Drink More Water

A goal that is always in the back of my mind is to drink more water. When I drink enough water, I feel calmer, and I also find that I do less snacking/stress-eating. I think this is because I often mistake my body's signals for water as a need for food. Drinking plenty of water keeps my skin looking good,  contributes to a healthy urinary system, helps me avoid headaches, and seems to lead to speedier muscle recovery after work-outs.

On days when I do vigorous exercise, I have no problem drinking plenty of water. On days when I'm working or doing gentler physical activities (walking, yoga), however, I sometimes find that I have gone for 8 hours or more without drinking any water! My goal is to drink at least 1 quart of water every day. That's not really enough water for an active adult, and I'll probably drink more than that, but it seems like a good place to start.

As you can probably guess, I won't be drinking bottled water due to the concerns I have about chemicals used in plastics leaching into food/beverages. Even if you don't believe that drinking out of plastic water bottles is bad for your own health, I would strongly encourage you to watch the documentary Tapped, so that you can get an idea of the environmental impacts that plastic water bottles have in the United Sates. This is a documentary that made me stop and think about my own actions, and realize how easy it is to contribute to real and tangible harm to the planet and people, even when you are trying to do something healthy, like drinking more water. If you, like me, want to increase your water consumption, use a glass or get a safe, reusable water bottle.

 The Klean Kanteen, which is the water bottle I have, is great. It is made of non-toxic stainless steel, which is light and easy to clean, and also has a separate coffee-cup style lid so it doubles as a travel mug (despite the claim on their website that the bottles don't absorb flavors, I do sometimes end up with slightly coffee-flavored water, but that's ok since I love coffee). I already carry it with me pretty much all the time- now I'll just be filling it with water sometimes instead of coffee. If you live in Olympia and want to buy one locally, Compass Rose carries them in a wide range of colors and has a few different sizes available. We also sell beautiful glass water bottles like these at the Co-op, and the people I know who have them love them.