Just for Fun - How Much Water Weight Can I Lose?

kazminchu

The Waffle: My workplace is coming to the end of a weight-loss challenge they've been doing since January. I haven't seriously joined because the rules are lose as much as possible, as quickly as possible and that doesn't work for me. However I thought it would be interesting to see how much (water)weight I could lose in a week.

So far I know that caffeine, carbs, sodium and alcohol make you retain water, so I was going to ditch them (or go as low as possible in the case of carbs) for the 2 days preceding the weigh in. I think I also remember reading that the more you drink, the more you flush out, so I'll aim to drink as much water as possible.

What other things could I do to maximise my temporary loss? Obviously nothing dangerous, no "detox" teas or laxative pills or things like that. And what timescale is best to do these things? The weigh in is next Monday 10th April.

TL:DR : I want to lose as much water weight as possible for a challenge. What can I do?

VintageFeline

I have honestly never been able to induce the whoosh really. Perhaps one time when I was virtually no carb (not recommended, I was following a very specific protocol) but that was really the exception. Any other time when I have reduced carbs, drunk more water etc has had no effect. I also never had the initial whoosh most people get when I started my weight loss way back when.

So you may be able to do it, you may not. It's going to depend entirely on how your body responds to reducing the things that commonly cause water retention. And if next week coincides with times you retain during TOM forget about it!

kazminchu

VintageFeline wrote: »

I have honestly never been able to induce the whoosh really. Perhaps one time when I was virtually no carb (not recommended, I was following a very specific protocol) but that was really the exception. Any other time when I have reduced carbs, drunk more water etc has had no effect. I also never had the initial whoosh most people get when I started my weight loss way back when.

So you may be able to do it, you may not. It's going to depend entirely on how your body responds to reducing the things that commonly cause water retention. And if next week coincides with times you retain during TOM forget about it!

I think I whoosh quite easily - I've lost 7 and 8lbs in a week before after having a particularly carby/salty meal and going back to my usual diet. So I'm hoping this will be a similar effect.

I definitely couldn't do no carb, even for two days! I can probably reduce it quite a bit though, especially for such a limited time.

I'll just see what happens I guess!

LivingtheLeanDream

Depends how overweight you are...I personally have never had a 'whoosh' of more than 2lbs but I never had much weight to lose (20lbs) in the first place...

RoxieDawn

Everyone is different but there are strategies. I have produced the whoosh carb loading and accompanied by alcohol has produced this for me, but this was by accident.

Strategies I know of are carb/glycogen loading, sodium load/reduction, water reduction a couple of days prior..and natural diuretics red wine, caffeine/green tea, vitamin b6..

kazminchu

RoxieDawn wrote: »

The stars have to be aligned right to promote the whoosh. Everyone is different. Carb loading and accompanied by alcohol has produced this for me, but this was by accident.

Strategies I know of are carb/glycogen loading, sodium load/reduction, water reduction a couple of days prior..and natural diuretics red wine, caffeine/green tea, vitamin b6..

So would it be worth me loading up on carbs/sodium this week, then dropping it right down just before the weigh-in? Would I lose more water weight than I gained during the load?

inertiastrength

Depends what your starting weight is and if your glycogen stores are "full" (eating disproportionately high amounts of carbs). When I was 220lbs and basically eating donuts for breakfast slashing carbs (an Atkins or keto type diet) you can drop 5-7lbs of water weight.

YvetteK2015

go to a sauna before you go to work. You'll sweat out some water.

kazminchu

fascha wrote: »

Depends what your starting weight is and if your glycogen stores are "full" (eating disproportionately high amounts of carbs). When I was 220lbs and basically eating donuts for breakfast slashing carbs (an Atkins or keto type diet) you can drop 5-7lbs of water weight.

Off the top of my head my carbs are fairly high, but I don't know if they'd be disproportionate. Maybe 50-65% of daily intake?
It sounds like if I raise my carbs for a few days, then drop them right down, it might give me the best result?

TimothyFish

People hold between 5 and 20 lbs of stuff in their gut as it makes it way from the top side to the bottom side, so if you fast for a week you could lose as much as 20lbs of "water weight". Moderate dehydration can result in as much as a 10% loss of body weight, so a 200 lb person could lose about 20lbs from not drinking enough water. So, theoretically you could lose up to 40 lbs of "water weight" while at moderately increased health risks. Of course, to actually achieve that, those increased health risks might be more than moderate for you. It certainly isn't something you should be trying, but if you were lost in the wilderness somewhere, you might experience it and still survive.

amtyrell

This seems like a super unhealthy idea.

trigden1991

Although it may seem not directly applicable, bodybuilder contest prep protocols are what you should look at. They typically involve; water, salt and carb manipulation to "dry" the body out. Typically they involve water loading followed by lowering carbohydrate and salt intake.

This is not healthy and I would not advise doing it frequently obviously. If you really want to be competitive in weight loss challenges then you want the least amount of food in transit from the day before, be dehydrated (through water intake and inducing sweating).

- 1 day out reduce fluid intake to only when required
- Low calories, low carbs (just lean protein and veg)
- stop drinking before bed
- Wrap up in layers (or bin bag) and go and do cardio to remove excess water
- Don't eat or drink on the day of the weigh in (assuming it's in the morning)
- Wear your lightest clothes/shoes unless you are weighing "undressed"

Hopefully this won't get flagged as it's not advice and is purely hypothetical. Again I am not advocating the above but some people will do it so you may as well even the playing field.

PaulaWallaDingDong

I think your "workplace" is out of its mind if it thinks it's promoting good health with this competition. Shouldn't that be the point? Reduce time off due to illness, reduce health plan costs, etc? They need to rethink their format.

kazminchu

amtyrell wrote: »

This seems like a super unhealthy idea.

How so? I'm not going to be taking any weird chemicals or diet pills or anything, or going low calorie. If I were doing it long term then I'd see your point, but I have stated it is very short term.

kazminchu

PaulaWallaDingDong wrote: »

I think your "workplace" is out of its mind if it thinks it's promoting good health with this competition. Shouldn't that be the point? Reduce time off due to illness, reduce health plan costs, etc? They need to rethink their format.

They're just doing it for fun I think, and for charity. But the whole system is flawed, some people doing it have far more to lose than others so for someone like me there is no point trying because I won't lose enough, or fast enough. They're not very good at thinking things through.

kazminchu

trigden1991 wrote: »

Although it may seem not directly applicable, bodybuilder contest prep protocols are what you should look at. They typically involve; water, salt and carb manipulation to "dry" the body out. Typically they involve water loading followed by lowering carbohydrate and salt intake.

This is not healthy and I would not advise doing it frequently obviously. If you really want to be competitive in weight loss challenges then you want the least amount of food in transit from the day before, be dehydrated (through water intake and inducing sweating).

- 1 day out reduce fluid intake to only when required
- Low calories, low carbs (just lean protein and veg)
- stop drinking before bed
- Wrap up in layers (or bin bag) and go and do cardio to remove excess water
- Don't eat or drink on the day of the weigh in (assuming it's in the morning)
- Wear your lightest clothes/shoes unless you are weighing "undressed"

Hopefully this won't get flagged as it's not advice and is purely hypothetical. Again I am not advocating the above but some people will do it so you may as well even the playing field.

Thank you, this is perfect. I am well aware of the risks of doing things like this long term, which is why I made sure to state it will be very temporary in my OP. So thank you for trusting me not to be an idiot!

VintageFeline

I'll just leave this here. Obviously an extreme example but still.........

https://www.rt.com/sport/382434-scottish-kickboxer-dies-weight-cut-jordan-/

deluxmary2000

We have very different interpretations of the word "fun".

KickboxFanatic

this is the protocal I've used to cut weight before a powerlifting competition. I also cut all processed carbs 7-10 days out. I can follow the "water loading - 24 hour weigh in" table and drop 6-10 lbs in 3-4 days.

http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/cutting-weight-for-powerlifting/

KickboxFanatic

We also sit in the sauna every day and spit into a water bottle for up to 24 hours prior to weigh in depending on how much more we need to drop. I took an extra 1.4 lbs off a girl who couldn't make weight 2 hours before weigh in's closed using the sauna and spitting. Might be a bit drastic for what you're trying to do though.

kazminchu

Wow, some of these things are really intense! Thanks for the tips @MeganAM89 and @KickboxFanatic.

For everyone else - I will reiterate:

I WILL NOT be doing anything dangerous, that includes but is not limited to VLCD, dehydration, any drugs/pills (including but not limited to) laxatives, detox teas, diuretics and weight loss pills. I am not interested in damaging my body.
This is temporary, for a MAXIMUM of 6 days. Probably only the two days prior to the weigh in, depending on what I do.
Finally, I am only doing it for fun, so I won't be pushing for any ridiculous results. Kickboxfanatic's note about sitting in a sauna and spitting into a water bottle is interesting, but way too drastic for me. I'm not going to make myself overly uncomfortable doing this as it's not serious.

Please trust that I'm not trying to damage myself in any way by trying this, it's just plain curiosity. My diary is open is you want to check I'm still hitting my calories and not starving myself.