Losing Weight and Feeling Great

Posts Tagged ‘drink water to lose weight’

You know the feeling.  It’s a couple hours until lunch, and your stomach is rumbling.

You’re craving something, just a little pick-me-up to tide you over until your next meal. There’s a vending machine just down the hall, just calling out to you (and not too subtly, either).  Just deposit some change, and you’ll be rewarded with candy or chips.

But gosh darn it, you’re trying to lose weight!   And there’s not one thing in your particular vending machine that’s less than 200 calories.

The Vending Machine Siren Call

It’s oh-so-hard to stick to your diet when empty calorie snacks are so very easy to get.  As you already know, vending machines are one of the worst culprits; practically everywhere, easy to use, and don’t cost a lot. When you’ve got the roaring munchies, the machines are hard to pass up.

It’s Just Change…Or Is It?

You might not think the machines cost much for the instant gratification they bring.  Or do they?

Let’s say you spend $1.00 on a bag of cookies. Doesn’t seem like much; it’s just spare change rolling around in your purse or pocket. But say you buy that $1 bag every day that you’re at work, 5 days a week, you’ll have spent something like $20 by the end of the month. Multiply that by 12 and it’s in the vicinity of $240 a year.

Add a soda for another dollar and now you’re looking at close to $500 a year.  Spare change indeed!

Healthier Additions to the Machines?

Sure, the  food industry claims it’s adding healthier options to vending machine goodies.  But you know what?  You can find much better choices elsewhere.

And here’s the reality;  even if the vending machine does have healthier choices, the chocolate bars and pastries are still staring you in the face, pleading to be selected.

What’s Better for Your Body?

A piece of fruit such as a pear or apple is the ideal snack to give you something sweet — and healthy, to boot! They’re easy to stuff in your purse and eat on the run.  Not to mention you’ll get the vitamins, fiber and nutrients your body needs.

Want something a bit more filling?  Think about bringing whole wheat crackers, string cheese, unsalted nuts, or hardboiled eggs. However, if it’s your sweet tooth calling out more than your tummy, you can try sucking on a sugar-free mint or chewing some sugar-free gum.

If you mostly buy sodas (even if they are diet), try switching over to bottled water. If that’s a little too much like punishment, think about flavored water or green tea.  While water is best, green tea is better than diet soda.

You Can Kick the Vending Machine Habit!

Yes, you can!  Start by bringing healthier alternatives, and maybe your own bottled water or tea.  Not only is it better for you, but it’s easier on your wallet when all is said and done.

So when the vending machine calls out, you’re less likely to hear it.  And your body will thank you for it!

If you’re saying “I can’t lose weight”, and need help, then here are three ideas to help you along.  Mind you, these are just for getting started on your weight loss; you’ll have to do the rest.

Tip 1:  Drink Water

Drinking water is an excellent way to start your weight loss plan.  Why?

Your body needs a certain amount of water to function properly.  When it doesn’t get that water on a regular basis, your body decides it’s time to hoard its supply.  And you know what that means.

Water weight.  Bloating.  Tight clothes.  Feeling fat.

By giving your body the amount of water it needs on a continuing basis, it quits hoarding and drops the excess water — which means excess pounds!  And while lots of people dismiss it as “just water weight”, think about it.  It’s pounds that you don’t need to be carrying around.

How much water?  Take your weight and divide it in half.  That’s the minimum number of ounces of water (not tea, coffee, soda, etc.) that you need to be drinking on a daily basis.

Tip 2:  Try a 3-Day Diet

Now let me preface this by saying that a 3-day diet is not something that should be an ongoing diet.  But rather, something to jump-start your weight loss.

By following a different diet for 3 days, your body gets a “wake up call” to start paying attention.  Your diet should be something you don’t follow in a normal day’s eating.

If you notmally eat a lot of carbs, try eating a lot of protein for 3 days.  Eat a lot of proteins but almost no fat?  Try adding a moderate amount of fat in the form of olive or flaxseed oil for 3 days.

You get the idea.  There are plenty of 3-day diets out there — find one and follow it to a T — after all, it’s only for 3 days!

Tip 3:  Exercise Differently

If you do exercise regularly, try a workout that’s totally different for 3 days.

If you don’t exercise regularly, try doing something to get moving for at least 15 (and preferably 20) minutes a day.  Walking, biking, dancing in your living room — doesn’t matter what it is — just get moving!

Can’t Lose Weight?

If after this you still can’t lose weight, you  might want to have your thyroid levels checked if you are constantly dieting and not losing weight.  Low thyroid levels can confound your body’s weight balance.  So get it checked out!

Yes it’s true — drink water to lose weight.  How and why?

When you drink water to lose weight you’re doing something your body needs — hydrating it.  And when it’s fully hydrated, a couple things happen.

First, you drop your excess water weight.  You may not realize it, but you’re probably carrying around between five and ten extra pounds in water.  No it’s not fat, but it is excess weight and you may as well get rid of it!

After you drop that extra water, something else happens.  It starts with you feeling more motivated to continue your weight loss with a longer-term plan — gives you a jump-start, so to speak.  Then, it’s easier for your body to work properly when it’s well hydrated.  When your body works better, weight loss is a bit easier.

So, if you want to drink water to lose weight, how much water should you drink?  Start with a minimum of 64 ounces (8 glasses), but then move on up to drinking half your body weight in ounces.  So, if you weight 200 pounds, you need to drink 100 ounces of water per day.

Can you drink anything else?  Well….not really.  But you can dress up your water a bit.  You can use citrus (lemon and lime slices) to help.  You can also, for no more than 32 ounces a day,  Crystal Lite.  If you do use Crystal Lite, though, drink an extra glass of water on top of everything else.

Drink water and lose weight — yes, it is that simple.  But don’t think that water alone with let you make it to your long term goals.  For that you need a sensible weight loss program.

I’ve made some posts on the topic of "drink water to lose weight" and something I just read has me boiling mad.  It’s a study that shows you don’t need to drink the standard eight glasses of water a day.  Instead, just drink when you’re thirsty.

Hah!  Are they out of their minds?  Off their rocker?  In deep water without a float?

And I especially liked the bit about drinking so much water being "folklore" when it comes to dieting…and then said there was no consistent proof that it didn’t help.

I know from the way my body reacts and the way others have told me how theirs has reacted, that drinking water helps you lose water weight.  That’s right, drinking more water helps de-bloat your body.  And personally, I notice when I haven’t had at least 8 glasses of water (not juice, not soda, not coffee) that I do feel bloated.  Which is easily remedied by downing an extra glass the following day.

Yep, Drink Water to Lose Weight

The feedback is totally anecdotal, but I haven’t had anyone tell me that drinking extra water made them even more bloated.  Just don’t eat extra salt to go along with that extra water!

Granted, if your doctor has you on a restricted water regime, listen to your doctor.  I’m talking about your average woman who wants to lose weight, and especially water weight loss.

Drinking Water, Filtering Toxins & Dehydration

Kidneys.  Their job is to filter wastes from your system — its what they were made to do.  But if you aren’t drinking enough water, those toxins are sitting in your body longer than they need to.  Why not provide your kidney with enough water to get those toxins flushed!

The article also goes on about a little dehydration won’t harm you.  Sure, it may not harm you in the short run, but when you get used to being thirsty, you can drink less and less, not notice it and then do become dehydrated.  That does harm you.

And there are pills and medications that may lower your ability to feel thirst — hoodia gordinii is an excellent example.

I could go on and on.  If you want to check it out, here’s the article
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You know, there are times when science isn’t the be-all and end-all.  In my opinion, this is one of those times.