One of the biggest hurdles for me being on South Beach (especially for those first two weeks on Phase 1!) was phasing [pun intended] myself out of drinking diet soda all the time and switching to water.

I HATED WATER!

I wouldn't drink the stuff if I were playing softball and sweating a whole person out of me!

So, here are some tips I found helpful to get myself to drink, and dare I say LIKE, water! Feel free to add on!


1) Eat a sugar free cinnamon candy. Then drink plain water to cool you down.

2) Cut up a lemon or a lime and put in a baggie and take with you to work. It really does make water taste better.

3) I have a Nalgene -- so what I do is 32 oz of plain water. If I drink that, I reward myself with 32 oz of Crystal Light.

4) Buy flavored waters. Nestle now makes a "Pure Life" brand with Splenda in flavors like Raspberry and strawberry. What I do is drink half a bottle, then fill the half with plain water. You still get the berry taste but instead of only drinking 16 oz, you drink more like 24!

5) Buy flavored seltzer. I love the fizz! Or buy plain and add SF Syrups to it! Italian Soda it is

Hope that helps you a bit!

I love the new flavoured waters - orange is my fave. Good idea about drinking half and then refilling the bottle. It'll help me save for The Girls' college fees!

I didn't appreciate plain water either in the beginning. I always added 1/4 cup lemon juice and several packets of splenda per quart of water so I'd have a really dilute lemonade. I slowly decreased the amount of sweetener. I also did that with Crystal light. It says each baby tub makes 2 quarts, I always dissolved it in 1 gallon. Slowly I added less and less flavoring and the water doesn't taste so bad any more.

Another thing that is nice is to take the orange, lemon and lime peels and throw them into a container of water and keep it in the fridge.

Sarah

I have a lot of trouble making sure that Brian drinks enough water in this heat. I've been using the Crystal Light On the Go lemonade packets. What I am doing for camp today is filling his bottle with Crystal Light pink lemonade from the pitcher at home (cheaper than the packets) and then when he runs out he can refill the bottle with water from camp (they have water stations with ice water all over) and add a packet of the Crystal Light On the Go to it. I know pure water is better but at least he gets some fluids this way which is really important since we are outside for almost 6 hours straight.

I don't mind plain water although I do like a little bit of lemon flavor.

I guess I'm one of those weird ones who likes water... but I too sometimes find it hard to drink 8 to 10 glasses a day... (Jeez I feel like a freakin camel sometimes!). I use one of those 24 oz bottles with the sippy top that you can buy from Dasani or Poland Spring water etc, and I keep filling it up. I find that if I drink through a sippy thingy or straw, the water goes fast - and I can keep track of the number of ounces by how many times I fill it up.

Hope this helps

I'm another one of the weird ones. Have always loved water. Haven't had a regular pop for years. Sometimes I will have a diet pop but usually not more that 2-3 month. Many, many years ago I was a diet pepsi junky but even then I drank a lot of water.

I too have a 24oz glass on my desk at work and I fill it first thing when I come in the morning and let the ice melt until it is really cold but doesn't have ice then start in drinking it. Before I know it, it's gone and I start over again. I found that if I let the ice melt before I drink it I will drink more of it over the day.

I guess the biggest thing with me was it was my choice to stop drinking pop and start drinking more water and that really made a difference for me.

Great tips, Jenn... thanks for posting them!

I LOVE water now, but I know it can take awhile to get used to it.
Hmmm... I just had a thought. I have star-shaped ice cube trays. I could make some with lemon or lime in them with a little edible flower on top. I'll make a bunch up for you all...

BUMP

and Ellis -- taking you up on your offer!!! The water cooler here is broke so it doesn't "cool." Warm plain water is even worse than cold plain water!

What a great post! Thanks!!!

I do find that a straw makes things go more quickly.

I can still have my 1 diet coke a day, right? The caffeine gods punish me if I don't.

Sarah

Sarah -- I always have coffee and a Diet Coke or Pepsi a day. I've cut back from anything I drink being Diet Soda so I say I can have one or two a day