I am now officially on Day 5 of the Gallon a Day Challenge. The bathroom and I are very well acquainted right now. Ha! But I’m already noticing some changes! I’ll post a weekly update next week. When I started this, I thought “There is NO way I can throw back a GALLON of water!” It just seemed so intimidating. But, I committed and started to chug, chug, chug. I thought I’d post some tips that I’ve learned that are helping me drink more water.

1. Use a fun glass or bottle. I have been using my son’s Nemo glass a lot. It makes me smile each time I fill it up and I think to myself “Just keep swimming” and then I chuckle because my bladder is so full I feel like I’m swimming.

2. Divide it up into increments that you can wrap your brain around. I like to use the Tervis small (16 oz) and large (24 oz) glasses. It’s easier for me to wrap my head around drinking 8 small glasses. I count them off in my head during the day.

3. Drink throughout the day. I drink 16 oz. as soon as I wake up and 16. oz right before I go to bed. That’s 2 of my 8 glasses done for the day. You can even space it out and set yourself calendar reminders to drink a glass every few hours. Sometimes I need a little reminder to take a break from work and drink. I know some people who fill a gallon jug each day and have increments marked in marker on the jug for morning, mid-day, afternoon, and evening.

4. Use a straw. I find I drink more consistently and mindlessly throughout the day if I have a straw in my glass. Otherwise I let it sit and then end up gulping down a large glass. If I have a straw in the glass it disappears quicker.

5. Add flavor if you need. I do not like the taste of our tap water. I usually use the filtered water out of our refrigerator since it tastes so much better. But there are times when I don’t have that luxury. I carry a couple of tubes of Nuun All Day Hydration with me to drop into my water when I’m out and about. The subtle flavor really helps the drink-ability and breaks up the monotony of drinking plain water all day.

Hope these tips help some of you add more water to your day. You can do it. Remember to “Just keep swimming!” 🙂