Try This 7-Day Water Tracking Challenge. Are You Ready?

I often get asked, “Luke, what is the elixir of good health? Is it a beverage, a concoction, a vegetable juice, a smoothie, or a kadha?” The answer was, is, and will always be the same. And most of you may have guessed it already. It is H20. Water.

You can live without food for a while, but without water, most human beings will die in less than 3 days.

Today I want to share a simple exercise to practice while drinking water that can be a game-changer if you master it. I tried it and now want you to give it a shot too.

What is this exercise?

On one particular Monday, I decided to start tracking my water intake. My body needs 14 glasses on the days I work out intensely. On other days, anywhere between 10 to 12 glasses work for me.

8 to 12 glasses are perfect for most people unless your doctor has advised you to be on a water restriction due to a kidney condition.

Remember, the water that you drink during your workouts does not count.

Why? Because that is just replenishing what you lose when you sweat during our workouts.

I decided to track the water because I have also been dry fasting from 6.30 PM to 10 AM. It meant I had to get my 12 to 14 glasses between the time I break my fast and start fasting again.

On Day 1, by the time it was 4 PM, I was only up to 7 glasses. It took me a couple of days to reach my target requirement. It was only on Day 6 that I hit 12 glasses.

What is the point of doing this?

My point is most of us get so busy with work and life that we think we are drinking sufficient water when we are not.

Your challenge is to start tracking your water intake.

Track every glass as you have it. And check if you are meeting your water target. I can assure you: most of us are not.

I even made some of my patients do this. And many of them said, “Luke, I thought I was drinking enough water, but I am way below the amount of water I am supposed to drink.”

How to track your water?

Tracking by the glass

• Write it down on a piece of paper or in your journal.
• Or download an app on your phone.
• Track every glass for the next 7 days.

Tracking by the bottle

• If you do not want to do it by the glass, another way to track your water intake is something I used to do, and am slowly going back to practicing again.
• Keep 3 bottles of water (approx. 3 liters). It will hold about 12-13 glasses.
• And at the end of the day, those 3 bottles should be empty by the end of your day, preferably by sunset.

NEWSFLASH: COFFEE IS NOT COUNTED AS WATER

One of the biggest mistakes that people make is overdoing coffee and thinking it is hydrating your body just because it is a liquid. Coffee is a diuretic that flushes water out of your system through your urine. Which is why I have one rule. If you have one cup of coffee, follow it up with one cup of water immediately.

What can you count as water or hydration?

• Tea
• Vegetable juices
• Soups

Why is tracking important?

Think of it like this. Successful businesses measure and track every dollar and every rupee. Similarly, you need to track every glass you are drinking. When you do this, you build discipline with what you are supposed to do. Most of us work and live in air-conditioned environments. Just because you do not feel thirsty, doesn’t mean your body isn’t dehydrated.

Patients undergoing chemotherapy, radiation, or any heavy medications need their water intake to be perfect because it acts as a medium to flush out toxins.

Many teenagers today are deficient in water and struggling with acne. While acne can happen due to several reasons including hormonal imbalances and eating habits, lack of water is one of the main reasons in most cases. Once we help them build the discipline of hydrating and tracking their water intake, their skin starts clearing up.

Common mistakes to avoid

Another common mistake you need to avoid is – if you forgot to drink water during the day, you drink a liter and a half at once. It’s not a good idea to drink too much water at one time. You will stay awake all night making multiple visits to the restroom to pee.

Plan to have one glass an hour or every 30 or 40 minutes and you should be able to reach your water target well before sunset.

Do this well, and let me know how it helped you.

What happens when you are dehydrated?

If you are dehydrated even by one percent it affects every single function in the human body. Let me elucidate this with a case that came to me.

This was about 2 years ago. A 42-year-old woman who consulted with me had severe migraines. She had absolutely no other health issues. Her blood parameters were good, vitamin B12, D3, magnesium, iron, and ferritin levels were all in the normal range. She was sleeping well at night and had no constipation or vertigo either. Migraines are multifactorial, and some of these factors can trigger them.

When we delved further, we realized she was drinking less than three glasses of water in a day! What she needed was not a program but just adequate water.

We asked her to start tracking her water intake and make the effort to meet it. By 7 days, she was up to 10 glasses, and guess what? Her migraines disappeared.

Even a one percent drop of water in your system will affect everything from how your skin and hair look to your ability to lose weight.

When we are low on water, our body tries to hold on to whatever little water we drink. In most cases, this happens, if you don’t have any other issue that’s causing your water retention like a kidney problem, diabetes, or a combination of high blood pressure and diabetes.

Your body holds on to water because every single of the trillions of cells in your body requires water as a medium to carry out their respective functions. So, stay hydrated and track your daily water intake. Make a lifestyle out of it.

For those of you who are curious if there is a right or wrong way of drinking water, check out my blog on the art of drinking water here.

Keep winning.

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