 ounce increments. Making it easy for me to keep track of how much I had to drink. Since my overall water intake goal on the app fluctuates between 42 and 44 ounces a day, one full bottle takes care of most of my water intake which makes it convenient for me to take to work or out and about. To top it all off Nalgene water bottles are fairly inexpensive, I paid about 11 dollars for mine, and they come in a lot of fun colors. Mine glows in the dark, how awesome is that? You can find them on Amazon or any outdoor retailer such as REI.

3.) I Spiced things up with sparkling water

While drinking regular filtered water is fine for me, every once in a while I want to add something with a bit more flavor. Sparkling water has become my go to drink of choice for me. Nowadays there are so many different types of sparkling water drinks to choose from and I’ve been having a good time trying them all. My go-to brand is Polaris, they’re not only in every grocery store, but they’re sodium free and only contain natural fruit flavors and water. So it’s a great healthy drink option that adds a bit more variety.

So what were the results of me drinking more water? They’ve been great. I’ve almost immediately noticed a difference in my skin and hair. Both had completely transformed almost over night. My skin was a lot less flakey and my hair less dry and brittle (no more hair shedding for me). I also started to notice that I was going to the bathroom a lot more frequently, including nights, which was annoying. I had to limit my water intake before I went to bed. This helped sleep through the night uninterrupted. Besides this minor inconvenience I feel so much more energized and can tell the difference in my body immediately. So the moral of the story is stay hydrated! Your body will thank you for it.