Water Consumption

[Joallore]

Hello this is my first post as a member of the Fitbit community. I want to start using the Fitbit more than just counting my steps and begin tracking my daily activities. I want to start with water consumption. What is the proper amount of water to intake daily? What is also allowed under water intake? For example is orange juice or gatorade included? Any info or help would be appreciated. I'm excited to get one area of my dashboard started. 😃

[Katie35 · Accepted solution]

Hi there, I am also new to the fitbit community but hopefully I can help a little. I have read that you want to shoot for half of your body weight in ounces or more per day, so if you weigh 200 pounds you should shoot to drink 100 ounces of water. The fitbit app has a default setting of 64 ounces per day which is 8 ounces 8 times a day. For myself I only count water. I figure that if I drink something else that has calories I am counting those calories and not counting it as water, but I think that is personal preference. I do count the ocassional flavored zero calorie water as water though.

[Ukase]

Everything you drink will have some water in it. So, coffee, tea, soda - soup, stew, veggies, fruits - all of it contains water, so it all counts toward hydration. 

I'm a big guy - and I have a hard time drinking that much water - but if it's in a smoothie, I can handle it. 

"They" say you're supposed to sip water throughout the day, but "they" must have a lot more room and time than I do. And their bodies must relay some sort of thirst signal - I've never felt thirsty in my life - ever. 

[Joallore]

Thank you for the information! That really helps. Much appreciated!

[Dominique]

Not what you asked, but since you mentioned orange juice: one of the first changes I made to my diet 3.5 years ago (after I got my first Fitbit) was stopping to drink juices. Instead, I drink water (mostly in the form of unsweetened tea). Nothing wrong with oranges or other fruits, but it just makes more sense to eat the actual fruits rather than to drink juice extracted from them. Generally speaking, drinking calories is not a good idea, especially if you’re trying to lose weight.

As to your question: the suitable amount of water depends on your size. I personally try to drink 2.5 to 3.0 liters per day. It’s one of the things I don’t use my Fitbit for. Instead, I have a 1 liter teapot. I make tea with it twice a day and drink it away during the course of the day. The colour of your pee is also a good indicator: if it’s almost colourless, you know you’ve drunk enough.

[SunsetRunner]

I drink Crystal Light Peach-Mango Green tea ... I get my fluids in ... I always have a 24 oz tervis w/ me with it. Also, like Dominck noted, your output (urine) tells the tale ... colorless - on target.

Thanks for your advice.

[scarypaper]

I count all fluids to my daily water intake. Sure you can also add some calories if it's juice or something but your body is going to treat the water in the juice the same as ordinary tap water. You don't have to drink 2 liters of exclusively water