You may already know how to calculate your daily water needs; the question is… Are you drinking it all?
Let’s explore what you need to know to calculate your daily drinking water needs AND how to make it happen every day.
It’s less about the number, and more about making it practical for you to do daily without a thought.
Let’s work out how much water is recommended first.
How To Calculate YOUR Daily Water Needs
We’ve all heard different numbers thrown around.
One website says you need to drink at least 2 litres of water a day, whilst others say you need 3 litres a day. Another often quoted number is 8 to 10 glasses a day.
My practical mind says WTH* what size glass! And what is with this fl oz or fluid ounces?
Another calculation you often hear is half your body weight in pounds in ounces of water. But what does that mean in kilograms and litres?
In reality there is a general range and there are variables including things like how much you are exercising and how hot it is where you are.
I am not going to give you a number for you, rather I am going to show you the tools to work it out for yourself once and for all and then convert that into something that makes sense in your life.
Let’s find out measure that fits for you.
We are going to base it on the WebMd recommendation of drinking “between half an ounce and an ounce of water for each pound you weigh, every day.”
There are a few conversions you may need. I’ll save you the time in googling them, since I did the work myself.
Weight in Kilograms to Pounds (kg to lbs) - multiply your weight in kilograms by 2.20462 (2.2 should do it 😉)
Weight of Water in Fluid Ounces to Litres (fl oz to l) - multiply the water fluid ounces by 0.0295735 (0.03 makes it simpler)
Here is an example of the calculation.
If I weighed 75kg.
Weight in kilograms to pounds: – 75kg x 2.2 = 165lbs
For half an ounce of water per pound of weight a day the calculation is: 165lbs x 0.5 fl oz = 82.5 fluid ounces of water a day.
Now let’s convert that back to litres. 82.5 oz x 0.03 = 2.475 litres
So now we know the lower range for me is around 2.5 litres of water per day.
Great to know. How do I make sure I am getting it?
Converting Your Daily Water Water Needs Into A Useful Measure
Let’s CONVERT that from litres TO WHAT YOU ACTUALLY USE to consume water.
To do this, get the glasses you usually drink water from and the water bottle if you use one.
You need to find out how many litres or millilitres each of them hold.
I’ve just upgraded my water bottle to a litre with measure markings on the side – so that is nice and easy!
I filled up my glass and poured it into my measuring jug to find out that it is 375ml.
So, I can either drink the water as two and half of my water bottle. Or I can drink 2 litres in my water bottle and 2 glasses for good measure.
Everyday, I aim to drink at least 2.5 water bottles of water plus at least 1 glass at bedtime or in the morning.
I hope this practical example helps you not only discover how much water you should be drinking but also helps you a know what that means in terms of the glasses or water bottles you actually use.
And now it is much easier to put it into your routine by working out exactly what combinations of glasses or water bottles worth you need to drink.
Remember if you exercise a lot, or live in a warm climate you may need more.
Cheers to your fulfilling future,
LIVE, LOVE & THRIVE
Angela R
* WHT – What the heck – in case you were wondering! You catch my drift 😉