IoT and big data brought together in commercial use cases

No calories! Free! Life-changing! If you heard these three adjectives in an advertisement, you’d be tempted to Amazon Prime the product ASAP, right? Good news. You can get this product right now, no wait time. Just take a trip to your faucet and turn the knob counter-clockwise. I’m talking about water, friends! If you’ve followed me for a long time, then you know that I don’t believe in nor back “miracle” products, but with water making up 60 percent of our body weight, I’ve changed my tune. Water IS a miracle product. Don’t believe me? Then take a look at everything this liquid does for your body and health:

• Flushes toxins out of vital organs
• Carries nutrients to cells
• Regulates body temperature
• Lubricates and cushions joints
• Aids the digestive system
• Helps the brain manufacture hormones and neurotransmitters
• Protects your spinal cord and other sensitive tissues
• And if you have seen the viral news story floating around about a woman who drank three liters of water a day for four weeks, water can even affect your appearance!

Now that you know the facts, let’s talk about your fill. The Institute of Medicine says the adequate intake for men is roughly 13 cups (3 liters) of total beverages a day and 9 cups (2.2 liters) a day for women. Total beverages? This can include coffee or tea but the majority of your intake (I’m talking 8 cups) should be from water. And if you engage in moderate exercise (not talking about running a marathon!) you should add an extra 1.5 to 2.5 cups of water to your day.

If you have trouble gulping the good stuff, here is my all-time favorite hydration hack! All you need is a water bottle and a permanent marker.

The Best Water Bottle Hack Ever

Step 1: Do your best to find a 32-ounce see-through plastic water bottle or the biggest size you can find. (Mine looks like a glass mason jar , but it’s plastic. Also, I’ve found that I always drink more water if it’s out of a straw.) So why 32 ounces? That means if you guzzle it twice, that’s 64 ounces or 8 cups!

Step 2: Take your permanent marker and write AM on the left side of the top portion of the water bottle and PM on the right side. Then, write “Refill” at the very bottom.

Step 3: Decide how you want to divide your water bottle. I did 7 AM, 9 AM, 11 AM, and noon on the left side. Once I drink all of the water, which should be around noon, I refill it all the way to the top. For my PM water drinking goals, I chose 1 PM, 3 PM, 5 PM, and 6 PM. I work out in the morning, so I don’t tend to drink water late at night. If you work out at night, you might want to make your last time around 8 or 9 PM.

Step 4: Get drinking! Your goal is to reach the line by the listed time. So for 11 AM, you want the water level to be down to that line at that time.

Need more hydration hacks?

Drink lemon water first thing in the morning.Every single morning before I eat or drink anything—and that includes my coffee—I reach for a big glass of lemon water. I squeeze about half a lemon into 12 to 16 ounces of room temperature water and sip. If you get into this habit, that’s 1.5 to 2 cups already crossed off the list before your morning shower! But why lemon water? Read about the five important health benefits here.

Make fruit and herb water for easier gulping.If you need a little flavor in your water in order to chug more, try fruit and herb infused water! Trust me, you’ll find this way more energizing and refreshing than fake flavored waters filled with food dye. This nutrient-packed drink takes less than five minutes to put together and will have you happily refilling your glass all day. Get three fruit and herb water recipes here!