Recently I told my children about the "before time", when all the little children, myself included, went to school, sports, etc WITHOUT a single water bottle in tow. Aghast, they asked how on earth we drank water. Oh, the horror on their little faces when I replied, "We lined up at the water fountain for a few sips". Seriously, we have lost the plot on liquid consumption, great article.
Here is one additional thought on the Stanley craze - it is also something that is size neutral. If you are a larger body kid or teen, you can still be on trend by buying one of the cups and there is some value in that (and lord knows I'd rather this be the hot trend for my daughter's crowd than Lululemon leggings again).
Oh that's is SUCH a good point and I'm mad I didn't think to include it in the essay! Yes, what a relief after leggings/jeans/other size-specific trends...
There’s definitely some misogyny in judging the Stanley craze and other similar ones. And I think it’s also worth pointing out that in this phase of the climate crisis, we really do need to be purchasing way less. So people with the power to do so, should be bowing out of these trends. Yet a lot of them aren’t, which can understandably inspire some anger toward them. I think it’s the same reason a lot of us feel kind of disgusted when we see “haul” videos, it’s just rampant consumerism. I may be missing something though, I’m curious to know what you think.
While I believe the climate is a major issue, I also am not going to put the onus of change on individuals. True change will only happen when governments force corporations to change. Getting angry at people for needing trends and things to make their lives a little better just seems like wasted energy. Perfectionistic thinking honestly - at what point is someone thinking “enough” about the environment? The people who are actually “best” at climate change are the super-impoverished. Turn your anger towards the people in power.
I totally agree. I also just think it’s worth considering why we are fueling these industries. If we don’t like it, why are we putting money into their pockets? Spending is how consumers voice their values. But it’s definitely not all or nothing like you pointed out, and I don’t claim to be a “perfect” environmentalist. Anyway, you’re right that it’s not something to be angry about, I think we should just be more mindful about our spending in general.
I agree. And while I also agree that getting governments to make major changes is the most important thing, I do think our individual choices are important as well. Its not about being a perfect environmentalist or demonizing people who buy these things. It’s just a fact that we are going to need to consume less and less because the way we buy things is literally unsustainable. And people like the chief marketer of Stanley need to be held accountable for driving this!
Agree- we can't purchase our way out of our dissatisfaction with our jobs, relationships, lives- we need to find another way to fill this gap. The only reason Americans are even able to participate in 'hauls', one-click purchasing and these sorts of trends is because the rest of the world doesn't consume as much as us- yet.
I have a 30 year old former co worker who has a shopping addiction, and one of her things is cups. She prefers a bling y Starbucks one, but just jumped on the Stanley and is 'proud' of herself for only paying $45 vs those paying hundreds. She keeps putting EBay listings into our group chat, like she thinks it is increasing in value. Which makes me think Stanley's (and Yetis before them) are the new Beanie Baby. And we all know how that tuned out...
This is how much I missed/misunderstood this trend. I was thinking hockey when I heard Stanley cup and was wondering what the heck people were all excited about 😆
Recognizing that this is fully not the point, but it is totally possible for a person to drink a gallon of water in a day without it being a diet thing. I take medications that cause vicious dry mouth so I feel thirsty basically 24/7 and drink a ton of water as a result. Just throwing that out there.
That being said, I totally agree that in many cases this seems to be following on the BS advice we were given in the 90s/early aughts to drink water when you feel hungry "because you're probably just dehydrated." And we absolutely shame women and femmes more for their consumption habits. I doubt most people are thinking of men when they talk about the (very real) ills of fast fashion and trends like this.
Oh yes, I should have spent more time on that. I def drink that much water when I’m staving off/recovering from a migraine. Just not all out of my one giant Stanley! I also think WaterTok conveniently ignores that we can be hydrated by OTHER BEVERAGES, like tea, juice… and even my beloved Diet Coke.
But yes, it’s the hunger/thirst misdirect that makes it diet culture.
Lol diet culture made me think iceberg lettuce was somehow bad for you when I was younger. I'm almost 40 and I am having my renaissance of iceberg lettuce. It's so crunchy and refreshing!
Right?!? Like it was actually STEALING nutrients instead of just being mostly lovely crunchy water!! I’ve revived it as my kids like it. I do, too. Especially the satisfying smack on the counter to core it.
Nothing has decreased migraines more at our house than making juice always available. My girls have had migraines since preschool. Everyone is so anti juice but it's so much more appetizing than water when you are already feeling nauseous.
This is how I feel about Diet Coke! (For me, not my kids -- and I admit, the caffeine is a complicating factor, but the right amount is absolutely therapeutic for migraines!)
It's actually not that uncommon! We've been pretty fortunate, their triggers so far are mostly avoidable.
I was so scared when my oldest started vomiting from headaches. But really the migraines make me protect my kids' rest and autonomy around eating more than I would have otherwise.
I think the “huge jug of water” videos are also diet culture because of the implied restriction, from getting hydrated any other way? I’m all for folks drinking a gallon of water when that’s what their bodies need. But having their ginormous jug of water be the ONLY THING they drink all day? That’s diet culture.
When I was nursing I would fill up three 20oz water bottles before I went to bed at night and they'd be empty by morning. And I'd drink more during the day of course. I would just get SO THIRSTY during every letdown! (I also ate a ton of food)
Same! I’m on two medications that act as diuretics so have to drink a lot of water as to not get dehydrated, in my days of dieting I think I would have thought it was great, but honestly it’s kind of a pain to be peeing all the time! 😄
"...if you’re drinking 120 ounces or more per day ... it’s hard to see how you even have time to eat other things. "
There are good points here, but I always find suggestions (based on limited evidence) like this, that people aren’t eating, to be quite risky. As a weight lifter I’m surrounded by people who drink tons of water and eat tons of food. #WaterGoals can be a weight loss strategy, sure, but I think we need to be very careful about assuming other people’s level of food restriction. I think it can perpetuate the idea that we can definitively rule someone else’s behavior “disordered” (we can’t).
Thanks for raising this! I’m one of those people who traveled in Europe last summer and came home saying “there’s no water in Europe!” I was on a 10 day hiking trip in the Alps, doing rigorous hiking for 10+ miles daily (don’t recommend, it was kinda terrible) and getting enough water was genuinely a challenge with that level of activity.
My husband and I went to Italy in September 2022. It was >80 degrees the entire time and we walked or took public transit everywhere. We were so thirsty all the time and had to pay 5 euros for a single 12oz bottle to share in a restaurant! We would ration small sips throughout our meals. I loved so much of our trip (the gelato!!! The art!!!) but drinking water was one of my favorite things about being home.
Yes, Italy is hot as heck in the summer/early fall! One thing I’ve found, at least in southern Italy (and everywhere in France), is public water spigots. In the middle of public parks all over the place, people are often just … refilling their water bottles. It took me a minute and too many euros to soften on the idea, but now I just expect it in Europe, and I’m surprised when public water spigots/refill stations aren’t there. (Will always remember the one in the middle of the Place des Vosges during a 95 degree day, and how many Parisians were USING THE HECK out of it.) Anyway, for whatever reason I’m just now reading this *checks note* January 16 comment, so ignore me if you already know this, but it sure saved me a lot of money in Italy & France.
I totally agree WaterTok is incredibly annoying and spreading misinformation, but there are very real barriers to hydration in every European city I've been to (Berlin, Hamburg, London, Paris, Barcelona, and Prague) compared to the states. I find it so odd and annoying how with all of the public benefits these countries have that we don't, they can't even have public drinking fountains in their cities?? That combined with the fact that you can't really ask for tap water at a restaurant, so there's truly no such thing as free water outside of the home. And a 50 cL water bottle (which is barely more than the volume of a can of soda and usually your only option for water) costs the equivalent of anywhere from $3-$7 depending on where you are. I hate the overhydration culture we have here, but I am glad one of the maybe two public health things we've gotten right as a country (alongside the stigmatization of smoking, an energy every European city could also frankly use) is having free public drinking water in cities.
Agreed! I get the feeling that everything viral and awful first originated on TikTok. I know, correlation not causation, but I don't mind to avoid this kind of influence! :)
If anyone is interested in further reading (listening?) on how and when our culture became obsessed with staying hydrated, I'd really recommend the Decoder Ring episode "The Invention of Hydration." I really do believe that the idea you need to be toting around a water bottle all the time is such a scam to sell water bottles and bottled water! If you genuinely enjoy drinking water that much, or need to for medical reasons, then go with God, but I do think that drinking water is validating because it is a little easily controllable "health habit" that makes us feel like we're taking care of our bodies when the effect is probably pretty minimal.
It is majorly funny to me that my parents never thought one day in their whole precious lives about making sure I had a water bottle and now I feel guilty all day if I forget to send my daughter’s with her. I played outside for hours in the heat of summer and came home to guzzle kool aid. I don’t know if I even drank water other than from a water fountain. And I’m still alive!
I don’t remember having a water bottle at all times even being a thing until college and that was mainly about staying hydrated while walking to classes all day, drinking alcohol or working out. Back then it was Nalgene bottles that were trendy. Then it was Tervis, then Yeti and Hydroflask and now Stanley. I have probably had all of them or at least a knock off version. I have a light pink Stanley Quencher now that I’ve had for about a year. I like it, I put stickers all over it, just like I always have, and otherwise it looks and functions exactly as it did the day I was gifted it (which I can’t say for past “trendy” bottles). My nine year old daughter now has a smaller pink Stanley that she immediately covered in stickers. I know she asked for one because I have one and some of her classmates do too. I just see no reason to judge any of it. We humans have lots of little weird things that get us through the day. Sometimes those things are heavily influenced by marketing. I too am very exhausted by women constantly getting criticized for *gasp* liking things. Fine to think about WHY you like it, fine to reflect on overconsumption and obsessive behavior but also fine to keep on liking it. Women are guilted for so many reasons, let’s not let water bottles be one more of them.
Thank you for bringing this up! I’m an elder millennial child of the 80s and I don’t know that I ever drank water other than from a bubbler (aka water fountain, but I grew up in Massachusetts). For me it was milk all day, and the only time I remember seeing my parents drink water was with dinner.
We also drank a lot of milk and juice from the frozen concentrate cans. I am lactose intolerant (from birth) and my mom would put lactaid drops in milk for me because at the time that was the main (only?) option. I wish we would’ve known that drinking a couple cups of milk a day is totally optional and not at all necessary! 🤦♀️
I had forgotten the name of those trendy water bottles, and them my 10-year-old comes home from school and starts telling me about how people are obsessed with the Stanley cup because it didn’t melt when a car burned up, and I’m sitting there thinking to myself, what does this story have to to hockey 🤣 I caught up a few minutes later (they were reading a Washington Post article about how the cups went viral) but it was pretty funny in the middle!
This has some very interesting points. I agree that a lot of the criticism of this is because women are buying these, and anything that women are into is somehow lesser than if men were into it. It's hidden misogyny. However, I'm critical of anyone who engages in this kind of buying, no matter what gender they are. Overconsumption is a serious problem in this country. I have no problem with someone buying one of these, because they're obviously high-quality. But why does anyone need multiples of them, in different colors? This also goes for men who buy sneakers, or people who line up for the latest gadget. Why do you need it right then, and in multiples? People should really interrogate their need for the latest "it" thing. Like I said, I have no problem if someone wants to buy one of these. But the companies who engage in these marketing tactics know that they're eventually going to make more of the product, so people can still get one if they wait a bit. So what's the rush to get it right now?
The "replacing water with food" is an entirely different issue, and is actually pretty dangerous. You can get very ill from flooding your system with too much water. Also, those packets of flavor are generally made with sugar replacements, which can wreak havoc on your digestive system (ask me how I know). And that's not even touching on the fact that water isn't going to give you the vitamins and minerals that you need, so if you're replacing entire meals with water you're hurting your body.
Recently I told my children about the "before time", when all the little children, myself included, went to school, sports, etc WITHOUT a single water bottle in tow. Aghast, they asked how on earth we drank water. Oh, the horror on their little faces when I replied, "We lined up at the water fountain for a few sips". Seriously, we have lost the plot on liquid consumption, great article.
Here is one additional thought on the Stanley craze - it is also something that is size neutral. If you are a larger body kid or teen, you can still be on trend by buying one of the cups and there is some value in that (and lord knows I'd rather this be the hot trend for my daughter's crowd than Lululemon leggings again).
Oh that's is SUCH a good point and I'm mad I didn't think to include it in the essay! Yes, what a relief after leggings/jeans/other size-specific trends...
There’s definitely some misogyny in judging the Stanley craze and other similar ones. And I think it’s also worth pointing out that in this phase of the climate crisis, we really do need to be purchasing way less. So people with the power to do so, should be bowing out of these trends. Yet a lot of them aren’t, which can understandably inspire some anger toward them. I think it’s the same reason a lot of us feel kind of disgusted when we see “haul” videos, it’s just rampant consumerism. I may be missing something though, I’m curious to know what you think.
While I believe the climate is a major issue, I also am not going to put the onus of change on individuals. True change will only happen when governments force corporations to change. Getting angry at people for needing trends and things to make their lives a little better just seems like wasted energy. Perfectionistic thinking honestly - at what point is someone thinking “enough” about the environment? The people who are actually “best” at climate change are the super-impoverished. Turn your anger towards the people in power.
I totally agree. I also just think it’s worth considering why we are fueling these industries. If we don’t like it, why are we putting money into their pockets? Spending is how consumers voice their values. But it’s definitely not all or nothing like you pointed out, and I don’t claim to be a “perfect” environmentalist. Anyway, you’re right that it’s not something to be angry about, I think we should just be more mindful about our spending in general.
I agree. And while I also agree that getting governments to make major changes is the most important thing, I do think our individual choices are important as well. Its not about being a perfect environmentalist or demonizing people who buy these things. It’s just a fact that we are going to need to consume less and less because the way we buy things is literally unsustainable. And people like the chief marketer of Stanley need to be held accountable for driving this!
Aja Barber had a great reel about this the other day https://www.instagram.com/reel/C17Rlk2IC3g/?igsh=MTVwZ3B6Nzh3eGV3NA==
I love Aja, she makes so much sense. Still crossing my fingers that Virginia and she can have a podcast discussion one day.
Yes! I would love that so much and have been wanting to suggest it.
She's been on my list forever -- appreciate this nudge, I will reach out!
Agree- we can't purchase our way out of our dissatisfaction with our jobs, relationships, lives- we need to find another way to fill this gap. The only reason Americans are even able to participate in 'hauls', one-click purchasing and these sorts of trends is because the rest of the world doesn't consume as much as us- yet.
I have a 30 year old former co worker who has a shopping addiction, and one of her things is cups. She prefers a bling y Starbucks one, but just jumped on the Stanley and is 'proud' of herself for only paying $45 vs those paying hundreds. She keeps putting EBay listings into our group chat, like she thinks it is increasing in value. Which makes me think Stanley's (and Yetis before them) are the new Beanie Baby. And we all know how that tuned out...
The beanie babies 😭😭
Absolutely.
This is how much I missed/misunderstood this trend. I was thinking hockey when I heard Stanley cup and was wondering what the heck people were all excited about 😆
This still happens to me on a regular basis-hah!
me every time until I see an illustration.
Recognizing that this is fully not the point, but it is totally possible for a person to drink a gallon of water in a day without it being a diet thing. I take medications that cause vicious dry mouth so I feel thirsty basically 24/7 and drink a ton of water as a result. Just throwing that out there.
That being said, I totally agree that in many cases this seems to be following on the BS advice we were given in the 90s/early aughts to drink water when you feel hungry "because you're probably just dehydrated." And we absolutely shame women and femmes more for their consumption habits. I doubt most people are thinking of men when they talk about the (very real) ills of fast fashion and trends like this.
Oh yes, I should have spent more time on that. I def drink that much water when I’m staving off/recovering from a migraine. Just not all out of my one giant Stanley! I also think WaterTok conveniently ignores that we can be hydrated by OTHER BEVERAGES, like tea, juice… and even my beloved Diet Coke.
But yes, it’s the hunger/thirst misdirect that makes it diet culture.
Same for the water in the food we eat! Why else would things like watermelon or iceberg lettuce feel so refreshing?
Lol diet culture made me think iceberg lettuce was somehow bad for you when I was younger. I'm almost 40 and I am having my renaissance of iceberg lettuce. It's so crunchy and refreshing!
Right?!? Like it was actually STEALING nutrients instead of just being mostly lovely crunchy water!! I’ve revived it as my kids like it. I do, too. Especially the satisfying smack on the counter to core it.
Yes to the Iceberg Renaissance! It really is one of the best (I may or may not be obsessed with wedge salads)
Same! I’ve recently acknowledged that I LOVE iceberg lettuce and keep it in my fridge at all times now!
Nothing has decreased migraines more at our house than making juice always available. My girls have had migraines since preschool. Everyone is so anti juice but it's so much more appetizing than water when you are already feeling nauseous.
This is how I feel about Diet Coke! (For me, not my kids -- and I admit, the caffeine is a complicating factor, but the right amount is absolutely therapeutic for migraines!)
I’m sorry I’m just aghast that you’ve had to deal with KIDS WITH MIGRAINES??!!
It's actually not that uncommon! We've been pretty fortunate, their triggers so far are mostly avoidable.
I was so scared when my oldest started vomiting from headaches. But really the migraines make me protect my kids' rest and autonomy around eating more than I would have otherwise.
wow...
I think the “huge jug of water” videos are also diet culture because of the implied restriction, from getting hydrated any other way? I’m all for folks drinking a gallon of water when that’s what their bodies need. But having their ginormous jug of water be the ONLY THING they drink all day? That’s diet culture.
When I was nursing I would fill up three 20oz water bottles before I went to bed at night and they'd be empty by morning. And I'd drink more during the day of course. I would just get SO THIRSTY during every letdown! (I also ate a ton of food)
Same! I’m on two medications that act as diuretics so have to drink a lot of water as to not get dehydrated, in my days of dieting I think I would have thought it was great, but honestly it’s kind of a pain to be peeing all the time! 😄
"...if you’re drinking 120 ounces or more per day ... it’s hard to see how you even have time to eat other things. "
There are good points here, but I always find suggestions (based on limited evidence) like this, that people aren’t eating, to be quite risky. As a weight lifter I’m surrounded by people who drink tons of water and eat tons of food. #WaterGoals can be a weight loss strategy, sure, but I think we need to be very careful about assuming other people’s level of food restriction. I think it can perpetuate the idea that we can definitively rule someone else’s behavior “disordered” (we can’t).
Thanks for raising this! I’m one of those people who traveled in Europe last summer and came home saying “there’s no water in Europe!” I was on a 10 day hiking trip in the Alps, doing rigorous hiking for 10+ miles daily (don’t recommend, it was kinda terrible) and getting enough water was genuinely a challenge with that level of activity.
My husband and I went to Italy in September 2022. It was >80 degrees the entire time and we walked or took public transit everywhere. We were so thirsty all the time and had to pay 5 euros for a single 12oz bottle to share in a restaurant! We would ration small sips throughout our meals. I loved so much of our trip (the gelato!!! The art!!!) but drinking water was one of my favorite things about being home.
Yes, Italy is hot as heck in the summer/early fall! One thing I’ve found, at least in southern Italy (and everywhere in France), is public water spigots. In the middle of public parks all over the place, people are often just … refilling their water bottles. It took me a minute and too many euros to soften on the idea, but now I just expect it in Europe, and I’m surprised when public water spigots/refill stations aren’t there. (Will always remember the one in the middle of the Place des Vosges during a 95 degree day, and how many Parisians were USING THE HECK out of it.) Anyway, for whatever reason I’m just now reading this *checks note* January 16 comment, so ignore me if you already know this, but it sure saved me a lot of money in Italy & France.
Anyone remember the little weight watchers logging books that had boxes at the bottom of each days food log to check off every cup of water?
Yep! That was one area where I could always feel like I could accomplish something because I just like water...
I totally agree WaterTok is incredibly annoying and spreading misinformation, but there are very real barriers to hydration in every European city I've been to (Berlin, Hamburg, London, Paris, Barcelona, and Prague) compared to the states. I find it so odd and annoying how with all of the public benefits these countries have that we don't, they can't even have public drinking fountains in their cities?? That combined with the fact that you can't really ask for tap water at a restaurant, so there's truly no such thing as free water outside of the home. And a 50 cL water bottle (which is barely more than the volume of a can of soda and usually your only option for water) costs the equivalent of anywhere from $3-$7 depending on where you are. I hate the overhydration culture we have here, but I am glad one of the maybe two public health things we've gotten right as a country (alongside the stigmatization of smoking, an energy every European city could also frankly use) is having free public drinking water in cities.
So interesting! And every time I read one of these something Toks I give myself a pat on the back for not being on TikTok.
Agreed! I get the feeling that everything viral and awful first originated on TikTok. I know, correlation not causation, but I don't mind to avoid this kind of influence! :)
Random aside that's hopefully relevant to Burnt Toast readers- this piece on how to complain better online (particularly about fashion, but seems broadly applicable imo) was great: https://www.wardrobeoxygen.com/turning-a-rant-into-a-resource/
Thanks for the link- I thought it was great
If anyone is interested in further reading (listening?) on how and when our culture became obsessed with staying hydrated, I'd really recommend the Decoder Ring episode "The Invention of Hydration." I really do believe that the idea you need to be toting around a water bottle all the time is such a scam to sell water bottles and bottled water! If you genuinely enjoy drinking water that much, or need to for medical reasons, then go with God, but I do think that drinking water is validating because it is a little easily controllable "health habit" that makes us feel like we're taking care of our bodies when the effect is probably pretty minimal.
It is majorly funny to me that my parents never thought one day in their whole precious lives about making sure I had a water bottle and now I feel guilty all day if I forget to send my daughter’s with her. I played outside for hours in the heat of summer and came home to guzzle kool aid. I don’t know if I even drank water other than from a water fountain. And I’m still alive!
I don’t remember having a water bottle at all times even being a thing until college and that was mainly about staying hydrated while walking to classes all day, drinking alcohol or working out. Back then it was Nalgene bottles that were trendy. Then it was Tervis, then Yeti and Hydroflask and now Stanley. I have probably had all of them or at least a knock off version. I have a light pink Stanley Quencher now that I’ve had for about a year. I like it, I put stickers all over it, just like I always have, and otherwise it looks and functions exactly as it did the day I was gifted it (which I can’t say for past “trendy” bottles). My nine year old daughter now has a smaller pink Stanley that she immediately covered in stickers. I know she asked for one because I have one and some of her classmates do too. I just see no reason to judge any of it. We humans have lots of little weird things that get us through the day. Sometimes those things are heavily influenced by marketing. I too am very exhausted by women constantly getting criticized for *gasp* liking things. Fine to think about WHY you like it, fine to reflect on overconsumption and obsessive behavior but also fine to keep on liking it. Women are guilted for so many reasons, let’s not let water bottles be one more of them.
Thank you for bringing this up! I’m an elder millennial child of the 80s and I don’t know that I ever drank water other than from a bubbler (aka water fountain, but I grew up in Massachusetts). For me it was milk all day, and the only time I remember seeing my parents drink water was with dinner.
We also drank a lot of milk and juice from the frozen concentrate cans. I am lactose intolerant (from birth) and my mom would put lactaid drops in milk for me because at the time that was the main (only?) option. I wish we would’ve known that drinking a couple cups of milk a day is totally optional and not at all necessary! 🤦♀️
Lucky (?) me, I didn’t become lactose intolerant until my late 20s 🙃 I definitely remember all the Lactaid commercials!
I had forgotten the name of those trendy water bottles, and them my 10-year-old comes home from school and starts telling me about how people are obsessed with the Stanley cup because it didn’t melt when a car burned up, and I’m sitting there thinking to myself, what does this story have to to hockey 🤣 I caught up a few minutes later (they were reading a Washington Post article about how the cups went viral) but it was pretty funny in the middle!
Every time Stanley cups come up I think hockey first.
Ahhh, me too! Every time my husband mentioned something about this trend to me I thought he was talking about hockey at first.
Thank you so much for sharing Ashley's piece. Always love reading your thoughts and insights. xo
Love Ashley and she articulated such an important layer of this!
This has some very interesting points. I agree that a lot of the criticism of this is because women are buying these, and anything that women are into is somehow lesser than if men were into it. It's hidden misogyny. However, I'm critical of anyone who engages in this kind of buying, no matter what gender they are. Overconsumption is a serious problem in this country. I have no problem with someone buying one of these, because they're obviously high-quality. But why does anyone need multiples of them, in different colors? This also goes for men who buy sneakers, or people who line up for the latest gadget. Why do you need it right then, and in multiples? People should really interrogate their need for the latest "it" thing. Like I said, I have no problem if someone wants to buy one of these. But the companies who engage in these marketing tactics know that they're eventually going to make more of the product, so people can still get one if they wait a bit. So what's the rush to get it right now?
The "replacing water with food" is an entirely different issue, and is actually pretty dangerous. You can get very ill from flooding your system with too much water. Also, those packets of flavor are generally made with sugar replacements, which can wreak havoc on your digestive system (ask me how I know). And that's not even touching on the fact that water isn't going to give you the vitamins and minerals that you need, so if you're replacing entire meals with water you're hurting your body.
there's gotta be a way to make something feel like a treat without spending money on it!