Anyone out there drinking alot of water? I've read that you are to drink half of your weight in ounces to flush your body(PHEW..thats alot of water), others say alot of water will help with excess skin after you lose your weight. Any advice or experiences?

I generally drink between 2 - 2.5 L of water a day - you don't want to drink too much because then you'll start retaining. But it all depends on your body. Just remember that sometimes we mistake hunger for dehydration.

I drink a ton of water and really think that it helps with weight loss. When I'm drinking a lot, I lose faster than when I'm not as good with it.

And, I do think my skin looks better when my water intake is high. But, I think the excess skin after weight loss is more dependent on age, elasticity of skin, how far it was stretched and overall genetics than water consumption. Not that water can't help with this, just that it might not help as much as we wish it would!

i aim for 10 tall glasses of water a day. I feel way better when i get them in, i don't overeat as much and just feel better in general!

In every weight loss attempt, (before my final and successful one), I thought I HAD to drink quarts of water everyday because that is what WW and other diet programs insisted I do. All it ever seemed to do is send me to the bathroom A LOT!

One day Dr. OZ was on Oprah and they did this little study on the effects of water in weight loss. The final word from DR. OZ was that it's not true. All that extra water does absolutely NOTHING to increase/enhance weight loss. Needless to say I was THRILLED. So, this time around I only drink water if I'm thirsty. In the first year of my new lifestyle I lost 154 pounds and I probably drank pure water once or twice a week. I do however, eat massive amounts of vegetables and fruit that have very high water content.

My skin looks pretty good for a 45 year old woman who was over-inflated for many years by 193 pounds of extra pressure!

I do agree though that many people mistake huger for thirst, and if you feel unusually ravished it might benefit one to drink a tall glass of water first. OH, and all those flavor enhancers for water, they are just full of bad for you crap, might as well have a diet coke if you buy into that stuff.

I'm not sure, but I don't think the two are related. I drink between 96 and 128 oz of water a day. 128 oz is usually during the summer, I live somewhere where it is 105-115 durning most summer days. I don't know if it's helped with my loose skin. I'd say for the amount of weight I've lost I pretty happy with the amount of loose skin I have. Would I like less, of course, but it's not as bad as I thought it would be. It does make a HUGE difference in my weight loss though. I lose much better when I drink at least 96 oz of water a day and helps a lot with my hunger levels.

I drink water with my meals and if I feel thirsty. I also get water from fruits and vegetables. That's it. I tried drinking more than that and never got past the bathroom stage. I decided I just do not need that much water—and I live in the second driest state in the nation. I lost an average of two pounds a week drinking between about 20 and 45/50 ounces of water a day (45/50 on workout days), and that was at a normal starting weight.

Thanks for the feedback. I'm not drinking plain water much...But coffee...does that count? lol

I've never made any effort to drink more water. Didn't stop me from losing weight or maintaining for 5+ years, YMMV.

I love drinking water, feel much better overall when I'm well-hydrated, and feel it has helped my weight loss whenever I've successfully lost weight. I think a lot of that, though, has to do with what Lori Bell mentioned -- mistaking thirst for hunger.

I find that my workouts are better when I'm well-hydrated, too. I have suspected for years that I'm more sensitive than others to dyhydration, though, so of course YMMV.

And coffee is a diuretic, so it doesn't count! (I drink my fair share of that, too!)

I used to drink a lot of water, about 6-7 liters a day. Then my doctor told me it wasn't healthy to drink that much, so I cut it down to 4-5 liters a day.

Seltzer water saves the day for me!

i drink approximately 90 ounces of just plain water a day. it keeps me hydrated, helps me feel less hungry, keeps things moving, and gives me something to do to help stave off binges.

I drink between 64-96oz of water a day. It took me quite a while for my body to accept ALL that water; I eased my way into it, slowly adding a little bit more water each day.

I honestly don't worry about it, unless I get overheated, or when I'm working out. Then I make sure to get fluids. Staying hydrated IS important, but the recent research shows that for hydration in most situations, we do get lots of fluid from all our beverages and our food!

If you like drinking water, or feel it helps keep you full then by all means drink! Just try not to overdo it. But don't feel you have to chug it down if you don't like it or want to.

As for coffee, the research has also shown that caffeinated beverages can count. They do not dehydrate as had been assumed.