Wight Loss With Water

jyoti_0

I love dairy. But I also have dairy allergy, so I put on a lot of water weight if I eat dairy or even gluten. One dairy dish and I will pile on almost 2lbs in a day. So, one cup of tea/ coffee with milk, and all my weight loss efforts will go in vain.
Yesterday, I had some milk-made sweets. And within 15 minutes, my stomach was bloated and I was cursing my taste-buds for leading me to that situation.
I knew that the next day (today) the scales will show a heavy uptick.
So, I surfed YouTube about weight loss tips. It was late in the evening.
And I came across water diet, where people had only water. Of course that is very dangerous idea of not eating anything but drink only water for a few days, which is pure starvation and nothing else.
But it give me an idea. Yes, drinking water makes me feel better after I have consumed any allergy kicking food. I also keep a water bottle next to my bed and sip water whenever I get up in the night.
So, I started sipping water while watching YT. I sipped (not gulped down) around 750ml water in 30 minutes.
Then my kidneys kicked in and my trips to bathroom started. 1-2-3- then I went to sleep. I continued to get up, go pee, come back, sip some water again, go to sleep again, get up again.. you get the idea. I didn't count how many times I went to the bathroom but I think it was at least 4-5 times.
Today morning, my scale moved- in the opposite direction!
I have lost 1lbs since yesterday!!
That-is-amazing!
So, today, I am making it a points to drink 8 cups of water. No, I'll not count any liquid in my water count. It is going to be 8 pure cups of water.
What is your opinion?
Have you experimented with drinking more water and losing more weight too?

AnnPT77

If the scale goes up because of water retention, then sometimes drinking water will in fact cause it to go back down again. How effective it is depends on why the water retention happened in the first place.

Here's the thing: It's water, not fat.

Most of us, when we want to "lose weight" really mean we want to reduce body fat. Those up and down daily fluctuations of water retention are a distraction from that. Yes, they can play peek-a-boo on the body weight scale with the fat loss. But if we are eating at the right level, fat loss is gradually happening in the background. It will show on the scale eventually.

To understand whether you're losing fat, look at your weight trend over multiple weeks - like 4-6 weeks. (For women who have menstrual periods, they should compare body weight at the same relative point in at least two or more different menstrual cycles).

The day to day multi-pound fluctuations on the scale are water retention changes, or differences in how much food is in transit in our digestive system on its way to become waste (i.e., heading for the toilet).

The water shifts in particular are just part of how a healthy body stays healthy. Your body knows what it's doing. Don't try to game your water weight shifts.

Yes, you want to drink enough fluids. The necessary amount varies by person & circumstances. You should be safe drinking 8 cups of water across the day, but do realize that drinking too much water is unhealthy, too. If your urine is clear rather than pale yellow, you're probably overdoing fluids.

If you want to lose fat weight, assess that by looking at your longer term trends instead.

I'd suggest you read this:

https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/

Other MFPers talk about their experiences in this thread:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10683010/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-fluctuations/p1

Best wishes for success!

jyoti_0

@AnnPT77 thank you for such insights and those helpful links! Yes, I cannot count water retention and water loss as weight loss. So, I'll continue to focus on my long term weight loss, instead looking at day to day fluctuations. My aim, after all, is to be long term healthy!

Lietchi

You might want to use a weight trending app to understand your weight trend a bit better. I use Libra (for Android) but there's also Happy Scale for iOS. The weight trend can still be deceptive, but it's certainly a lot better than just looking at the daily fluctuations.

kshama2001

Lietchi wrote: »

You might want to use a weight trending app to understand your weight trend a bit better. I use Libra (for Android) but there's also Happy Scale for iOS. The weight trend can still be deceptive, but it's certainly a lot better than just looking at the daily fluctuations.

Yes, in 2021 I lost almost 40 pounds and tracked it in Happy Scale. Some weeks, and even months, it seemed like I wasn't losing weight, but the Trend in Happy Scale reassured me.

herblovinmom

I have the same issues with gluten and dairy, I find I can eat a small amount of dairy , like a tbsp, without having an allergic response. I played around with goat dairy products that seems to be less aggravating to my system but it doesn’t eliminate the response completely, it’s sad, I do enjoy cheese, I just eat a tiny bit and plan for it 👍 gluten I just avoid completely, it’s not even fun to eat gluten, lol not as tasty as cheese either. Not worth it.. that being said, I havnt experimented with drinking extra water to appease my allergy symptoms, I typically drink a good amount and even more on the daily when it’s hot out, so that would be a good experiment for me to try, maybe it would flush out the histamines faster, thanks for sharing your findings.

jyoti_0

@Lietchi
@kshama2001
Thank you for your recommendations!
@herblovinmom
It's such a relief to know someone else is in the same (allergic) boat!
I also tried goat cheese, but as you said, the allergic response is still there.
And yes, gluten is totally avoidable. Dairy, I stumble from time to time.
So yesterday I followed the water sipping religiously and am feeling better this morning. Also, my reduced weight stayed where it was yesterday. So I'm going to continue this "flush out toxins with the help of water" diet. Hopefully, it will help me reduce some of the water retention.