Our body requires a lot of water to function at its very best. You may find studies that show an average American consuming around 3-4 cups of plain water per day with tap and bottled water combined, but many are guilty of consuming far less than this every day.
If you are overweight and go even days without drinking any plain water, then be happy that you have the opportunity to make a big impact on your weight loss results.
There are several reasons why drinking water will help you burn more fat, so I feel it is important to identify with them so that you can confidently add water consumption as an important part of your weight loss journey.
There are at least two important functions of the body that require (more) water to help us lose weight. These are, the digestion of food and the use of the body’s fat for energy.
Water consumption is vital for both of these processes, as the cells that carry out these duties use water to perform the task.
Getting the water that it needs will help your body to break down food into energy and to extract the vitamins and minerals from it so that you can actually eat less and feel more energized at the same time.
At the same time this added water will help you body to burn your body’s own store of fat as energy, and to transport the waste from burning fat out of your body.
Drinking water raises your metabolism
A raised metabolism may be one in the same with the cell functions mentioned above, but it is important to understand the decisions you make in terms of your metabolism, which is why it is mentioned separately.
Drinking more water consistently will raise your resting metabolism, meaning you will burn more fat throughout the whole day. A raised resting metabolism is one of the most powerful things to focus on when seeking rapid results.
In addition to the benefit of raising your metabolism on a normal basis, it seems that drinking cold water can give an extra boost in metabolism.
A study in 2003 which was not published online until 2013 showed that drinking cold water led to a 30% increase in metabolic rate for 30 minutes.
This effect can sound small to some but to me a cold glass of water sounds like a painless workout that takes less than 1 minute.
Water replaces empty calories
By far the largest effect that drinking more water can have on weight loss is the reduction of sugary and high fructose corn syrup drinks.
In the exact same way that eating more healthy food will cause you to eat less unhealthy food, drinking more water will lead to less unhealthy beverages, which are a huge source of our excess fat.
Do not underestimate the amount of fat sugary drinks are putting on you just because they are not solid, and likewise don’t underestimate how much fat can be burned by a reduction in sugar (and high fructose corn syrup).
Remember, only make as dramatic of a change that you can comfortably maintain. The key here is drinking more water, not just a narrow focus on cutting of drinks.
How much water to drink, and how it actually makes a difference
Measure and count if you want to, but simply drink more water. Make a significant change in your life, and be confident in doing so.
At my most unhealthy, I had been guilty of routinely not being able to remember when the last time I had plain water was. While undergoing many changes in my diet and lifestyle that led to where I am now, I never felt the need to measure how much water I was drinking because I knew that the change I was making was dramatic.
So go drink a whole bunch of water and lose a whole bunch of weight? Of course you know it’s not that simple, so how do we truly use water to its full fat burning advantage?
The main key is to add water as a part of your weight loss efforts, as a whole new factor that will intensify the effects of fitness and improved nutrition.
Drinking water will help you burn fat all by itself, but its true power is acting as a catalyst in the results you are already seeing with your healthy diet. Water will break down food and extract nutrients from it, and help you to burn even more fat on top of what resulted from good nutrition and exercise alone.
Drink another cup at work even if you’re not thirsty, keep your belly full and your metabolism going, drink water like it’s the worlds most healthy diet supplement.
Hydrate before exercise for the best performance during, and keep hydrating after for maximum results and recovery afterwards.
If you want to get started losing weight on an easy to follow and effective plan, check out the 8-Week Weight Loss Challenge! It will help you lose a lot of weight without having to count calories or stress over trying to cut foods out all of the time.
If you want to read a comprehensive guide on healthy weight loss, check out The Ultimate Guide to Losing 100+ Pounds.
