I imagine that you have all heard more than once to ‘increase your water intake as it will help you lose weight’. In short, this is absolute truth – water assists with metabolism, cleanses, and rehydrates the body which assists with removing waste via urination and regular bowel movements, suppresses appetite and is calorie free!
Tips:
Drink before eating.
- To help fill you up and reduce calorie intake (more effective in middle aged and older adults)
Drink water instead of calorie laden drinks
- Reducing sugar intake will make a huge difference to calorie intake
- Add lemon slices if you get bored as lectin has the benefit of assisting with reducing cravings
- If you drink mostly water studies have shown you may have up to 9% lower calorie intake
Drink cold water
- Your body burns fuel warming the water
Exercise
- Good hydration will enable you to exercise longer and harder as joints are lubricated and you avoid muscular cramps therefore burning more calories
Drink a sufficient quantity
- 2 litres each day is a good guide (8 glasses of water will get you there), although it is very individual
- More if you sweat a lot during exercise or it’s hot and humid
- Less if you are consuming herbal tea regularly or it’s cold
- One study showed a 2kg weight loss over a year with increasing water intake alone. Surely we can improve this by monitoring what we put in our mouths and how much we move.
Monitor other symptoms
- Feeling irritable, headaches, constant hunger or difficulty concentrating may actually be dehydration
Eat foods with higher water content such as fruits and vegetables (berries, grapes, melon, celery, cucumber, tomatoes, lettuce etc) or meals such as soups, curries, smoothies which have a higher liquid content
Purification
- Water quality depends on where you live and there are numerous contaminants in tap water. This doesn’t mean that bottled water is any healthier so don’t go buying it by the case! I’m a big fan of a water filtration system and I personally use Phoenix. Filtering your water won’t necessarily help you lose weight, but it will reduce your toxic load and it will taste better (which may encourage you to drink more, thereby helping with weight loss! Just refuted my own argument – love it!)
September Challenge:
- Drink 8 glasses of water every day for the month of September
- To hack this challenge even further try one glass prior to each meal
Author: Mel Ingram
