| |
| |
|
Weight Loss Information Center |
|
|
|
Hydrate to Lose Weight: Drinking Water & Its Relationship to Weight Loss
It all begins with water .... First of all, by drinking water before and during a meal, it makes you feel full sooner. If you feel full sooner, it can help you to stop eating sooner. Secondly, water can be mixed with low calorie concentrates and sipped throughout the day. By adding flavorings (such as juice concentrate or green tea extract) the water tastes more like food, which can also put off feelings of hunger and keep you feeling more satisfied between meals. Finally, drinking lots of water helps you feel better while losing weight. When the body burns old fat deposits, it can encounter contaminants and chemicals stored within the fat. These contaminants can cause you to have flu-like symptoms. By drinking plenty of water throughout the day, you provide a vehicle to allow the body to assist in flushing out those contaminants. So how do you drink more water? Like everything else related to losing weight or fat, discipline must be incorporated. Here are a few suggestions to help you drink more water each day: 1. Create an Accountability Partner at home or work and tell one another when you drink a glass of water, so that the other has to also. Compete to see who drinks more water. 2. Associate drinking water with daily 'landmarks'. Brush your teeth, drink a glass of water. Have breakfast, drink a glass of water. Leaving for work, drink a glass of water. And so on. 3. Proximity. Keep the water close to you at all times. Buy bottles of water that can be frozen and taken with you if you are not going to be at home or at work. Keep extra glasses and water bottles at work and make sure you always have one full. If it is available, you will drink more water. A couple of very important aspects of hydration that dramatically affect weight gain and loss are water retention and kidney function. First of all, water retention. Water retention is an interesting issue because it is one of those issues that runs completely contrary to how we would imagine it would work. Water weighs about seven pounds per gallon, so its easy to imagine that we could shed a few quick pounds by losing some retained water... but how do we do that? Well, as it turns out, we lose retained water by drinking more water! The body has such a need for water that it retains extra water if we don't supply the right amount on a daily basis - and most of us do not. By getting into a habit, or regimen, of drinking more water than our body actually needs, our body becomes convinced that it doesn't need to hoarde extra water. Once your body is "convinced" that you are going to provide more than enough water to simply survive, it will let loose of the extra water it has stored up in your cells. Secondly, let's look at your kidneys. Well not directly at them, but let's talk about them. In order to do their job properly, your kidneys require an enormous amount of water. If the water is not supplied, your body goes to Plan B, which is to enlist the assistance of your liver. Because the liver is able to metabolize fat (turn it into energy), every second your liver spends bailing out the kidneys is a second it isn't burning stored fat. Drinking more water allows the kidneys to run at their optimal level and keeps the liver available to burn fat. For dieters, there is an additional aspect worth consideration. Because we are attempting to burn EXTRA fat (not simply the supply of fat in our daily diet), we actually create an extra water deficit. It takes water to do the normal work of processing waste from our bodies, and it takes EXTRA water to process the stored fat and waste that comes from that job. Earlier in the article we shared a few tips on how to drink more water each day. Here are a few more tips to help you start your hydration habit: 1. Whenever you feel the urge to binge or have a hankerin' for something that you KNOW you shouldn't eat or drink, immediately drink a big glass of water. It'll do two things... first it will fill your stomach, preventing you from putting the bad stuff in there, and secondly, it will put some time between you and your craving, giving it a chance to pass. 2. Water out, water in. Make it a habit to drink a glass of water after you use the restroom. Did you remember to shut the light off?? 3. Drink with a straw. Some people say that you drink more and drink faster if you use a straw. It's worth a try, right?? References: University of Minnesota, Extension Water Quality Program Copyright © 2005 Michael Callen Michael Callen is the author of the Weekly Weightloss Tips Newsletter and the Chief Technology Officer for http://www.WellnessPartners.com, an online retailer of dozens of health and wellness products.
MORE RESOURCES:
Weight-Loss - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Dieting? You Must Reset Your Weight-o-stat You need to reset your weight-o-stat. No matter how much you exercise and diet, if you don't reset your weight-o-stat, you will often go back to your pre-set weight. Even Gastric Bypass Patients Hit Weight Loss Plateaus Sometime, during the phase of rapid weight loss after gastric bypass surgery, many patients may find their weight loss is stalled. Talk about discouraging. Dieters Need More Calcium Women on diets need more calcium than normal to avoid boneloss, say Rutgers University researchers.Studies showed a weight loss diet of 1. The Myth of Fast Weight Loss You will be surprised to find out how many people are actually looking for a fast weight loss program. Why fast? Well, first of all, most of us are impatient. How Slimming Down Can Add More Cash in Your Wallets Are you unhappy with your current weight but aren't "motivated" enough to do something about it?Well then.. The Ultimate Weight Loss Attitude We in the diet and exercise industry have our own opinions on what diets work and which ones are just sales gimmicks. This can be very discouraging to you the consumer. How Many Calories Are Too Many In today's bustling world we are constantly surrounded by media hype about "Weight Loss" and "Calorie Controlled Diets". As a Nutritional Therapist, I am often asked "How many calories are too many?" The simple answer to this question is that we are all individuals, and we all require a different amount of calories per day. 5 Ways To Make Protein Benefit You Imagine this .. How To Lose Weight Without Losing Your Mind! Ah the ever present battle to lose those unwanted pounds. In today's society we are bombarded with weight loss products and programs. 4 Keys to Weight Loss First off, let me start by saying this list is by no means exhaustive. However, if you can manage these 4 important components of a weight loss program, you will be on your way to a slimmer body. Spritz On Some Flavor! Now that everything from a tan to pantyhose comes in a spray form, it's little wonder someone has found a way to put liquid pork in a can.Well, almost. Personal Space: Life After Lap-Band Surgery Have I become invisible or are people just aiming right at me? It seems to me that in a crowd these days, whether at the grocery store or 5th Avenue in New York City, people will walk right into me if I don't step out of the way. Or they stand so close to me I have to step backward in order to breathe. Saboteurs to Your Weight Loss Plans Saboteurs are people and thoughts that are going to sabotage you when you are at all weak in your bid to better yourself. I can identify many internal and external forces that will try to stop me from what I want on an almost daily basis. Fat Burners: The Biggest Rip-Off of the Weight Loss Industry? Fat burners have become very popular in today's society, especially in America. It seems that everyone is looking for a "quick fix" to their problem?and that is why they, therefore, turn to those "awesome" fat burners where you can just pop a pill and "lose 30 pounds in 10 days!"However, do these fat burners actually work? Do they actually provide any benefits? Do the $40-$100 price tags justify their benefits? Here we will investigate some of the claims that they make such as:-increased thermogenesis-decreased appetite-weight loss without exercising-increased energyHowever, before I go into any more detail about fat burners, you must understand two important concepts:Total Daily Energy Expenditure and The Law of Thermodynamics (don't worry -they're quite simple). Is Losing Weight The Same As Losing Fat? Contrary to common belief, your weight is not really the indicator of a weight problem - the actual percentage of body fat is the true indicator. You need to know what percent of you is actually FAT. Avoid These Five Common Weight Loss Mistakes Mistake 1: Not changing your calorie plan as you lose weight. The fallacy of the "1200 calorie diet" plans and the like. Hang In There Dieters, Help Is At Hand!! I was thinking about diets and such and it occurred to me that dieting is kind of like sports, but one way in which dieting differs from sports competition is that in dieting there seems to be a lack of gradualization in the preparation.What I'm getting at is that if you want to run the 100 metres pretty fast, even competitively, you don't just go out to the track and put in a full practice right off the bat. Weight Gain = Poor Quality of Life Gaining up to 20 pounds over four years can significantly decrease quality of life, according to a study in the Dec. 8 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Atkins Diet - Simple Advice Just like any other diet, the Atkins diet can become boring and for some very dangerous. Before you get into the plan make sure you get a physical and talk to your doctor. Hoodia Diet Pills - Tremendous Product and Excellent Fraud! When it comes to the matter of weight loss, peoples always prefer tricky methods. Peoples don't want to learn "Diet Basics"; they don't want to follow healthy food habit; they hate to exercise.
|
| home | site map | Home Site |
| © 2006 |
