This Is a Bizarrely Simple Way to Lose Weight
There’s something you should try before ice cream if you’re trying to lose weight. (Photo: Getty Images)
You know you should drink more water, and you probably try to. But between life and work, sometimes it just doesn’t happen. Now, there’s another motivation to increase your H2O intake beyond quenching your thirst: It can help you lose weight.
It sounds weird (and almost too easy) but here’s the deal: Dietitians say a lot of people confuse thirst with hunger, which then can cause them to overeat — when all they really needed to do was drink some tap water.
“Mild dehydration — and that sleepy, droopy feeling that comes with it — is often mistaken for hunger,” Jessica Cording, a New York-based registered dietitian, tells Yahoo Beauty. “People may be quick to reach for a snack or coffee when their cells are really calling out for water.”
Karen Ansel, R.D.N. and author of Healthy in a Hurry: Simple, Wholesome Recipes for Every Meal of the Day, tells us that you’re more likely thirsty rather than hungry if you’re always craving juicy or creamy foods. “If you can’t stop thinking about fruit or ice cream, the problem might not be hunger at all; it could be thirst,” she says.
But there’s more to the water-weight loss connection: Cording notes that water takes up space in your stomach, which naturally makes you feel less hungry. But it also helps you feel full because it binds with fiber in the food you eat, creating create bulk and taking up space. “Water also helps promote healthy digestion by moving things along through the GI tract,” she says. All of that adds up to you eating less, and your body working better to digest your food, leading to weight loss.
So, how much should you drink? According to the Institute of Medicine, women should get 11 cups of water into their bodies eacb day. That doesn’t mean you need to drink 11 cups of water — this it can include hydration from foods you eat, as well as other liquids, such as coffee.) If you’re out in the heat and sweating a fair amount, you may need to take in even more.
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Of course, you can simply drink more water. But if you’re not a “water person” or know it’s a challenge for you to drink as much as you should, you can make little tweaks in your diet to get more water into your system.
Cording recommends eating water-packed foods, such as cucumber, celery, lettuce, and watermelon. It’s also a good idea to pass on high-sodium foods (like salsa and salty chips), she says, because they can dehydrate you and cause water retention, leaving you bloated and thirsty…which can cause you to overeat. See how this works?
To get more hydration from liquid sources, try caffeine-free tea, seltzer, milk, and blended cold soups, like gazpacho. And, if the taste of water is what turns you off, try adding citrus fruits, cucumber slices, or fresh herbs to your H2O to pep up the taste.
If you really want to use water to help you reach your weight loss goals, Ansel recommends this trick: Have a glass of water before a meal. “Chugging a big glass of water before a meal is an easy way to eat less,” she says. “A 2015 Obesity study found that people who drank about two cups of water ½ hour before meals lost nine pounds in three months. It’s such an easy fix — why not?” she says.
So, if you feel like you might be hungry but aren’t totally sure, try having a glass of water and waiting a few minutes — it could pay off big time. Says Ansel: “If you mistakenly think you’re hungry, when you’re actually just thirsty, drinking a quick glass of water instead of reaching for a snack can save you hundreds of calories.”
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