How much water to drink?

  • I've been drinking about 64 ounces a day and that is difficult for me to do. Today at work and exercise people were talking about water intake. One person said you should drink 1/2 ounce per one pound of body weight. That means I should drink 122 ounces a day! (course I didn't tell her that--didn't want her to do the math ) Then another person said their rule of thumb was your weight X 40% = number of ounces of water. This would put me at 100 ounces per day.
    What does everyone else drink per day on average? Is there some formula you go by? I would really like to know if I am not drinking enough, altho the thought of drinking more is dreadful !
    Thanks! Lisa
  • I do believe that is how much water you should drink. It may see like alot but I think that it really washes away all of the nasty we have accumulated in our bodies. You'll have to pee like a racehorse but you will be purifying our body which is awesome!! Thanks for the reminder to drink up!!
  • Personally, I only drink around 64 oz of liquid a day. I also count coffee, milk, juice and diet soda as part of my liquids. During the hot weather, the intake goes up a bit. There is a good article right on this site.
  • I never focused on drinking a lot of water. I try to drink 1 big glass with lunch, 1 big glass with dinner and 1 big glass after I exercise. Otherwise, I drink a few cups of tea during the day and usually have a tall non fat latte. My minimal water intake didn't seem to interfere with my weight loss/weight maintenance. I am just not a huge water drinker!
  • Drink when you are thirsty.
  • I think everybody needs different amounts of water depending on everything. My rule of thumb is that I drink enough so that I am never really thirsty (thirst is a sign of dehydration) and so that my pee comes out very light yellow. This means that my body is getting enough water so that all of the toxins aren't sitting around raising havoc inside me.

    For me, that's at least 3-4 liters of water a day (100 - 130 oz). I've had many a 6 liter day when I go to the field and then work out. But then, my body is very sensitive to dehydration. I get headaches, kidney aches, and spasms if I don't drink enough water. And I only count the water. I must eat 1/3 a watermelon a day too. Sheesh!
  • I have a hard time counting in oz. but personnally, I'm at between 3 and 4 liters a day (4 would be in summer and on exercise days, especially cardio). I count all liquids in it, not only water, but most of what I drink being water based (tea or coffee without sugar or cream), it's almost the same. Well, probably.

    I use the 'pee test' as well. If the pee is not a light yellow, then it means I haven't drunk enough.

    It's a double-edged sword though. Once you're used to drinking a lot, if one day you happen to reduce your intake drastically, you may experience nasty side-effects. Of course, upping the intake is good, if you weren't drinking enough before that! The other aspect of it just needs to be known.
  • I try to drink an 8 oz. glass of water every hour that I'm up. I don't usually make it, but I get more that way I would normally. (And I get kidney stones, so the dr. says I *have* to drink enough water.)

    Stay with your 64 ounces, I would say. Some days try to increase it to 80. That should be fine. Many folks here say MORE and some say LESS but it sounds to me like you're drinking almost enough.

    Jay
  • Since I follow WW, I drink at least 6 8oz glasses a day (at least 48 oz). I am allowed to count caffeine free, sugar free drinks for HALF of my required intake (24 of those 48 required ounces). It tends to be more than that though, close to 64. And I really only drink 1-2 cups of coffee in the morning and then water for the rest of the day.
  • Quote: Today at work and exercise people were talking about water intake. One person said you should drink 1/2 ounce per one pound of body weight.
    I agree. because The more we weight, the more water is circulating in our body that needs an "oil change" And caffeinated drinks shouldn't be counted because they actually drain water from the body - nor should other liquids that contain calories, as they don't have the same purifying and moisturizing effect.
  • I try to have 8 glasses a day.
  • Here's a nice 3fc link about some of the myths out there about water:
    http://www.3fatchicks.com/Diets/Diet...ths_and_Facts/



    It seems that the prescriptions we've all heard to drink a lot of water were not based on research. As researchers started to study how much we actually need, thy are finding we get a lot of water in our food, and that even caffeinated beverages count toward our total. (here's a link for that: http://www.beverageinstitute.org/hea...feine_qa.shtml)

    I think that as time goes on, Tealeaf's suggestion to drink when thirsty may prove the new advice!