Hydrate to Lose Weight - The Real Skinny on Water Retention and Sodium

If you've been scouring the news, devouring as much information as possible regarding weight loss, you've likely heard all the buzz about the relationship between weight loss and drinking water. It has been well documented that the liver is able to metabolize more fat if you help out your kidneys by drinking plenty of water each day.

What is not often explained is water's relationship to salt and how to tell when you are drinking enough water. The purpose of this article is to focus on these two issues.

First of all, let's take a look at how our bodies deal with salt! Salt (sodium, at least) is a necessary ingredient to regulate blood pressure and fluid volumes in our bodies. Additionally, it is a top notch preservative and it tastes good! Salt is -- well -- the salt of the earth. Sorry ... Like everything else, we can have too much of a good thing, though.

If you've ever seen an ocean disaster movie where people are adrift in the sea hoping for rescue, you've probably heard the warning to not drink salt water. This warning is true and must be heeded if you find yourself adrift at sea, or on a diet. The reason is that the body can only handle a certain concentration of salt.

If you eat a really salty meal, you may notice that your body will experience some swelling. This swelling is retained water which is being kept by the body in order to keep the salt in solution.

So how do you get rid of retained water? Well, believe it or not, the answer is that you drink water to get rid of water! That's right. It's counterintuitive, but true. By drinking extra water, it will allow your body to "flush" the excess salt out and to release the retained water.

Think of it this way, your body grows to "expect" a particular amount of sodium and a particular volume of water. It "reserves" water in your body knowing more salt is to come. When you drink a gallon of water over the course of the day, your body "learns" that you are providing plenty of water. Eventually it begins to "trust" that you'll continue doing so and it lets go of the surplus. At seven pounds per gallon, it can add up to a lot of weight quickly.

Secondly, we want to discuss how to tell if you are getting enough water. The first step toward turning yourself into a human water meter is to get on a regimen of drinking more water each day.

Try to drink twelve (8 ounce) glasses of water each day when you are dieting, and at least eight when you reach your optimal weight. (These are guidelines that must be adjusted using common sense. There may be circumstances such as weather, type of work, body size, physical activity and many others that will require you to drink much more or less than this.) If you are more than twenty pounds overweight, you should drink an extra glass for every 20 pounds over your optimal weight.

Once you've been on this regimen for a few weeks, you should notice some changes (beyond being exhausted by the hundreds of trips to the restroom -- just kidding!) Many people report that their skin looks and feels better, that headaches disappear, that they require less sleep and that they simply have more energy.

Biologically though, the best way to tell if you are drinking enough water is the color (rather the lack of color) of your urine. Many people think that color in their urine is due to waste being flushed out of the body, but it is, in fact, simply due to a shortage of water. Clear urine means you are drinking plenty of water.

Another benefit to drinking plenty of water is that your natural water alarm clock (thirst) will return. Your body will begin to signal to you that it is thirsty since it is no longer in the habit of hoarding water. Listen to your body and you'll continue to lose weight and burn fat.

Here are a few tips to help you drink more water each day (if any of these tips work for you, use post-it note reminders until they become habit):

1. Cut peeled citrus fruits into squares and freeze them. Float them in your drinking water and treat yourself to them at the end of each glass.

2. Always carry a big water bottle with you so that you can drink while you are running errands, driving, or waiting.

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How Many Cups of Water a Day to Drink to Lose Weight Fast?

Both of these are frequently asked questions when it come to weight loss. Fist of all if you are looking for how to lose weight fast at home remedies, then you will find several FREE and NATURAL Proven Weight loss tips here.

Let's talk about Water. It is absolutely essential that you drink enough water to support the liver's ability to burn fat. And when you are lacking in the H2O department, your kidneys will actually force your liver to pick up the slack. And that takes away from your liver's ability to metabolize stored fat.

There are two basic schools of thought when wondering how many cups of water a day to drink to lose weight fast. The first is the generic 8 glasses of 8 ounce servings. I would say that this is an absolute minimum; but right on the money for a person that weighs about 125 pounds. The other school of though is this: you need to drink half of your weight in ounces of water every day. So Simply put, a person weighing 150 pounds would need to drink 75 ounces of water a day. This is about 9 servings at 8 ounces each. Or 9 glasses of water.

If you can get anywhere from 8 to 10 eight ounce cups of water a day you are probably doing great, but do give you weight some consideration. Drinking water is very important if you want to lose weight fast, but more importantly it will actually HELP you get rid of excess water weight! What? How can that be?

Well, quite the contrary-- the reason that your body is retaining water is because it is trying to tell you something! Your body is in crisis mode and is hoarding every ounce it can because you are not giving it enough! Bottom line-- to stop retaining water you must start drinking more per day.

I know, when you and your toilet become best buddies during frequent visits, most people call it quits. This is but a brief period when your body is regaining trust in your ability to give it the water it needs.
Great news! The more frequent your visits to the bathroom become, the MORE water you are getting rid of around your belly, ankles and hips. Your body is realizing that it doesn't need to hold onto that water anymore. Finally, you are giving yourself just what you need. So please don't stop now. You are on the verge of your breakthrough point. Eventually, you're body will settle down and frequent toilet breaks will become less often and more manageable. Even better, You will see weight loss results like never before if you stick to a good water regime.

You will also notice something else, less cravings! Sometimes dehydration can cause you to crave more food. Not only will you be full because of your water intake, you body will stop sending those false alarms to your brain! If you can add a lemon to your water you are doing your digestive system a huge favor. The proper amount of lemon juice a day will aid in the digestive process and symptoms like heartburn, burping and bloating will start to disappear.

Lemons are high in two essentials that your body needs--Vitamin C and Potassium. The vitamin C will boost your immune system and help clean out your blood. The Potassium in lemons will also help people with heart conditions.

Recent studies have indicated that Cancer thrives in an acidic environment. Believe it or not even though lemons are an acidic fruit, they are a great ph/alkaline equalizer. Lemons will actually help your body become LESS acidic.

How much lemon juice should you have? Well if you weigh under 150 pounds you should have an ounce a day or the equivalent of one lemon. Weigh more than 150 pounds? Just double it and have 2 ounces of lemon juice a day. Try to make it from Organic lemons if you can. Just sip your lemon water throughout the day with your spring water and you will reap the rewards of Fast Weight Loss and Healthy Liver, Kidney, Digestive and Heart Health!

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Drink Water To Lose Weight And Better Your Silhouette

An elaborate study by Rebecca Mukelbauer, a nutritionist from School of Public Health in Berlin, has established that there is a strong correlation between the amount of water consumed daily and maintaining a balanced body weight.

The problem is that for those who drink a lot of water it is harder to add weight than for those who drink a little. Thus, testing a group of subjects, it was noticed that, given the same diet, those who drank two cups of water before every meal, have lost 1.8 kg in a month, compared with others who did not drink water before the meal.

Regarding the reasons that cause weight loss of people consuming more water, there are many hypotheses. The most elementary hypotheses is that those who consume water before a meal, lose some appetite and thus consume less food.

Another, called "water-induced Thermogenesis" by scientists, shows that water introduced in the body stimulates the growth of the consumption of energy in the body.

The Institute of Medicine in Berlin has set the daily requirement for water - including the water in food - at 2.7 liters per day for women and 3.7 liters per day for men, writes infoniac.ru.

The values specified above should be interpreted as being an estimate, the exact amount of water consumed should be a result of a more personalized calculation. From this, it results that for every 500 g of body weight, you should drink between 15 to 29 ml of water.

Between the above limits, the evaluations relate to the climate and a lifestyle with permanent physical effort or limited to a sedentary job.

A very practical criterion of the body's requirements with respect to water consumption comes from the urine. If your urine has a light color and lacks a strong smell, it means that your body gets sufficient amounts of water.

If, on the contrary, the urine has a darker color and a more pronounced smell, we have a signal that the body lacks the water, making it necessary to increase fluid intake.

In connection with how to consume liquids, nutritionists have several recommendations, which should not be neglected:

• Drink water throughout the day. A big drink of water at one time does not have the same effect as several drinks spread out in smaller quantities. It is recommended at all times to have on us a water bottle from which to drink a little bit.

• Drink a glass of water before meals. Drink water before meals, on one hand, it will "wash" the digestive tract, and on the other hand it will reduce some of the appetite.

• Give up on energy drinks. They contain sugar, and sugar consumed with water, promotes weight gain. Drink still water instead.

• Drink cold water. One study shows that the body's effort to heat the water we consume accelerates fat burning and the carbohydrates metabolism.

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