Weight Loss
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Can someone explain water retention?

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I understand that if you have lots of salt then water helps dilute it in the body, but I don't understand how drinking more water means you retain less? And what does it really mean to 'retain water' surely we should retain loads of water since the body is mostly water? If we didn't we'd be shriveled away to nothing!

I actively drink one liter of water a day (mixed with crystal light) and then I have about 4 mugs of tea a day thought this varies a little, plus sometimes I'll have fruit juice or something, am I drinking enough? Why do people say drinking more water helps with weight loss? Is it just that it fills you up so you don't eat as often, or does it actually do something?


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I understand that in a very simple way - if you drink a lot, you pee a lot, and that takes extra sodium out of your body. If there is no extra sodium - the body doesn;t need extra water. That's all.

Drinking water helps with water weight loss, not weight loss (but if you retain water it is hard to know if you have lost actual weight). Even if your sodium is low if you don't drink water (or much of it) your body is less likely to dispel water hence water retaining and if you workout your body will retain even more (some people even wait a day or two after a workout to weigh themselves).

The tricks on how water can aide weight loss or trick your body are: dehydration is mistaken for hunger so if you drink water and the hunger feeling goes away it was dehydration and it was 0 cals apposed to if you ate. And drinking water with meals makes you fuller faster.

I'd say you are drinking enough, water is in some foods and is in drinks, just drinking your cals in not advised and artificial sweeteners are chemicals but IMO pick your demons (sugar or chemicals/cals or chemicals) cause no matter what there is no perfect way to eat/drink and be able to keep it 100%, you can only strive to be better.

I personalty rather have some sugar than more chemicals mostly though cause I hate the taste of aspartame/artificial sugar tastes, so I rather have sugar/milk in my tea and coffee and drink about 6-8 glasses of plain water, than have sugar free mix in my water, but my gawd I don't like water much at all, most people dream of what they will treat themselves food wise when they achieve their weight loss, I dream of drinking 1/2 (or less) water as  I am LOL.

water retention is evil -.-

I swear, I only drank 2 bottles yesterday (instead of like 6) and I woke up soooooo bloated I couldn't even wedge my rings on my fingers.

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water is very important on several levels.  dont minimizeit and id suggest drinking something w caffeine doesnt count

read this


http://www.caloriesperhour.com/tutorial_water .php

I notice water retention the most on the days when I have a lot of processed foods (ie- lunch meat, Subway, canned soups, Chinese Food etc).  If I don't drink about 48 ounces of water before bed (yes I am up peeing during the night) I wake up the next morning about 4 lbs heavier, my stomach looking like I'm three months pregnant and just feeling 'blah'.


If I make a point though to drink a truckload of water before bed and get it all out throughout the night, I wake up feeling so much better, my stomach is flat and my eyes don't look like they are carrying big bags under them.

I mainly try to drink a lot of water during the day at work and then a cup or two before bed, but if my choices during the day were all high sodium, then I drink a lot of water before bed so I get all the sodium out by the AM.

Extra carbs keep water as well as sodium. They are more difficult to wash out than salt.

...so what happens to doctor's advice to drink at least 8 glasses of water?

Drink water daily 8 glass is an important advice. All the points and details are useful in this discussion. Can anyone give me short detail about hormones is also a cause of water retention?

The more fluids you put into your body lets it know to excrete more through urine. If you are dehydrated the body retains fluids as much as it can. Water retention is just a term for the extra fluid in the blood and cells. Potassium and sodium play some sort of role in this, that's why there are all these theories built around sodium and high blood pressure. Just remember to drink as much liquids as you can, hopefully water, and you won't hold on to excess fluid weight.

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