Using water for for weight loss isn’t new. The increased caloric expenditure is also very small. Never-the-less that shouldn’t necessarily deter you. There are other benefits to drinking water. However, that’s not what this article is about. This is more of how-to for people looking for practical information that is sometimes hard to find online. How much to drink? What to add to it? How to space out the drinking?
How Much Water?
For weight loss a commonly thrown around number is that one should drink 1 oz per pound of body weight. Know your body weight already? Perfect, read on.
How Many Ounces in a Gallon
There are 128 oz in a gallon. If you’re around 128 lbs then a gallon of water per day might be a good target.
How Many Ounces in a Liter
There are roughly 33.8 oz in a liter.
Example Calculations
Suppose you’re 150lbs. That means your target is 150 oz of water.
In Gallons: 150/128 = 1.17 gallons. Now this is really close to a gallon. Don’t fret over differences like this. Target 1 gallon.
In Liters: 150/33.8 = 4.44 Liters. Round this to four and a half liters. Don’t measure out a 0.44 exactly. It’s not worth it. In fact it would be easier to just target 5 Liters.
Quick Word About Salt
Drinking more water does have it’s drawbacks. The primary one however is the loss of salt that occurs as your urine output increases.
What you should be watching is sodium and potassium. Now, there are salt blends sold in stores that are basically a nice blend of the two. They’ll typically be called “Lite Salt” or “Low Sodium Salt”.
If you’re worried about the salt loss, a small pinch of this salt added to the water should help you meet your salt needs.
Alternatives might be certain calorie free water flavoring drops that have electrolytes added to them. I tend to avoid these as they can cause problems. But feel free to experiment. If they substantially enhance your ability to reach your water goals they may well be worth it.
Set a Visual or Other Cue
One strategy that works for a lot of people is to set a visual cue and use that to trigger a drink of water. The water is then taken in slowly throughout the day rather than all in one go.
Common Cues:
- Every time you get back to your desk.
- Every time you enter a particular room.
- Every time you hear a particular word.
- Every time you see your water container.
- Every time you get up for a break.
The list is literally endless. The idea isn’t to be complete but rather to spark some ideas. Remember that you have to build and create your own routine.
Log The Results
Record daily the amount you drank and your current weight.
Word of Warning
Zero water and you die of dehydration. Some water and you merely survive. A bit more and you’re in our gallon range. Many gallons of water per day and you could potentially die. Yes people have died from drinking too much water. It usually happens during water drinking competitions. Jump into google news and do a search I’ll wait.
So there is an optimum amount that if you go over it you’ll be worse off than if you stayed at the optimum. That’s why it’s called an optimum. Hit your target and stop.
That’s all there is to it. Don’t over think it.
Stay safe.
Leave your comments below. In particular, leave your favorite cue.
