So I've looked on several health websites and all say different things.... How much water should we consume on a day while dieting? I've been using water as a hunger fighter currently and sip on it all day probably drinking 5-6 24oz bottles a day, more when I workout and more when I'm at work.... Should I be drinking more/less? I find myself running to the bathroom allot some days but not others, and my weight is up and down a few pounds every few days, which I figured the water is playing some part in...

I'm told, and this is how I decide, that we should drink half our body weight in oz.
According to your info you weigh 250, so you should drink 125 oz. So, 5 25oz bottles would be spot on.
I drink 4 20oz bottles and so far it's been fine for me.
We get 20% of our liquid intake from food as well. More fruits and veggies you eat the more water you get. Milks, juices, and teas can also be water in take. Caffeine products may dehydrate us, but they have other uses.
When we are in hot or humid climates, exercise, or have jobs that involve a lot of physical movement or talking/singing, we should drink a little more water in the day. (Generally add 10 oz more).
Some studies suggest women drink 90 oz a day and then eat the rest of their water, while men should drink 125 oz... but I don't think that takes into account activity levels or weight levels.

This is gross, but a good way to know if you're hydrated is your pee...
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If it's clear and non-smelly, you're probably getting enough water.

However, it is completely possible to drink TOO MUCH water. This generally happens to people who sweat a lot or work out a ton. This can happen by not getting enough sodium in the body. When we sweat, we loose sodium. If we have no sodium, it can affect our health. We can flush it out by drinking too much water. Signs of this are similar to signs of dehydration. Nausea, dizziness, slurred speech, faint... etc. If you have been sweating a lot and drinking a lot of water and feel dehydrated, try a sports drink with some sodium content.

The kidneys of a healthy adult can process fifteen liters of water a day, so if you aren't running a marathon or doing an intense amount of exercise, the chances of drinking too much water are slim. Just don't drink all your water in one sitting and you should be fine.

I'm not an expert or anything, but I know that when I follow the formula (body weight / 2 converted to oz) I don't have any problems. I feel better, move more, and I notice my urine is almost clear. When I work out, I sometimes add more water as well.

There are a lot of weight loss water myths, that can be confusing and even dangerous. My mom believed her WW leader who told the group than you had to drink two glasses of water to compensate for every glass of caffeinated beverages, like coffee. My mom ended up hospitalized for water overdose (also called water poisoning, water intoxication, or hyponutremia).

She was only drinking a little over a gallon of fluids per day (from coffee, milk, and water). My mom did not have major health issues, just moderate high blood pressure. She was on a relatively low dose of blood pressure medication and ate a very low-sodium diet.

She learned the hard way, that all beverages count, even coffee (it's far less dehydrating than rumored - and you don't have to drink any compensatory liquid - for your liquid/water needs 8 ounces of coffee is equivalent to only slightly less plain water).

Even the "plain water" is a myth, because water always has "stuff" in it - dissolved minerals and other particulate. So adding flavoring to your water does not make your kidneys work harder, or any of the other nonsense that the urban legends warn.

Mom's kidney specialist said that thirst really is usually the best guide, and that 3 liters really is sufficient for most people (unless you're living in the dessert or participating in extreme sports). He also said that larger people do not need much (if any) more water than thinner people - because the kidney and bladder capacity is about the same. Unlike the myth about half your weight in ounces (in other words a half ounce per pound of body weight) could actually be dangerous for someone very heavy. For example using that formula I would need to drink twice the amount of water as someone half my size. This would be WAY too much water, and could even be dangerous (for me it would be definitely because I'm on the same blood pressure medication as my mother was on, when she was hospitalized, and I eat even less salt than she did/does).

Most people eat so much salt that even drinking 2 or 3 times their actual need is safe, but if you eat a low sodium diet, or if you are on any medications, especially blood pressure medications and diuretics (and even some otc medications) you should ask your doctor before drinking more than 3 liters of total liquids (even beer and wine count, because they add more water than they take away).

I know I kind of rant about the topic, but my mom nearly died because she didn't know that you could drink too much water, or that all liquids counted towards fluid needs.

At the very least people should know the symptoms of water intoxication, unfortunately by the time symptoms appear you can be dead of a heart attack (because the biggest risk of depleting sodium is cardiac arrest). Everyone thought my mom had the flu. My dad was a trained EMT, and even though he didn't think it was serious, he was concerned about the weird mental confusion (which isn't even always a symptom).

Not trying to scare you, because it isn't very easy for most people to overdose on water (unless they guzzle a gallon or more very quickly - like the woman who died trying to win a wii on a radio water drinking contest). Most people eat way too much sodium and salt to be at risk, but dieters are often sodium conscious so it's at least something to be aware of.

Because this is buried in my long post, I wanted to stress that this can be very dangerous for larger people, because it's a myth that obese people need any or at least much more than thinner people.

If you're not overweight the 1/2 oz per pound works out pretty well (by coincidence) but the larger you are, the more it overestimates your water needs. It can be especially dangerous if you're morbidly obese (especially if you're also on blood pressure medication - even otc diuretics).

I just keep a glass of water by my side for most of the day and sip on it when I'm thirsty. (Crazy, right? Drink when I'm actually thirsty, eat when I'm actually hungry.)

It generally amounts to 6-8 cups a day.

As kaplods said, there are many myths about water consumption. There is NO evidence that we need to drink a certain amount of "just water". Not 8 glasses, not dividing your weight... We DO need to stay hydrated but generally get a lot of that in our food and drink.

So, if you're sipping on water all day, you are just fine. If you you're running to the bathroom all the time and don't like it, you could probably drink less.

First of all, you shouldn't be on a diet. You should be focusing on making permanent lifestyle changes in your eating so you can lose weight now and sustain it after reaching goal.

There is no one size fits all for water consumption. Are you outside in this hot weather? Do you sweat a little or a lot when exercising? Some foods such as melon and soup contain large amounts of water (and yes that does count). As long as your urine is a pale yellow, you are drinking enough.

I agree completely with kaplods. There are a ton of myths about water consumption out there. I personally use my body as the tester to whether I need it. There is a nice little trick you can do to test the level of hydration in your skin; pinch a fairly loose part of your skin (like the back of your hand) if the skin falls right back into place, chances are you're staying hydrated. If it stays peaked up or wrinkly, you might need to hit the water bottle. This is a trick that a doctor I worked for showed me once upon a time. Also, monitoring the color of your urine. It should be mostly clear with a tinge of yellow. If it's bright yellow, drink more. And last but not least; if you're thirsty, drink! I trust my body to know when it needs fluids. I watched an interesting bit on Good Morning America the other day where they had a registered dietitian in the studio showing how much fluid is in different foods. Like a banana has 3oz of water in it, etc. I don't feel thirsty a lot BUT pretty much all I eat is fruit, veggies, and lean meat. If you consume a lot of foods high in fluid, chances are you don't need to actually drink as much. These myths can definitely be dangerous because as kaplods said, you can overdose on water.

I'm in the camp of listening to your body and drinking when thirsty. Therefore your water intake will vary day to day. If you are exercising then you should obviously be drinking more than when you don't.

Like others have said, listen to your body (the urine test is generally a good indicator of whether or not you need water). It WILL let you know if you aren't getting enough.



Right now I've been drinking a lot of water because it's so dangerously hot in NY right now....

kaplods gave some excellent information. I am amazed at how much water many people think they need to drink. I'm not sure if this is correct or not but I read on a post elsewhere that the body can only absorb 4 ounces in 15 minutes.