How much water should I drink to lose weight?

Water and weight loss are two good bedfellows (in fact they have been so since time immemorial). Virtually, every weight loss diet will advocate for drinking water to lose weight. While there is no genius formula to drink water to lose weight, there are questions that linger around this subject. How much water should I drink to lose weight? Does drinking water help you to lose weight? If yes, how many glasses of water should you drink in a day? These and more questions are always fronted when people are advised to take a lot of water to lose weight. The essence, of these questions, is trying to understand how much water to drink to lose weight.

Well, if you have been wondering on how water helps with weight loss and what amount you should drink each day; you will have all the answers here. Reading down to the last full stop and understand all that you may have missed about water and weight loss.

Water and weight loss

Shedding extra weight comes with its own challenges. That is why losing weight has never been for the faint-hearted. However, turning to your glass or bottle of water can see your dream come true. Taking a certain amount of water each day accompanied with the right diet and exercise not only helps you with weight loss but generally gives your body perfect health. Water curbs on your appetite meaning that you will be eating less each day. It also helps improve your metabolism hence perfect digestion. These three are the prerequisites to spark weight loss. If you were wondering how water and weight loss are related, now you know how.

How much water to drink to lose weight

How much water do you need to lose weight? This is a question that everyone trying to lose weight will be asking. The amount of water needed to start the process of weight loss is not a universal figure. It varies from one individual to another. Some of the factors that are involved are age, gender, body weight and level of physical activity. For instance with gender, an adult man will 13 cups each of 8 ounces daily while an adult woman will require 9 cups of 8 ounces each day. For those doing menial work or athletes will need more water. So, how many glasses of water should you drink a day? For men it is at least 13 glasses while for women it is 9 glasses on the low side.

Once you start on the water drinking routine, you should keep up with it. Consistency will give you good results. The good is that this is not like diet or exercise where the temptation to cheat is always high. For water, the only sacrifice and pain you have to incur is just taking the right quantity for each day. Besides, remaining on a steady water intake means that once you lose weight you can be assured to maintain it at healthy level.

Does drinking water help you lose weight?

It has been proven that water can aid in weight loss. Study after another has shown that indeed water is part and parcel for every known way/method to lose weight. In fact, approximately 30-59 per cent of Americans losing weight have used water in their weight loss plans. Water increases the amount calories burned in the body. This is known as resting energy expenditure, which results into extra burring of calories. With more of the resting energy being utilized, the body efficiently burns calories leaving no room to pile on unwanted weight. It only takes 10 minutes after drinking water for the body to aggressively begin spending resting energy. For 2 glasses of water, the level of resting energy expenditure is increased by a margin of 24-30 per cent and lasts for one hour. Mathematically, it would be advisable to drink a cup or of water after every hour. This sequence would keep your body on a peak of using resting energy use. But because it is not possible to keep up with hourly water drinking, the best time would before every meal and after exercises.

On the other hand, the more water you take the fuller you become. This effectively reduces the portions of food you take in each meal. It is not rocket science to see that water actually plays a role in successful weight loss. While on its own it could not bring a considerable margin in weight loss, water has an indispensable place in virtually every method for losing weight.

How water and weight loss span out

Water aids in weight loss in two major ways. One, It makes you full hence eating less food. In 2010, an obesity study found out that taking a cup or two of water reduced daily calorie intake by 225 in an adult. The more water you take the fewer calories you will need. This works effectively to reduce the amount of calories you are taking. The effect is that your body will be able to fully burn and utilize all the calories taken leaving no chance for fat to pile.

Secondly, water boosts your metabolism, which is the engine for burning calories. In 2003, a study on metabolism established that taking 2 glasses of water boosts metabolism by a margin of 30 per cent for 40 minutes. This happens as the body heats up the water to reach normal body temperature; a process that will consume considerable amount of energy.

If anything, these two ways are basically what it takes to lose weight. But for the purpose of emphasis, only drinking water will not get you the desired weight loss results. You will need to eat right and do some simple exercises that befit your abilities.

Weight loss expectations with drinking water

Drinking water for weight loss is touted as one of healthiest ways to drop pounds fast. It is no wonder that it has gained popularity among folks who are keen to lose weight. But the question is: what should you expect in terms of weight loss for drinking water? The truth is that your expectations should just be as high as the efforts you put in. For someone relying on a low-carb diet and taking adequate water, the expectations should be around 10-15 pounds lost in a month. For someone who adds exercise to both water and low-carb diet the expectations should 15-20 pounds within a month. For the best results from drinking for weight loss, diet experts recommend drinking water before every meal.

Tips on how to increase your daily water intake

For many people, taking a few glasses of water in a day is way too tasking to cope with. With chilly and rain weather it is even harder to take a single glass of water. But if you hope to shed your extra pounds of fat, you have to find a way around this hurdle. Here is how to increase daily water intake for weight loss with these easy tips:

· Keep away from sweetened all drinks: that sweet taste of soda and other flavored drinks is a big temptation and a nagging one to shake off. You have to get over the temptation and instead go for water. Carry a bottle of water with you. If you can stay away from high-calorie drinks and instead take water, you are on your way to lose weight.

· If you occasionally take alcohol ensure that you take an equal amount of water: If you are trying to lose weight you better stay away from alcoholic drinks. But if you cannot then you should take water in the equivalence of alcohol you take. This extra water should not be counted as part of your daily intake.

· Spread your water quota throughout the day: If you want to keep up with water and weight loss you have to use a smart approach. Take a few glasses once you wake up, before tea break, before lunch and before supper. By the end of the day you will have reached your daily target. It is not advisable that you take a lot of water at once.

· Add some flavor to your water: Plain water is just that: plain (and not many people like the flat taste). If you cannot stand a glass of flat water every now and then, you can improve on its taste with natural flavors. Spike it with fruit sap from the likes of orange, strawberries and lime. You can drop in a few slices of mint and cucumber to make it tasty. Do not use artificial sweeteners for they will water down your weight loss efforts.

Conclusion

Yes, water helps to lose weight. The secret lies in taking the right quantity each day and at the right time. There is nothing easy like drinking water to lose weight. Remember, water alone does not have the magical power to drop your pounds from 3 digits to two. Therefore, you should incorporate it with suitable weight loss diet and exercise. Now that you know better, get that glass of water and make it a permanent friend in your life.