How To Lose Water Weight - 5 Tips

Retaining excess water can make you feel bloated. It can also make your wrists, ankles, hands and feet swell and your face look puffy. Sure, you have probably learned that the best way to lose water weight is actually to drink more water. This is absolutely true. In fact, water weight is usually a sign that your body is "scared" to lose any more water and as a countermeasure is retaining it like a camel. The thing is, you are not a camel!

Here are 5 tips for fine-tuning your water weight loss plan:

Tip #1: Get a 32 oz. or 64 oz. refillable container: You can find these little babies for very cheap at almost any discount or sporting goods store and they come in all kinds of cool designs. Buy them not for their cool designs, however, but rather for their amazing capacity: you can really put a lot of water into these things. And, unlike a conventional cup, their portable design encourages you to carry them wherever you go. If you drink just 1 - 2 of these mega-containers' worth of water each day, your body will start shedding the excess water that it has been holding onto for dear life for so long.

Tip #2: Add a little lemon or lime: To your mega-container, add a squeeze or two of lemon or lime. These citrus fruits act as natural diuretics, and their refreshing taste makes the water go down that much easier.

Tip #3: Eat lower sodium foods: Sodium and water weight go hand-in-hand. When you drink more water, your body is freed to release some of its sodium stores. Conversely, when you switch to a lower sodium diet, your body will tend to store less excess water. Bonus tip: cutting down on diet sodas will cut your sodium intake significantly.

Tip #4: Try a natural diuretic: Diuretics help your body flush water weight. But prescription diuretics can be rather harsh on your system and often cause intense diarrhea. Try a natural diuretic such as an herbal-based one for a gentler, healthier experience of forcing that excess water out of your body.

Tip #5: Sprinkle in some exercise: Yes, that weight loss panacea, exercise, comes in handy for helping you to lose water weight, too. The type of exercise that helps you lose weight is aerobic exercise: the kind that gets your heart moving at a steady, faster rate and burns the calories as you work out. However, anaerobic exercise - or weight training - is also a great way to lose weight. With weight training, you actually increase your resting metabolic rate (the rate at which you burn calories when you are not moving). Bonus tip: choose exercises that work the areas of your body (e.g., wrists or ankles) that need the most help in losing water.

Drinking more water is the cornerstone to a water weight loss strategy. Adding a bit of citrus to your water, taking natural diuretics, eating a low sodium diet, and doing concentrated exercises can also help you shed that weight. Losing water weight is the first step to looking sexy and feeling great with a comprehensive weight loss plan.