Drink half your weight in water?

taraw0503

My trainer friend told me this. Seems like sooooo much water. Has anyone heard this too?

solynea

You should drink all that water in a day?

taraw0503

Crazy right? Just looked it up and she's right.

"Experts agree that the amount of water one needs for health and ideal weight is half of one's weight in ounces of water each day."

ninerbuff

Personally I do. But there isn't any scientific evidence to conclude that's what you need to do for perfect health.


A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

kr1stadee

You're going to hear that water has no magical weight loss properties, and there are studies done to debunk the 8-8oz of water a day theory.

I drink 3L a day. Helps keep me full.. I think you should drink what you're comfortable with

stephdeeable

If my calculations are correct I "need" 17 glasses of water a day, I usually drink from 10 - 14, so i'm not too far off.

WendyTerry420

My trainer friend told me this. Seems like sooooo much water. Has anyone heard this too?

That sounds crazy to me. But then, I don't weigh my water. I just drink it. I usually drink about a half a gallon during the day when I'm at work, then another 12-20 ounces at home. But I have no inclination to weigh it.

ETA: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/821181-myths-and-facts-about-hydration-requirements

Mokey41

You need to drink enough for your urine to be very pale yellow and to not be thirsty. Drinking excessive amounts of water puts a strain on your kidneys and can deplete your body of minerals that it needs. Most people naturally get more than enough fluids through the day with food and drink without guzzling gallons of water as well.

Mama_Jag

My trainer friend told me this. Seems like sooooo much water. Has anyone heard this too?

That sounds crazy to me. But then, I don't weigh my water. I just drink it. I usually drink about a half a gallon during the day when I'm at work, then another 12-20 ounces at home. But I have no inclination to weigh it.

ETA: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/821181-myths-and-facts-about-hydration-requirements

You don't actually weigh it. It's half your weight (pounds) in ounces of water. Example: Me = 185#. 185/2=92.5. I should have 92.5 ounces of water in a day.

I drink a lot of water. I do lose better when I do that, and I feel fuller through the day.

xMonroeMisfit

You need to drink enough for your urine to be very pale yellow and to not be thirsty. Drinking excessive amounts of water puts a strain on your kidneys and can deplete your body of minerals that it needs. Most people naturally get more than enough fluids through the day with food and drink without guzzling gallons of water as well.

My urine is never pale yellow thanks to my vitamins that turn it glow in the dark.

NinjaJinja

My urine is never pale yellow thanks to my vitamins that turn it glow in the dark.

But what does it look like in the light? lol

Even the "8 glasses of water a day" rule is a whole lot of water for me. I just have no desire to be sipping on water ALL day. I drink when I'm thirsty and judging by my urine, it's plenty. I think there is definitely more to be said for being in tune with your own body rather than broad scientific guidelines. They're just that - an AVERAGE of the people they studied. Whereas you're an individual and it's all about finding the balance that's right for you.

714rah714

Eat when your hungry, drink when your thirsty, exercise even if your tired.

lawandfitness

You need to drink enough for your urine to be very pale yellow and to not be thirsty. Drinking excessive amounts of water puts a strain on your kidneys and can deplete your body of minerals that it needs. Most people naturally get more than enough fluids through the day with food and drink without guzzling gallons of water as well.

A nutritionist I went to see told me the same thing, drink untill your urine is pale yellow, anything darker means you need to drink more water!

lawandfitness

Eat when your hungry, drink when your thirsty, exercise even if your tired.

AMEN to this!

__RANDY__

I fill a gallon jug in the morning, usually finish it by lunch time, refill it and sip on it the rest of the day.

ldrosophila

The heavy you are the more water you need to drink, so that leaves me with a lot of water to drink at 307lbs!! I bought this huge 100 ounce Big Gulp cup. I fill it up first thing in the morning. I do add a decaf tea bag to it for flavor. I try to fill it twice a day, but most of the time I dont finish it.

SoDamnHungry

I drink however much water my body wants. I've never understood why people go with the idea that you should only eat when you're hungry, but you should drink even when you aren't thirsty.

emmeylou

My surgeon told me this little piece of advice... for BOTH water and protein... the ideal amount is "your ideal weight in kilograms"... and since I weight train, I up it by about 20 grams/ounces on workout days. This was/is actually do-able for me and made more sense then "half your weight" (though half of my weight in lbs is almost the same as my ideal in kg).

Espressocycle

This is ounces, right? Sounds about right. If you weigh 200 lbs, that's 16 pints or so of water, which is about what I drink.

1shauna1

I have heard this as well. So, if you are 200 lbs, you should be drinking 100 ounces of water a day (so "they" say).

glovepuppet

don't drink half your actual weight in water.
you'll die.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=strange-but-true-drinking-too-much-water-can-kill

be very careful when drinking more than seems natural. you deplete your body of trace minerals & salts which are vital for life.

youlighter

Eat when your hungry and Drink BEFORE you are thirsty ) Water is the most important component to our existence, so what can hurt to try for the OZ daily. Personally I shoot for a gallon a day every day. That is 1 8oz glass per hour for 16 hours. I try to sleep the other 8 hours.

glovepuppet

if your trainer left this open to potentially fatal misenterpretation then they're an irrisponsible fool.

dym123

You don't actually weigh it. It's half your weight (pounds) in ounces of water. Example: Me = 185#. 185/2=92.5. I should have 92.5 ounces of water in a day.

I drink a lot of water. I do lose better when I do that, and I feel fuller through the day.

Thank goodness, when I converted 1/2 my body weight into ounces I came up with 1,632 ounces. But even 102 oz is a bit daunting since I'm having a hard enough time drinking 64oz a day

mmapags

It just not all that complicated. These mythological rules do nothing but make compliance and people sticking to it more difficult. As others have said, urnine color and thirst should determine how much you drink ans as Niner said, there are no viable studies that indicate differently. KISS Keep It Simple Stupid!

sarahrbraun

My trainer friend told me this. Seems like sooooo much water. Has anyone heard this too?

yep, and it seems pretty spot on in my experience.

About 18 months ago I went to the urologist with a 14mm kidney stone. Since it was my third one, my Dr did some tests to find out WHY I was creating stones. What he found was that I was chronically dehydrated. Over a year we did several urine tests, and my hydration levels finally looked good when I was drinking about 128oz of water a day (16 cups) at 228 lbs.

2bmeagain12

I've been working on achieving the one ounce per 1/2 pound, myself. It's much easier to do this, or go over on my workout days. I do find it helps decrease my appetite.

Beachtreasures

I have heard that as well, actually this-morning on Breakfast Television. I figured it out and it makes sense!