I'm desperate to get my weight loss on the go again and have read various places that a day of just drinking water can kick start it again. Does anyone recommend this or is it a bad idea
Cat
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My dad also believes in this...and he has lost a considerable amount of weight by drinking a lot of water.

You have to be careful not to get too much water though...it can throw your electrolytes way off and screw up your system big time.

I wouldnt recommend it. I havent read about it, but i dont see how it would help. Maybe drinking a lot of water with your food for a while would help, but water alone...i'm skeptical. Doesnt sound like a whole lot of fun either

I'd really caution against a day of nothing but water. Quite honestly, you're more likely to set yourself up for a binge-type-day the next day simply because your body is craving the calories.

Sounds like a "fast" by any other name.

Fasts don't work for weight loss. All you're doing is setting yourself up to be STARVING - and possibly not even on the next day, but by the end of the same day.

You've lost 5lbs and that's a great start. Just keep eating healthy and get some exercise, if you're not already. You'll get there.

This isn't a sprint to the finish, you know. It's all about your life.

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While I have read a lot of literature (of a more "organic" nature) advocating one day a week fasting, I think this is a fine line. It isn't intended to jump start weightloss, but for mind clarity and to "rest" the digestive system. Raw foodies in particular advocate this. But I think if you aren't educated on the subject it can turn into a bad cycle. I had a friend lose weight by no-holds-barred eating for a couple of days followed by fasting (which I think technically is a form of bullimia). She now weighs more than when she started. In general, not eating is not an acceptable form of weightloss or maintenance.

My dad also practices it, but I think he follows the premise of fasting for health, something he learned from Joel Fuhrman (Fasting and Eating for Health). He has never struggled with his weight, though.

I thought it was never good to drink more then 108 ounces of water a day? i know im totally no expert but it does not sound healthy at all to drink water like that.

I'm not sure where you got the 108 oz figure from, but I've never heard that. I also drink at least a gallon of water a day myself, which is 128 oz, and usually I drink a little more.

There's no hard and fast rule about how much you shoudl drink really. It's all individual and it depends on your health, your exercise levels, if you're on any meds, etc.

I know that I do quite nicely on about a gallon a day. OTOH, I have a friend who takes heart meds and she can't drink more than about 60 oz of water a day.

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LOL, then I guess I'm in trouble. I pretty much have to refill my 1.13 gallon (144 oz) Brita pitcher every day I don't actually use the entire volume before refilling it, but I just use at least 75% + of it (108 oz). And that's only the water I drink/use at home.

I drink 4 to 5 liters everyday. Not all at once but through out the entire day. 5 liters is 169 oz. and 4 liters is 135.20.

I've only heard if you drink a lot of water all at once that you can have problems and when I say a lot I mean like a gal.

It really is very individual as to how much water is too much water. If you're on a blood pressure medication, I'd recommend asking your doctor, before drinking more than 3 quarts.

My mom was drinking about a gallon of liquids daily (counting coffee, which does absolutely count as water). She was drinking it throughout the day, not all at once, and she was hospitalized for water poisoning - and it permanently damaged her kidneys. She and I are both on the same blood pressure medication, for mild to moderate high blood pressure, but we both tend toward low blood sodium levels, because of the medication and because we don't eat much dietary salt (we're one of the few people on the planet who have doctors recommending that we add a bit of salt to our diet once in a while). My family just never did have salt on the table, and didn't use it much in cooking either. For as long as I can remember, my mother always told me when making a recipe that "only bread" needed salt, so to always eliminate or cut the salt in any other recipe.

Her kidney specialist that was called in, told her that no one, except athletes should ever "need" more than 2 or at most 3 quarts of liquid under most circumstances, but that most people could handle more, but the low salt diet and the blood pressure medication each reduced the amount of water her body could tolerate. She was put on a 2 liter limit for quite awhile, and when her kidneys had recovered to about 60% of normal (where they'll probably remain), her limit has been raised to 3 liters, and that includes coffee, soup, water, watermelon, milk, and even beer. He said the only beverage that can cause more dehydration than the water it provides would be very high proof alcohol (so even a mixed drink, for example, would contribute to your fluid needs for the day). So coffee definitely "counts" as water, as he pointed out if coffee was as dehydrating as some people claim, that anyone who drinks only coffee would quickly die of dehydration (and they don't) and in the middle ages, everyone even children in many cities drank only beer and sometimes cows milk, never "plain" water, because the water wasn't safe to drink.

Colleen, I was just telling my students today that the Pilgrims even gave their children beer -- the eleventh graders loved that!

My water fluctuates depending on how thirsty I am, which of course is dictated by the weather and exercise. I think most days I get my 64 ounces; I am amazed at those of you who get 100+ ounces DAILY. Wow.

I have no problem getting 75-85 ounces on an exercise day, but on non-exercise days I fight to even get 64... Right now I'm only at 55 ounces... That 24 oz bottle during exercise really kicks it off! I have learned that if I don't drink enough water I feel bloated the next day...

There is an interesting article on water consumption at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6263029.stm

The mayo clinic also has an article on the subject. It says The Institute of Medicine advises that men consume roughly 3.0 liters (about 13 cups) of total beverages a day and women consume 2.2 liters (about 9 cups) of total beverages a day.
To determine how much water you need:
http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/NU/00283.html

Calculator:
http://www.hydroxycut.com/calculators/water.shtml

So, basically... several liters of water a day can cause problems; it will mess with your electrolytes, over work your kidneys, swell your brain, and possibly lead to death. If you do this "fast," dont drink too much water and dont expect any permanent weight loss.