So what is water in terms of hydration? I know I need a ton of water. But I HATE it. I try to drink as much Crystal Light as I can, but I just get sick of the flatness. Of course I'm not going to let it get in the way of my weight loss, but I'm wondering really how much of my "water" has to be actual water.

I drink a TON of Coke Zero, and contrary to most people, it doesn't make me overeat. It satisfies me, so I eat less. There is next to no sodium in it--I think 2% DV per can, so if I drink 4 cans a day, that's still not much sodium. So does this count as "water"?

And what about the flavored sparkling water with NO sodium? Is that "water"? And what about Powerade Zero--no calories, little sodium.

I don't know anything about science or nutrition, so to me it seems like as long as its calorie-free fluid, it should be water. I realize this is at least not entirely accurate, but in essence, is it ok to substitute say, half my ounces of water with these things?

The only water that I count is actual water - and ideally you should be drinking half of your body weight in ounces a day.

I personally wouldn't count Coke Zero or any of those other sweet drinks as water. Even though it might not have calories or sodium, coke zero does contain aspartame which makes it taste sweet due to the lack of sugar, which makes it worse for you than regular coke. I would suggest just trying out different packets of water flavorings until you find one you like.

It will get easier, and you can do this! I went from drinking 2 Route 44 Cokes from Sonic a day and HATING the taste of water, to literally not being able to drink a Coke because of all the sugar in it and LOVING the taste of water. Just hang in there, and your body and taste buds will adjust.

I never, ever drink water. I drink crystal light these days because I am trying to save money, but before that I lost 75 lbs drinking nothing but canned diet soda and hot tea and coffee.

Everybody's body is different--for example, artificial sweeteners absolutely do NOT provoke an insulin response in me. Furthermore, you can get a ton of water from what you are eating, if you are eating a lot of veggies or soup.

Me? I'd suggest you drink what you like as long as it's no-calorie. As long as you are going to the bathroom fairly frequently and your urine is pale, you are adequately hydrated.

ccook43091, I will definitely keep trying mixes. I'm enjoying the Crystal Light "Metabolism" green tea/mango flavor right now, so I'm trying to get in as many of those as I can a day. I just looooove diet soda (and regular soda, but I don't let myself have any), so if it ISN'T bad, I'd like to keep drinking it. But I'll try to drink lots of water, too.


How can you tell? I'm really worried about that, but I don't know how to identify my body's responses.

I pee CONSTANTLY (and almost clear) when I'm drinking lots of diet soda/sparkling water, and I lose weight faster, so maybe that's sign that it is ok for me.

I love drinking water -- just grew up with it as a habit.

Though I still have is straight up cold, I'll sometimes put lemon in it. Or I'll cold brew Celestial Seasonings. It doesn't have to be the special cold brew one. Just any -- 1 tea bag per 8 oz water. I have a 32 oz pitcher so I stick 4 tea bags in of wild berry, raspberry, peach, etc. A few hours later it's ready to go, and you can sweeten if you want to.

My kid likes it that way too.

A friend taught me how to slip in extra water to juice. Go half juice and half soda water to make it fizzy.

HTH!
A.