Practically every diet you hear about, no matter how much of a fad it is or how bizarre its instructions are, all have one factor in common: they all advise that you DRINK WATER—and lots of it.
But, what’s the deal with that?
Does drinking water really help you lose weight?
How much water do you actually need to drink to lose weight?
Is there such a thing as drinking too much water?
Does drinking water really help you lose weight?
Yes, it really does. By all accounts, people simply do not drink enough water on a daily basis. When your body doesn’t get enough water, it starts to stores water because it doesn’t know when more water is coming. Think of a camel in the desert. Camels famously store water in their systems, so they can go days without drinking.
Well, guess what? Water weighs pounds, and it’s quite heavy. While the water your body is storing doesn’t amount to a metric ton, most people are walking around with about five pounds of extra water weight.
What those five pounds mean for you?
When you drink lots of water on a consistent basis, your body then thinks: “Hey! We’re getting regular water, here. No need to hang onto all that old water we stored in the waistline a couple weeks back.”
And out it comes, your body flushing away the emergency reserves it’s been holding all this time.
That’s why you run to the bathroom every five minutes when you start hydrating yourself. It’s not that the water you’re drinking is going through you; it’s your body flushing out all the excess water.
So there you have it!
That’s why you lose weight when you drink water. However, there are other reasons water helps lose weight.
• Water helps to flush out the toxins in your body, so your engine is running cleaner.
• Water helps to keep your muscles supple and your joints lubricated, which makes it easier to exercise.
• When you drink lots of water, you can digest your food easier.
How much water do you actually need to drink to lose weight?
You should drink a minimum of 64 ounces of water a day. That’s eight 8-ounce glasses per day. But there is a catch.
For every 25 pounds that you’re overweight, you need to add another 8-ounce glass of water per day.
It might seem like a lot, but if you carry around bottled water with you and sip it all day, you’ll drink your daily requirement with no problem.
If you like a little lemon in your water, even better – lemon is a great body cleanser, and it tastes good, too. There’s an added bonus to all this water, too: your skin will look fabulous.
Is there such a thing as too much water?
Yeah, there is, and it’s called drowning.
Just kidding.
But seriously yes, there is, which is another good reason to tote a bottle around with you and drink slowly throughout the day, rather than stand at the sink and down all eight glasses in one go.
If you drink water faster than your body can process it through sweating or urination, it can actually kill you from allowing your blood to become watery, and from not having enough sodium in your body.
But don’t panic. It’s something that can be done easily.