Have you been dieting for weeks on end only to feel like you’ve been stuck in a plateau?
We’ve been there too.
The truth is that you might not be in a plateau at all.
You may be losing fat yet retaining water -- giving the impression that you’re not losing weight.
Today, we’ll discuss 10 simple things you can do to help lose water weight fast.
Let’s get started!
10 Simple Ways to Lose Water Weight
#1 Drink Enough Water
This might seem counterintuitive, but drinking enough fluids each day can help reduce water retention.
When the body is dehydrated it conserves (holds into) the water that it does have.
This is because the body maintains tight regulation over water and electrolyte levels.
Consuming enough daily water is vital to adequate hydration, but it’s also important for proper functioning of the liver and kidneys. You might be interested to know that both of these organs play key roles in water storage as well as detoxification.
#2 Get Enough Sleep
There is seemingly no aspect of life that sleep doesn’t affect or impact to one degree or another.
Sleep deprivation reduces motility (how much you move during the day), impairs physical and mental performance, increases hunger & cravings, and makes your body more likely to store fat.
Not getting enough sleep also makes your body more prone to hold onto water as sleep deprivation is a harsh stressor to the body, and since the body perceives a threat to its survival, it will hold into as many of its resources as possible, which includes water.
Make sure you’re getting 7-9 hours of quality sleep each night.
If you need help getting a better night’s rest, try establishing a bedtime routine, maintaining a cool, dark room, and avoiding blue light 2 hours before bed.
You can also use a premium-quality, non-habit forming nighttime relaxation and sleep aid such as 1UP Beauty Dream or Recharge.
#3 Reduce Stress
As we just mentioned, chronic stress (of any kind) disrupts metabolism and can lead to the body retaining water.[1]
Present times especially have brought undue amounts of stress on individuals both young and old.
Taking steps to reduce your exposure to stress and/or improving how you react to stress can go a long way to helping lose water weight.
While you might not be able to completely eliminate all sources of stress from your life, you can take steps to greatly reduce how much stress you willing expose yourself to. Key things you can do to reduce stress are limiting time spent on social media or news watching.
You can also practice stress-relief techniques like yoga, meditation, reading, breathing drills, or listening to relaxing music.
#4 Exercise
Building off of the previous point, one of the best stress-relief techniques you can do that also helps reduce water weight is exercise.
Yes, exercise is a form of stress to the body, but it is an acute stress, and it actually boosts levels of feel-good brain chemicals like dopamine, serotonin, and epinephrine.
Exercise also causes you to sweat (which helps lose water weight), and it increases blood flow while decreasing lymphatic fluid accumulation in the arms and legs.
#5 Reduce Sodium Intake
Sodium is the electrolyte that regulates extracellular fluid levels in the body.
Consuming too much of it can cause water retention. Many of you have experienced this first hand the morning after a high-sodium feast of pizza, Chinese food, etc. You wake up and everything looks puffy and/or soft.
Processed foods are some of the highest sources of sodium in the diet.
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that individuals limit sodium intake to 2,300 mg per day. Most individuals, however, eat far more than that, consuming roughly 3,400 mg every day![2,3]
Therefore, if you want to lose water weight, you can start by lowering your intake of packaged and processed goods like canned goods, cold cuts, cookies, and frozen foods.
In place of these high-sodium foods, add minimally processed foods to your diet (fruits, vegetables, whole grains, etc). These foods are naturally low in sodium and making the swap will help you lose water weight.
#6 Consume Electrolytes
Electrolytes are charged minerals that serve a number of important functions in the body, including muscle contraction, muscle relaxation, and fluid balance.
Sodium regulates fluid balance outside of the cell, while potassium regulates fluid levels on the inside of the cell.
Maintaining proper hydration entails having the right balance of electrolytes in the body along with consuming enough fluids.
So, in addition to drinking water throughout the day, also ensure you’re consuming enough electrolytes -- sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, and phosphorus.
These essential nutrients can be found naturally in whole foods as well as added to dietary supplements, including 1UP Sport Amino.
#7 Reduce Carbohydrate Intake
One of the reasons low carb diets are so popular is that they are excellent for helping individuals lose a lot of weight quickly. The reason for this is that low carb diets lead to a big loss in water weight in the early days and weeks of the diet.
The reason for this is that for every gram of carbohydrate the body stores (as glycogen), it also stores between 3-4 grams of water.[4]
Therefore, reducing your carbohydrate intake helps lose water weight since your body isn’t storing as much glycogen (which is a combination of glucose and water).
#8 Clean Up Your Diet
Diet is the biggest contributor to water weight.
Consuming too many simple, refined carbs and high-sodium foods (which are often one and the same thing) leads to water retention.
It stands to reason then that cleaning up your diet can help lose water weight.
This accomplished two things:
- First, you drastically reduce your intake of cheap carbohydrates and sodium
- Two, you significantly increase your intake of important micronutrients, such as potassium, magnesium, and vitamin B-6, which help lose water weight..
Potassium, magnesium, and vitamin B6 support kidney function and help the body eliminate extra water and sodium.
In fact, human studies indicate that a combination of magnesium and vitamin B6 supplementation is effective for relieving various symptoms related to PMS with one of those being water retention.[5]
#9 Use the Right Supplements
In addition to exercising regularly and consuming a healthy diet, consuming the right supplements can help lose water weight as well as reduce bloating and puffiness.
Noteworthy supplements that help lose water weight include:
- Dandelion
- Uva Ursi
- Juniper Berry
- Potassium
- Celery Seed
Rather than have to go through the time, labor, and expense of sourcing each of these nutrients on their own, we’ve done the heavy lifting for you and compiled them all in our premium-quality water elimination supplement -- 1UP Water Shred.
Water Shred includes only the highest-quality ingredients at their recommended doses to help lose water weight, reduce bloating, and help individuals achieve the results they want from their diet and exercise program.
References
- Dugue, B., Leppanen, E. A., Teppo, A. M., Fyhrquist, F., & Grasbeck, R. (1993). Effects of psychological stress on plasma interleukins-1 beta and 6, C-reactive protein, tumour necrosis factor alpha, anti-diuretic hormone and serum cortisol. Scandinavian Journal of Clinical and Laboratory Investigation, 53(6), 555–561.
- "2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines." Home of the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion - Health.gov, health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/guidelines/.
- "Sodium Fact Sheet." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2 Nov. 2018, www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fs_sodium.htm.
- Kreitzman, S. N., Coxon, A. Y., & Szaz, K. F. (1992). Glycogen storage: illusions of easy weight loss, excessive weight regain, and distortions in estimates of body composition. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 56(1 Suppl), 292S-293S. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/56.1.292S
- Ebrahimi E, Khayati Motlagh S, Nemati S, Tavakoli Z. Effects of magnesium and vitamin b6 on the severity of premenstrual syndrome symptoms. J Caring Sci. 2012;1(4):183–189. Published 2012 Nov 22. doi:10.5681/jcs.2012.026
