Okay, I need some advice on how to lose the water weight. I have been dieting literally for years with no success. My doctors have told me that I'm doing all the "Right" things and claim they don't know why it isn't working. Anyway, I know that until I can ditch the fluid, I won't be able to even touch the fat to lose it. I drink enough water to drown every day, I do not add any salt to my food, I have given up all carbonated drinks, I've given up processed foods, I've done every diet out there (Including the waterfall diet) and still the results are the same. Nope, wait, not true. When I did weight watches I GAINED five pounds every week that I did it. I only learned after I quit that weight gain isn't as uncommon as one might think on the diet.

So what are some more ways to lose the water? I'll admit that I'm beyond frustrated. It doesn't help that my hubby has lost more than 80 pounds since July and he thinks that whatever works for him should work for me too.

Low sodium, low meat, low gluten, sleep at least 8 hours, exercise not more than 2 times a weeks - that's all you can do to decrease your water retention.

That must be very frustrating for you. Hard to understand why your not losing weight, with or without excess water.
If your drinking plenty that's great. As above post said low salt.
Are you exercising?

The only other thing I can think and only you will know the answer is are you being honest with yourself and what you are eating?
For example I know people who have been having salads all week but can't lose-yet they have added fatty dressings.
Sometimes a busy lifestyle can not help with dieting as we unknowly eat the wrong things, and bad things but we forget we eat them.
The best way I find is when I write down what I eat and be honest with myself.

Another suggestion which I know works for me is low carb. Cut out the processed carbs such as bread, pasta, white rice. Cereal
Eat lean meat, fish, eggs, (not in unlimited amounts like Atkins) salad and veg. No fizzy drinks. Seeds and a few natural nuts a day. Natural yogurt ( can be full fat Greek style-you need some good fats) a little honey and dried fruit on yogurt.
You will find you don't actually need the carbs to fill you up.
Have a 'cheat day' once a week. Allow your body some carbs, within reason of course. If you fancy a small chocolate bar this day have it but just have the one.
This advice came from a personal trainer. And if stuck to it really works.

Good luck.

Jogurts contains coagulants to retain water and avoid separation into solid and liquid mass. What keeps water in jogurts will keep it in the body as well. Chocolate is mostly solid fat + will-weakening cocoa, it's not just a hi-carb product. And since when white rice is a processed carb?

I have BEGGED to be given a presciption to no avail. The last time I went I had a list of everything I ate or drank for two weeks, a list of when I slept, used the bathroom, and my workout schedule. When I started the meeting he started on about dieting, I handed him my food list. Then he talkind about working out more, so I handed him that list too. By the time he had had all the lists he just looked at me with an odd look as if he was sure that I was lying. He then said, "Well, I think you'll just need to keep working on your own since medications have their risks." Shoot, I think at a certain point the risks of not losing the weight outweigh those risks.


I have given up all sodas, I never add salt to any food. Cook with salt alternatives when I think I need something at all, I don't eat salad dressing (Put lemon juice on them when I eat them), don't eat chocolate, eat no mayo(Due to allergy), and I eat yogurt maybe once every two months.

Que beating head against the wall.

Oh, to show just how bad it is, last night when I went to work, I weighed myself at the start of the shift and at the end of the shift, there was a TEN POUND gain in less than a ten hour time frame. I have been known to see a TWENTY pound swing one way or the other in a 24 hour period.

Have you ever tried a low carb diet? That can take off water weight.

Yes, low carb diets, low and/or high protien, weight watchers, south beach, atkins, all liquid diets, slim fast, fasting and only drinking water for days at a time......I'm on diuretics to try to lose the fluid, too.

A low carb diet. You'll lose about 5 lbs of water weight in the first week.

That said, who told you that you have to lose water before you lose fat? Because that's bunk.

But a low carb diet would likely do both for you- help you drop water weight first, and then steadily lose fat later. The high protein/fat content of a low carb diet is fantastic- it feeds your body the protein it needs so it doesn't canibalize muscle as you lose weight, and the fat will help you stay satisfied. And lest you worry that eating fat makes you fat, that's also bunk. It also won't destroy your cholesterol. My cholesterol numbers actually have improved while on the Primal Blueprint diet, a variant of the Paleo diet that I feel is the best diet for me.

I second the low carb. Water retention was a huge issue for me.

Well, so far the low carb hasn't done a thing for me. Not to mention, when my weight fluctuates so widely in a short amount of time, it is very hard to get excited when I see five pounds disappear on the scale since I have seen it hop right back on in just a short period of time. I am tired of seeing others do well doing the exact same thing I have done with completely different results.

have you tried taking Dandelion root? I sometimes use it to shed water...it's natural and really does work. you can get it at any vitamin store.

the other sure fire way that works for me is to do an intense cardio session...you'll sweat it out! Putting lemon juice in your water is also good and helps to reduce bloating...it also aids in digestion.

weight fluctuations over the course of a day don't mean anything at all. You are weighing your body plus everything you've had to eat and drink that day.

What happens if you weigh yourself once a week, first thing in the morning after you've used the bathroom but before you have anything to eat or drink? Is there no difference at all week over week regardless of any plan you follow?

This is true. Weigh yourself at the same time every day. I weigh myself in the morning, after I go to the bathroom and before my shower. That is always my lowest weight of the day and I might weigh 10 lbs more that night from the fluids I drank and the food I ate. But what matters is that by weighing myself at the same time every day I can actually see the *real* weight changes over the course of time. I weigh myself daily because I find it educational- you learn quickly which foods will bloat you up and make you gain a (temporary) two or three pounds of water weight.

Yesterday was just a fluke. I rarely weigh more than once a week (started that when I got so frustrated with the daily flucs; and yes I weighed first thing in the am before eating or drinking) but I was taking a lot of diuretics and curiosity got the better of me. That was without eating, only drinking one slimfast while at work to get that weight gain.

I haven't tried the dandelion pills but I have made tea with the flowers out in the yard and a coffee like drink from the roasted roots before.

Anyway, like I said, the fluctuations vary widely if I weigh at the same time two days in a row at the same time. Five pounds I can see being due to bloat but not ten to twenty.