Water. Are you getting enough?

As a busy parent, do you think you drink enough water?

Let’s start with  a question:  How much water do you drink every day? Is it enough? Is your health suffering, and the answer is as simple as drinking more water?

I learned how my to tell I was not getting enough water back in my early days as an outdoor instructor. Specifically while hiking, in the summer, in the mountains. It was pointed out to me by a fellow instructor. He commented, towards the end of a long day, that I needed more water. I replied that I had been drinking water all day. To which he tome me it was not enough “because you are getting really grumpy!”.

And you know what? He was right.

The benefits of drinking water are numerous, well documented, and easy to find online. According to Healthline, the evidence-based  health benefits of drinking enough water to suit your individual needs include:

• Water Helps to Maximize Physical Performance: Losing as little as 2% of your body’s water content can significantly impair physical performance.
• Hydration Has a Major Effect on Energy Levels and Brain Function: Mild dehydration (fluid loss of 1-3%) can impair energy levels and mood, and lead to significant reductions in memory and brain performance.
• Drinking Water May Help to Prevent and Treat Headaches: Drinking water can sometimes help relieve headache symptoms, especially in people who are dehydrated.
• Drinking More Water May Help Relieve Constipation: Drinking plenty of water can help prevent and relieve constipation, especially in people who generally do not drink enough water.
• Drinking Water May Help Treat Kidney Stones: Increased water intake appears to decrease the risk of kidney stone formation.
• Water Helps Prevent Hangovers: Dehydration partly causes hangovers, and drinking water can help reduce some of the main symptoms of hangovers.
• Drinking More Water Can Help With Weight Loss: Water can increase satiety and boost your metabolic rate.

For more information about these science-based benefits to drinking more water, check out this article on Healthline. The article is well researched and referenced – I like it.  

Water, or more explicitly staying hydrated, can have some fantastic benefits to the skin as well! As our bodies are made up of approximately 60% water, maintaining that balance is essential to keep our body, and all its parts, functioning correctly. What is interesting about your skin is that it is a place we can see dehydration, in the form of dryness and ageing symptoms.

Does drinking more water stop the ageing process? Of course not! However, it might save you a bit of money in the skincare department.

Speaking from personal experience, with the change of the season causing the temperature to get colder (colder is a relative term here in Western Australia) my skin began to get dry. I started looking at moisturizers, as it seemed I needed a new one! Before I was able to do so, I stumbled upon some information about water and saw a list of benefits. To test this theory of the benefits of water, I embarked on a challenge to drink 3.75  litres of water per day for a week. It seemed like a lot – however that quantity covered the extra water I needed to compensate for coffee and exercise. For those of you who think you do not need excess water for activity – chasing your children at the playground in the sunshine is exercise, and you need more water!

What happened? After three days I was no longer in the market for a new moisturizer.

 Crazy but true.

However, there are challenges to drinking enough water, especially for busy parents. While staying hydrated is even more critical for mum’s who are pregnant or breastfeeding, we tend to de-prioritize our own needs. Often out of necessity – more people to look after means less time to think about yourself. And as we learned above, if you are already dehydrated it might be impacting your brain function!

(that was a bit of a joke….)

First up – how much water should we be drinking? What is the goal?

There is a LOT of information out there. A lot.

How much should you be drinking? Because there is a lot of conflicting information, my suggestion is to do your research, and consult your medical practitioner if you are concerned. Below is the formula I sometimes use to determine how much water I should generally be consuming :

Or, you can use a more straightforward option that I frequently use;   follow the pee chart. Yep, the pee chart. The Australian Kidney Foundation uses this chart as an example of how to use the colour of your urine to see if you are hydrated. This chart works for kids as well, and is much more reliable than trying to calculate how much they should be drinking! From my experience, children of all ages love to check, compare, and discuss the colour of their pee!

For more information about the importance of staying adequately hydrated and how it can impact your health, visit The Australian Kidney Foundation.  

13 Ways to Drink More Water

The following 13 suggestions are ways you can increase your water intake as a  busy parent. I don’t necessarily suggest trying all of them at once – remember what I said about divided focus? Well, we all have other daily tasks then drinking water! It’s about finding what works for you and sticking with it as long as it works for you. And when your circumstance changes, you have different strategies you can adapt.

1. Start early

I read a post recently that suggested waking up an hour before your kids to start your morning routine on the right foot, including water. Now, if you are laughing right now, I feel you. An hour before my kids get up? I am not sure starting my day at 4 am (some days 3:30 am!) would be beneficial to my overall health!

However, you can still start your day with a glass of water. Get ready, leave yourself a glass on the counter, or lemon water in the fridge. When you get up, make it your ritual to drink that glass of water before you do anything else. You might be drinking that first glass while holding the baby, or watching an early episode of Playschool. But if you get this glass down within the first half hour of waking, you will have a fantastic start to the day. More hydrated, but also that feeling of success of from setting and achieving a goal so soon after waking up!  

2. Keep a bottle of water with you at all times.

That includes the car and while out and about. For some people, gulping down a large glass of water all at once can be challenging. If you carry a bottle of water with you, every time you look at it, take a sip. Doing this will decrease the urgency of needing to suddenly rush to the toilet from drinking a full litre in one sitting!

3. Pick foods with high water content

Increasing your water intake does not need to come from drinking water exclusively!

These foods have a high water content:

Watermelon, Strawberries, Cantaloupe, Pineapple, Oranges, Raspberries, Cucumber, Iceberg Lettuce, Celery, Green Peppers, Spinach, Yogurt,  Broth-Based Soup (preferably the homemade variety that is low in salt)

4. Water down fruit juices

If you or your family drinks fruit juice, the form it usually comes in when purchased commercially is very concentrated and high in sugar, even if natural sugar. Watering it down can leave you with a tasty drink, with far less sugar, and much more hydrated!

5. Drink water while your kids eat

If you don’t always eat at the same time as your kids, but do sit with them, this is an excellent time to hydrate! It also might decrease any impatience you have for you slower or messier eaters.

6. Drink before you eat

Having a large glass of water before a meal is a tried and true tip for not just hydration, but to improve digestion and decrease the volume of food consumed. A glass of water before a meal is an excellent strategy if one of your hydration goals includes weight loss.

7. Where possible, swap out caffeinated beverages for herbal tea

For every coffee, caffeinated beverage, or sugary drink, an extra 350 ml of water should be consumed to compensate. That is a lot of liquid! In many cases, it might be easier to cut back on the sugar and caffeine!

8. Find an accountability partner

Do you know anyone else who might want to increase their water intake? No? What about someone who would like to lose weight? More energy? Improved their complexion? Boost immune system? Better digestion? Referring to the list above, do you know anyone who might be interested in those benefits?

When making any change in our lifestyle, an accountability partner drastically increases the likelihood we stick to our goal. While we might be willing to let life get in the way of our own goals when we are accountable to others and their success we are a lot less likely to quit.

How does it work? Check in daily, swap inspiring and uplifting words of affirmation, send progress pics or reports – anything you would like to do to keep you on track.

9. Join a free water challenge

What are these? Hop onto Facebook and have a look. Free water challenges are a great way to have the accountability of having a partner, but with the excitement of a large group sharing the same goal.  

10. Improve the taste of your water

How? Adding fruits and veggies can improve the takes, and let’s be honest here – make it a bit better looking and a lot more fun!

11. Always pack yourself a water bottle when you pack ones for the kids

And be sure to drink from yours every time you remind the kids too!

13. Include your kids and make it fun!

It is my TOP TIP to increase your water intake if you are a busy parent, and the act of parenting itself is getting in the way of this critical element of self-care. Get your kids in on it and make it a game! They might sip for every time you drink 500 ml, but it doesn’t matter. You are drinking more water, while role modelling the importance of being hydrated.

How much water do you drink every day? Are you up for the hydration challenge?

If you like some more information about how to join a water challenge, get in touch!

Looking for some healthy eating tips for families?

Get our Healthy Eating On The Go!