A Gallon a Day

I always thought that I drank enough water to stay hydrated. The amount varied daily, but my rough estimate is that I was consuming 50 ounces of water. My measurement was my always trust worthy plastic water bottle that held 24 ounces. Come to find out, not only is 50 ounces not enough, but I could easily calculate the amount of water I need on a daily basis with a few clicks of the mouse!

A girlfriend of mine told me that her weight-loss goal for the week was to drink at least a gallon of water a day! I know Chris Powell has always said to drink as much water as you can, that it helped with weight loss, but I thought that was because he works out so much! Nope, apparently not. It doesn’t matter whether you work out a ton or not, staying hydrated is one of those things that you just need for overall health and well-being! And if you ever feel “thirsty”..uh-oh, you are already in trouble, as the feeling of thirst is an indication of a later stage of severe dehydration.

So my girlfriend is going to try and follow Chris Powell’s Reshape the Nation advice of drinking a gallon of water daily to stay hydrated, but how much water does a person really need?

In order to find out how much water you need, let’s first start with the amount of water you lose on a daily basis and how..

Water is lost and expelled from the human body through your breath, urine, sweating, perspiration, and bowel movements. All systems combined and the average adult loses approx 10 cups a day by living or existing. All our systems need water to function, and 60% of our bodies are water, so we must replenish what we lose in order to stay healthy. Three common recommended ways to calculate the amount of water are:

Replacement approach- Food usually accounts for 20 percent of your total fluid intake, so if you consume 2 liters of water along with your clean diet, you can replace lost fluids.

Eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day- The “8x8” rule, drink eight, eight-ounce glasses of water a day (approx 1.9 liters). All fluids count, so eight, eight-ounce glasses of fluid can also be used. This is a good rule of thumb to remember, but it’s not scientifically supported.

Dietary recommendations- The Institute of Medicine advises that men consume roughly 3 liters (about 13 cups) of total beverages daily and women consume 2.2 liters about 9 cups) of total beverages a day.

Thanks Chris, I guess visualizing a gallon of water is a good way for me to remember how much water to consume daily too! I’d better get to it!

Comments for "A Gallon a Day"

1. A gallon seems like a lot of water to drink daily, but it is a good goal. Besides weight management, adequate water helps the skin, the eyes, the teeth, and practically most of the systems in our body. I generally eat healthy but I know that I do not drink enough water. Drinking more water should be a national goal.

   Posted by Boston Divorce Lawyer from Boston on 11/03 at 11:37 PM

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