Too much water
mollybethjack
Posts: 15 Member
Does drinking too much water make you gain weight? I weighed 3 pounds heavier than I did yesterday and all I’ve had is a little coffee and like 8 bottles of water so far today. Does it also add inches? Kind of like bloating before your period? I thought drinking a lot of water helps you and is good for you. So why am I gaining weight and inches?
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Replies
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Water retention will certainly make your weight go up in the short term. Drinking a lot of water can also make you feel uncomfortably full or bloated. You need to be properly hydrated for normal bodily function and to ensure that you aren't confusing thirst with hunger. Otherwise drinking water isn't a miracle weight loss technique.mollybethjack wrote: »Does drinking too much water make you gain weight? I weighed 3 pounds heavier than I did yesterday and all I’ve had is a little coffee and like 8 bottles of water so far today. Does it also add inches? Kind of like bloating before your period? I thought drinking a lot of water helps you and is good for you. So why am I gaining weight and inches?
Why are you drinking so much? The general recommendation is 64oz of water per day which is 8 cups not bottles. Use this chart as a guide for hydration.
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Just to be sure, are you weighing yourself at the same time of day or did you weigh yourself after drinking all of said liquid?4
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Well water has weight. Approximately 1 pound per 16 ounce bottle. That all goes into you when you drink it. Weigh yourself, drink a 16 ounce bottle, then weigh yourself again, and you'll see. The water then passes out through you again throughout the day through going to the bathroom and sweating. There's a whole lot of different reasons your body does or doesn't retain water for water weight. Drinking enough water over time won't make you gain any water weight, because your body will learn to regulate for it and won't store it. However if you drink a huge amount more than normal, it makes sense that it might stay with you an extra day or two until your body evens it out.
Weight fluctuations due to water weight is a completely normal part of the process and nothing to be concerned about. Some days you will way more than others based on what you eat or drink. It's not bad. The longer you do this, the more you learn not to worry about temporary fluctuations of the scale.1 -
If you’re so thirsty that you need to drink that much, I would see a doctor. Extreme thirst is a symptom of various problems, especially diabetes.8
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Really?? I thought you were supposed to drink half of your body weight in water. Honestly??... I used to weigh myself every week or two weeks. The past few days it’s been multiple times a day. And I know weight can fluctuate throughout the day but I seriously only had a few sips of coffee and water before I weighed.9
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mollybethjack wrote: »Really?? I thought you were supposed to drink half of your body weight in water. Honestly??... I used to weigh myself every week or two weeks. The past few days it’s been multiple times a day. And I know weight can fluctuate throughout the day but I seriously only had a few sips of coffee and water before I weighed.
Would you stand on the scale with a cup of coffee in your hand and expect the scale not to reflect that extra weight?11 -
Very true. Didn’t think about that. Good point4
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I drink nearly two litres of water a day and only weigh myself every two weeks after a 'dehydration' day. Being well hydrated is good for you, for a number of factors, but the biggest one for me is that it keeps my back less painful. Your spinal discs are a bit like a jelly doughnut, and when you're hydrated they're nice and plumped up.
By the time you feel 'thirst' your body is already dehydrated.
That said, 8 bottles is a lot, depending on their size!8 -
Note that drinking too much water can make you very ill or even kill you by diluting essential electrolytes.
(See eg 'hyponatremia' for more information)3 -
I drink nearly two litres of water a day and only weigh myself every two weeks after a 'dehydration' day. Being well hydrated is good for you, for a number of factors, but the biggest one for me is that it keeps my back less painful. Your spinal discs are a bit like a jelly doughnut, and when you're hydrated they're nice and plumped up.
By the time you feel 'thirst' your body is already dehydrated.
That said, 8 bottles is a lot, depending on their size!I drink nearly two litres of water a day and only weigh myself every two weeks after a 'dehydration' day. Being well hydrated is good for you, for a number of factors, but the biggest one for me is that it keeps my back less painful. Your spinal discs are a bit like a jelly doughnut, and when you're hydrated they're nice and plumped up.
By the time you feel 'thirst' your body is already dehydrated.
That said, 8 bottles is a lot, depending on their size!
Yeah I drink around 6-8 16.9 oz bottles a day. I also an actual meal. Is that too much water?1 -
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My trainer says to drink 1 gallon of water per day.4
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I drink at least a gallon of water every day. Im used to it. It has not killed me yet.1
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mollybethjack wrote: »Really?? I thought you were supposed to drink half of your body weight in water. Honestly??... I used to weigh myself every week or two weeks. The past few days it’s been multiple times a day. And I know weight can fluctuate throughout the day but I seriously only had a few sips of coffee and water before I weighed.
I just read this statement close to this in a magazine I'm reading, it said weight yourself, halve that number and drink that amount in oz in a day.
I'm hoping that is wrong, otherwise I should be drinking 125 oz a day....
I'd be living in the bathroom...1 -
I drink at least a gallon of water every day. Im used to it. It has not killed me yet.
I drink over 150oz a day of fluids if you count my coffee, lol. When you drink a lot, your body adjusts. That is probably why I eat so much salt and sweat so much during exercise.
OP, water weighs a lot. I have drank 4 bottles of water and weighed myself. Sure enough, up 4lbs as predicted. If you enjoy drinking so much, continue to do so but just understand liquid has weight. If you are forcing yourself to drink so much, its not really necessary as you don't really NEED that much in a day.0 -
mollybethjack wrote: »
Drinking too much water before food can also dilute your stomach acids making it less efficient in the digestion process.7 -
mollybethjack wrote: »Really?? I thought you were supposed to drink half of your body weight in water.
Over what time period??
In a day? That's a good way of killing yourself.
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Noreenmarie1234 wrote: »I drink at least a gallon of water every day. Im used to it. It has not killed me yet.
I drink over 150oz a day of fluids if you count my coffee, lol. When you drink a lot, your body adjusts. That is probably why I eat so much salt and sweat so much during exercise.
OP, water weighs a lot. I have drank 4 bottles of water and weighed myself. Sure enough, up 4lbs as predicted. If you enjoy drinking so much, continue to do so but just understand liquid has weight. If you are forcing yourself to drink so much, its not really necessary as you don't really NEED that much in a day.
You can do that test with lower amounts ... some time ago, I weighed myself, drank 500 ml, weighed myself again and I was up half a kg.0 -
mollybethjack wrote: »Does drinking too much water make you gain weight? I weighed 3 pounds heavier than I did yesterday and all I’ve had is a little coffee and like 8 bottles of water so far today. Does it also add inches? Kind of like bloating before your period? I thought drinking a lot of water helps you and is good for you. So why am I gaining weight and inches?
Download a water tracker app and by adding your weight and age it should tell you how much water you should be drinking a day.0 -
Drinking buckets of water isn't necessary! That whole, "if a bit of something is good for you, then a whole lot of it is even better!" reasoning can be dangerous.
As long as you're drinking enough to feel hydrated and keep your pee a healthy shade, you're doing fine. If you sweat more, drink extra. No magical formula needed.2 -
mollybethjack wrote: »I used to weigh myself every week or two weeks. The past few days it’s been multiple times a day.
I'm sure you know already this is psychologically unhealthy behaviour; it simply creates stress and anxiety
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mollybethjack wrote: »I drink nearly two litres of water a day and only weigh myself every two weeks after a 'dehydration' day. Being well hydrated is good for you, for a number of factors, but the biggest one for me is that it keeps my back less painful. Your spinal discs are a bit like a jelly doughnut, and when you're hydrated they're nice and plumped up.
By the time you feel 'thirst' your body is already dehydrated.
That said, 8 bottles is a lot, depending on their size!I drink nearly two litres of water a day and only weigh myself every two weeks after a 'dehydration' day. Being well hydrated is good for you, for a number of factors, but the biggest one for me is that it keeps my back less painful. Your spinal discs are a bit like a jelly doughnut, and when you're hydrated they're nice and plumped up.
By the time you feel 'thirst' your body is already dehydrated.
That said, 8 bottles is a lot, depending on their size!
Yeah I drink around 6-8 16.9 oz bottles a day. I also an actual meal. Is that too much water?
If you are doing construction or farming in the hot sun, it's probably not enough. Absent of excessive sweating, it's more than you need.1 -
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mollybethjack wrote: »I used to weigh myself every week or two weeks. The past few days it’s been multiple times a day.
I'm sure you know already this is psychologically unhealthy behaviour; it simply creates stress and anxiety
This ^^^^^1 -
The rule of thumb is to drink in ounces half your body weight in pounds. So if you weighed 200# you’d drink 100 oz. that’s 6 bottles of water in a day plus a few sips.3
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Donnahammerstein wrote: »The rule of thumb is to drink in ounces half your body weight in pounds. So if you weighed 200# you’d drink 100 oz. that’s 6 bottles of water in a day plus a few sips.
And the research that that rule of thumb is based on can be found ... ?4 -
mollybethjack wrote: »Does drinking too much water make you gain weight? I weighed 3 pounds heavier than I did yesterday and all I’ve had is a little coffee and like 8 bottles of water so far today. Does it also add inches? Kind of like bloating before your period? I thought drinking a lot of water helps you and is good for you. So why am I gaining weight and inches?
If my weight fluctuates much with water weight it is because of too much salt.mollybethjack wrote: »Really?? I thought you were supposed to drink half of your body weight in water. Honestly??... I used to weigh myself every week or two weeks. The past few days it’s been multiple times a day. And I know weight can fluctuate throughout the day but I seriously only had a few sips of coffee and water before I weighed.
Half your body weight huh?
First thing I do on awakening is empty the bladder. The second thing is weigh myself and record weight in a spreadsheet. Sunday's second thing in the morning weight gets entered in MFP check-in.Note that drinking too much water can make you very ill or even kill you by diluting essential electrolytes.
(See eg 'hyponatremia' for more information)
If a loved one ever decides to check out, I hope they choose clean water overdose.
Saw a headline that 14 people died from too much water. Willing to bet those 14 were following crackpot internet advice.
Saw another saying 88,000 died from too much alcohol.2
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