No Stupid Questions

Get a big insulated metal jug 1 liter or more, keep it in arms reach when sitting around or wherever convenient for where you spend time. Get a second one for work. Make it a goal to empty it at least once, preferably twice a day. Can't stay hydrated when the water is in a different room. Water next to the bed beacuse that shit hits different at 3am.

Store any liquor, pop, beer, etc in an inconvenient location so the water is always the lazy and low effort option. No mini-fridge at the gaming setup. Your taste will adjust over a few weeks.

Why do you think you're chronically dehydrated? Is your urine brown? Have you been fainting? Do you have kidney stones? (I don't actually want to know - please don't share your personal health information on the internet - but if the answer to any of those questions is yes please see a doctor.) Otherwise if the answer to those questions is "no" you are likely getting more then enough hydration. It's a myth that we need 8 glasses of water a day or need to be constantly drinking water to be "hydrated." Just keep your water of choice available and drink when you are thirsty. You don't need to (and shouldn't) force yourself to drink beyond that. Our bodies are really good at self regulation and forcing more fluid into our system just equates to extra unnecessary trips to the bathroom. You don't need to force yourself to "like" water. If it's the only thing you have on hand to drink you'll drink it when you get thirsty.

Just drink water. You've ruined yourself over all these years by drinking juice/soda/Brawndo. You keep buying into the lie that "you don't like water".

You'll get used to it and eventually come to want water. It's literally what your body craves. Humans have existed for 300 millenia; mass produced sugary drinks have only existed for what, 100 years? You've evolved to drink water.

what about fizzy water (get a water fizzing device) or hot/warm water or filtered water ?

Just having it right there works best for me.

For me, having a large water bottle within arms reach at all times is what helped me start staying hydrated. I used to use gallons of water from the store and refill them until I felt it was time for a new one, but now I have a nice 64oz water bottle. Importantly for me, I don't like sucking on a straw to drink water. It's too much work and too slow. I like my water just cooler than room temperature. Having that in arms reach at all times means every time I started feeling hungry, I could drink water because I was actually thirsty and it felt the same to me.

One thing to consider is that your relationship with taste might need to be re-examined.

Human beings can go most places in the world and find food. Taste is a big part of our ability to do so as a species, sure, but the fact remains that being able to eat/drink solely to satiate your desires (rather than survival) is actually an abnormality if we compare it to the rest of human history. In a sense, it is a privilege to simply be able to say 'no' to something strictly based on the flavor.

Try to guage it based on how you feel rather than how it tastes. You should be able to feel the difference between how a day with only water feels vs a day without water (I'm not including beer or soda here, yes it can keep you hydrated no it is not a solution to hydration unless you're trapped in a desert). If it's hard for you to notice a difference, give it a week. Being regularly hydrated should effect how you feel at every part of the day, especially in the mornings.

Make it the first thing you drink when you wake up.

Cool (not cold), with no ice. Filtered.

Eat savory snacks.

Keep the water in an open-top container so you can gulp rather than being limited by a straw.

is this a "how to eat an elephant" type of question? (one bite at a time)

Have you tried various sources of water? I can usually taste the difference between various bottled waters, let alone tap water from different places. Maybe you don't like the local tap water.

Tap water? If so, try filtered water, get a good, credible filter and filter the water. Depending on where you live there's a fair amount of materials in the water that make it unpleasant.

Try adding more water to dishes you eat, have soup and put in a couple ice cubes and drink all the broth.

There's various ways to flavour water to make it more enjoyable. Common ones are listed by Witchfire, but there's also commercial products that may help. Just try to avoid the ones with caffeine in them.

Really, you have to probably train yourself to enjoy water. Have a piece of chocolate or something with water. Associate it with positive acts. Pavlov yourself.

Are you drinking water with meals? I find washing something down, even a single chip, causes you to drink more than you could by itself.

Also, keep it at hand. A refillable bottle is worth investing in. If you like it ice cold, get a vacuum insulated vessel.

I had this exact conversation with an (online) coworker. I will just feel compelled to drink cups of water, sometimes multiple in a row, and feel refreshed. They don’t exactly taste good but we’re wired to find it pleasant.

My coworker said he had to basically remember to drink water. When he’s exercising it’s more instinctual.

Well I was shocked the first time I actually met this coworker, at the Dubai office where he works from. The water there felt wrong! Apparently I was having good tasting water my whole life. I was kind of dehydrated the entire trip. Literally all the water there didn’t feel refreshing, honestly. It comes out of desalination factories, I get it, it’s still water, but it’s something to think about. I’ve appreciated my delicious Lebanese mineral water a lot more since then.

I hope this doesn’t sound out of touch, I understand most people in many countries can just drink tap water safely, and bottled is seen as a luxury and not a cheap necessity like it is here. But maybe try changing the water? All the answers here feel blasphemous to me. Cucumbers? Flavors?

Water tastes better with a few grains of salt or a slice of lemon in it (it's got what plants crave)

Maybe eating foods that have high water content like cucumbers, watermelons, etc? Or if you find a non-water beverage more enjoyable than water, drink that—all beverages contain water.

career change to a warehouse. you'll go through like 20 bottles a day

Get the flavor packets, don't let people shame you for it either! Just get fucking hydrated!

You go: "Wow, I'm an adult now and sometimes I have to do things I don't want to do". And then you drink the water.

The fact of the matter is that almost nobody's favorite beverage is water, but in a display of forbearance (combined with not being too fond of the whole dehydration thing) we drink it anyway.

Additives and things can help you in the near term, but developing good habits takes time and effort (and is very often the cornerstone of good health).

does sparkling help? cucumber, slice of lemon, orangeslice?

I know a lot of people get those huge bottles and it helps them - just having it with them all the time 🤔

Add flavoring, like ginger + citrus, melisse, tea. Some teas also can make you more thirsty.

if you really are worryingly dehydrated and find regular water unpalatable, just get some cheap sugar-free drink.
Yeah it's technically better to drink regular water but who cares, you should enjoy life and if you struggle to drink enough then that is an infinitely bigger problem.

Carbonated water. Either with or without a hint of something

Herbal tea, hot or cold. Add flavour to your water - crush a couple frozen berries in the glass, add mint, add citrus slices. Try different temperatures: iced, room temp, just boiled. Drinking from a glass or cup instead of a bottle can help.

Flavoured hydration powders are a solid option, as long as you're avoiding chemical sweeteners.

The trick is to make them at half the recommended strength by putting the recommended amount into double the volume of water, which will also stop you from giving yourself kidney stones by overloading you with minerals

Maybe try some peppermint tea and other herbal infusions?

I've moved over to an amazing zingy/spicy lemon ginger lemongrass licorice root loose leaf that's incredible.

My point is, herbals might be a good way to go. The thing to watch out for is the weak watery stuff - this is tea after all... If you're a coffee drinker this might all be a bit bland. Also, stay away from the green and lack teas, they're all still caffeine from tea leaves

My wife also hates drinking water. I then bought a soda stream and her consumption increased 5X. No flavoring. Just water.

I have since bought an external soda bottle to reduce cost.

If you have a stationary job, then just plop a big ass water bottle with a straw on the desk between you and the keyboard for easy access. Water is the only thing I drink after only drinking iced tea every day until I was 18. Remove everything that isn’t water from your home. Turn your bottle into your fidget toy if you have to, having a straw helps even if you use it to open and close it. Hopefully before you know it you won’t even realize you’re drinking water. You don’t need to enjoy it. Same way people don’t enjoy medicine, you put up with because you’re an adult. If that seems too daunting, then you have some other demons you may need to tackle first before being able to get onto water.

I don't drink soda and stuff and carry a water bottle on me all times

Start by adding some flavour, like slices of lemon or orange. In time you'll start to like how hydrated you are. Just don't put sugar into it.