watermelon Archives • A Sweet Pea Chef

Infusing your water is an easy way to increase your daily water intake and makes drinking water not suck. Enjoy these 5 super easy and fun ways to infuse your water naturally so you can enjoy water PLUS check out my tips that worked for me to drink more water each day. Are you trying to drink your daily water, but struggling because it’s so…tasteless? Many of you have asked me to share fruit infused water ideas and tips for how to drink more water. When I first started intentionally adding more water to my daily routine, I found it very difficult to get down just 1 glass. I thought it was so plain and boring - mostly because I had been so used to sugary drinks. I needed a way to make sure to drink more water because I knew I wasn't getting nearly enough. So, in this post, I'll show you 5 super easy and fun ways to flavor your water naturally so you can enjoy that water with every sip PLUS I’m gonna share some tips that worked for me for how to drink more water each day? Sound good? Awesome. Is Infused Water Healthy? In short, fruit-infused water is absolutely nutritional for you. In addition to adding more water to your diet, you’ll also be getting some of the vitamin content and antioxidants from the fruits you’re using. Basically, we’re making making your own “vitamin water,” but without the processed ingredients or high price tag. Here are several reasons why drinking water is so important: Water helps with weight loss - if you feel hungry, it might actually be your body trying to get water - so drink some water and your hunger might go away! Drinking water increases your metabolism which helps you burn fat. Water provides extra energy for your muscles, and helps prevent muscle cramps and strains. Water improves your judgment and thinking. Water prevents headaches and minimizes illnesses. Water improves your mood. Water makes your skin look great. And, everyone’s favorite, water keeps your bowel movements nice and regular. Amazingness, right? I really love infusing my water with fruit because it makes your water look vibrant and delicious, it’s full of flavor and natural sweetness, and fruit is super yummy. 7 Tips for How Infuse Water Use cold or room temperature water because using hot water will break down enzymes and vitamins. Use a 1 quart glass mason jar with a re-usable mason jar lid because they are eco-friendly, and look super cool. But any container will work, as long as you can refrigerate it and it wont leak. Let the fruit infused water set at room temperature for 1-2 hours or refrigerated for about 3-4 hours before drinking it. Infusing for up to 8 hours will make it pretty strong, if you prefer that. If you’re adding citrus peel, like lemons and limes, those can get bitter after just 5-6 hours so you’ll want to consider what fruits you’re using as well. You could use frozen fruit for these recipes as well if you’re not able to find them fresh, but the frozen fruit will not be as flavorful and will break down more than fresh fruit in the water. If you prefer carbonated water, that works fine, too! Just replace the water with carbonated, sparkling water and drink it right away so you have your bubbles be all bubbly. What Can I Infuse Water With? The herbs, fruits, and spices and their various combos are pretty much limitless for what to use to infuse water. Here are some of my favorite ingredients to infuse water: apples peaches berries rosemary cinnamon kiwi mango melon lemon lime watermelon ginger cayenne Keep in mind the more fruit you add, the stronger the flavor. How Long Does It Take To Infuse Water? You can drink this water right away, but the longer it sets, the more flavorful it will become, so I like to let my fruit infused water set at room temperature for 1-2 hours or refrigerated for about 3-4 hours before drinking it. Infusing for up to 8 hours will make it pretty strong, if you prefer that. Infusing for up to 8 hours will make it pretty strong, if you prefer that. That being said, if you don't get to your water within 12 hours, I'd recommend removing all the fruits and herbs and discarding them. Then, you can keep the waters refrigerated and ready to grab for up to 3-4 days. Can I Reuse The Fruit in My Infused Water? You can re-use the fruit for more water, and then allow it to set again and infuse — that works great for 1-2 days. If you choose to reuse the water, I’d recommend replacing your fruit because the flavor wont be as potent. Can I Eat the Fruit in My Infused Water? Yes, you can eat the fruit when you’re done, but it will taste a lot like water, especially if you've let your fruit set for a while and if you've reused the fruit multiple times. So, How Much Water Is “Enough”? While there are plenty of calculators and charts out there to teach you how much water your body requires each day, I find the following guide the simplest: Drink half your body weight in ounces of water, daily. That means, if you weight 160 pounds, your body requires 80 ounces of water each day. If you weigh 200 pounds, your body requires 100 ounces of water each day, And so on. Now, if you exercise, this number increases per your workout. Is this a lot of water? Yes. Is this reasonable to achieve? Not at first, but eventually, yes. Do you have to be perfect at this? No - anything helps! For example, I weigh 135 pounds which means I need to drink about 65 ounces of water every day to make sure I'm getting what I need. That’s roughly 8 1/2 cups which is equivalent to about half a gallon of water. 7 Tips For How To Drink More Water While adding fruit-infused waters is a great way to incorporate more water every day, here are some more tips for how to drink more water: Try drinking a full glass of water before every meal - don’t eat your food until the water is gone. This also works well for before drinking anything else, like a coffee, kombucha, or iced tea. Use a water bottle you love that makes you feel good to drink out of — this really does make a difference. I also love the mason jars because they’re cheap and fun, and I’ve added the link to those as well. Set a reminder on your phone to ping you to drink more water - maybe make it so you drink 1/2 cup every 30 minutes, if you need. Coffee, tea, and iced tea are all types of water as well so keep those in mind with your water could, but try to make most of your water intake as non sweetened and clear as possible. Order water at restaurants - this will also save you a ton of money! Pay attention to the color of your pee — if it’s neon yellow - go drink some water, please! Aim for very pale yellow and, yes, it’s totally ok to feel awesome when it’s pale yellow! Get started - the more water you drink, the easier it will get, and your body will love you for it and want more and more. Drinking more water decreases my appetite throughout the day, gives me more energy, makes me snack less because I’m not hungry, and leaves me feeling fuller after my meals. I encourage you to find what works best for you. Let me know in the comments any fruit-infused flavors you love that I didn’t mention and feel free to add any tips for how to drink more water that have worked for you! Recipe Video: 5 Infused Water Recipes 5 Easy Fruit-Infused Water Recipes Infusing your water is an easy way to increase your daily water intake and makes drinking water not suck. Enjoy these 5 super easy and fun ways to infuse your water naturally so you can enjoy water PLUS check out my tips that worked for me to drink more water each day. Cucumber Mint Infused Water1/3 cup roughly 6-8 thick slices english cucumber1/3 cup fresh mint leaves1 quart cold or room temperature waterWatermelon Basil Infused Water1/3 cup watermelon cubes (seedless)4-6 basil leaves1 quart (4 cups) cold or room temperature waterCherry Lime Infused Water1/4 cup cherries (pitted and sliced in half)4 slices lime (seeds removed, with peel)1 quart (4 cups) cold or room temperature waterBlackberry Orange & Ginger Infused Water6-8 blackberries3-4 slices orange (with peel)4-5 slices ginger (peeled)1 quart (4 cups) cold or room temperature waterStrawberry Lemon Infused Water4-5 strawberries (halved)4-5 slices lemon (seeds removed, with peel)1 quart (4 cups) cold or room temperature water Add the fruit, spices, and/or herbs to the bottom of a sealable bottle or 1 quart mason jar.Pour in cold water.Stir to mix well.Let the water get infused at room temperature for 1-2 hours or refrigerated for about 3-4 hours before drinking it. (Infusing for up to 8 hours will make it pretty strong, if you prefer that.)If you didn’t get to drinking your water within 12 hours, I recommend removing the fruit at that point and storing without the fruit so the flavor doesn’t become too powerful and overwhelming. Then, you could store it in the fridge for a couple days that way. Nutrition facts provided are for the Cucumber Mint Infused Water, but all recipes are fairly equivalent. Drink, DrinksEasyinfused water This post contains affiliate links for products I use often and highly recommend.