Weight Loss Tip:
Drink Water to Lose Weight

An important and overlooked diet tip is to drink water to lose weight!

There are many things that can help you to lose weight and drinking water is just one of them. On this page, I'm not going to explain all the physiology behind water and metabolism, but I will say that after oxygen water is the most important nutrient, and all of our metabolic processes require water. Being properly hydrated can lead to better health.

The main reason I think people should drink water to lose weight is that almost everything else has chemicals and calories.

Chemicals, like artificial sweeteners and preservatives, may have a negative effect on the body's metabolism, and aspartame and diet sodas have come under fire lately as potential health risks that contribute to obesity.

In addition to chemicals, calories in beverages are making us gain weight.

One of my weight loss tips for my personal training clients is, "Don't drink calories!"

As a society, we are already eating way to many calories, yet many of us compound the problem by consuming large amounts of sugar, fat, chemicals, and calories in our drinks.

Calories in Coca Cola

A 12 ounce can of Coke has about 140 calories. If you drink just 1 can of Coke a day, that's almost an additional 1000 calories a week, which would be an additional 52,000 calories a year.

We often use 3500 calories to equal 1 pound of fat, and with those numbers, 1 can of Coke a day is worth about 15 pounds a year. Many people who replace the calories in regular soft drinks with diet soft drinks tend to lose weight, but some recent studies have shown that people who drink diet sodas may be prone to being overweight.

There is a complicated relationship between nutrition and weight, but many nutritionists believe that replacing soft drinks with water would be a healthier choice.

Calories in Starbucks Drinks

Soft drinks are not the only offenders when it comes to calorie packed beverages.

My favorite Starbucks drink was the Venti Soy Chai until I found out it had more than 250 calories. Some Starbucks drinks are pushing 400-500 and even 600 calories, and most of the calories are empty calories coming from processed sugar.

Regular coffee and herbal teas do not really have any calories, but with whole milk, caramel, sugar, or other additions some drinks can pack a big calorie punch.

Just think one 400 calorie drink 5 times a week is an additional 2000 calories a week and over 100,000 calories a year. 100,000 calories a year could equal almost 30 pounds of weight.

Calories from Alcohol

Alcohol is another sneaky source of unnecessary calories.

Generally, speaking a 12 ounce bottle of beer has about 150 calories--a few more calories than 12 ounces of soda.

A 1 ounce shot of whiskey, vodka, or rum has about 60 calories. A glass of wine (4 ounces) has about 85 calories.

An 8 ounce Pina Colada is about 600 calories. If you went on vacation and drank 2 Pina Coladas (1200 calories) every day for 7 days, you'd have an extra 14,400 calories (4 pounds) that week.

This is why I recommend that you drink water to lose weight.

In addition to providing extra calories alcohol, negatively affects your metabolism. Your liver is actually your main fat burning organ, and if your liver is pre-occupied detoxing your blood of alcohol, it cannot burn fat as efficiently.

It is very hard to lose a significant amount of weight, if you constantly consume alcoholic beverages.

Summary

There are two main reasons to drink water to lose weight. The first is that your cells need water to function properly, and the second is to avoid calories and chemicals that are found in other beverages.

Water is the perfect beverage, and drinking water can help to keep you healthy.

Yours in Health,
Dr. Charles PT/PT

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