[Canadiandieter]

Sorry, if this is a repeated question. I have looked through old post to see if I could find the answer but no luck. My coach has a machine that I hold onto and it counts my hydration. At my initial consultation it was at +14 and last week was +20. What exactly does this mean and is it better higher or lower?

[scorbett1103]

Well, you always want to be well hydrated. If you're drinking plenty of water through the day, you're good.

Those machines are really just snake oil. They cannot accurately measure the insides of your body with electric impulses. I believe the "hydration levels" are the least accurate fancy feature of them - followed closely by body fat/lean mass measurements. I've seen people post that they can be measured, get off the scale and get back on again, and get a completely different number.

You will do much better to just track your water intake on your own. As my choir director used to tell us, if you're peeing clear, you're drinking enough

[claygirl]

Do you think it's better to drink 1/2 your body weight in ounces or 64 ounces? I hear both...

[M35A2]

I second what scorbett said. I drink about 120oz of water per day, every day and my coach's meter always reads negative so she tells me I'm not drinking enough.

[crazynette826]

For weight loss it's usually advised to drink at least half your body weight in ounces.

[MntRose]

Such a touchy area for me, silly hydration level. My coach has made it seem like my hydration level should drop to near zero and it really hadn't as it was staying pretty much at +6 until last week when it jumped to +22. Last week and again today she asked what I had done to cause that and if I had cheated. Today I was down to +3, admittedly I just didn't drink much water yesterday because I didn't want grilled about what I am doing wrong, since my hydration levels are not at zero where she thinks they should be.

I believe all the coaches must read into the information what they want to and then make that what they go by, because there seems to be so many variations. I have decided just not to worry about it in the least and I will not be paying for these readings anymore. I rather go by the scale, measurements and how my body is feeling.

[Cheekyskeeter]

I also hold one of those machines at my weigh in each week and the hydration level is always wonky. I drink more then the required ounces per day and my coach believes me and never grills me about it (which I appreciate). I don't pay extra for it and I'm not concerned about that reading. I know I'm doing (and drinking) what I'm supposed to be.

[countrychic]

Hmm....my hydration has been on the plus side since I started. My coach is happy....it started around +7 the first week, and has been steady at around +4.5 since then (6weeks). She told me that as long as it's 'in the green' (++ side) then I'm drinking enough.

[SweetShe]

I had my WI today (lost another 3.5 lbs - yay)...I'm on week 10. I use that machine as well. When I started 34 lbs ago, I was at 27+...it didn't really start going down until 2 or 3 weeks ago. Today, I was at 14+. I drink 120-150oz per day. My coach says people normally average 6 or 7+. She does not play to much into it either, but she says that our fat cells store water...the less you weigh, the lower your hydration index.

[lizard107]

I have a feeling our coaches don't even know what is good. My number has always been in the +30's and my coach always tells me good job! She said anything over a +1 is good. Lol. I personally don't buy what that machine is selling. I'll let the scale do the talking!! Lol

[SFNinerGirl]

I truly hate that damn machine because it makes no sense to me how it can measure hydration levels without taking ambient heat and oxygen into consideration of its calculations.

The most accurate way to gauge weight loss is with the scale and measurements.

The machine is constantly reading "high" (in the +20s), yet I am losing inches every week. When your reading are high, your lean mass goes down and your fat mass goes up. However, if you're losing inches and weight, then fat mass should be decreasing.

My coach has been told to only measure once a month now, but I don't put a lot of weight into the readings.

As long as the scale and inches keep decreasing, consider yourself on the right path.