How to Enjoy Drinking Water

Society has been told time and time again, one key to attaining optimal health is to drink eight glasses of water (or more) daily. Eight glasses of H20 coupled with a properly balanced diet can help people lose weight, stay fit and feel healthy. However, many individuals have several drawbacks when it comes to imbibing that seemingly unrealistic quantity of water: it doesn't taste "good" and can be very boring to drink. Many new products have been recently introduced to consumers that are used to flavor the "boring" beverage as well as adding in valuable nutrients. These products can be used at home or on-the-go, which just might help the water-avoiding individuals to reach that eight-glass-a-day goal.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Bottled or Filtered Water
• Flavor Packets
• Variety of Fruit and Berries
• Ice Cube Tray
• Motivation

1. Do you find yourself walking over to the vending machine to buy a sugary soda-pop or cola drink as you work? It is time to cut the soda habit and work on drinking, and enjoying, nice and refreshing H20.
2. Decide what flavors you prefer. Do you enjoy citrus, berry, sweet or lightly flavored?
3. Go to your local grocery store, convenience store, retail chain or discount merchandiser and go to the beverage or baking aisle. There are new displays of "singles" packets produced by companies such as Gatorade, Crystal Light, True Lemon/Lime/Orange, Wylers, Kool-Aid, South Beach and other popular drink mix brands. There are also products such as Zip-Fizz which provides the water with carbonation that you may crave when cutting the soda out of your diet.
4. Pour the singles packet into an individual sized bottle of water. Replace the cap and shake vigorously.
5. There are alternatives to the pre-packaged water-flavor powders: the most basic and natural of these are fresh fruit and berries! Drop in your favorite berries, dice up tropical fruit or squeeze in some fresh citrus to liven up your water.
6. Berry infused ice cubes You can even create your own berry or fruit-infused ice cubes. When creating the cubes squeeze in the juice or place the berry inside the ice-cube tray prior to freezing. Berries are full of antioxidants and citrus is full of vitamin C; this will help make your water taste better not to mention help you on your way to becoming more healthy.
7. Alternate between the flavored water, water with fruit juice and regular water 4-5 times per day and you will be able to drink your 8 servings without getting bored.

Tips & Warnings

• It may be difficult to cut out soda instantly, so try replacing every other soda with a flavored water
• Keep a case of water next to your desk at work so you are not tempted to get up and head to the vending machine
• Try the different flavors and brands- they might not all work for you, but you might find a favorite that will help you kick the soda habit
• Drink plenty of water while maintaining a balanced diet
• Water imbibed in too large of quantity in a short amount of time can be dangerous