5 Hydration Tips for Cool Weather

People tend to not drink as much water in the winter as they do in the summer, mostly because it's not hot and we don't get as thirsty.  However, it only takes a one to two percent drop in body fluid for a person to become dehydrated, so by the time you feel thirsty, you're probably already reaching the point of dehydration.  No matter if you're raking leaves or running a marathon, you need to stay hydrated. Here are some hydration tips for cool weather.

Bonus - Drinking lots of water is also a huge part of weight loss and fitness.  And if you're anything like me and counting every single fine line on your face, water is even more important. The more hydrated you are, the less those wrinkles show.

1.  Set a daily water intake goal.  Experts recommend filling an 64 ounce bottle with water at the beginning of your day and making it your goal to finish it by the end of the day.  Probably sooner than the end, since you don't want to have to get up 5 times to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

2.  Warm it up.  Water is the same if it's warm or cold, and you can warm it up and add some oranges, tangerines, or cranberries to it for extra flavor.  It also looks really pretty that way.

3.  Know your seasonal sweat rate.  Get our your pencil for this one.  It requires a little math.  Weigh yourself undressed, then exercise for an hour (I know that part sucks), then weigh yourself again.  Now subtract your post exercise weight from your pre-exercise weight and multiply the result by 16.  That is how many ounces of fluid you lost.  You can also make it a little bit simpler and decide that for every 15 minutes of exercise, you should drink 4 ounces of water.  That's a LOT of water you're losing in an hour.  Your activity level, the temperature, and what you're wearing can all make this rate vary.  For example, you're probably doing a lot less sweating in the little black New Year's Eve dress than you are in your flannel pajamas.

4.  Check the bowl.  I don't even like talking about this because we all know about my aversion to bodily fluids, but if your urine is dark, you need more water.

5. Consider drinking an electrolyte-enhanced alkaline water.  This is probably one of my best hydration tips for cool weather. The health community believes that disease and infection have a harder time living in an alkaline environment.  Therefore you should drink more alkaline, high-pH water like Essentia to neutralize acid levels and keep your body in top condition to fight off winter colds and flu better.

Essentia water is committed to producing purified and electrolyte enhancing water.  The difference between Essentia and other bottled waters is that Essentia removes the acidic water clusters via ionic separation and increases the alkaline earth minerals, resulting in a pH of 9.5.  If you're not a scientist, this means that they take out the bad stuff and put in more of the good stuff, so that you're not drinking just plain water, or water that has been chlorinated by the city or town you live in.  It's water sourced from the best places on earth, and then purified and enhanced with more good stuff.

Now for my thoughts.  The packaging is awesome.  It's very attractive, and honestly, when I open my fridge, it looks like I have 6 bottles of Vodka in there.  Which I totally don't mind.  I received 6 bottles of water to try, and the two largest were a little crushed when I got them.  The tops were bent.  They didn't leak though, and I just popped them back into shape.  I'm not going to say it's Essentia's fault, because it's the holiday season and everything is getting crushed.  I swear the postal workers have package stomping parties this time of year.

There are different varieties available - 1.5 liter, 1.0 liter, and the 20 oz sport top (which I'm drinking as I type).  It is seriously the best tasting bottled water I have ever had. I've lived in places with well water my entire life so bottled water tastes gross to me.  It's like drinking plastic.  This stuff tastes as good as my well water and it's better for me.  I'm trying not to go for the second bottle right now or I'll be up all night in the bathroom. (See #1).

For water that is this good, it's pretty competitively priced.  The 20 oz sport top is $1.19-$1.59, the 1 liter is $1.79 to $2.29, and the 1.5 liter is $2.29-$2.69.  It's available in many natural food stores, and at some grocers, including Publix and Safeway.  In my case, none of the stores it's available in are anywhere near me, so I'll be getting mine on Amazon.

You can find more about Essentia water at essentiawater.com.

Do you have any hydration tips for cool weather?

I was sent a sample product by Essentia.  Opinions are 100% my own.