Hi--

I'm not sure this is the perfect place to post this, but figured I'd give it a shot since I'm going the calorie counting route.

I've been on a strict regimen of calorie counting and exercise for the past ten days. I'm working out between 5 and 6 days a week with a mixed bag of cardio (elliptical, various classes), strength training (lifting and pilates) and flexibility (yoga, stretching). I'm eating, on average, around 1450 calories a day.

Within a few days of starting my program, I noticed my thirst greatly increased. I'm drinking (again, this is an average) around 128 oz of water a day, plus another 12-24 oz of diet soda (sorry, can't give it up--I get headaches and I have to take some of my bad habits with me) and yet I am always thirsty. I can always drink more. (As an aside, I realize this is a symptom of diabetes but 1) This just developed since I started my program and 2) I'm not exhibiting any of the other symptoms.) Has anyone else experienced this? Do I just need to keep upping my water intake? It just strikes me as a little odd that I'm doubling the RDA of water yet am still really thirsty. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

A lot of women drink upwards of 120 oz of water, I don't think it's that unusual...it could be partially because if you're drinking caffeinated sodas, those act as a diuretic and therefore you're drinking even more water to make up for it. I wouldn't worry about it too much unless it's inhibiting your life. Just my opinion though.

I also had the same problem. I posted about it a week or so ago. Everyone thought it was wierd. It has since gottin better. Not gone all the way but better. I think for me it is that I am missing the fizzy from the pop. I gave it up completly cold turkey. I think it may just be your body adjusting. If anybody knows what it is I would also be interested in hearing it. I do not want a subsitute, just to know why it is doing it. I also drink tons of water daily, so much that at first I was waking up 2 or 3 times in the night to pee.ALOT!!

I think it will get better with time. I can't imagine why water would do this to us. It is weird. Good luck

Ohhh....give it a few years and you might wake up a time or two in the night to run and pee no matter how much you drink (I miss the days of sleeping straight through!)

This is probably way too obvious, but are you eating anything that might be high in preservatives or just plain old salt? Something that you didn't eat before? (popcorn is the first thing that comes to mind--with salt, but no butter).......

No, that's another weird thing. My sodium intake has, if anything, been reduced since I've eliminated a lot of junk in favor of whole foods. I have been eating reduced-fat kettle corn as a snack, but since I used to eat potato chips and Doritos, I think it at worst evens out and at best reduces my overall sodium intake since I've replaced pizza and Chinese and what-have-you with whole wheat pasta and Foreman-grilled chicken. I just drank another litre of water (my 6th for the day, a total of 192 oz, not to mention the additional 24 oz of diet soda) and I'm still thirsty. So annoying.

Oh! You know, it could be because you HAVE so seriously reduced the things that help you retain a certain amount of water. So...your body is just turning over it's water supply very quickly now. I bet you have a similar experience to Angela--your body just needs time to stabilize on it's new sodium level. At least with a craving for water you're doing only good things for your body

I agree...just give it some time. Your body needs more water now because of all the exercise, and it's likely not holding onto water as much as it was before, so you're sweating/peeing it out faster, which means you have to replace it faster! It's a crazy cycle, but it's one that should hopefully taper off after a while.

I don't think it has anything to do with the soda. I've read studies/articles about how the diuretic effects of caffeine have bene highly overrated and that the amount of caffeine in a soda doesn't usually even drain you of much more water than what was in that soda anyway, so a caffeinated soda sort of balances itself out

Oh, and definite congrats on all the changes you've made! You're definitely heading in the right direction, and I bet even with the gallons of water you're drinking, you're seeing great results!