Why do I gain weight when I drink my 8 cups of water a day?

I'd like to know the answer to this too because I drink a lot of water

keep your sodium low, and keep on drinking. You're retaining water. Don't be alarmed, it's not "fat weight" it's "water weight" and that will eventually go. Right now, you're just holding it because of your sodium intake. Reduce sodium levels, increase or maintain your water intake, and give it a couple weeks......you'll see

keep your sodium low, and keep on drinking. You're retaining water. Don't be alarmed, it's not "fat weight" it's "water weight" and that will eventually go. Right now, you're just holding it because of your sodium intake. Reduce sodium levels, increase or maintain your water intake, and give it a couple weeks......you'll see

What she said

Not drink water? Are you serious? Drink as much water as you can, eat less carbs/calories, and get active. If you're eating too many calories you can drink a swimming pool and you won't lose weight.

On the flip side; Losing weight by not drinking water is probably the least healthy thing you can possibly do to your body.

keep your sodium low, and keep on drinking. You're retaining water. ... Reduce sodium levels, increase or maintain your water intake, and give it a couple weeks......you'll see

This... My sodium is under 1000mg most days, usually 600mg or less, and I feel so much better. Keeps me off the blood pressure meds, too, as my doctor said to keep sodium under 1500mg. Even a little extra sodium affects me. Unless I'm sweating it out, this works best for me.

If you've been habitually dehydrated, it will take a while for your body to become accustomed to you hydrating it properly. For the first while, it will tend to hold onto the water you drink because it doesn't know that its going to be getting enough water.

One thing is that the 8 glasses of water meme isn't necessarily accurate. Everyone repeats it, but no one can point to an authoritative source where it came from, much less what the measure was based on. If you consider 8 glasses of water is 64 ounces, or about 1/2 gallon a day. Given that humans vary in mass, what can be good hydration for someone at 120 lbs could be dehydration for someone at 220 lbs because all of your bodies functions ultimately depend on your fluid levels. Persistent dehydration can lead to a number of things, like electrolite imbalances that in turn affect such things as heart function.

My advice is to drink as much water as you need to feel alert and energetic, but do it for a month on a consistent basis so that your body gets used to getting the water it needs. You might see the number on the scale look like its stuck for a bit, but give it time and it will start to move. Hydration is important, especially if you are exercising on a regular basis and sweating it out.

Just remember, all a scale will tell you is what your total mass is at a given point of time in a day. It tells you nothing about body composition. I can show you two objects with the same mass that look completely different because of their composition. The tape measure and your clothes are a better guage of your shape.

Water is what we are made of. Forget everything else. If you dont eat you will survive for a long time.... dont drink water & you will be dead in 2 days given the right environment.

Why on earth would you give up your health just to stop drinking it? Not only does it make your skin sooooooooooo much nicer, your hair better, your whole body RELIES on it to live.

keep your sodium low, and keep on drinking. You're retaining water. Don't be alarmed, it's not "fat weight" it's "water weight" and that will eventually go. Right now, you're just holding it because of your sodium intake. Reduce sodium levels, increase or maintain your water intake, and give it a couple weeks......you'll see

Perfectly said. I would plateau for several weeks, and then after being fustrated I started to look back and review my diary to see what I was doing differently during the time periods where I would have awesome losses and compare my diary to when I would plateau...9 times out of 10, when I was pleatauing I would also be consuming over 4,500mg of sodium a day, well over the 2,500mg that is recommended. Ever since I incorporated tracking my sodium and keeping it around 3,000mg a day, I've been losing steadily. On another note, I've recently learned that if I stop drinking water about 2 hours before bed, it reflects more on the scale than if I drink until bedtime.

Keep at it, it sounds like you're taking the right steps. :flowerforyou:

You should make your food journal public, it would make it a lot easier to offer you advice. My suspicion is that you are simply comparing your dehydrated and hydrated weights and noticing that your hydrated weight is higher. Fluctuations in weight due to water are common. Stay hydrated all the time. It's healthy for you and will give you consistent weights.

The weight gain has nothing to do with your water intake, but I don't know why you are forcing yourself to drink the water anyway. The 8 glass thing is a myth - you get plenty of water from your food so drink water when required and not just to satisfy this mythical '8 glasses' figure

http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2012/06/08/water-eight-glasses-myth.html

Goldfarb said despite the common idea that it's important to "drink eight glasses of eight ounces of water" a day, "There’s no evidence that benefits health in any real way and it really represents an urban myth."