Water, soda, juice, electrolytes, sodium, sugar, etc., etc., etc. It's enough to make your head spin! Here's the simple ~ water is the best liquid to drink. Period. We are mostly water. Water runs through our blood, our muscles, our soft tissue, our brains.... it's everywhere in our bodies! Coke don't cut it. Nor does juice. Would you eat 5 oranges at one time? Of course not. And juice (unless made in a vita mix), loses it's fiber. Drink water.
Conventional wisdom says start with half your body weight in ounces. So if you weigh 150 pounds, drink 75 ounces. That sounds like a lot, I know. But if you break it into 8 oz servings throughout the day, it's easy to do. Drink your first glass as soon as you rise in the morning, yes, even before coffee! Only 8 glasses to go! One caveat, it's not good to drink water (or other beverages) with meals, as it dilutes your digestive liquids making digestion less effective.
You will find, after a week or so, it's not as hard to drink that much water as you thought. Also, you might find that you're less achy, and even have more energy! Keep water in a thermos in your car if you're on the road a lot. Keep a glass at your desk. Don't think you can keep track of trips to the drinking fountain. Measure the water out into a glass. That's the only way you'll know you're getting enough.
