Let's form a habit of... drinking water!

Best way to form a habit is with a routine: drink a glass when you wake up, a glass with each meal, a glass in between meals, and be sure to drink before, during and after exercise. Try to generally keep yourself from getting thirsty.

• Carry a bottle:  A lot of people find it useful to get a big plastic drinking bottle, fill it with water, and carry it around with them all day. You could keep a glass of water at your desk, and drink from it all day long. When it's empty, fill it up again, and keep drinking.
• Set a reminder:  Set your watch to beep at the top of each hour, or set a periodic computer reminder, so that you don't forget to drink water.
• Substitute water:  If you would normally get a soda, or an alcoholic beverage, get a glass of water instead. Try sparkling water instead of alcohol at social functions.
• Filter:  Instead of spending a fortune on bottled water, invest in a filter for your home faucet. It'll make tap water taste like bottled, at a fraction of the price.
• Exercise:  Exercising can help make you want to drink water more. It's not necessary to drink sports drinks like Gatorade when you exercise, unless you are doing it for more than an hour. Just drink water. If you're going to exercise, be sure to drink water a couple hours ahead of time, so that it will get through your system in time, and again, drink during and after exercise as well.
• Track it:  It often helps, when forming a new habit, to keep track of it – it increases awareness and helps you ensure that you're staying on track. Keep a little log (it can be done on an index card or a notebook), which can be as simple as a tick mark for each glass of water you drink

(Image provided by Buncombe County.)

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