Do I really need 4 liters of water a day??!
 

This calculator http://nutrition.about.com/library/b...calculator.htm says I need 4.3 liters of water per day. This seems like an extraordinary amount. Of course, I am an extraordinarily large person, so maybe it's right. :?:

Either way, I'd just like to know how much I should be drinking. I am undoubtedly getting too little now (16-30 ounces in water and I guess a bit more from food but not much), but I always thought if I was getting 64 that would be plenty. Should I really be getting around 140?

If I really do need that much, I suppose it could explain why I'm having trouble losing.

Your water needs depend on many factors, including your health, how active you are and where you live. But the common recomendations by many studies and also endorsed by the Mayo clinic is that 2 litres of water a day is reccomended.

check out this link from the Mayo clinic on water consumption. they have some vary good information... mayoclinic.com/health/water/nu00283

I did the quiz at your link and it reccomended that I drink 5.8 litres of water a day... and that is just ridiculous... I would highly reccomend trying to find a calculator of that nature on a medical site (like the mayo clinic one or another one like it) as it will be much more accurate.

Larger people do not have larger kidneys, so their fluid needs are not necessarily greater than smaller folks. My mom had a water intoxication incidence (where too much water can decrease blood levels of sodium to a dangerous level. This isn't a common risk. Blood pressure meds put mom at greater risk. She was drinking about a gallon of liquids a day because she wasn't counting coffee as part of her liquids and her WW leader told the group that if they drank a cup of coffee not only couldn't they count it as water, they had to drink an additional cup of water to "compensate" for the coffee.

The kidney specialist called in, told us that "virtually no one needs more than 3 liters of water daily." So, unless you run marathons in the desert, the 4.3 liters is probably more than you need.

Ah, that all makes sense. And I certainly do not run marathons--in the desert or elsewhere ;)

That quiz says I need 96 oz which is about what drink and I'm losing pretty well. I personally notice a difference in my weight loss when I don't drink enough.

My chiropractor (who is helping me learn to live a more holistic life :)) recommended that I take my weight and divide it by 2 - that is the number of oz of water/liquids I should be drinking per day. So for me, according to her, right now I should be drinking 123 oz of water per day. I can tell you that I'm not there... but I do get between 80 and 90 oz per day (most days) and it is mostly water, with a limited amount of decaf/unsweet tea or sugar free lemonade thrown in for variety, and no sodas at all. Hope this helps!