What about hydration to support weight loss
It might seem like a crazy concept but water can be really helpful in your efforts towards improving your body composition. Here’s how:
First: Increasing your water intake can increase your resting energy expenditure (aka your metabolism). In fact, two separate studies have found that drinking 0.5 liters of water results in an extra 23 calories burned. Over the course of a year, just that extra half of a liter will net roughly 17,000 calories of energy spent.
Second: If by drinking more plain water, you are reducing your intake of caloric beverages, you will in turn be doubling down on your caloric impact. Let’s say for instance that you replace your large sweat tea from McDonalds with 0.5 L of water. You are not only cutting 160 calories from your daily intake but you’re also burning an extra 23 calories from the water intake netting you a total of a 183 calorie deficit. Just that change alone might account for 0.5 lb loss each week. Studies have shown that people who drink mostly water throughout the day have up to a 9% lower calorie intake on average preventing long term weight gain.
Third: Drinking water before a meal can help you reach full faster therefore reducing the total calories consumed during a meal. One of the trickiest things to learn and practice is the art of stopping eating at 80% full. Our tendency is to eat until we are full which means that we usually will consume more than we need at each meal. You can actually use 500mL of water before each meal as a hack the 80% rule. By starting each meal with a 0.5 L of water, you will reach your full level at a quantity of food that is significantly lower than what it would take to feel full if you drank nothing. In one study from 2018, researchers looking at this concept found that the group assigned to drink 500 mL of water before each meal lost 44% more weight than the group who drank nothing.
So if your your goal is improving your body composition or just maintaining your weight, then daily water consumption, especially before meals can help you on your way!
