Water equals life. The only and original fountain of youth, how hydrated you are affects your health, the shininess of your hair and softness of your skin. So rather quickly a lack of it can drastically affect you inside and out.

A perfect example of this was during the summer when my sister and I were caring for our sunflower. We were supposed to water it every day before heading out to do whatever activity that we had planned, but eventually we started slacking off. Two days later we checked on our beloved sunflower again, only to find that the petals were wilting and the leaves weren't as green as usual. Feeling ashamed we quickly watered it before we left and prayed that life would return to the poor sunflower. Three hours later, we returned to find it looking healthier than it was ever.

Water has more healing properties besides bringing plants back from the verge of death. As you know, a large percentage of our bodies is composed of water, and so it's essential to our overall functioning. Seeing as we lose some through tears, sweat, saliva, etc., it's important to replenish your stores in order to stay in shape. The more you sip, the more it replenishes your muscles and the more your kidneys to filter any waste from your body fluids, keeping your inside and outsides looking fresh. It's an excellent and natural way to flush out toxins from your system, ensuring for great and healthy skin.

Sipping H2O is also a natural way to reduce the amount of food that you eat. Sometimes when I feel slightly hungry, it's mainly because I'm thirsty. Like the sunflower, after a cup or two I'm feeling a whole lot better and more energized. Drinking a glass of water before a meal also helps to curb your hunger and makes you eat less than you usually would. H2O also has a powerful affect on reducing the amount of sweets you eat too. There are days when a craving for something sweet, turns into a whole meal devoted to the sugariest, stickies treats available. On days like those, drinking water after the second or third treat, helps to cleanse the pallet and get rid of the craving. 

I know that it's not the tastiest drink out there (if I could power my body on lemonade I would), but it is essential. So, in order to help you become the healthiest you can be, here are a few simple way to drink more water.

Drink Tea 

Tea is filled with health boosting properties, which makes it a perfect way to up your intake of H2O. However, in order to reap in the benefits from the tea itself and the water, you are going to have to either not put sugar in it or use a minimal amount of sweetener (try honey instead of sugar). 

Use an App

There's an app for anything and everything. As more people are trying to stay hydrated, there are more application available to make drinking water easy and fun. Two of my favorites are Plant Nanny for the ease and cuteness of the plants, and Fitbit for the look of the interface and the ability to record all of my health information in one place. 

Infuse your water with fruits

I love adding a bit of lemon juice to my water whenever I drink. If you like to add whole fruits like oranges or berries, there are tons of bottles available with specialized fruit infusing compartments which make giving your water a fruity punch a breeze.

Bring it with you

If you keep a water bottle with you wherever you go, you have no excuse to not drink it when you get thirsty. Even if you run out, water fountains are available almost everywhere helping you to save money and your skin.

Drink with your meal

When you sit down to eat your meal, drink a glass before you take a bite of anything. Like I said previously, it will help to reduce the amount of food you eat and allows you to add a few more milliliters to your daily H2O intake.

Buy a funky bottle

There's nothing like cute accessories to make even the most mundane tasks more fun to handle. Putting your water in a funky bottle or special glass will motivate you to drink more of it.

Fruits and veggies

Most fruits and vegetables are mostly composed of water, so snacking on foods like carrots, watermelon or cucumber can help boost your H2O intake.


P.S. Check out this article for more information on the benefits of water.

P.P.S Read my article on Plant Nanny here.

How do you stay hydrated? What's your favorite drink?