How important is water intake?
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Water itself is important regardless of fat loss or otherwise. Just drink enough of it. One of the fundamentally important things for fat loss is a calorie deficit.2
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Water is important for hydration like people have said above. It also has other purposes that are beneficial for working out. An example would be taking a look at what creatine does and why they recommend drinking extra water while taking creatine.
A good rule of thumb is to check the color of your urine. If it is clear or pale straw colored, then you are good.3 -
BrianSharpe wrote: »MsSmith832019 wrote: »I'm terrible at keeping up with my water intake. Any words of wisdom? How important is water intake to weight loss?
It's not terribly important as most of your food is water (even meat, like human tissue, is 70% or so water before cooking). Follow your thirst. We live in a culture of unnecessary hyper-hydration. Having said that, dehydration can affect athletic performance but is unlikely to be a problem unless you're extremely dehydrated. Too much water can (in extremely rare cases of hyponatremia) kill you.
i have to take issue with this because water is extemely important. research shows from dr Agatston that for your major organs to function properly and maintain normal function of your body that an individual should drink half their body weight in ounces when drinking water. so if you weigh 150 you should drink 75 ounces a day. as for helping with weight loss it helps decrease water retention so the more we drink the more we expel and are able to dispose of the toxins in our body and most hunger pains are not caused from hunger but from dehydration.
So if I weighed myself in stone, I would only need about 11 oz of water a day. Thanks for the advice. Good to know.
ETA -- whoops. Forgot to halve it. Five and a half oz of water a day. Good thing I caught that. I might have hurt myself with that extra five and a half ounces.7 -
I will give you 6 reasons why drinking plenty of water is essential for weight loss.
1. Water is a natural appetite suppressant.
2. Water increases calorie burning.
3. Water helps to remove waste from the body.
4. Drinking water can reduce overall liquid calorie intake.
5. Water is necessary to burn fat.
6. Water helps with workouts.
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Rickster_FL wrote: »I will give you 6 reasons why drinking plenty of water is essential for weight loss.
1. Water is a natural appetite suppressant.
2. Water increases calorie burning.
3. Water helps to remove waste from the body.
4. Drinking water can reduce overall liquid calorie intake.
5. Water is necessary to burn fat.
6. Water helps with workouts.
The body can burn fat in a state of mild dehydration. Otherwise each time I have gotten a stomach flu or food poisoning I would have never had the energy to hydrate again. If you get so dehydrated you cannot burn fat you are likely dead or close to it.
Adequate hydration is essential to feeling good and operating overall in an optimal way. In this way it can be indirectly responsible for increased NEAT and calorie burning.
I am generally over hydrated which I find to be annoying. I blame the coffee and the high volume of vegetables I eat each day. I might burn more energy with my extra trips to the restroom but I view those extra trips as extra interruptions to my day which for me is a negative.5 -
Who are these people who find that drinking makes them less hungry, and how do I become one?
And how do I stop people suggesting it to me for the millionth time as though it’s a brilliant new idea that I might never have heard before?!16 -
And it can sometimes help a little with weight loss, as thirst and hunger signals can be easily confused.3
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Who are these people who find that drinking makes them less hungry, and how do I become one?
And how do I stop people suggesting it to me for the millionth time as though it’s a brilliant new idea that I might never have heard before?!
I was wondering about that too. I think it helps me at a meal to register being full faster but I see no discernible appetite benefit otherwise. In fact, drinking water when I am really hungry makes me feel slightly nauseous and it makes me want to put some food in fast. I just went through this yesterday when I was fasting for an early afternoon blood work and I was trying to stay well hydrated so my veins would be easier to stick. I could not get to a fast food joint afterwards fast enough.
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Who are these people who find that drinking makes them less hungry, and how do I become one?
And how do I stop people suggesting it to me for the millionth time as though it’s a brilliant new idea that I might never have heard before?!
you mean your water doesn't have fat chunks in it? :-P1 -
I get the sense that the people insisting that drinking water is oh so important for fat loss think there's no middle ground between being seriously dehydrated and carefully counting and drinking a specific number of oz or more of water per day, as if that would magically cause weight loss with no deficit.
Fact is, it's not very hard to consume sufficient liquid to be properly hydrated. At least not for most people who live in areas where drinkable water is available.
Personally, I've always enjoyed water and consumed more than I need for hydration, and yet I managed to gain weight when doing that, so it's hard for me to believe in any of these magical effects. Should one avoid dehydration? Sure, that ought to go without saying.9 -
Pipsqueak1965 wrote: »And it can sometimes help a little with weight loss, as thirst and hunger signals can be easily confused.
Although I agree that thirst and hunger signals can sometimes be confused if you're not being at all mindful, it's not a factor while I'm logging. So for me, not a factor in weight loss. Perhaps a tiny factor in not regaining when I'm no longer logging.
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Its not important for weight loss. We need water for hydration. Sometimes we think we are hungry but its just thirst.1
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MsSmith832019 wrote: »I'm terrible at keeping up with my water intake. Any words of wisdom? How important is water intake to weight loss?
It is highly important that you stay hydrated. The way you know you are hydrated is if your second trip to the restroom of the day and later yields strawish color urine. If that is the case you are fine.
I do not track my water. I drink when I am thirsty and if I see that my hydration level is low.
Only if I am sick (stomach flu, food poisoning), drinking alcohol, or sweating profusely do I drink large amounts before waiting for thirst.
@NovusDies you give good advice generally, and I think this advice is what the "experts" would also say. But I have never understood it. Maybe if I captured my urine in a vial and did a colour check it would be valid. Everyone's toilet bowl has varying levels of water, and we produce varying amounts of urine when we are voiding. Not to mention the colour of our urine is affected by what vitamins we are taking and what foods we are eating.
I don't have better advice unfortunately.
I think I am with you on just following your thirst levels when you're healthy and making more of a concerted effort to drink in certain situations (sick, active in the heat, and possibly as you age).
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I will also say what I said in the other recent water discussion... I do not believe it is sustainable or even wise to consider chugging water all day as a solution for your hunger (assuming that works for you). I believe people need to experiment and find a real food solution so they know how to eat so they are prepared for days they cannot be in their routine.5
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i used to drinkl 5L of water a day, i am now down to below 1L i need to smarten up.0
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goldthistime wrote: »MsSmith832019 wrote: »I'm terrible at keeping up with my water intake. Any words of wisdom? How important is water intake to weight loss?
It is highly important that you stay hydrated. The way you know you are hydrated is if your second trip to the restroom of the day and later yields strawish color urine. If that is the case you are fine.
I do not track my water. I drink when I am thirsty and if I see that my hydration level is low.
Only if I am sick (stomach flu, food poisoning), drinking alcohol, or sweating profusely do I drink large amounts before waiting for thirst.
@NovusDies you give good advice generally, and I think this advice is what the "experts" would also say. But I have never understood it. Maybe if I captured my urine in a vial and did a colour check it would be valid. Everyone's toilet bowl has varying levels of water, and we produce varying amounts of urine when we are voiding. Not to mention the colour of our urine is affected by what vitamins we are taking and what foods we are eating.
I don't have better advice unfortunately.
I think I am with you on just following your thirst levels when you're healthy and making more of a concerted effort to drink in certain situations (sick, active in the heat, and possibly as you age).
I don't overthink it. Most of the time my urine doesn't change the bowl water color at all unless it is late at night or first thing in the morning. Not to be too gross about it but the smell is also quite distinctive when it is more concentrated.
I also can easily see the difference between vitamin enhanced color change and normal. The hue is very different.
Mostly I don't worry about it because I make too many trips to the restroom just doing my normal routine.
What I hate about these discussions is admitting how much attention I seem to pay to urinating.
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MsSmith832019 wrote: »I'm terrible at keeping up with my water intake. Any words of wisdom? How important is water intake to weight loss?
Try flavored water. My 15 year old really enjoys the Sparkling Ice brand lemonade - it's zero calories and helps him stay hydrated. I like the Crystal Light flavor packets, myself. Adding fruit to your water is another option.
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Water is life0
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LivingtheLeanDream wrote: »Its not important for weight loss. We need water for hydration. Sometimes we think we are hungry but its just thirst.
This has literally never happened to me, nor to any other overweight person I have spoken to.
I guess it must be true for someone out there, but I don't think it's remotely as common as the advice seems to assume..6 -
LivingtheLeanDream wrote: »Its not important for weight loss. We need water for hydration. Sometimes we think we are hungry but its just thirst.
This has literally never happened to me, nor to any other overweight person I have spoken to.
I guess it must be true for someone out there, but I don't think it's remotely as common as the advice seems to assume..
I must be a special snowflake then
or is it because I haven't been overweight now for several years..... 0
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