Do I need to drink water?

Your body needs water, not coffee, not soda, not juice. Water.

Crap.

Coffee, soda, juice are all 99% water. Your body doesnt need PURE water at all. Just water.

Here we go again!

You need the equivalent of 8 cups of water a day on average, from any source. These sources can be pure water/tea/coffee/juice/soda/milk/fruit/veg etc. It does NOT have to be pure neat water!

That's fantastic, and I don't care. Pure water will always be better and healthier than coffee, soda, and juice. No one is arguing the water content in coffee.

That's fine then! You keep on drinking your copious amounts of water, and peeing out 50% of it every hour as it's excessive. Im just stating that neat water is not some magical fat burning liquid, it wont have any effect by itself on weight loss drinking, certainly not an effect that other liquids wont have, as long as you watch the cals etc.

I lost 16 pounds in high school by adding about 2 liters of water a day to my unchanged diet...seriously. Take it from someone who's lost 85 pounds--water is GOOD for weight loss. I drink at least half my weight in ounces...I think some people have mentioned that already.

I'm finding that I just don't drink much water in any given day. I have two cups of black coffee (no cream/sugar) in the morning, and then barley any liquid throughout the day. I'm not sure why...just not terribly thirsty. Any thoughts about if drinking my 8 glasses of water a day will increase my weight loss?

wow. really?

YES! every single living cell in your body NEEDS water! You need to train your body to drink water. i carry around a 24oz Camelbak that i refill at least 3 times. and that's aside from my two cups of herbal tea that i drink.

you. need. water.

You. dont. need. NEAT. water.

Just water in general, which comes from a whole host of sources.

I suspect that like most diet/exercise advice the science behind 8 glasses a day is pretty dubious - but commonsense suggests that drinking a reasonable (but not precisely defined) amount every day is a good idea (and no, coffee doesnt count). Good for the bowels, amongst other things - and what can be nicer than well-behaved bowels? What I do - when I am organised - is drink a small plastic cup of water on the hour every hour. I mark off on the plastic cup to show myself how much I have drunk. Keep doing that all day and you end up drinking plenty

WATER HAS NO CALORIES= REPLACE IT WITH THINGS THAT DO
Many people have lost a ton of weight by taking out those 4 cans of soda a day.

Drinking water is essential for weight loss!! It helps flush out the bad toxins in your body. I never drank water, and its still hard for me too. BUT here's 2 things I did to help remind me. But don't be discouraged if you step on the scale and see you weigh more, its water weight!!! Only weigh yourself once a week! Your weight fluctuates because of this!

This is what i did:

Took my weight, 185lbs divide by 2, = 92.5 (this is the amount of oz water my body should have daily)
To make it easier then I used to drink 16 oz bottles of water, so 92.5 divide by 16 = 5.7 (this is how many water bottles)

I would put out 6 water bottles on my counter or bring them with me and just finish them by the end of the day, before meals, just pick it up and try!

This only worked for a few months, so I went out and bought a 20 oz nice water bottle that I take with me everywhere now, I try and drink it before my classes (im in college) and before meals. Works great so far! Much cheaper too because I got one of those 5 gallon jugs you can refill for 39 Cents or whatever at the grocery store.

Another tip I just realized while at work, if you drink with a straw somehow i take down water much faster.

Goodluck!

Drink water. Not only will you feel better, you will look better. Clearer, more vibrant skin, hair and nails is one extra benefit of staying well hydrated. Coffee, soda, juice doesn't count. Plain H2O. Eight 8 ounce glasses a day.
If you don't like water or have a hard time getting down 64 ounces a day try little tricks like...
Buy a pretty wine glass to drink from...it makes it seem like a special occasion.
At any rate...give it a try for one week and see how much better you feel.

Cheers!
:drinker:

I'm finding that I just don't drink much water in any given day. I have two cups of black coffee (no cream/sugar) in the morning, and then barley any liquid throughout the day. I'm not sure why...just not terribly thirsty. Any thoughts about if drinking my 8 glasses of water a day will increase my weight loss?

wow. really?

YES! every single living cell in your body NEEDS water! You need to train your body to drink water. i carry around a 24oz Camelbak that i refill at least 3 times. and that's aside from my two cups of herbal tea that i drink.

you. need. water.

You. dont. need. NEAT. water.

Just water in general, which comes from a whole host of sources.

people don't drink enough water. yes, food contains water, but using that excuse leads to people still not taking in sufficient amount of water to thoroughly hydrate a body.

It's funny, but sometimes if I feel hungry, I am really thirsty. Water takes away that hungry feeling. I used to drink very little but I feel much better when I do. Of course I pee a lot more, too (-:

I'm finding that I just don't drink much water in any given day. I have two cups of black coffee (no cream/sugar) in the morning, and then barley any liquid throughout the day. I'm not sure why...just not terribly thirsty. Any thoughts about if drinking my 8 glasses of water a day will increase my weight loss?

Our human body contains anywhere from 55% to 78% water depending on our body size. To function properly, the body requires between one and seven liters of water per day to avoid dehydration; the precise amount depends on the level of activity, temperature, humidity, and other factors.

Most of this is ingested through foods or beverages other than drinking straight water. It is not clear how much water intake is needed by healthy people, though most advocates agree that 6–7 glasses of water (approximately 2 liters) daily is the minimum to maintain proper hydration.

Hope this helps. :-)

I suspect that like most diet/exercise advice the science behind 8 glasses a day is pretty dubious - but commonsense suggests that drinking a reasonable (but not precisely defined) amount every day is a good idea (and no, coffee doesnt count)

Why do you think it doesnt count?

As for tea/coffee being a diuretic, so many people just spout that word as a reason, without actually understanding what "diuretic" means.

di·u·ret·ic (d-rtk)
adj.
Tending to increase the discharge of urine.
n.
A substance or drug that tends to increase the discharge of urine.

Neat water is also a diuretic. The diuretic effect of caffeine is far, far outweighed by the actual water in the tea/coffee. Also, regular consumers of caffeinated beverages will build up a tolerance to said effect, eventually reaching the point where caffeinated drinks provide practically the same amount of hydration as a cup of neat water will.


http://www.divinecaroline.com/22178/46361-coffee-makes-dehydrated-say-what

http://worldofcaffeine.com/2011/06/14/caffeine-does-not-dehydrate/

http://advance.uconn.edu/2002/020722/02072207.htm

http://nomoredirtylooks.com/2011/04/surprise-caffeinated-tea-does-not-dehydrate-you/

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/04/health/nutrition/04real.html

http://www.sharecare.com/question/does-caffeine-dehydrate-not

http://www.artofdrink.com/2009/12/caffeine-in-coffee-does-not-increase-dehydration-during-hangovers.php

http://www.caring4cancer.com/go/cancer/nutrition/questions/do-caffeinated-beverages-cause-dehydration.htm

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=5552790&page=1#.TrQWc0O5_oo


It hydrates just fine.