How Do You Keep Your Family Hydrated?

Did you know that most of us are walking around dehydrated? I try and remember this during the day so I can make sure my family and I drink enough water but I know that we still have a long way to go. My oldest son is encouraged to take a water bottle with him to school, which I think is great, when I remember to send it.

While the general guideline is to drink 8 glasses of water a day (64 ounces of water), it’s more accurate to base the amount of water you drink on your weight so that you make sure you are getting the right amount of water for your body. As a general rule, you should divide your total body weight in half and drink that many ounces of water. So how do you make sure your family is drinking enough water?

• Use a Water Filtration System – One of the biggest complaints I get from my kids when it comes to staying hydrated is they don’t like the taste of the water (okay, mostly they don’t care but I complain about that). Bottled water is expensive and all those plastic bottles are bad for the environment so a water filtration system is the way to go. Filtrete has a great new water station that filters your regular tap water into 4 reusable water bottles that you can just grab and go. It doesn’t take many cases of water bottles before you recoup your cost on the water station (check out this coupon for the water station) and you’ll likely see your family drinking more water because it is so easy to take your water with you.
• Add Fruit Slices to your Water – Adding a slice of lemon, lime, or even orange to your water can help cover up the taste of your water if you live in an area that doesn’t have great tap water, but it can also give you a boost of vitamins or just a change of flavor to help you drink more water.
• Drink with a Straw – Have you ever noticed that you seem to drink more water when you are using a straw? Try using a straw to sip water throughout the day and increase your water intake. This works really well with kids too who are often willing to drink anything you put in front of them if it comes with a fun straw.
• Take Your Water with You – If you have water available throughout the day you are more likely to drink more of it. Take small sips throughout the day (drinking more if it is hot outside or you exercise). The Filtrete water bottles make this really easy to take great tasting water with you in a bpa free bottle but any reusable water bottle would work.
• Remind Yourself to Drink Water – Just with any other task in your day, you can remind yourself to drink water until it becomes a habit by leaving reminder notes where you will see them or adding it to your to-do list.

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Filtrete and received a gift certificate to thank me for taking the time to participate.”