To ask how on earth one drinks enough water without peeing every 15 minutes?

[Shortstrawname]

I'm trying to lose weight, and seems like water consumption is one of the most important factors for success, for obvious reasons. I clearly don't drink enough usually, so the sudden uptake in water consumption is playing absolute havoc on my bladder. Very glamorous, I know. Think rushing to the loo every 15 minutes after a couple of glasses of water. Does this get better when your body gets used to it? What advice do you hydration queens out there have?

Yep, I struggle with this too.

If I drink a lot of water I am constantly peeing. Not particularly practical when my job involves me being outdoors and away from toilets for the vast majority of the day

It’s only while you’re getting used to the increased amount, you should be able to go for longer between toilet trips in a week or so :)

You get used to it after a few weeks. I can drink 3 litres a day now and only need to pee 4-5 times a day. When I first started drinking lots I was peeing every hour all day

@vanillaandhoney Yes! I'm working from home at the moment, so at least I can dash to the loo safety. Usually I'm teaching back to back lessons with little to no breaks, so I have no idea how people in that situation can do it!! I'm just hoping that if I keep it going for a few weeks, my bladder might decide to carry a bit more. Wish I was a camel!

Thing is, I can drink lots of other liquids and I don't have the same problem, it's only if I drink water or tea that I need to pee constantly.

I have a job that means I don't have regular access to a toilet (dog walker) and I can't just squat behind a bush and pee when I'm in charge of 3-4 dogs!

It should settle down once you get used to it, as long as you aren’t drinking excessive amounts.

Glad to hear it does get better!

Is 2l the minimum? I'm such a novice. How much water does everyone tend to drink per day?

On the plus, drinking water will not aid fat loss.

However I usually work as a theatre nurse (outside of global pandemics...) and I would love to know how I can drink anywhere neat the right amount without nearly wetting myself at the operating table!

@heyblaby So you never get a loo break in theatre? 😯

Also, I'm not drinking water for fat loss, mostly to help with digestion and also to stave off appetite between meals. I'm a serial smacker!

SNACKER.....Dear lord!

When I was working in the office I would drink 3 litres during the day (I have a 1 litre bottle so 1 in the morning, 1 in the afternoon and 1 in the gym). Then a pint glass of water in the evening at home.

Now I’m WFH I’m having about 5-6 pints a day which is roughly the same.

Agree with others when I started I was never out the bathroom but your body does get used to it

HeyBlaby I also work in theatre! My technique is to drink a bottles worth of water (500ml ish) in the morning, before I get to work. Little cups of water when I can over the course of the day, and then I drink another litre or so between finishing for the day and going to bed. I’ve not peed myself yet

I had to stop drinking lots of green tea because I couldn’t make it through an hour long meeting without being desperate.
I still go a lot, probably every 45 minutes if I’m drinking lots and doing low carb, I have no idea what the answer is.

I keep seeing people on Instagram in the park with wine or beers and the thought of being so far from a toilet and drinking alcohol makes me shiver

I keep seeing people on Instagram in the park with wine or beers and the thought of being so far from a toilet and drinking alcohol makes me shiver

God yes, me too. There's no way I could go and sit outside somewhere to drink without access to a toilet. I went out with my mum for a two hour walk the other day and had water with me as it was pretty hot and humid. I probably drank half a litre of water and had to stop and pee three times!

OP you need to drink enough so that your pee is pale yellow, not darker. The exact amount depends on the weather, how active you are, your bodyweight etc etc but probably at least 1.5 litres ish

You get used to it I don’t know the science behind that lol just from experience , when I first started drinking 2litres a day I’d be on the loo every half hour now it just seems I go a normal amount

@Shortstrawname we do inbetween operations, but once you are scrubbed in for a case that's it!

@SpuriouserAndSpuriouser that seems better than my routine of various states of dehydration throughout the day, followed by near drowning when I get home!!

Your bladder should hold two cups of fluid without needing to void for a while.
If you drink whole cups instead of sips then you retrain your bladder what 'full' means.
Suggestion: wee when you wake, have a cup of water by the bedside and drink it all before venturing into kitchen.
Drink another with breakfast, and another after.
Have another drink around eleven, two at lunch, one at around 3ish, one whilst cooking and another whilst eating your meal.

Make sure you're emptying your bladder on each wee and if you've done nine wees in the day, you're passing the same as you've filled up.
Normal.

Interestingly I just had a mug of green tea and I've had to pee three times in about an hour.

This morning at breakfast I had a mug of coffee and a glass of fruit juice and peed once in three hours.

I heard tea is a diuretic though which maybe has something to do with it. Definitely means I couldn't go through a working day drinking green tea though!

You don't need 2l of water a day. There is fluid in food and tea and coffee. Just make sure you are not feeling thirsty and you'll be fine. 2l of water on top of food fluids is more likely to cause harm than good.

@lythgoemiss yep.

I used to work retail and I had access to the toilet. If I drank coffee all day I could get away with peeing 3-4 times a day, but if it was hot and I switched to water I was in the toilet at least every half an hour!

I never had dark urine or any issues with dehydration either.

I found this, I did adapt a bit but definitely mindful of what I drink if I'm going to be away from a toilet for a while- especially at the moment when most are closed around here!