How to Track Daily Water Intake

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By Joan Haines
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Drinking water is good!

Water and weight loss go hand in hand. Many weight loss programs recommend that you drink more water. Most recommend 8-10 glasses of water every day. But, how do you keep track of how many ounces you’ve had? There are a myriad of ways to count your water drinking.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Step 1

PENNIES

Get 8 pennies. Put them in your right hand pocket. Each time you drink 8 oz. of water, transfer a penny to your left hand pocket. When your right hand pocket is empty, you have had all the water you need for the day.

Some people like to put the pennies right by your sink’s water filter or refrigerator where they fill up on water. Just start a second pile and keep transferring from the right to the left with each 8 oz. glass of water you drink.
Step 2

PAPER AND PENCIL

This is the old fashioned way. Keep a small journal near your water supply, or keep it with you. Every time you drink 8 oz., mark an X next to the day’s date. Of course, you could use a plain piece of paper to do this.

But, then again, you may have a fancy food diary or points tracker that has a special spot for marking glasses of water.
Step 3

ON THE WEB

Use the computer and/or internet to track your water intake. Make your own water spreadsheet or table to fill in to track your intake of water.

Take advantage of the many places to keep track of your water and diet on the web. These include subscription sites like weightwatchers.com, and free sites, like sparkpeople.com and thedailyplate.com.
Step 4

WATER BOTTLE

Buy a water bottle that has ounce markings on the side. Either use a 64 oz. bottle and drink the whole thing throughout the day, or if that much water is too much to carry, get a water bottle that is just 32 ounces, and fill it twice.

Comments

maverickblues said

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on 8/8/2009 The penny trick is a great idea I'm going to use when I'm out and about all day. At home I drink from a 32 ounce insulated hospital mug -- it's translucent and has a scale on the outside, so it's easy to tell how I'm doing. By the way, thedailyplate.com has been incorporated into http://www.livestrong.com/ but is still an excellent resource. Thanks for the helpful ideas!