Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Benefits of H2O


What will drinking water do to help me lose weight?  

I have gotten several messages and emails from my blog asking me what is the one thing than exercise and eating less fast food that I would say contributed to my weight loss. 

The answer is very simple. WATER. I try to drink at least a gallon of water a day. I see posts on here daily, "why am I not losing weight" "I've been on here for 5 weeks and I haven't lost anything". I always go straight to the diary - if it's open - down at the bottom what do I see a big fat 0 every single day. So that made me think, OK if you're not logging your water then what are you drinking and not logging? If your calories are right on but you've had no water, then are you drinking sodas and not logging them?

 The Challenge

 I had commented on one of these said posts and received a message asking me if I "really" thought water helps you lose weight. I went okay I'll PROVE it. So last week I cut my water in almost half every weekday except Tuesday.  Instead of drinking 15-20 glasses of water I only drank 5-7 a day. I kept everything else the same. What happened?

My results 

Well, first off I was tired a lot, so I added coffee (it's more of milk with a splash of coffee) in the mornings. 

Secondly, I don't know how many of you do any kind of lifting but Tuesday was my lifting day. What do you normally do the day after a lot of lifting? You hydrate and eat right. So with this water restriction, I found that instead of it taking 1 day to recover it took me till Friday. Funny thing is, I didn't even lift as heavy or as much as I did the week before and it only took 2 days.

Finally, by the time Saturday came, I didn't feel like getting out of bed at all so, I didn't. When I weighed in early Saturday morning I was up 3lbs from 226 to 229. That was it for me. I had to reset my system to get back into fat burning mode. Now some people may disagree but for me fasting and sleep are the best for resetting my system (others may have different ways) I grabbed my water bottle and started drinking. I slept all day Saturday, with bathroom breaks and water breaks. Sunday morning I woke before everyone else, gee I wonder why?? Grabbed my water bottle and downed 20oz right there. Did some stretching, and then my normal morning routine. I had so much energy it wasn't funny, so I cleaned. Any mom will tell you, when she has been sick or out for a day a house can become in disarray very fast. Then it was off to errands and other boring things with my large water bottle in tow. I noticed that I wasn't using the restroom as much as I normally would when drinking as much water as I did. I had already become dehydrated and my body was replenishing. Late Sunday night while we were watching a family movie, I realized after getting up the 8th time during the movie that I was now fully hydrated and it only took me 2 gallons of water. Monday morning, I weighted in and was almost back to normal 228, it was coming down. Tuesday morning, 227. Even better. After three full days of hydration my weight is almost back to normal. 

 What makes me think that it's just water that's doing this? Well before I started out on this journey (for the last time) I did research and found that there are many benefits to drinking water - lots of water - daily.

Here are some of the things I found.

There are many reasons why it is important to drink water, especially if you are trying to lose weight:


  • Initial weight loss is largely due to loss of water, and you need to drink an adequate amount of water in order to avoid dehydration.
  • The process of burning calories requires an adequate supply of water in order to function efficiently; dehydration has been shown to slows down the fat-burning process.
  • Burning calories creates toxins (think of the exhaust coming out of your car), and water plays a vital role in flushing them out of your body.
  • Dehydration causes a reduction in blood volume; a reduction in blood volume causes a reduction in the supply of oxygen to your muscles; and a reduction in the supply of oxygen to your muscles can make you feel tired.
  • Water helps maintain muscle tone by assisting muscles in their ability to contract, and it lubricates your joints. Proper hydration can help reduce muscle and joint soreness when exercising.
  • A healthy (weight loss) diet includes a good amount of fiber. But while fiber is normally helpful to your digestive system, without adequate fluids it can cause constipation instead of helping to eliminate it.
  • Drinking water with a meal may make you feel full sooner and therefore satisfied eating less. Note, however, that drinking water alone may not have this effect. In order to feel satiated (not hungry), our bodies need bulk, calories and nutrients.

 I also read somewhere to drink a glass of water as soon as you wake up to wake your organs - not sure how true that is - but since I started drinking a glass within 30 mins of waking and eating within an hour of waking - I don't really need coffee at all (want it maybe but don't NEED it). 

You should drink 1/2 your body weight in ounces of water a day - for me that's is about  107oz or right at a gallon of water a day. 

Conclusion 
So how do I know that water is the key it comes down to a few things.  

When you start to lose weight your body converts fat into usable energy. This causes the fat cells to shrink. These metabolic changes generate heat, which helps maintain your body temperature, and waste products. These waste products - water and carbon dioxide - are excreted in your urine, sweat & are exhaled from your lungs.  So my conclusion is, more water in helps with the excretion process and it helps you to remain hydrated while you're working your butt off in the gym or at the track! 

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