Can not drinking enough water make you retain water? How much water should we drink everyday? I am pretty sure I have not been drinking enough the last couple of days. That combined with TOM is what I think has the scale up 2.8 today from yesterday!! I hate daily weighing, but I really want to see the patterns and know that when this happens it isn't because of the food.

That's what I was always told. Not drinking enough water will make you retain more water. Your body thinks its being deprived and will hold on to the extra water as a protection. But if it is receiving lots of water it will release the excess water.
Not 100% sure, but thats what I have heard.

I'm pretty sure you should be drinking 64oz a day... I keep a bottle with me ALL THE TIME and I've gotten myself up to drinking just over 100oz. I'm working on getting to 120oz!

Yup, being dehydrated can make you retain water, along with a billion other factors . How was yesterday's sodium intake?

OK- thanks ladies. Sometimes I just get so busy I don't realize I haven't had enough water. I did have a good amount of salt yesterday on my corn on the cob. So, those two things combined with TOM are likely explanation. I am on a mission to drink lots of water today!

It has nothing to do with the body "wanting" to save water. It's simply that dehydration increases the salt concentration in the tissues, which holds onto water. Drinking enough water flushes the salt out, and the excess water goes with it.

Jay

Yes, I find that I really have to work to get all my water in. My dietitian wants me to get between 4-5 liters a day, and in many ways that is harder for me than following my menu or getting my workouts in.

Water can be a tricky balance. We definitely need to be well hydrated, and if you feel thirsty, then you're already dehydrated.

Some people recommend the 8 glasses, some say there is no magic number, we just need to drink "enough", which is probably more than we think.

On the lowcarb diet I'm transiting from, it said I should aim for 3 litres, as well as black teas and coffees. I tried but that gave me Serious Bathroom Issues, I could barely leave home!

I had the same problem at one point, and my dietician suggested that I either:

- purchase flavoured water (part of my problem was just not liking the taste of plain water, so not looking forward to drinking it)
- putting little cups of water around the house, and whenever I passed by one, taking a drink (it's easier breaking up the water into manageable quantities)

I actually love water, good old council juice I only drink water and coffee now, maybe once in a blue moon I'll have a glass of fruit juice but not often, my only problem is I don't feel thirsty often, So I maybe only drink 3-4 glasses a day :/ should be like 8 I think, I just never have the time.

There really isn't some magic number of ounces or liters that you should get in a day. You just need to stay hydrated and you should use multiple ways to keep an eye on your hydration. If you are thirsty or your lips feel dry you are already dehydrated. When you are well hydrated you should be able to pinch your skin and have it pop immediately back into place, if it hesitates at all you need to drink more - good places to pinch where you can get enough skin without hurting yourself are the inside of your wrist or elbow, the side of your neck, and on your tummy near the belly button. You can also watch the color of your urine - it should be very pale yellow to clear and should not have a strong odor. If your urine is dark or smells strongly then you need to drink more water. The smell of your sweat is also an indicator because if you are dehydrated your sweat will have a stronger smell - that one is a bit harder to use though since we aren't sweaty all day every day and we use deodorants and perfumes.

If you neet to ballpark a figure, here's a water calculator.

http://nutrition.about.com/library/b...calculator.htm

A.