5 Water Drinking Challenges That Are More Interesting Than 8 Glasses A Day
If you’re still stuck on the idea of drinking eight glasses of water a day to stay hydrated, we don’t blame you.
It’s a hard myth to strike down. Organizations ranging from Healthline and the Washington Post to the New York Times have been publishing stories against it for years now.
Stay Hydrated and Reward Yourself
Staying hydrated is a challenge. But it takes a lot of hard work -- a lot of time -- before you see the results you want. Stay motivated and reward yourself with our In Real Life Achievement IRLA Hydration challenge medals. Get a series of five medals that mark your milestones for drinking more water. As you set more goals and make progress in challenges, your IRLAs give you the motivation to do more and more.
The idea is essentially to drink eight 8-ounce (240-ml) glasses of water (or about half a galon / two liters) each day. The main reason that scientists take issue with it is that it assumes that the only liquid we’re going to get throughout the day is just water. Those eight glasses don’t take into account water-rich foods that we eat, like that juicy slice of watermelon, or other beverages we might drink, like our post-exercise smoothie.
Still, the appeal of drinking eight 8-ounce glasses could be because it’s a bit of a challenge.
To us, though, there are better water drinking challenges than having to keep track of eight glasses a day, every day. Talk about tedious.
We want to freshen up how you think about drinking water, so we’re throwing down some water drinking challenges that will keep you hydrated – and maybe having some fun along the way!
5 Water Drinking Challenges You Won’t Get Tired Of
1. Add Water To Your Wake Up Routine
One of the best ways to take care of your health is to drink water regularly. While this applies to everyone, drinking water can be especially valuable for those trying to lose weight.
For this drinking water challenge, we’re going to put a bottle of water next to the alarm clock. Then as the alarm sounds in the morning, you’re going to kickstart your day with a glug-glug-glug.
Not only does this save you keeping tabs on eight individual glasses, you’ll also start the day feeling fresher!
2. Flavor Your Water Every Day For A Week
If we’re completely honest about why the eight glasses of water solution doesn’t work for us, it’s because it’s boring.
Water is neutral as it is, but can you imagine saying you needed to have eight of any single drink throughout the day? While pineapple juice is a delight, having it eight times is excessive.
For this challenge, you’ll be taking a hint from our recent article about how to make water taste more interesting. Each day for a week, find a way to substitute an ordinary glass or bottle of water with a more flavorful option.
3. Get These Hydration Medals For Sticking To Your Hydration Goals
We’re big believers in the idea of staying hydrated. So much so, we actually invented these medals to help motivate ourselves to drink more water. This IRLA Hydration Pack is a set of coins you’ll unlock for successfully completing these drinking water challenges.
Not only will you feel refreshed after these week and month-long challenges, you’ll also have some swag to show off.
Here are the drinking water challenges involved:
- Drink at least one half-gallon of water every day for a week
- Drink one full gallon of water every day for two consecutive weeks
- Drink one full gallon of water every day for three consecutive weeks
- Drink one full gallon of water every day for a month
4. Water Before Every Meal Challenge
Like developing good habits, sometimes the best drinking water challenges are the ones that you can end up adopting into your everyday routine.
This challenge is to drink a full glass of water *before* your meal. While it’s easy enough to accompany your meal with water, we want to help you increase your intake.
And with water being frustratingly “good for you”, it turns out that drinking water before you eat is also a great way to maintain a healthy weight. In a 2008 study, it was observed that 500ml of water before a meal dropped the calories consumed by 13%.
5. The No-Water Water Drinking Challenge
If you want to go as far away from the eight-a-day water drinking norm as possible, this one’s for you. For this, we’re challenging you to drink NO water today.
No, we’re not trying to dehydrate you so that you finally appreciate water’s true value (we’re not that sinister). Instead, today’s challenge is all about getting water from other sources.
By channeling the tortoise, today is about filling your diet with foods high in water. Taking inspiration from this list by Nourish by WebMD, some popular foods include:
- Cucumber
- Tomatoes
- Watercress
- Apples
- Celery
- Lettuce
- Watermelon
- Peaches
- Broth
- Zucchini
If you still find that you’re thirsty, we’ll even look the other way as you juice some apples and oranges.
(Kidding, of course. If this isn’t working to quench your thirst, you should definitely have a glass of water! This challenge is more about getting you thinking about all the ways we actually get water through our diet.)
DON’T WAIT TILL YOU’RE THIRSTY
You don’t have to be an iconic male model to know water is the essence of life. Celebrate the road to hydration with these IRLAs, which you’ll earn by knocking back refreshing cups of the good stuff and giving back to your body. Water may not be the most exciting drink, but remember this: drinking water regularly helps you think clearly, your skin glow, and gives you more energy. Not a bad start for eight little ounces.
Who wants another round?
