Drink more Water and Flush the Fat Away…it’s working for me!

As part of my mission to lose 40 bs by July 1, 2022, I’m using a variety of strategies.

Drinking enough water is one of them.

As I mentioned in my Day 9 Update, to lose weight and get healthier, I’m eating food that has a low calorie density and a higher nutrient density, as well as keeping my food low in fat, overall. I’ve also stuck with intermittent fasting, starting with 14:10 and building up to 18:6. 

Another key strategy I’m using to lose weight and become healthier is my focus on water consumption. Today, I’ll talk about how much water I’m drinking, and why.

So far, on every day but two, I’ve had about 3 L of water (about 100 oz).

Ideally, I like to get in my first 1.5 L by 2 pm, and finish the rest by about 8 pm. That’s not always the case, though. Some days I don’t remember to drink enough water, and I find I still have half of it to go when I’m already eating dinner.

Because I know the tremendous value in drinking water, I push myself on those days to finish my water in the evening.

I know 3 L sounds like a lot. In fact, I know some of you are wondering if that’s too much water!

It’s not.

How Much Water do we Really Need?

I’d always heard that we should have about 8 glasses (cups) of water a day. I’ve noticed in past years that the recommendations have increased. 

The Mayo Clinic recommends 11.5 cups (92 oz or 2.7 litres) of water per day for women (15.5 cups for men). Dieticians of Canada suggests adult women drink 9 cups (72 oz or 2.1 L) of water daily (12 cups for men).

Obviously, with different body types, and varying degrees of activity per person, there’s no magic number that represents the ideal amount of water for every human being.

Since most of us are familiar with hearing we need 8 glasses of water a day (about 64 oz), let’s use that as our baseline for the minimum amount of water you need. The minimum.

Most of us don’t get even the minimum amount of water during our day. Far from it. Even with coffee, tea, other beverages or foods with liquid in them (smoothies, soup), we’re not giving our body close to 64 oz of water a day (1.9 L).

Why aren’t We Drinking more Water?

We might have something to drink because we’re thirsty, but we need water for other reasons. In fact, I’ve heard many times that by the time we feel thirst, we’re already dehydrated; our bodies are crying out for water.

A can of Pepsi or a bottle of juice might quench your thirst, but it’s not the ideal liquid your body needs to function optimally. Both pop and juice have a considerable amount of sugar (or some artificial sweetener) that the body has to process before it can even try to benefit from the water content in those beverages.

It may seem like a good idea, but a highly processed food product like pop or juice is not a healthy way to get water into your body. In the short term, you get to enjoy a tasty drink and satisfy your thirst, but in the long term, you’re denying your body what it really needs.

Although it’s much more satisfying and tasty to drink the pop or juice when you feel thirsty, deep down, you know water is better for you.

So, why not do what you know is best for your body and drink more water. Way more water.

What Exactly is the Big Deal with Water?

It’s not breaking news that drinking water is important.

I won’t go into the many ways your body uses water to function effectively, but since your body is roughly 60% water, it’s just common sense that we should be giving our bodies lots of water.

Did you know that drinking water can help you lose weight too?

That was news to me.

Once I gained a deeper understanding of the power of water, I started to drink more. 

Dr. Brooke Goldner’s Take on Water

I discovered Dr. Brooke Goldner in the summer of 2021. She healed herself from lupus, and she has helped thousands of people reverse their illnesses.

I’ve read both of her books, which I recommend if you’re looking to heal your body, whether that includes weight loss or not.

She’s not just about helping people with lupus and autoimmune diseases; Dr. Goldner has helped people with oodles of other health issues, including:

• Obesity
• Fibromyalgia 
• Heart disease
• High blood pressure
• Diabetes
• And many more

Dr. Goldner says when you’re trying to heal or change your body, you need to get in lots of nutrients, and you need to get rid of toxins, fat and other materials your body does not need.

So, how does your body do that hard work?

In addition to bringing in quality nutrients, which include omega 3’s (flax, chia) to allow your cells to be flexible enough to do their job, she states the importance of getting in LOTS of water.

Dr. Goldner’s Daily Water Recommendations

• Minimum amount of water to maintain good health is 1/2 oz per pound per day
• If under 128 lbs, have 1 oz of water per pound per day to accelerate healing
• If over 128 lbs, you can have up to a gallon (128 oz, 3.8 L) of water per day to accelerate healing
• If you have any medical issues that limit your water intake, then the above recommendations do not apply

In Goodbye Autoimmune Disease, Golder states, “Through repeated trials we have found that there is a rapid increase in visible results when people consume 96 ounces a day (3 liters), and optimal benefits at 128 ounces (3.8 liters) of water a day for people who are 128 lbs or over.” (p. 12)

Examples:

• 90 lbs: drink 90 oz of water per day to heal; drink 45 oz to maintain good health
• 160 lbs: drink up to 128 oz per day to heal; drink 80 oz to maintain good health
• 230 lbs: drink up to 128 oz per day to heal; drink 115 oz to maintain good health

128 oz is a gallon of water. Seems high, at first.

You need water to do so many things in your body, but specifically when it comes to losing weight and aiming for better health…

• Every chemical reaction in your body needs water. 
• You need water for fat to be broken apart and then disposed of
• Water flushes the toxins out of your body
• Plenty of water reduces detox symptoms (when you go from eating crappy food to eating good food, your body will usually detox with headaches, fatigue, etc.)
• When trying to change your body (lose fat, heal, build muscle) you need water to do all the chemical reactions involved

In Dr. Goldner’s professional opinion, the two biggest contributors to disease today are:

• Dehydration
• Not enough nutrients

Are you trying to get healthier? Are you trying to lose weight?

Most of us are, but we don’t realize an easy way to speed things up. We don’t realize that if we drank more water, we would lose more weight or that we’d speed up healing.

My 3 L of Water per Day

My goal is to have about 3 L (about 100 oz) of water each day. I chose 3 L because it’s close to the gallon Dr. Goldner recommends for optimal healing, and I felt I could do it successfully. At some point, I might bump it up more.

Dr. Goldner drinks a gallon of water on days when she is trying to make changes (build muscle, heal, lose fat), and on other days when she’s maintaining her health, she drinks 80 – 100 oz of water.

Choosing a Water Bottle

I use a Yeti water bottle that holds 1.36 L of water. My goal is to drink two of them a day. Two of my Yeti bottles holds 2. 72 L (92 oz), which is almost 3 L. I round it up to 3 L because I usually have coffee or tea made from water, which bumps up the water a bit. 

When I go to bed, I use a different water bottle (750 mL Swell bottle) because the Yeti one is pretty heavy. I usually have a bit of water before I turn out my light, and often during the night too. So, combined with my two full Yeti bottles, my consumption of water for the day is about 3 L.

Does the water bottle make a difference in how much water I drink?

You bet!

When I had only my Swell bottle, I had to try to remember how many bottles of water I drank throughout the day. I needed 4 to get in my 3 L. I looked around for one that was bigger and not made of plastic. I love having a water bottle big enough that I have to fill it only twice. 

I know I’m getting in more water just because of the container. It works for me, and I’d encourage you to find a bottle that you really love. Not only the size you want, but make it a bottle you like aesthetically too.

What Kind of Water do I Drink?

After I was diagnosed with breast cancer early in 2020, I decided to look into getting a water filter. We had a filtered water dispenser on our fridge, but I wanted a filter that would remove fluoride too. My research led me to the Berkey filter (I bought the extra filters that remove the fluoride).

I’m not an expert on water, water filters or the Berkey, but I can tell you I drink more water because of having my Berkey. It tastes so clean and fresh. There are different sizes to choose from; mine is the travel size, which holds 5.7 L of water.

If you’re trying to lose weight or gain better health, I would encourage you to use some kind of filter on your tap water because it will taste better, and you’ll, therefore, probably drink more water.

What about all the Peeing that comes with Drinking Water?

Here’s how to look at it.

Do you want to lose weight?

If peeing more means you can get rid of the fat, then I’m all for it.

Also, when we work on dropping the pounds, we are working. We’re fighting cravings and we sometimes feel like we’re missing out. So, if we’re working so hard, don’t you think we deserve to have our efforts pay off?

So what if you have to pee more? That’s the way it was meant to be. Flush out the fat with every pee!

Drinking 3 L of water is one of the strategies I’m using to lose weight and drop 40 lbs by July 1, 2022. As mentioned in my previous posts, I’m also using intermittent fasting and eating foods that are low calorie density, low in fat and higher in nutrients.

What I’m doing is working! I’m really happy with my weight loss so far; stay tuned for the next update on my weight and to learn how exercise and mindset play a massive role too.

Live your true life,