Anyone interested in losing weight has certainly heard of drinking water before a meal for appetite reduction but there is a better method of using water for weight loss.
Most people do not drink the right amount of water on a daily basis mainly because there is no well defined formula for determining what the right amount is. In researching what the right amount of water is for proper hydration I found estimates ranging from 8 glasses for women and 12 glasses for men up to recommendations that multiply a person’s body weight by 0.66 and then convert the answer to ounces.
Those recommending that all men or all women drink a particular number of glasses of water per day are certainly not taking into account the fact that some of those women weigh 90 pounds and some weigh 300 pounds. No one in their right mind would claim people on opposite ends of the weight spectrum need the same amount of water.
Water Intake Best Estimates
The estimates that seemed the most reasonable and logical were those that took into account the weight of the person and not their sex. These estimates multiplied the subject’s weight by between 0.50 and 0.66 and then converting to ounces. Check the example below for a 200 pound man.
(200 lbs.)(0.50) = 100 ounces on the lower end of the estimate
(200 lbs.)(0.66) = 132 ounces on the higher end of the estimate
Staying between these two estimates works very well for proper hydration staying closer to the lower end on regular days and moving toward the higher end on days that include strenuous exercise or exposure to intense outdoor heat.
Cold Water and Weight Loss
Now that you understand the right amount of water for proper hydration, let’s take a look at how you can use this water for weight loss. If you drink the right amount of water each day and you drink it extra cold, your body will actually burn calories warming up the water.
The amount of calories burned warming up the water depends somewhat on the actual temperature of the water when you drink it. However, a good estimate is that the calories you burn warming up the water are approximately equal to one pound a month. This may not sound like much but if you think about it, using this fact alone and drinking the right amount of water each day and drinking it extra cold, you would lose 60 pounds over the next 5 years with everything else being equal including your food intake and your food choices.
(1 pound/month)(12 months/year)(5 years) = 60 pounds of weight loss in 5 years
I would strongly recommend that if you are interested in weight loss that you educate yourself on proper nutrition and diet and learn how you can lose weight without the starvation normally associated with dieting.
New Research From Harvard
Many diets currently on the market focus on prepared food in a box that you purchase from them. The reason these diets generally fail is because you cannot stay satisfied until the next meal on the tiny amount of food in that box. Once the diet is over and you have lost the desired weight you quickly return to the old habits having not learned one thing about proper nutrition.
New Research from Harvard University details information that has proven more accurate than the glycemic index. The glycemic index is the old information yet many of today’s diets are based on it.
Lose Your Excess Weight and Keep it Off for Good
Weight loss success, by definition, is losing the desired weight and keeping it off. Most people try diet after diet, losing and gaining and losing and gaining until they are finally convinced they cannot lose weight and keep it off.
I recommend picking up a copy of, “Lose Weight Without Dieting.” This book not only shows you the newest research on weight loss but it will also teach you how you can absolutely lose weight and keep it off without the usual starvation associated with conventional dieting. You can lose weight even if you eat at restaurants, accept dinner invitations and even the big ones, if you attend family get-togethers like Christmas and Thanksgiving.
There is no magic in this book, just sound scientific principles that will educate you on proper, healthy weight loss. You will finally understand why you have not kept the weight off after painfully losing it on one of these starvation box diets. You will also understand why some people always seem like they stay thin no matter what, because you will finally be one of them. Make this the year people start seeing less of you, for good!