Water and Weight Loss: Ways Water Helps You Lose Weight

Losing weight can be difficult to say the least. It is much more easy to put on a few pounds than to shed a few. You can use any help possible to loose inches as painlessly and quickly as possible. That's were water comes in. Water is a weight loss ally for several reasons.

It's a no-brainer that if a person is made up of roughly 60% water he or she would need plenty of water throughout the day. According to WebMd.com, You can lose about 5 pounds per year by simply drinking more of the satisfying liquid. Drinking water increases the metabolic rates in men and women and than means more calories being burned. Your metabolic rate is your quota for calorie consumption for the day. Some people may only burn 1500 calories while others mar require more than 3000. Water increases your totals in different ways in men and women. Water makes men burn fat more quickly while it causes women to bun carbs more quickly.

You may ask yourself if drinking juice, milk, or even diet soda is just as good. These are never going to be as good as drinking water if your goal is to increase you water consumption. Although these do contain water, they may also contain calories and chemicals that may get in the way of your goal.

Not only does water increase metabolism but it decreases calories consumed. This happens every time you consume water instead of any calorie rich beverage. Water goes with just about any meal, and if you are eating out it will allow you to save some money too. Hopefully you will lose more weight than your wallet.

Sometimes when we are thirsty our brain percieves the signal as hunger. Be careful to not eat when you are really thirsty. A quick remedy is to drink a glass of water when you are hungry. If you are really hungry, you will be hungry 20 minutes later. Of course you might be hungry anyway because it is later.

A recent Penn State study showed that soup, mostly water, was able to help people consume less calories when eaten as an appetizer before a meal.  Researchers showed that when people ate low calorie soup before a meal, such as pizza and breadsticks, people consumed hundreds of calories less.  So somehow the water in soup is able to trick you into feeling full with less calories.  Add soup daily to avoid pigging out.

Every time your body has to regulate your temperature, you are burning calories.  Think about it.  When you are shivering and have goosebumps, your muscles are quivering and using calories to do so.  Goose bumps help your hair stand up, but this process also takes energy. 

When humans start to overheat, they sweat.  Most people would think that it takes more energy to keep yourself warm than to keep yourself cool.  Keeping yourself cool can burn more calories because the act of sweating and rerouting blood to the surface of your skin takes energy.  On top of that you will likely consume more icy cold water when you are hot.  Then your metabolism is raised and the water cycle continues.  One of the best healthy ways to get hot is to exercise.  Make sure to use your water bottle to stay hydrated.

As you exercise you are going to burn more calories the longer you go. In order for us sweating mammals to reach long distances without passing out, we must replenish the fluids within our bodies. Water is the best way to replace water that is lost in your sweat. The difference in Gatorade is mostly electrolytes and sugars added to help you sustain energy, so for extremely long distanges you may need to replenish electrolytes.  Eight glasses is the recommended daily intake of water.  Be careful though, you can have too much of a good thing.  Drinking excess water may fluch your electrolyte balance and cause harm to your body or even your sanity.

If you are dehydrated you will feel ill and tired. You won't want to drag yourself to the gym, and you probably won't exercise at all. According to the Mayo Clinic dehydration can result in symptoms including but not limited to, "sleepiness or tiredness, muscle weakness, dizziness, lack of sweating, low blood pressure, and unconsciousness." Just try working out with a couple of those and you could end up losing your life.

Another way water makes you likely to exercise is because it's fun. Everything from water gun fights to swimming is not possible without water. Here are a little of water needed activities to get you having fun and active:

1. Slip'n'Slide
2. Water gun or balloon fight
3. Water Polo
4. Swimming and Diving
   
5. Surfing and wake boarding
   
6. Sailing and yachting
   
7. Para sailing
   
8. Water Skiing
9. Snorkeling and Scuba Diving
10. Triathlons
    
11. Synchronized Swimming
12. Water aerobics
13. Underwater Photography
14. Canoeing and Kayaking
15. Rowing and Rafting
16. Fishing

Next time you are feeling sorry for yourself wishing you had some help in your pursuit to lose weight remember your friend and ally water. Water will keep you feeling well and having fun in your weight loss journey.