Water retention

rebelchick2

Hi,

Someone has said to me that I shouldnt drink too much water on the day of my WI as it distorts my weight. I suppose it does make sense, Just wondering if any of you have any thoughts on this!

neuro-praxis

Drink water as normal. What does it matter if there is a small fluctuation on the scales? We are trying to lose fat, not water weight.

If you don't drink, your body will retain water anyway, giving you a higher reading on the scales.

Like I say, just drink as normal. Pee before being weighed and get weighed at the same time each week, wearing roughly the same clothes.

EileenG

Just pee first, and you'll be fine.

seamus

rebelchick2 wrote: »

Hi,

Someone has said to me that I shouldnt drink too much water on the day of my WI as it distorts my weight. I suppose it does make sense, Just wondering if any of you have any thoughts on this!

Drinking water will distort your weight because it's in your stomach. 1 litre of water = 1kg = 2.2lbs. The generally accepted "limit" of the stomach is about 1.5 litres (around 3.5lbs), but depending on the person it could hold twice as much as that. So if you fill your stomach with fluid and stand on the scales, you will come in significantly heavier.

Drink plenty of water. Don't be afraid to drink water on a weigh-in day. In my experience, drinking less water will result in less net weight loss over a week than drinking more water. The theory being that if you're dehydrated, your body will hold onto water (resulting in a heavier you), whereas if plenty of water is forthcoming, your body releases more water as waste. I'm not sure how accurate this is or if it's ever been tested.

It's all about getting a measure of yourself. If you're drinking water by the litre (e.g. from a bottle) then aim to finish drinking 2 to 3 hours before your weigh-in. This gives your body time to process and excrete whatever it doesn't need.

As neuro says, just try and make your weigh-ins as "standard" as possible - wear the same clothes, get weighed at the same time (just before dinner is usually best I found) and try to eat/drink roughly the same amount through the day.

eclectichoney

seamus wrote: »

It's all about getting a measure of yourself. If you're drinking water by the litre (e.g. from a bottle) then aim to finish drinking 2 to 3 hours before your weigh-in. This gives your body time to process and excrete whatever it doesn't need.

Apologies to the OP for hijacking the topic but i have always wondered how long it takes your body to process the water from when you first drink it to excretion. I've guessed at about 2 hours. Out of interest do you know if the average bladder capacity is similar (i.e. 1.5l)?. I often drink 1l first thing in about ten or fifteen minutes in the morning as I feel very dehydrated and thirsty, but I do wonder if it is too much for my stomach and/or bladder to deal with in one go! :o

seamus

eclectichoney wrote: »

Apologies to the OP for hijacking the topic but i have always wondered how long it takes your body to process the water from when you first drink it to excretion.

This is something you can really only figure out by measuring yourself. It can also depend on the hydration state of your body at the time. I've woken up with stinking hangovers, drank more than a litre of fluids and not needed to "release" any fluids for nigh on 12 hours. At the same time, a cup of tea I had 25 minutes ago can tip me over the edge.

I've guessed at about 2 hours. Out of interest do you know if the average bladder capacity is similar (i.e. 1.5l)?. I often drink 1l first thing in about ten or fifteen minutes in the morning as I feel very dehydrated and thirsty, but I do wonder if it is too much for my stomach and/or bladder to deal with in one go! :o

According to wikipedia, average bladder capacity hovers around 0.5l, but you'll hold as much as 1.5l before it literally bursts.
You could try be scientific about it. Arrange to consume nothing for about two hours, and pee. Then drink 1l of water and give yourself 3-4 hours (or until you absolutely don't feel like you'd need to pee again). That should give you an idea of roughly how long it took from drinking the water to the last time you needed to pee.

The problem with drinking water in large quantities is that your body won't process a good deal (most?) of it through the kidneys, so it can be wasterd effort in effect. But it's not likely to do any harm unless the water is very cold or you attempt to drink massive quantities of it (> 5l) in a single sitting.