This is my downfall - I think water tastes nasty - I don't know why - but it does. So, will it still count as water intake if I flavor it with some sugar free Tang?

p.s. I am talking bottled water - our city water is really bad.

Sorry, it really needs to be plain water. Bottled if you need it to be, but plain bottled water! You'll get used to it. We ALL DID!


Heather

Atkins permits fresh lemon or lime juice during the Induction phase of the program, so you might try adding a slice to your glass of water. Just remember that lemon/lime juice has carbs, 2.8g per fl oz (2 Tbsp or 30 ml).

Doreen

Asked this ? to someone that does Atkins too because my downfall although I have lost a ton of weight on Atkins is also the water but apparently your body has to metabolize anything that is added to water, therefore having to work harder. So guess the answer is nothing like plain ole water BUT I have lost a ton of weight and never gained back one pound to date and still am losing...without all the water intake. I drink a ton of Chrystal Light and such....It may depend on the person but I don't see a problem with adding some suger free tang to your water...try it for a few weeks with the tang..then try it without and see if it makes a difference..Let us know :-)

If you are drinking your water ice cold, you may want to try switching to room temp water. I found it much easier to take than cold water.

You will actually get used to drinking water after a while. In fact, you will get THIRSTY for it. Strange but true.

Some simple water strategies that might help:

1. Find an old juice pitcher and mark the outside with masking tape or permanent marker to the 1 and 2 litre level. Fill the pitcher. It's easier to keep track of your water by how many pitchers you drink rather than how many glasses

2. Instead of taking a sip from a glass, make a target of taking 3-5 good big gulps every time the glass hits your lips. You will be amazed at how fast you go thru water every day, and a few big gulps isn't really that bad.

3. When you take your supplements, start with a full glass of water. Use a good gulp for each pill, then finish the glass when all the pills are gone. Presto, there's one glass down the hatch each time you take supplements. If you take supplements 3 times a day, then that's 3 glasses gone.

Oh, one other little trick. Drink from a straw. It works!

later,
Heather

Okay - I am going to do the mark on the pitcher idea and possibly the straw idea. I marked my pitcher for 88 oz. so that I can get the 64 oz. plus the 24 oz. for each 25 lbs. I want to loose. Wish me luck on getting it down today.

I had a great deal of trouble with water, too. It's just been in the past two weeks that I can easily drink three liters. I drink flavored seltzer water that comes in 1 liter bottles. I put 3 liters in the fridge every night so it's cold the next morning. (I work at home.) That way, I know how I'm doing. As in all things, taste is so personal -- I just don't like room temperature water. I live in a city where the pipes are always threatening to burst, and our last Mayor made the immortal statement, when little creepy things were being found in the drinking water, "Those pipes were laid 100 years ago! They can't blame me for this!!!" So I buy water.

I do the water-with-supplements trick, too. Mine take two glasses of water to get through! That was my first big water breakthrough.

Another is that the first thing I do in the morning is turn on the computer and deal with email. I have the 1 liter bottle next to me and keep pouring it and drinking while I'm waiting for the screen to load. Usually, I'm through that liter by the time I'm finished with email and this and another message board.

I also found that if I drink diet soda, I drink much less water. Another reason to stop drinking diet soda.

On former attempts to go low carb, I never handled the water thing. It has been an acquired taste for me. Now, I'd still prefer to drink a Coke, but I'm used to drinking water. Aiming for 4 liters a day. EVERYONE says the more they drink, the faster they lose

GOOD LUCK!!!!!

I made it through my first glass of the day. Good grief. Usually water tastes so good to me - but for some reason - I don't know if it is because I have to drink it or what - it tastes bad.

And - I am down today. This is day 5 for me and when I weighed today I had not lost any. I was on such a good roll. So, no matter what - I am going to get through the water today.

Isn't drinking flavoured seltzer water the same as drinking diet soda? Does it have artificial sweeteners in it?

The kind I have does not have sweetener, artificial or otherwise. There are a lot of fruit-flavored waters, though, that do. I tried some and found them awfully sweet.

The one I buy, Vintage, in either lemon-lime or orange (and also plain) has the barest taste, actually less than if you squeezed a real lemon in a bottle of water.

Great Idea's on how to get that water down. I have done well without all the water but it would be more healthy for me to get that water down and I would do even better with trying to lose these last 25 lbs...Thanks everyone. This place is GREAT!

Just a quick note about drinking anything besides plain old water, whether it's from the tap or from a bottle.

Some of us are sensitive to the added flavour and artificial sweetners and they could cause a stall. It may take time to acquire a taste for water and to be getting in as much in a day as we should, but it's worth the effort. If you are following your program closely and are disappointed in your results, look to your water intake!

Marlaine