How To Drink More Water: 10 [Creative] Hacks For Hydration

If you guys know me and what I’m allllllll about over here on The Foundation Blog, you’ll know the focus of the blog is about incorporating foundational everyday aspects of wellness into your life intentionally...and committing to them. Often we can get so swept up in the small details and the little fads in the wellness space, but really? If we focus on the main core things (sleep, nutrition, exercise, hydration) you’ll be amazed at how much falls into place.

And on the internet and social media, one of those “foundational” aspects of wellness that gets VERRRRY overlooked? Hydration. Hardly anyone talks about it.

But in reality, water is involved in every. single. reaction. in our bodies, including the functioning of all of our organs (didya know your brain is about 80% water?), the makeup of our cells, the fluid of our blood. We are literally made of water. and we *literally* NEED proper hydration to function.

Dehydration is correlated with headaches, brain fog, premature aging of the skin, difficulty with weight management, dry hair, UTIs, compromised immunity, low energy, difficulty concentrating, sluggish digestion…. Um, don’t sign me up for any of that plz.

Safe to say, water is SO important— buuuuuut as a society we are chronically dehydrated. (womp, womp wommmmp)

The good news? It can be super easy to get sippin’ and keep your hydration on track! In this post, I’m going to give you some realistic hydration tips that I hope you’ll find easy to implement and stick with. Improving your hydration (and your overall health!) is as simple as choosing 2-3 of the following that feel most aligned with you, and then COMMIT to do them consistently for a week, and maaaaaaaaarveling at how different you feel.

….because something tells me if you opened this blog post, you are interested in making proper hydration into a true habit— and it’s time to MAKE IT happen. Let’s do it!

1) First things first...how much water should you drink?

There can be a lot of confusion on how much water is “enough”, and there isn’t necessarily a precise answer. Some people say eight glasses, some people drink a gallon. The “golden rule” has always been 8, 8oz glasses throughout the day

…but I kinda think that’s bologna. I just don’t think hydration is the place for a cut-and-dry rule when we are all individuals with our own hydration needs. Because let's be honest: How can 2 people with completely different body sizes, builds, hobbies, environments, and lifestyles require the same amount of water?

How much water YOU need can depend on a lot of factors (having a physically-demanding job, being pregnant, breastfeeding, living in a hot climate, endurance athlete, etc.), but what I like to use as my rule of thumb is dividing your body weight in pounds by two and then drinking that amount in ounces (so if you weigh 200 pounds you’d drink 100 ounces of water, if you weigh 150 pounds you’d drink 75 ounces of water, and so on). This is just a general starting place, but I’ve found it works really well with my patients!

2) Start sippin’ straight away.

In the morning, right after you wake up, reach for water. Yup— that’s right— before you even have your coffee (gasp!), green juice, smoothie, anything...have a biiiiiiiiiig glass of water (bonus points if you optimize it with the LMNT electrolyte mix or my morning hydrating elixir to REALLY get the hydration bang-for-your-buck!).

But even if it’s just plain old water, you’re doing suuuuch a great thing for your bod. It’s SO important to rehydrate first thing in the morning. Like, truly. Sleep is actually quite dehydrating for the body, so as soon as you wake up you’re starting off from a dehydrated place — and if you don’t start your day with water, you’re kind of starting behind. 

I would say if you do even ONE thing from this list— start with this step. I think this is one of the most impactful (and noticeable) things you can do for hydration, so commit to it and make it easy for yourself! Whether it’s pouring the water the night before and having it on your nightstand, leaving it sitting out on the kitchen counter, or however you need to prompt yourself, make sure that big glass of water is ready first thing! Chug a big ol’ glass of the water first thing ever morning for a week and take note of any shifts you may feel! (improved digestion, increased energy, more stable hunger levels, etc.)

(Psssst: since we are on the topic, I always get asked what type of drinking glass my AM lemon water is in on my Instagram stories (like, actually… I really do get asked) and HERE are the glasses I use— this one and this one are my big mama XXXXL water/smoothie glasses and then these drinking glasses are the ones we use for everyday drinking (we get so many compliments on these!). These are the reusable straws I use :)

^^This is what I personally drink first thing everyyyyy AM. If you want the full scoop, check out this post.

3) Get a reusable water bottle (i like these specific ones)

Am I the only person in the world that has a weird emotional attachment to their water bottle? hahahahha. It goes with me to the gym, to work, on vacation, running errands… everywhere! One time I lost my sticker-covered hydroflask that I had had for years, and I TRULY got a little emo about it. It was like… a friend. (hahahaah, I cannot believe I just typed that)

SooOOOOOooo whether or not you get into your ~feelings~ about your inanimate object water bottle, having a reusable water bottle can be sooooooo helpful in reminding you to drink water throughout the day! It’s a LOT easier to get your ounces in, if you can easily refill your water bottle out in public instead of just stopping for 1 quick sip at a water fountain. I recommend a stainless steel option or glass (I tagged my favs below) Note here— a lot of plastic ones have BPAs or harmful chemicals in them. Even beyond water bottles, in general— i REALLY recommend not eating or drinking out of plastic whenever you can help it due to the toxins & microplastics.

But! Regardless of the type you get, snag one you love and carry it everywhere. 

This is not only sustainable for the environment because you’re not using disposable water bottles every time, but it’s is more affordable than repeatedly buying plastic bottled water.

Having a water bottle with you all the time can also serve as a great reminder — it’s a lot easier to drink water if you have it with you in the car, at work, on the run, running errands...everrrrrrrrrrywhere. If it’s there, you’ll drink it! Another thing you could do is get one of these water bottles that have different time stamps on them throughout the day. I don’t personally use one of these (as many are plastic), but I know they can be really motivating if you’re someone who struggles to stay consistent and drink water throughout the day, so I wanted to pass it along (I found a BPA-free one below!).

Grab yourself a reusable bottle you love, fill it up, … and fill it again & again & again, and it’ll soon be your trust hydration sidekick!

4) try out these little drink packets

People often ask me what I think of Liquid IV for optimizing hydration through electrolytes…. (an awesome idea, but take a peek at ALL that sugar…. no thank you.) or people want to know what I think about powerade/gatorade (again, right idea, but I don’t loooove all the fake ingredients and artificial colors).

….But thennnnn, I found LMNT and all of my hydrating & electrolyte supplement dreams came true. Think of it like a clean ingredient Powerade. Simply dilute in water, stirrrr it up, start sippin’, and reap all the hydrated wonderment! The taste is great (i dilute it a bit more than the directions say), it doesn’t have allllll that sugar like LiquidIV does, and it is made with optimized ratios of the electrolytes for maximum absorption. I bought these on a whim this spring, and weeellllllp I am obsessed. Adam is too. A hydration GAME CHANGER. We both have about 1 packet every day. As always, this isn’t sponsored, but just a product I TRULY love & spend my own money on (It is literally the ONE item that I have on auto-shipment programming because I never want to run out, ha!)

5) Set reminders to take a sip

It sounds simple: Drink more water.

…BUUUUT, If we're honest, it's easy to get so wrapped up in our day that that we just forget to hydrate. We think "later," and then all of a sudden it’s 4 p.m., dealing with brain fog, your pee is bright yellow, and you realize you haven’t had a sip in hours. Big yikes.

^^that is what we are trying to avoid with this step.

If you’re bad at drinking water, set a reminder on your phone a few times a day! It can be as simple as “take a sip” or “fill up your water bottle,” or you could make it a time to schedule a little affirmation, like “I am a steward of my health! Today, I WILL drink enough water.” Whether you write it on a post it note, set reminders on your watch, program your phone, google calendar, whatever you gotta do— make it happen!  

The secret is doing it until it feels less like a chore and more automatic. And research has long confirmed that habits are formed through the repetition of a simple act. We all want to drink water, but clearly something's getting lost in translation.

Sooooo, SHAMLESS plug, but it’s literally perfect for this. If you are really wanting to make your hydration into a HABIT, I highly recommend setting you intention and tracking your progress here, with my Habit Tracking Sheets. For example, each day that you hit your water goal or drink a big glass of water first thing in the morning, you’ll shade in your box and watch your progress unfold. It’s weirdly addicting, I promise! hahahah. Click the image below to learn more!

6) Stay hydrated on a night out. 

Okay, there’s a lot of debate over whether we can “count” different beverages towards our water goal (tea, coffee, sparkling water, etc.). In general, I consider tea & sparkling water just fine— but I never count things like juice, alcohol, etc. One hydration tip that can be really helpful is to mix one glass of water per alcoholic drink. If you’re having a night on the town, I’d suggest alternating between alcohol and water: have a drink, have some water, have a drink, have some water. This keeps you hydrated (annnnnnnd hopefully feeling better the next day). This is a great way to negate the dehydrating impacts of alcohol.

7) Optimize your hydration!

Hydration isn’t always just about drinking more water, it’s about *how* the water is being absorbed. There are a lot of ways to do this, whether it’s adding chia seeds to your water, a packet of natural electrolytes, a pinch of sea salt, or a squeeze of lemon, there are a ton of great ways to help your body actually ABSORB what you drink and not just have it flush through. (Head on over to this blog post where I totally broke down this idea & gave simple ideas on how to optimize your hydration!) .

If you want to really dive deep on this topic, I HIGHLY recommend the book Quench by Dr. Dana Cohen. I am a self-proclaimed hydration goddess, and I STILL learned a ton of new information on optimal hydration.

8) Get a little zesty with it!

“but, Kate, what if I just don’t LIKE water?” Listen, sister. I get it. Water can be kind of blah.

… But, that’s not an excuse ;)

There are SO many ways to jazz it up. This may be especially helpful in the beginning stages of your hydration journey as you get used to having water be a more regular drink in your life. Add some lemon, mint, blood orange, basil, lime, grapefruit, cucumbers...there are soooooo many ways to add flavor to your water. Customize it, mix it up (toss in one of these LMNT hydration packets…), have a sparkling water, and truly make it yours. If it’s just the *taste* of water that’s a roadblock for you, there are so many solutions—don’t let that stop you, just get creative! Simply invest in a few fruits, veggies, and herbs at the beginning of the week and let that add some zest to your water. Making water more exciting (and delicious) can be a MAJOR key in forming the habit to hydrate more frequently. A bit of intention & some fun ingredients & you’ll soon want to reach for water, I promise!

9) Eat your water (say whaaaaa?)

This one is kind of weird, but you can eat your water to increase your hydration. A lot of foods allow us to absorb water better because they contain fiber and other micronutrients that help pull water into cells: watermelon, cucumber, lettuce, a lot of fruits, and soups are all options of foods that have a higher water content. Being intentional about the food you eat can have a big impact on your hydration—without even drinking any water! 

10) find your hydration sweet spot

We have talked a lot about being dehydrated, but it IS possible to be over hydrated too. It’s really about finding that ~sweet spot~ that’s unique to you. The best way to do this? Check out your pee! The ideal hydration status is a light yellow urine hue. If it’s darker yellow, you’re not drinking enough— but if it’s clear, you’re drinking too much and your essentially just dumping water. This sign is super easy to watch for— so just notice & adjust as needed until you get the light yellow beautiful huuuuue!

In conclusion…

Water is sooooooo easy to put on the back burner, but really committing to it DOES impact our mood, weight, hunger levels, and concentration. Water truly impacts EVERYYYYY area of our health, and it deserves to be prioritized! I encourage you this week to pick 2-3 of the things on this list, COMMIT to them for a week, and pay attention to how you feel. And tag me on Instagram so I can cheer ya on! I’m truly so passionate about hydration, and if you’re reading this I hope you know I’m proud of you for taking the first step to uplevel your hydration game. Go forth and get sippin’ my friends! 

(….and brownie points if you set down this blog post right now & go pour yourself a glass of water in this moment. Cheers to your new healthy habit!)

hydration starter pack

there’s more where that came from…