How important is water intake?
Replies
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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 -
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 don't really get this one either. When I am thirsty my mouth is dry. When I am hungry my stomach rumbles. Not to mention I tend to like salty food and snacks so I can't imagine being thirsty and trying to quench it with something salty.
I am not saying that it does not happen to some people but I don't recall it ever happening to me.3 -
Hydration is very important. I never force myself to drink however. I've been at this long enough that I know my body and I know when I need more or when I need to slow down with the water intake.
I also eat a lot of fresh fruits and veggies which all contains high water content.
Between that, the weather, my workout/sweat level, what I eat (excess sodium makes me thirsty) and monitoring the color of my urine (TMI sorry) my daily intake varies.
I keep track of the amount of liquids I drink (almost always just water and unsweetened tea) in my journal everyday.4 -
Does this mean I'm 100 pounds overweight because I was actually thirsty?LivingtheLeanDream wrote: »Its not important for weight loss. We need water for hydration. Sometimes we think we are hungry but its just thirst.
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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?
Water is a critical component not just to weight loss but our entire wellbeing and overall health. Without staying properly hydrated, you could become very ill, and even end up in the hospital. That happened to a friend of mine, and let me tell you- it's not pretty or pleasant! So yes, water is really important. Our bodies need it to survive. Water helps flush out toxins in your body, aids in digestion and elimination, and helps you feel fuller longer. You can track your water intake through MyFitnessPal. Just look at how many ounces of water are in your water bottle, and log it every time you finish the bottle. The general recommended amount is 64 ounces per day (or eight 8-ounce cups of water).
If you are finding it difficult to down a bottle of plain water, you can try adding fresh produce to it. Some people add berries, leafy greens (I've seen infusions using spinach, oregano, or mint), apples, oranges, kiwi, the list goes on. I personally like to add fresh lemon slices to mine just to change it up a bit. There's a lot of different combinations out there, just Google "water infusion recipes".
Hope this helps. And please stay hydrated!1 -
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 don't really get this one either. When I am thirsty my mouth is dry. When I am hungry my stomach rumbles. Not to mention I tend to like salty food and snacks so I can't imagine being thirsty and trying to quench it with something salty.
I am not saying that it does not happen to some people but I don't recall it ever happening to me.
I always want water or some other beverage with it if I am eating anything other than fruit or maybe a pickle, so it doesn't make sense to me either.2 -
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 haven't experienced it either, and it seems really strange to me, in the sense that it seems like a maladaptation that evolution would have tended to weed out through organ damage and death in individuals who were chronically underhydrated from eating instead of drinking.
I have experienced a tendency to confuse sleep deprivation with hunger -- well, confuse isn't precisely the right word. I know I'm not hungry, but I experience an extremely strong impulse to eat when I'm very tired or sleepy but am trying to stay awake for some reason.5 -
MsSmith832019 wrote: »
I drink 2 12 oz cups of coffee in the morning before any pure water intake. Might have to pack a bottle with water in my lunch bag, I hardly find the time to fill my desk cup.
I drink a couple of cups of coffee, too. I make myself drink a bottle of water in between. I think of it as earning my second cup of coffee. Then, I drink another bottle before I can have soda with my lunch.
I find when I drink half my weight in ounces of water, I lose a little quicker. It's probably from all of the running back and forth to the restroom that does it. 2 -
LivingtheLeanDream wrote: »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.....
I haven't been overweight for several years either yet I can't say I have ever mistaken hunger for thirst. They are two very different sensations and I don't understand how someone could confuse the two. Funny how nobody ever thinks they are thirsty and it turns out they were just hungry instead.7 -
MsSmith832019 wrote: »I'm terrible at keeping up with my water intake. Any words of wisdom? How important is water intake to weight loss?
For weight loss? Not really important. Water is important for staying hydrated and being hydrated is important to your health. Not everything is about weight loss.4 -
I definitely used to believe it helped weight loss. However, in the last few years my water intake hasn't changed at all and it didn't help or prevent me from gaining 40 lbs, or help or prevent me from losing 30 so far. I drink a ton of water because I feel better doing that, but I don't think it helps weight loss.2
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lynn_glenmont wrote: »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.
no i used the measurements for the US you will need to convert stones to pounds which 1 pound in US is 16 ounces. so lets assume 1 stone is 14 US pounds if you weigh 10 stones that would be 140 pounds thus you would drink 70 ounces of water a day1
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