As you spend more time outside doing yard work or going for a run, it's important to remember to stay hydrated. It's no secret that water is good for your health, helping clear your complexion and flushing out toxins in your digestive system--to name of few benefits. Water is also a natural appetite suppressant. Most of the time when you feel hungry, it is because you are dehydrated. Drinking a glass of water can assuage your hunger and thirst.
Most importantly though, water keeps you energized while you spend long hours in the sun cleaning your yard after the winter months or when you're on a two-mile run. If you're not sure how much water you should be drinking, try one of these four free apps to stay hydrated.
Water Time Pro
4.7 stars on Google Play | Android and Apple Devices
This free app calculates your water intake based on your weight and sex, or you can manually set your daily goal. The aesthetically pleasing and simple interface allows you to keep track of your liquid intake by tapping a glass of water, coffee, tea, juice, or milk. The water, juice, and milk all fill the bar at the top of the screen, which tells you how much liquid you've consumed that day; tapping the coffee or tea will subtract liquid from the bar. You can adjust the "size" of your glass to vary whether it fills the bar by 8 oz, 12 oz, or whatever you set it to.
If you have a hard time remembering how often to drink, you can set goals and reminders through this app. However, the reminder frequency is predetermined with the longest interval being two hours between reminders. You can set quiet hours so that you won't receive any reminders during the times you specify.
You can even have some fun with this app by changing the small avatar next to your drink to a white cat, orange cat, or water droplet!
Plant Nanny
4.5 stars on Google Play | Android and Apple Devices
This is a free app that lets you keep a virtual garden as you stay hydrated. Each time you log the amount of water you've had, this app waters the plant you are currently growing. You can grow different types of plants such as Devil's Ivy, dandelions, and cacti. And you can change the design of the pot for your plants.
This app offers you different kinds of cups which hold varying amounts of water so that you can log whether you drank 8 or 16 ounces of water--or more. You can also set reminders on this app for every two, four, or six hours, or you can create custom reminders. If watering a cute little plant isn't enough incentive to keep you on track of your drinking goals, there are badges that you can earn by remembering to log your water intake.
Aqualert
4.6 stars on Google Play | Android and Apple Devices
The app helps you stay hydrated and connects to the Google Fit app to measure your physical activity such as walking, running, and biking. By connecting this app with the Google Fit pedometer, you can more accurately measure how much water you need. With this brightly colored, easy-to-use interface you can log your water by tapping the addition symbol in the lower right-hand corner of the screen.
This app calculates your water intake based on your weight, sex, and level of activeness. Women can select if whether or not they are pregnant or breastfeeding. This app also features adjustable cup sizes and tables for tracking your water intake over time. You can choose what time of the day the app notifies you to drink water and can pick the frequency from a list of predetermined times. The longest notification interval is four hours while the shortest is 15 minutes.
Daily Water Tracker
4.8 stars on Google Play | Android and Apple Devices
This app allows you to choose your daily water consumption goals rather than determining them based on your sex and weight. To log the amount of water you've drunk, move the cup that is next to the water meter on the left side of the screen and click the "Add to daily total" button to log it. The outline of a person in the middle of your screen will fill with water each time you add to your daily total. This app will also allow you to subtract from your daily total, in case you made a mistake.
This app will only notify you once per hour and you can choose how frequently you receive notifications. You can also view a chart that keeps track of your water intake over the course of seven days and 30 days. This app is perfect if you're just looking for a simple app for staying hydrated without overly complicated settings.
Drinking water is an easy way to improve your health and these apps make taking on a new habit of fun. Like any life change, be sure to start small and work towards your goals bit by bit. Try these four free apps to stay hydrated and drink up!
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