So I'm doing a small self challenge to see if I can get myself to drink 8 cups of water a day. Yesterday I lugged about a giant jug and failed. I just had no desire to drink from it. Today I will try refilling a small single serving cup several times. That way each cup feels like an accomplishment. And, somehow water seems fresher if I just poured/acquired it.

I was wondering, does it still count if I flavor it a bit with a lemon, or maybe a little bit of crystal light? Not enough to make it a cup of crystal light - just enough to flavor it a tiny bit. Because sometimes I just don't want plain water.

People will argue about this, but if there is anything special about plain water, I am in trouble: I doubt I drink a cup a MONTH. I drink lots of full strength crystal light, and coffee, and I eat tons of vegetables (which are full of water).

Honestly, as long as your urine looks the way it is supposed to (straw colored--not clear or dark yellow) and you are urinating regularly, then I wouldn't worry about it.

Awesome goal to drink that much water everyday!! I try to get 64 ounces in per day and once I got the hang of it, I really felt better with my workouts by being hydrated (even though I pee way more ; ) ).

Anyway, I would definitely squeeze some fresh lemon into your water! Lemon has vitamin C which can help fight infections and has a bunch of qualities which can help improve your digestive tract function (prevent constipation, stimulate saliva/bile production for easier digestion).

As for the crystal light packets...I personally steer clear of them. While most of them now have low calories, low fat, no sugar, etc., they contain aspartame (an artificial sweetener) which can actually increase appetite. Aspartame is the stuff in diet sodas, which can be seriously addicting!

In my opinion go for some fresh lemon! That'd be a great way to get your 8 glasses of water a day!

Hope this helped!

I agree with lafake01.

I always have a lemon wedge in my water. And when I feel like jazzing my water up a bit for a change I'll throw in a slice of lime or orange (or both). Or sometimes a couple slices of cucumber and mint leaves.

Lemon is my fav. though, it has great detoxifying agents.

If you're having trouble getting all your water down, try drinking it from different mediums until you find something that works best whether it be from a water bottle, a cup, a mug, a thermos, etc. This helped me.

Good luck!

I stay away from artificial sweeteners, too. I like plain water.

I bought bottled Spring water (24 case of 20oz sport-top bottles) and saved the empties to refill. I keep 12 bottles in the 'fridge, and KNOW I have had enough water for the day if I have at least 4 empties each night. I refill empties every couple days.