Drinking Water to Lose Weight

What if someone told you you could lose weight with no effort on your part? What if there was a secret to losing weight that didn't involve increased exercise or decreased calorie consumption? And what if this method was free and easily available to you? Would you jump at the chance to do it?

The secret to some fast weight loss without exercise or diet changes is to drink more water!

Here's where I know there must be some kind of self-sabotage involved in my battle to lose the last ten pounds. I know I should be drinking more water, and it is the easiest thing in the world to do. It doesn't involve willpower, it doesn't involve dragging myself out to exercise, and it doesn't involve cutting back on calories. So why aren't I doing it?

It's not just me. Most North Americans are dehydrated. In fact, chronic dehydration is probably the most common cause of a lot of our health ailments. There are two main reasons so many people are dehydrated these days. We eat less vegetables and fruits (which are water-dense) and more processed foods than we should. And we drink lots of caffeinated beverages instead of water. Caffeinated beverages and alcohol are diuretics. They force more water out of our bodies.
If a person is dehydrated their body compensates by retaining excess water as a protective measure. This alone is responsible for some excess weight. As well, a dehydrated person's metabolism is significantly lower than a normally hydrated person.

Dehydration is responsible for many people's feelings of fatigue. Many people have lost their sense of thirst and mistake it for hunger. Drinking a glass of water will usually greatly reduce any false hunger pangs.

So the solution to losing at least a few extra pounds sounds easy. Start with two glasses of room temperature water first thing in the morning. That's before you drink coffee or eat your breakfast. Try to drink some water regularly during the day. And eat more water dense foods such as vegetables, fruits and even legumes.

I'll get right on it. And I'd be keen to hear any feedback from people who've recently tried this for losing weight.

(See more about breaking the soft drink habit here).