It's the little things: Take 1

So here's my attempt at trying something I hope will be a recurring thing around here. I want to share some of the little things that work for me and my family. Hopefully, some of them can be adapted to your situation.

To start it off, I want to talk about...

Water! 

Source

It's not the most exciting thing in the world, but we drink a lot of it in our house. My son, now two and a half, never really did the whole milk thing after he was weaned at eleven months. He liked yogurt so we did that but just gave him water to drink. Now he drinks H20 more or less continuously all day. Even his teachers comment to me that he drinks a lot of water. It's not that we completely restrict other beverages, we just usually offer water first and he goes for it. Before bed, we usually give him the option of a "night night drink", which is warmed vanilla rice milk, or apple juice and he gets about 6-8oz of either but not both. And then asks for more water when he's done. At least we never have to worry about him being dehydrated!

For me personally, I have found two things that help me drink more fluids throughout the day. The first is to have a water bottle with me at all times that's easy to drink out of. I recommend one with minimal lid flipping or unsnapping and a large enough capacity that you don't have to refill it constantly. My favorite water bottle actually came as a new patient freebie from my dentist and I take it with me all the time, especially when I'm out running errands. If I have a filled water bottle nearby, I unconsciously sip at it during the day. The second thing that helps me stay hydrated is tea. I am kind of a self-proclaimed tea snob. Like food, I don't believe in drinking bad tea when there is so much delicious tea out there. My husband on the other hand, despite being born and raised in the South, hates all kinds of tea. His loss! Anyway, I drink anywhere from 3-6 cups of tea a day at work. I figure the tea, in combination with my water bottle, means that I drink more than enough fluids. It also means I have to step out to the bathroom more often than I'd like, but part of that is also bad genes from my mom and the result of having two kids. I figure being hydrated is worth it and besides that, I like the idea of flushing the junk out my body and letting my body detox naturally that way. To combat getting up during the night, I generally only drink 1-3 cups from the time I leave work until the next morning so by the time I go to bed, I'm hydrated but not overly so, if you know what I mean.

Don't like water? Try adding berries, citrus or sliced cucumber to your water to give it a little flavor and just refill the water throughout the day, reusing the fruit.

Need bubbles? I've heard good things about carbonating machines like the Soda Stream, which I have not personally tried. I also like the La Croix Pure when I want a little fizz but they can be expensive so you wouldn't want to drink them all the time.