Losing Weight and Feeling Great

You’re familiar with it by now — your first week on your new diet, you lose several pounds…most of which are water weight.  It’s cool that you’ve lost pounds, but depressing to think it’s "just water"

Or is it?  Instead, shouldn’t you be glad?

The answer is #2 — you should be happy and here’s why.

Water Weight is Weight!

Water weight is excess fluid that you really don’t need on your body, plain and simple.  While it’s not fat, it’s also not good for your body to carry around something it doesn’t need.

Now you do need some water in your body — after all, your blood needs it to flow, your cells need to be cushioned, so to speak.  Yep, you do need water, because the body can only live 3 days without it.

What you don’t need is excess water, which can stress your body’s organs.  So drop that extra water and see your weight drop, too.  Sometimes only by a pound or two…and sometimes much more.

So, your "dry weight" is your real weight without all the extra water.

Tips for Losing Water Weight

First, drink water!  I know that sounds strange, but for your body to release water, it has to be convinced that it will get a regular source for more.  Drinking your eight 8-ounce glasses helps your body to release the water weight.

Next, cut back on the sodium.  Yes, salty foods do taste yummy.  But they also make you retain water.  If you must have some salty snacks, follow them with at least 8 ounces of water per portion.  So if a portion is 6 pretzels, and you eat 12, you need to drink 16 ounces of water. at a minimum.

Watch how you exercise.  Exercise at a moderate rate help burn calories, without causing  your muscles to produce chemicals that hoard water.  All-out exercise produces those chemicals.  And while high burn exercises do have their place, you need extra water afterwards to flush out what your muscles are trying to hoard.