Think of your body as a houseplant. You don’t water a fern the same way you water a cactus, do you? Your size, activity level, and climate all change the equation. A 150-pound jogger in Arizona needs way more water than a 200-pound desk jockey in Maine. The Institute of Medicine roughly recommends 3.7 liters (about 15.5 cups) for men and 2.7 liters (11.5 cups) for women—but that includes water from tea, soup, and that juicy watermelon you had for snack.
Let’s be real: no one is measuring 15 cups of water like a lab scientist. I just eyeball it. I keep a big, ugly, beloved water bottle on my desk and refill it three or four times. If I’m sweating—like after a run or a panic attack about deadlines—I drink more. If it’s cold and I’m hibernating, I drink less. You are not a robot. You don’t have a rigid quota.
