Water
Around November or December of last year, I began losing motivation with my dieting and exercise and needed to get my head back on track. I took the holidays off with the vow that the new year would bring a new me. I started off the year not with exercise but with a week of drinking more water.
I lost four pounds by drinking more water.
Anyone who has dieted, is dieting, or has anything to do with weight loss will tell you water is very important.
Did you know that a good amount of the time you think you are hungry, you are really thirsty? Talk about making a difference in how much you eat if you drank when you were truly thirsty.
The question is how much you are supposed to drink. Drinking too little or too much water can have bad consequences, so how do you know what’s safe?
The longstanding advice of eight to twelve ten ounce glasses OF WATER day won’t steer you wrong. If you’re like most of the world, you’re probably not getting this much, so the increase will be an improvement. You might have to urinate a bit more often, but that doesn’t last forever, I promise.
You might hear, however, that to calculate how much water you need, you have to divide your weight in pounds. The number you get is the number of ounces you should drink a day.
That sounds great in theory, but I for one cannot drink five 750ml bottles of water a day. It makes me feel ill.
So I take the middle of the road stance. Three 750ml bottles, which is more than the eight to twelve bottles and less than the weight in half calculation.
A good way to keep track of whether or not you’re drinking enough water is to keep an eye on the colour of your urine. Yep, check the potty. Lighter is better. The darker your urine, the more likely you are dehydrated.
February 24th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
I have heard all kinds of theories. I personally have set a goal of 100 ounces a day. I started the year out at 1/2 my weight in ounces-or 137 ounces a day. It was tough but I was also giving up sodas and other bad drinks. It helped me to kick those habits and get more water.
I’m going pretty good at meeting my water goals. I very rarely drink anything else though so that makes it much easier.
February 24th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
Yes, getting in more water can definitely help you kick those bad-drink habits, that’s for sure.
Good on you for meeting you water goals, whichever theory you decide to go with. With so many theories out there, doing what you think is best for you is pretty much all you can do.