Keeping off the Pounds: Drink Plenty of Water
Getting rid of your excess pounds is one thing. Keeping them off will involve adopting healthier lifestyle choices, and drinking water instead of other beverages is one of them.
Drinking plenty of water is one of the recommended tips for weight loss in women and men alike.
Water contains no calories, fat or cholesterol. Drinking water regularly helps boost body metabolism and clear waste from the body. Chiefly, drinking a cup or two before meals can act as an appetite suppressant. Because you start the meal feeling fuller, the water helps in reducing the amount of food you eat.
Also, drinking more water can actually help your body stop retaining water, leading you to drop those extra pounds of water weight.
Drinking before Meals
In 2010 a Virginia study reported that dieters can lose 5 pounds extra if they drink 2 glasses of water 3 times a day before meals. Health resource website WebMD states that drinking water before meals results in an average reduction in intake of 75 calories per meal. So if you eat 3 meals per day, you can save up to 270 calories each day without feeling deprived.
Drinking water up to the recommended 8 to 10 glasses a day may seem difficult, but with a little perseverance, you will soon be on the right track to using water to your weight loss advantage.
Replace Calorie-Filled Drinks with Water
Consuming high-calorie beverages such as milk, hot drinks with milk and sugar, sodas and fruit juice are not a substitute for drinking water, and if anything make you gain more weight. But regularly drinking water during the day can help keep you feeling full without wanting to eat or drink other beverages. If you do not enjoy drinking water, you can try flavoring it: adding a slice of lemon may be of especial help to weight loss because the pectin in lemons helps reduce food cravings.
Drink the Water Ice Cold
Also, drinking the water ice cold is recommended, as it can help to boost your body’s metabolism. Your body needs to work harder to warm the water up, thereby burning more calories and helping you to lose weight.
To really motivate yourself to lose weight by drinking water rather than alternatives, try giving up on those sugary drinks for just a little while and see the difference yourself.
Sip When You’re Hungry
Often thirst can be mistaken for hunger. Your brain may tell you that you need something in your belly, but you might just be a bit dehydrated. So the next time you get those mid-afternoon hunger pangs and feel tired, drink a couple of cups of water, do a short task, and then see if you’re still hungry. You might not really need a snack at all, which helps you shave another few calories from your intake for the day.
A healthy rate of weight loss is believed to be about 1 to 2 pounds a week. Each pound of fat is equivalent to about 3,500 calories. Therefore, to drop about 2 to 4 pounds in two weeks, you will need to trim 7,000 to 14,000 calories from your diet in that time. By forgoing high-calorie drinks and having more water instead, by the end of those two weeks you could be a few pounds lighter – and stay that way. But don’t overdo it. Too much water is as bad as too little.