Sarah's Slim down: Week three of Inferno

Sarah's Slim-Down: Week 3

Staying hydrated?
About that...

Ever wonder if a diet plan's claims are for real? We sure do — so we've decided to put health and diet plans to the test, starting with DailyBurn.com's Inferno program. Is it too good to be true?

Getting my drink on

Rule No. 2 of the DailyBurn.com plan I am following? Drink more water — including starting the day with two glasses of water.

Sounds easy, right? Well, not quite as easy as I expected (I know, that sounds idiotic, but it's true). Turns out drinking two glasses of water before my morning coffee is... hard. Over the last two weeks, I've gotten used to it and made some adjustments. For instance, though I usually love ice water, first thing in the morning it's too hard for me to swallow. Skipping the ice helps. Somewhat.

Also, I realized that I still am not drinking enough water — particularly on busy days. Since being hydrated is so important to weight loss, I asked some experts for out-of-the-box tips on how to ensure I'm adequately hydrated. You know, besides just "Drink more water."

Step up the flavor

One of my big complaints was that water didn't always taste good to me (especially first thing in the morning). But as Jill Weisenberger, MS, RD, CDE, author of Diabetes Weight Loss: Week by Week, says, you can fix that by flavoring the water.

"We drink more when the beverage tastes good. I have my patients experiment with flavoring their water with fruit, vegetables and herbs. A common favorite is cucumber and mint," says Weisenberger. "Some add-ins [like citrus] flavor the water very quickly. Others take one to five hours. If I wait overnight for the strawberry-lime-rosemary water, it's a beautiful pink color and oh so delicious."

Remember water content

Staying hydrated isn't just about what you drink — what you eat can help too, says Rebekah Langford, RD, CDN, a clinical dietitian and culinary nutritionist at Montefiore Hospital in New York.

"Pick foods that have a high water content. For example, lettuce, watermelon, tomatoes, grapefruit, avocados (surprisingly, 81 percent water by weight according to USDA!) and cucumbers are all loaded with not only water, but electrolytes such as potassium and sodium, which are an important part of hydration," says Langford. "You can also freeze ice cubes with these items in them and add to your water bottle for a drink that's not only refreshing but beautiful to look at."

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