Going on another water fast this week and noticed that I’ve been drinking way more than I’m supposed to. I wanna get rid of some water weight and wanna know if 250-500 mL would be okay to drink per day?
Water weight isn’t tied to consumption. The kidneys get rid of whatever the body doesn’t need. Fasting reduces the water needed for digestion, inflammation, salt balance, and other functions that are reduced or eliminated as a result of fasting. Hence an early and often noticeable drop in water weight after 24-48 hours of fasting.
Too little water however can cause serious health issues including organ failure.
I would stick to recommended amounts of water and not worry about any relatively small impact it may have on weight. If when you drink more water your body is holding onto some, it’s because it needs it to function, not storing it.
You are not a camel. You are not storing water unless you are depriving yourself of it and it’s dire. Water will help make sure you don’t get kidney stones. You don’t want them, it’s not fun. Some vitamins are water soluble. Some are fat soluble. Drink water. Don’t avoid fat. Avoid sugar and excess processed carbs as you can get nutrients and energy from cleaner sources if they are needed at all right now. Chances are you are dealing with the results of too much sugar and carbs anyhow as it is a likely source of water weight bloating. If you are not a toll, good luck.
If this is serious: no - keep drinking lots of water around the recommended amounts. You could seriously hurt yourself
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Outside of things like competitive sport where things like weigh-ins are important, it doesn’t make sense to focus on water weight. Getting rid of all your water weight in a couple of days might let you drop \~5lbs but (depending on what you eat) you can put that back on in a few meals easily
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If it helps, water weight is like fecal waste weight: it’s going to be constantly shifting and having more or less isn’t going to change your body fat content. A good “estimate” is if you’re fasting, you’re losing 0.5 - 0.75lbs of fat a day. Even if your scale is showing you lost 3lbs or even put back on 1 or 2 on a fast, just know that’s water weight doing its thing. This is also why it’s a great idea to not weigh yourself daily and instead do weekly (or longer) weigh-ins if you find yourself obsessing over the numbers
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So please, rest easy knowing you can drink all the water you need on a fast without hindering your weight loss goals. Restricting your water intake isn’t doing anything to help and is only going to make it harder for your body to function correctly ^((which might also have an effect on how effective your body is at actually using/burning your stores? I don’t know of any studies or research in this area off hand, though. Anyone able to share insight here?))