water.

There are some days I notice I have dark circles under my eyes or a dull headache or really dry lips. Usually, this is because I haven't been drinking enough water. When I do have enough water, I really notice the difference!

Here are a few tricks I try to do (try, being the key word) to keep hydrated!

• I wake up and have a glass of water. To help my digestion, I have it warm with apple cider vinegar and lemon, but plain water is great, especially if you often wake up with a little headache (which has nothing to do with the night before!). Leave it on your bedside table the night before so you can have it before you get out of bed.

• I try to have a drink bottle with me most of the time. When it's with me, I'm much more likely to notice it and have a sip. Driving my car, I often have a sip at the traffic lights; watching TV, I don't need to get up to get a drink; if it's on your desk, you can just have little bits every little while; if I'm walking around the shops, often I carry it in my hand. Little bits add up!

• When I feel like a cup of tea, I drink herbal tea. I do this as I'm avoiding caffeine, but often we just want a hot drink, and herbal tea is great for many reasons, particularly because it hydrates! I also usually have a calming cup of tea before bed.

• Instead of having soft drink or juice, I sometimes have a splash of lemon or lime cordial (which shouldn't be every drink as the sugar is unhelpful) or a slice of lemon or lime in a glass of water or sparkling water.

• Get little bits in after brushing your teeth: brush, rinse, and drink.

Let's add that up:

• 1 cup water to start the day, 
• 2 cups throughout the day from my drink bottle, 
• 3 cups herbal tea - morning tea, afternoon tea and before bed
• 2 cups infused sparkling water - lunch and dinner
• Plus other little bits and maybe your drink bottles or glasses are bigger than mine!

So, that's a total of 8 cups of water (or maybe more). I make it look easy to get the recommended amount! This amount is only a guide; what you need depends on your body size, metabolism, the weather, what you eat, how much alcohol and caffeine you drink, how much exercise you do. It would be pretty easy to have many more cups of tea or water (or sparkling water from pretentious glass bottles) throughout the day! Often I still have difficulty doing this.

Especially as it's warming up, it's super important to keep hydrated.

Not only does drinking more water give you more energy but it also improves your skin, removes toxins from your body, helps with muscle aches and pains, and prevents headaches. Who doesn't want that!?

There are many people who don't have access to clean water, like we do. When I was in the Philippines in 2010, I visited a couple of water stations which provide clean water to people and communities. We are so privileged! One of these was a Water for Water project, so if you buy bottled water, make sure you buy it from these guys (at Gloria Jeans or online) as their water is making a massive difference! 100% of their profits go towards helping communities gain access to safe drinking water.

So, go on, have a glass of water now.