Phobia of drinking lots of water because I'm NOT peeing it all out!
Disclaimer here- I KNOW this sounds ridiculous. Just bear with me!
You know how your stomach is flatter when you wake up in the morning? Well I hate jinxing that by chugging tons of water all day. I do drink it, but maybe 4 cups a day as opposed to 8+.
When I've tested my theory out and drank a LOT of water all day, my stomach got bloated, and I only peed as much as I normally did. If I was peeing all day long a lot, then I'd feel thin and less bloated.
Stephanie is right. The "drink til you drop" mentality was debunked a few years ago. Drink when you're thirsty and listen to your body. Water is best over juices and sodas, etc., but you don't need to overdo it.
In line with the whole idea of drinking only when you are thirsty if I followed this I would never drink water until I was dehydrated. I prefer to set myself a goal and drink the goal amount over a certain period of time.
I am a teacher and prior to when my contract ended I would try to drink 500ml of water during each 100 minute period of class time. I found this to be really effective and I never felt bloated from water. This worked out to 1.5 litres of water during the work day and I would try to have another 500ml thorough out the rest of the day.
Since my contract ended and I spend most of my day at home looking for a job I find it much harder to regulate my water intake and forget to drink and end up with headaches.
One of the best solutions for bloating is actually drinking more water. I also wonder if you aren't meeting the needs of your body and when you do it is holding onto that water in the form of bloating. If your body is constantly and sufficiently hydrated it doesn't need to retain water.
Just an idea I could be wrong and this is what personally works for me.
You may not have been urinating much more because you were dehydrated. That said, other water sources include veggies, fruit, milk etc. Minimum of 6-8 cups per day is best. We are made mostly of water!!
I get exactly the same. I spent two+ weeks drinking 1.5 to 2 litres of water a day and felt constantly bloated and awful. Lots of water simply doesn't work for me and I now drink no more than one litre a day and feel fine.
Usually I only drink "excess" water before a meal. I try and drink a bottle when I wake up, one before lunch, and then one sometime in the afternoon before dinner. It helps curb my appetite, and keeps me from getting all puffy from sodium. To each his own, though
I'm rarely thirsty and could literally go for days without drinking anything but morning coffee. Last time I had my teeth cleaned my hygienist told me I don't drink enough water! She could tell from my gums I wasn't getting enough hydration and insisted I step it up.
So... you can't always "listen to your body" because some parts don't communicate very well.
Sometimes I don't want to drink a lot before bed so I'll weigh less in the morning. It's stupid and irrational to ignore thirst in favor of weighing less. But if you don't feel good and aren't thirsty and have drunk some water throughout the day...no need to stress over it.
I drink a lot all day every day out of habit and comfort.
My thought is that if you're not peeing it all out, it means that your body needs it! Your body will discard anything it doesn't need, so not discarding it means that its needed. You will actually retain water if you're not getting enough, so drinking more is actually better for loss than drinking too little.
If you're actually truly thirsty, you're already dehydrated.