Water For Weight Loss -- How Much Do You Really Need?

How much water is enough?

Before exercise

You need some water before exercise too. If you don't you might just have to drag yourself through your workout.

For your muscles to move, you need blood flow. And blood is mostly water. So to get the circulation going, make sure you fill up your tank.

Most exercise pros recommend at least one glass of water -- preferably two -- before a workout.

Improving your health

Completely aside from water for weight loss, there's no way to be healthy without enough water. And the best is good spring water. Spring water has dissolved minerals that your body need for enzymes to work properly and for all sorts of chemical reactions within the body.

If you have any health problems -- that's any health problems -- they may be partly due to inadequate water intake.

Take constipation, for instance. If you don't get enough water you'll tend to be more constipated.

Or back pain. You don't usually think of water and back pain together. But poor circulation to the muscles of the back, to the bones and to the discs causes deterioration of these areas.

In fact all chronic pain -- like fibromyalgia -- benefits from an adequate water intake.

So how much water?

If you have kidney failure or heart failure you need to drink what your doctor already advised you to drink. Otherwise you can have fluid overload.

For everybody else the formula is 1/2 ounce of water per pound of body weight per day. So 200 pounds would mean 100 ounces of water per day.

For metric system it would be 30 ml per kilogram of body weight per day. So for 100 kilograms it would be 3000 ml -- 3 liters per day.

This formula works well until you are more than 50% over your ideal weight. If you weigh 400 pounds (about 200 kg) that's a lot of water. You still need water for weight loss, but it's best to estimate your needs based on your ideal body weight.

Keep it simple

There's a simple formula that works for a lot of people: drink one gallon of water (about 4 liters) per day.

Drink a glass of water when you get up in the morning. Have a glass of water with each meal. Have a glass of water between each meal.

Keep some water by your bed. Keep some water with you in the car.

Drink sparkling water (like Perrier) instead of alcohol.

Water loss with exercise

Make sure to weigh yourself before and after intense exercise. Whatever weight you lost is water weight.

Replace each pound you lost with 16 ounces of water. Replace each kilogram you lost with one liter of water.

Drink a glass or two of water before you start to exercise. You'll be stronger. You'll feel better. And you'll have more stamina. This is another area where water for weight loss will help you to your goal.

If you are doing heavy exercise or work in the heat drink 2 glasses of water before you start.

Endurance exercise and hyponatremia

For really prolonged exercise with profuse sweating, like a marathon, you are going to need an energy drink to provide electrolytes.

Otherwise you can drink too much water, dilute the blood and produce what doctors call "hyponatremia" (low concentration of salt in the blood.)

And that can cause very serious problems, like physical collapse, seizures and even death.

That's why they weigh marathon runners and triathletes at the end of the run. Not to see if they lost weight. They do it to see if they gained weight.

If they gained weight it's water weight. And if it's too much water weight, then they are at risk of having diluted their blood, causing hyponatremia and potentially severe problems.

Don't get dehydrated

If you wait to drink water until you're thirsty it's too late. Your body's sensors for water don't work as well as they should.

And it get's worse as you get older. Especially in really hot or really cold weather. Your sensors get a little weak.

So add water to your routine. You'll feel better. Look better. Be healthier. And it will be that much easier for you to lose weight!

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