6+ Really Simple and Effective Ways to Lose Water Weight

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tools for losing water weight

Both men and women often experience the joy of shedding countless pounds of water weight during first few weeks of their diet. As they step onto the scale, they are dazzled by losing a total of 10 pounds within just a few days.

Even though these numbers often fluctuate and do not equate to the pure fat loss, getting rid of excess liquids can produce surprising changes. You will note a sleeker and much slimmer figure. Although real fat loss requires time and persistence, a safe drop in excessive water weight can give you an excellent quick reward for your efforts.

In this article we will cover these tips to lose water weight:

  • Go for 30 Minutes of Cardio Exercise
  • Reduce Your Sodium Intake
  • Increase Your Potassium Intake
  • Fix Your Daily Menu
  • Drink More Water
  • Eat & Drink Natural Diuretics on Daily Basis
  • Reduce Physical & Emotional Stress
  • Get More Sleep
  • Special Diuretic Drink

Just get rid of those extra pounds with following tips and make your abs more toned, and your hips and waistline slimmer!

Way #1 – Go for 30 Minutes of Cardio Exercise

hipster on bike

Maybe the easiest way to get rid of excessive water weight from short term perspective is to start sweating. Not only will you lose water, you will burn some calories as well.

Although there are many effective exercises for a sustainable weight loss, my advice is to focus on cardiovascular workouts as these significantly improve your heart rate and metabolism.

As stated on Authority Nutrition:

The average fluid loss during 1 hour of exercise is anywhere between 16–64 oz (0.5–2 liters) per hour, depending on factors such as heat and clothing.

During exercise, your body also shifts a lot of water into your muscles. This can help reduce water outside of the cell and decrease the “soft” look people report from excessive water retention.

What is more, thanks to increased metabolic rate you will burn not only fat but any residual toxins that contribute to retaining excess liquids in your body.

My advice:

Exercise for 30 to 60 minutes, as exceeding this limit will raise your cortisol levels! If you do not know, higher cortisol levels will hinder your weight loss altogether.

Related research study:

“Following exercise in the heat, the actively contracting muscles lost volume, while replacing lost fluids intermittently during exercise in heat prevented this decline. These results support the use of muscle volume as a marker of water loss.”

– Hackney, Kyle J., et al. Skeletal muscle volume following dehydration induced by exercise in heat. 2012. Extreme Physiology & Medicine. 1: p. 3.

Way #2 – Reduce Your Sodium Intake

less salt for dash diet

It is a well-known fact that sodium is one of the most common electrolytes that plays a major role in the management of water inside our bodies. This is because sodium naturally attracts water molecules.

Therefore, if your sodium levels are out of balance (too high or too low) your body will start to retain water.

Sadly, this substance is highly present in a regular table salt. That is one of the reasons why you should stay away from junk and fast foods as these are excessively seasoned by sodium-rich salt. Otherwise, you will experience excess bloating and an increase in your waist size.

Did you know?

A certain amount of salt in your diet is necessary, as it helps retain your electrolyte balance and allows many of your organs to function properly.

My advice:

You should always try to stay within the recommended daily intake of sodium (not salt) – less than 2,300 mg a day! You should also swap the regular white salt for its pink Himalayan version as it includes less sodium and much more trace minerals.

Related research study:

“Healthy People 2010 goals are to increase the proportion of persons who consume 2400 mg or less of sodium daily. We examined daily sodium intake among people with and without high blood pressure.”

– Ajani, U.A., et al. Sodium intake among people with normal and high blood pressure. 2005. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 29(5 Suppl 1): p. 63-67.

Way #3 – Increase Your Potassium Intake

sources of potassium 1

According to the American Hearth Association, almost 98% of all Americans consume two times more sodium than they should daily. Luckily, the effect of water retention caused by sodium can be easily counterbalanced by increasing the intake of potassium.

There are many excellent sources of this substance for you to choose from:

Fruits
Bananas, tomatoes, prunes, apricots, and grapefruit

Vegetables
Sweet potatoes, lima beans, mushrooms, spinach, potatoes, and greens

Meat
Halibut, and tuna

Supplements
– I can not recommend using these as there have been reports of potassium supplements interacting with medications (even people with kidney disease should avoid them)

Just keep in mind that the intake of potassium makes your body excrete sodium out through urine. Therefore, you need to find a proper balance between these to substances.

Related research study:

“Dietary potassium restriction increases sodium and chloride retention, whereas potassium administration promotes both diuresis and natriuresis. In epidemiologic and clinical studies, potassium intake is inversely related to blood pressure and is lower in blacks than in whites.”

 Gallen, I.W., et al. On the mechanism of the effects of potassium restriction on blood pressure and renal sodium retention. 1998. American Journal of Kidney Diseases. 31(1): p. 19-27.

Way #4 – Fix Your Daily Menu

grilled steak meat

There is no doubt that sugar (especially artificial one) is the bane of all diets. Foods that are very sweet have a tendency to increase fat storage. Furthermore, it contains too many calories that may even lead to cellulite!

Therefore, I recommend you to make these crucial changes to your dietary habits:

  • Cut out sweet sodas and all artificial sweeteners.
  • Men should limit daily sugar intake to 150 calories (37.5 grams or 9 teaspoons) and women to 100 calories (25 grams or 6 teaspoons).
  • Increase the amount of fiber rich foods in your daily menu to boost the efficiency of your digestive tract that plays a crucial role in any weight loss process.
  • Raise your daily protein intake. Just multiply your actual weight (in pounds) by 0.36 and then double that number. This is the amount of protein (in grams) you should eat daily.

Instead of feasting on sugar, you should rather embark upon a protein and fiber rich food plan. These nutrients contribute to muscle building which can raise your metabolic rate and aid in fat burning.

Related research study:

“A low-fat, high-polysaccharide diet in overweight individuals with abnormal intermediary metabolism led to moderate weight loss and some improvement in serum cholesterol. Increasing simple carbohydrates did not promote weight gain, but nor was there improvement in body weight or lipid profile.”

– Poppitt, S.D., et al. Long-term effects of ad libitum low-fat, high-carbohydrate diets on body weight and serum lipids in overweight subjects with metabolic syndrome. 2002. American Society for Clinical Nutrition. 75(1): p. 11-20.

Way #5 – Drink More Water

water with raspberry

Although our next advice may sound counter-intuitive, you need to pay attention as it plays a crucial role in losing water weight fast. To make your body stop retaining water, you need to drink the recommended daily amount of liquids.

This method works because your body exerts every effort possible to keep you hydrated.

When you drink too little, your body will hang on to every molecule of water that it possibly can in order to keep your vital functions working. However, when your daily intake is sufficient, your organism begins to discharge its excess reserves.

According to the information shared on Mayoclinic, adequate intake is as follows:

  • Men should consume around 13 cups (3 liters) of beverages each day.
  • Women should consume around 9 cups (2.2 liters) of beverages each day.

If you exercise during the day, consider drinking even more as part of your daily food plan to prevent dehydration.

Related research study:

“A daily water intake of 3.7 L for adult men and 2.7 L for adult women meets the needs of the vast majority of persons. However, strenuous physical exercise and heat stress can greatly increase daily water needs, and the individual variability between athletes can be substantial.”

– Sawka, M.N., et al. Human water needs. 2005. Nutrition Reviews. 63(6 Pt 2): p. S30-9.

Way #6 – Eat & Drink Natural Diuretics on Daily Basis

woman with watermelon

Did you know that there are many foods you can easily incorporate into your diet that will significantly improve the loss of excessive water? These are called natural diuretics and are widely available all over the world:

Fruits
Melons, black currants, lemon, and cranberries

Vegetables
– Fennel, garlic, celery, brussels sprouts, beets, cabbage, asparagus, and parsley

Herbs
– Yarrow, stinging nettle, and cilantro

Except foods mentioned above you should focus on these as well – oats, apple cider vinegar, green tea, carrot juice, etc.

Related research study:

“The mechanism of action of parsley seems to be mediated through an inhibition of the Na+-K+ pump that would lead to a reduction in Na+ and K+ reabsorption leading thus to an osmotic water flow into the lumen, and diuresis.”

– Kreydiyyeh, S.I., Usta, J. Diuretic effect and mechanism of action of parsley. 2002. Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 79(3): p. 353-357.

BONUS Way #1 – Reduce Physical & Emotional Stress

man pushing weights

People usually undermine the importance of psychological and emotional factors in their weight loss process. Did you know that your body weight is affected even by your daily worries?

If this information is new to you then I bet you have never heard of a hormone called cortisol. It is a stress-induced hormone that makes your body store much more fat – and water with it – within your bodily tissues.

Both physical and emotional forms of stress such as excessive exercise or emotional turmoil can increase your cortisol levels. The best way to promote weight loss is to reduce your stress levels.

Therefore, you can try to:

Meditate, watch a comedy movie, read a lovely book, paint, exercise (but not too much – see way #1 on this list), go to the beach or for a walkspend time with someone special, or try a new hobby

Related research study:

“In our studies of short-term cortisol administration (200 mg/day) in normotensive healthy men, weight gain is a feature (Table 1) and most likely represents salt and water retention over the 5-day period (Connell et al 1987) (see below).”

– Whitworth, J.A., et al. Cardiovascular Consequences of Cortisol Excess. 2005. Vascular Health and Risk Management. 1(4): p. 291–299.

BONUS Way #2 – Get More Sleep

woman sleeping well

There is no doubt that a sound sleep plays a crucial role in the health of a human body. I dare to say that it may even play the same role as the food we eat and the way we exercise.

A study conducted by scientists at Nanjing Medical University in China has concluded that adequate sleep plays an essential role in the management and retention of bodily fluids.

My advice:

Aim for at least 7-9 hours a night. What is more, turn off every electronic screen around 30 – 60 minutes before you decide to go to sleep. Do not forget to turn off even your wifi device. This way you should achieve a deeper and more restful night´s sleep.

Related research study:

“Compared with the non-OSA [obstructive sleep apnea] group, OSA group had significantly higher neck circumference (NC) and fluid volume shift in the legs.”

– Ning Ding, et al. Overnight fluid shifts in subjects with and without obstructive sleep apnea. 2014. Journal of Thoracic Disease. 6(12): p. 1736–1741.

BONUS Way #3 – Special Diuretic Drink

Jillian Michael´s Special Diuretic Drink

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg-qXQ0W9LU
Click on the Image Above to Watch the Video

If you want to get rid of excessive water with much greater speed, then I highly recommend you special drink that was provided by Jillian Michael. Just watch the video above for a cool feedback.

It requires only four simple ingredients:

  • 1 Gallon of distilled water
  • 4 Tablespoons of lemon juice
  • 2 Tablespoons of pure cranberry juice
  • 2 Dandelion root tea bags

If you have little excessive water on your body then you will see really small results. In that case, you should consider some of the fat loss routines mentioned on this website.

You Can Lose That Weight Almost Overnight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3xyYf-mtMY
Click on the Image Above to Watch the Video

Your body is composed primarily of water, and its content is always fluctuating in response to your lifestyle. For example, if you follow my tips above and consume a strict diet for a day, you may get rid of up to three pounds by the next morning.

The only disadvantage is that you can gain these pounds back relatively quickly.

As you could read in this article, getting rid of water weight is fairly easy if you engage in cardio, lessen your sodium consumption, eat more protein and fiber, limit your sugar intake, drink more water, lower your stress levels and ingest natural diuretics.

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Just a girl obsessed with everything related to weight loss & feeling healthy. Christine is my pen name and I hope you will love the stuff I write. Been researching diets & health since 2013 and my articles helped over 12 000 000 readers to date.Please keep in mind that this site is for informational purposes only and that you always need to consult your decisions with your doctor.