Water Retention Problems when Losing Weight

Water Retention Problems make it harder to lose weight.

Is water retention a big problem for you? If it is, then you are probably trying to find how much water weight you can lose to get to that shape and weight you have as your goal. The solution to water retention problems is difficult. If you are trying to lose fat, you are supposed to eat less fatty foods. It only makes sense that to lose water weight that you would need to drink less water. This is far from the case.

The best way to lose water weight is to drink more water. Let’s look at why that is true.

Why Do I Retain Water Weight?

The body needs water to be healthy. All of your body’s important functions depend on water to be done efficiently. If your body senses that it isn’t getting enough water to operate correctly, it will assume there is a drought and start conserving it. Your body releases a hormone that prevents the kidneys from filtering it. It’s just like when we are going through dry spells with the water supply and cut back on some of the necessary usage and try to get by with as little water being used as possible. This can lead to a lot of other problems.

Can Not Drinking Water Cause Problems?

The obvious problem you have from not drinking enough water is dehydration and this leads to several other problems. One major issue is that water helps remove both solid and liquid waste from your body. The water helps move things like toxins and fat along and out of your system. It also helps break down the more solid matter that your body has broken down and helps it come out easier. If it’s not getting water, fecal matter is just backing up in your system and that brings about many health concerns. Lack of water also slows down your metabolism. It can also keep nutrients from flowing through your body like it needs.

How Much Water Do I Need To Drink?

A knee jerk reaction to realizing that you aren’t getting enough water is to overload it. This won’t help you. What happens when the rain comes after a long dry spell and the ground is rock solid? The ground might absorb some of it, but it has to have some moisture in it to absorb more, just like a sponge. All the extra water that it can’t absorb just runs off somewhere. In your body, if it hasn’t been getting enough water, will be unable to handle large quantities and will just move it into the bladder. That is why you end up having to urinate so much when you drink a lot more water than usual.

What is a healthy amount for you to drink is between one half and two thirds of your body weight in ounces. If you weigh 200 pounds, then you should be drinking between 100-133 ounces of water per day. This will take some getting used to, but when you and your body is getting used to it, your body is going to start believing that the drought is over so there is little need to retain as much.

How much water weight you lose depends on how much water you drink (making sure you are getting enough), how much exercise you get, and how well you eat.