Drinking plenty of water is critical to losing weight. I try to drink about 3 liters per day. I keep a 1 liter bottle with me at work at all times and take a big swig out of it every so often, and drink water with every meal - well, except breakfast, I've GOT to have my coffee

I took my son to university for a long weekend campus visit a few weeks ago and tried to be very good about what I ate, but I didn't keep up with my water intake (since it wasn't convenient to go to the bathroom every 45 minutes ). Not drinking plenty of water really made a difference in stopping weight loss and retaining water. I gained a pound that week, but the next week I went back to 3 liters/day and lost 3 pounds.