Apart from water, how else do you track drink?

[StadMan]

Hi guys!

Got my new fitbit blaze last night and just working things out.

How do you track the drinks you have apart from water, or is it pointless?!

Thanks.

[smileybrit]

Hi,

I have a fitbit flex and track everything when it comes to food and drink. I think it isnt pointless especially if you want to lose weight. Coffee, tea etc has calories to it and it's useful to see how many calories you are taking in and burning.

[StadMan]

Ok cool...i guess i log it all through logging food section?

[JohnRi]

The only reason to log liquids is that it's amazing so many people don't drink enough every day.  I used to drink probably 60-80 ounces of Diet Coke a day.  Never drank water, and only a glass a milk in the morning was my only other liquid.  I did that for 20-30 years.  I have no idea how my kidneys and liver survived. 

Today I still drink the milk in the morning, but everything else is water.  Giving up soda was hard, but I figured if I was going to do a whole diet change, and getting fit, giving it up made sense too. 

I was able to ween myself off without withdrawal...  BUT I was given a free soda, and two days later crushing headaches from Caffeine withdrawal.  So to those that quit, don't try even one soda!  I'm still feeling withdrawal two weeks later, and it will take another two weeks to clear up completely.  Although the withdrawal is minor at this point. 

But the only reason to track your liquids is to make sure you drink enough.  As for logging all drinks a second time as food, you need to do that if you are tracking your calories.  For example I would log a 12 ounce Coke as a 12 ounces of water.  I would also log it as a 12 once coke for food as that would be 300 calories.

[smileybrit]

I track my coffee, tea etc as food. I will track my water in the fluids section as it has no calories. I am wanting to lose weight and it is a good way of tracking your calories. i agree that we always think we drink more than we actually do. The more fluids the better when exercising.

[Dominique]

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@smileybrit wrote:

Coffee, tea etc has calories to it

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I drink my coffee black and I don’t add anything in tea either, so I count them as water.

[smileybrit]

Hi,

Black coffee and tea still has calories, i suppose if you are not intending to lose weight but just to keep fit it doesnt matter where you log them

[Dominique]

Tea and coffee hardly have any calories:

If you don’t add milk, cream, sugar, honey etc., their energy content is negligible. What you should watch in them is the caffeine content. Caffeine is a known stimulant. It’s good up to a certain amount.

[JonahV]

Same, but be careful on what you are tracking as water. If you are a heavy coffee drinker then you might want to be careful. Coffee is a diuretic, which can cause dehydration. 

[JonahV]

I would get to know the glasses you use around your house and how much fl oz they can hold. If you drink orange juice from the store, like Simply Orange, then you can scan that barcode on the bottle under your "food/ calorie in" tab. I'm not sure how premium works with fitbit, I did the trial but didn't use it when I started the trail (bad decision on my part), but if you want to track your sugar, carb, etc. intake then this will help! 

[Rich_Laue]

Coffee and tea is mostly water, and should be classified as such. The little caffeine has been shown to not have an affect. Drink a couple of 16oz cups of coffee, your pee will be a light yellow,  signifying your plenty hydrated.

 Now how do I classify those two bowls of soup, are stew, vegatables, salads, etc which also has a lot of water that the body can use. A person can take in a lot water in food they don't think about, even that moist chicken breast.

[JonahV]

You can count those in "calories in." I think Fitbit should have an automatic entry for water based foods/drinks. 

[Cindy_Phyfer]

@StadMan Welcome! I got my fitbit for Christmas and I love it. To answer your question, I track all beverages I drink. For water, I use the water tracker. I honestly don't count my coffee and tea as water.  I am losing weight, so I'm going to keep on tracking them as "food". 😄

Green tea has zero calories. Black tea without milk also has zero calories (depending on which black tea I decide to drink). I don't count my Crystal Light right now, as I only use one or two packets a day, which is  a negligible amount of calories (10). At my weight, it's not too much of a big deal as long as I keep losing. 🙂

The longer you use the fitbit food log, the better acquainted you'll be with calories of specific beverages. I have added most of the beverages I drink on a daily basis to my favorites list, so it makes tracking them easier.

Best of luck to you on your journey!

Cindy

[CamsMom]

1. Tea, iced or warm. 

[GoldaT]

Water, tea, coffee, some juices ---- not orange, though ---- are included by me as liquid.  If I just count water, I"m not getting enough liquid as I don't drink 64 oz per day of water anymore.  Trying to get more water into my daily intake though  ---- if I add lemon or lime makes it more drinkable.

[KavnHansMom]

My thought process is that I should only track Water in the water section because any caffeinated beverages deplete your water consumption. How much they deplete your hydration, I don't know, but it can't hurt to flush out my liver and kidneys with some Good, Wholesome water. I will definitely start logging my coffee, Diet Pepsi, and GFUEL separately in the food log, though! I just got my Fitbit HR for Christmas too so, Thanks for all of your positive comments!

[Rich_Laue]

Water is water is water, it doesn't matter where it comes from. 

Coffee, soda, juices, veggies, lettuce, soup, stew, meats, pasta, potatoes, etc.,.

According to a 2004 report by the National Academies of Sciences, the average North American gets about 20 percent of his or her daily water intake through food, and that counts toward healthy hydration.

What is more important 

urine can also tell you whether you're getting enough to drink

The myth about Caffeine and that the tiny amount in coffee will affect the body's ability to take in water is a myth. 

 coffee does not dehydrate you

Georgia teen dies from drinking too much water, Gatorade

The problem is not getting enough water but in in getting to much. Water. 

[Rich_Laue]

@GoldaT look at the color of your pee, is it pale yellow. Your getting all the water you need. 

Is it clear? Your darling to much liquid. 

[Rich_Laue]

Where did the 64 ounces come from? Fredrick Stare back in 1945!!

Why am I so much against the 64 ounce a day? 

I have 3 friends my mother has a 4th. that have ended up in the hospital from drinking to much water! 

The attitude of I'm not counting the 48 ounces of water, the 24 ounces of sports drink and the juice and soup. Then add the 64 ounces of water. 

They are now up to 150-170 ounces of water a day after adding in the veggies, meat etc. 

[Justaguesd]

Hi, just wondering do you just log the lemon water as water on its own ? I have one of those water bottles where you can  put fruit in a separate slot inside the drink and it infuses the water type of thing so just wondering if you just log that as plain water if that makes sense?