The Drink Water Better Challenge

As a Nutrition & Weight Loss Specialist the very first thing I talk to new clients about is how much water they drink. Water is the foundation of a healthy diet and too many people are walking around dehydrated, and/or filling their bodies with artificial sweeteners in order to get some hydration in because they don’t enjoy the taste of plain water.

While of course the best option is plain fresh water, or water flavoured with added fruit or caffeine-free teas, that just doesn’t cut it for a lot of the population. Especially those who are use to drinking sugary sodas or fruit juice (like kids). That is why when SodaStream Canada reached out to me about joining the Drink Water Better Challenge I was really excited to get on board.

Did you know that only 56% of Canadians think they drink enough water each day? Or that 45% of Canadians would be more inclined to consume water if it was more fun or tasted better?* Plain water, while refreshing, really can get pretty dull and boring. Even though I like plain water, there are numerous times during the week that I find myself forcing water down my throat because I know I need it, but I don’t want it. It’s just not exciting.

That was until a few weeks ago when my Drink Water Better Challenge kit arrived!

I’ve secretly longed for a SodaStream since they first came on the market. Besides Zevia, I rarely drink regular soda anymore and I have always thought carbonating my own water sounded fun! The Challenge Kit included a SodaStream Play, 2 SodaStream FREE flavours (more on those in a second), a waterfall carafe, and the challenge booklet.

SodaStream FREE flavours are a new line that contain a fraction of the calories and sugar of other soft drinks. So yes, there is still sugar (and therefore calories), but they come in at 9-11g of sugar/10ml. The kit says that 10ml flavours 250ml of carbonated water, but I typically use less than half of that and my drinks still have loads of flavour. They have zero artificial sweeteners (something I checked before signing on to the challenge), no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives and are caffeine free.

The FREE flavours come in Kiwi-Pear, Passion-Mango, Fresh Lemonade, Green Tea-Lychee, Apple-Peach and Cranberry-Raspberry. As a raspberry loving fool I was stoked when one of the two flavours they sent with my kit was the Cranberry-Raspberry, and it doesn’t surprise me that it is my favourite of the two I’ve tried!

The unit itself is super easy to set up, you take it out of the box, insert the CO2 Cylinder and that’s it! It requires no power outlet or anything like that, making it a pretty sleek addition to your countertop. The instructions on how to use it are really straight forward and before you know it you’ll be carbonating water like a pro!

One thing I’ll pass along, because it tripped me up for the first day or two is what kind of water to use. Our tap water is hard and has a metallic taste so we use a water cooler for our drinking water. The first few days I was using water from our cooler but it wouldn’t carbonate. I started to think I was a moron, how could I not carbonate water!? A quick trip to the SodaStream website taught me that has been treated by reverse osmosis (i.e. my cooler water) cannot be carbonated, once I switched over to tap water I was golden!

Just look at all those bubbles!

And remember the metallic taste of my tap water? The flavours totally mask it which means I now find myself drinking more and more tap water instead of cooler water which is fantastic! And that having to force myself to drink water problem I mentioned at the start of the post? No longer an issue. I easily drink a litre of carbonated water each day which coupled with the water I drink while working keeps me well hydrated.

The awesome thing about the SodaStream is that you can flavour your carbonated water with anything you want, so if you want to cut out the syrup completely and add fresh fruit instead you absolutely can – you are in charge of your hydration! I’m pretty darn smitten that’s for sure.

I’m looking forward to picking up some of the other FREE flavours to try out, and this holiday season you can be sure I’ll be serving some fancy carbonated drinks instead of traditional soda! A few of the recipes I’m dying to try are the Citrus & Cucumber Pick Me Up,

Raspberry Coolers,

and how festive do these Fruity Sparkling Water Cocktails look?

With all the ways you can make water drinking more fun, what not take the Drink Water Better Challenge for yourself? Ditch the sugar (and chemical!) filled pre-made soda, and start making your own drinks in the comfort of your own home with SodaSream!

*Legar consumer survey of 1545 Canadian (October 2014)

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by SodaStream Canada, all opinions are my own and 100% honest.