Hydration Hacks
Hello everyone, it's Karen here. Since summer is right around the corner, we'll be talking about hydration this week. But I wanted to take this opportunity to share a few hydration hacks that work for me and my family - I'll look forward to hearing about your own hacks in class this week!
Hack #1: Everyone has a designated water vessel that works for them.
Except for our two dogs, they have to share a water bowl ;) My daughter and I have stainless cups with a twist-on lid and a straw. My husband makes fun of me by calling it my sippy cup (like a toddler uses!) Oddly enough, I have found that I drink a lot more water if I have a straw. So to each their own. My husband has a stainless steel Tervis that he brings back and forth between home and work. When I was going into the office more frequently, I invested in a second sippy cup that could just keep in the office (I didn't trust myself to remember to bring it in from the car!) My son uses a plastic water bottle with a flip cap (he's a middle-school boy, he's not too picky).
Hack #2: Troubleshoot what's not working.
My daughter is a pretty good water drinker at home, but wasn't drinking water out of the bottle she used to bring to school (I think it had to do with how the water tasted when it warmed up during the day). Some friends told her about the Cirkul bottle, so we invested in one. It has a special cap that allows you to utilize Cirkul-branded flavor enhancers. Most of them do use sugar substitutes, but there is one line that uses only natural fruit flavors. She really likes those and has improved her water intake at school. I have had some clients see success with the HydrateSpark smart water bottle. A little pricey, but hey, whatever works!
Hack #3: Jazz things up.
At the end of the day, my family generally wants some options that aren't just plain water. Sure, there are tons of sparkling waters out there (i.e LaCroix, Buble) that have no calories and are flavored naturally. The problem my family tends to have with these is that they have no sweetness (and they are not wrong!) Two options we have found and enjoy are Spindrift and Momenti. They are both sparkling waters but have a little bit of real fruit juice added to give them just a hint of sweetness (calories range from about 5 to 35 per can, depending on the flavor). If you aren't into bubbly stuff, Hint water is an excellent non-carbonated option.