'Lo all,

I've just commenced this way of eating, beginning Monday. I have read Dr. Atkins' NDR, but naturally have a thousand questions.

I'm sure the answers are to be found here, if I just keep reading here, which I've also been doing since Monday. But please allow me just one question since the answer must be so obvious -- to everyone but me -- that people just take it for granted.

What's with all the water?

I intend to follow the program sincerely and honestly. I have two 32-ounce bottles (from GatorAide) in the fridge and slosh through both of them everyday, and try to start on a third. I qurgle when I walk. My eyeballs are floating. Soon I'll be doing the backstroke.

I know that, on this issue at least, Dr. Atkins and all his detractors join hands in happy agreement. Why? I realized that, unless I was hiking or something, I really didn't drink a lot of water at all. Maybe from the glass on the restaurant table until the waitperson brought the coffee. I drank skim milk and orange juice by the gallon. Beer. GatorAide. Tea. Well, at least all this water is carbohydrate free.

Oh. TANSTAAFL, an acronym for "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch." My weight problem may seen small to many of you, but folks, I still have skinny arms and legs. ALL of that weight is on my belly. In over half a century I've never been on a diet, but the creators of the food pyramid would have applauded what I ate. Fruit, vegetables, pasta, and low-or-no fat everything.

I desperately hope this works, 'cause the one-carrot-stick-for-lunch alternative is horrible to contemplate. But I'm suspicious. And afraid the food police will come and arrest me before I can dive into my plate of bacon and eggs.

Arrow

This statement is heretical, and I am sure that a large number of people are going to write immediately to contradict me, but I think the universal importance of drinking lots of water has been over-estimated. I don't worry about water and I don't measure my water. I usually drink a couple glasses of water during the day, but I rarely get anywhere near 64 ounces unless it is unusually hot or I am unusually active and sweaty. I think it is important not to get dehydrated, but I don't need 64 ounces on most days to prevent dehydration. I can't say what will work for you, but I have never noticed any change in my speed of weight loss related to the amount of water I drink and I have been low carbing since July. I have lost 60 or 70 pounds.

Obviously, this is not the case for many people on this forum. However, in this area, as in almost every area I can think of, all our bodies are different and therefore we have different needs. I am a big believer in getting in touch with what your own body is telling you about how to lose weight and get healthier. You need to figure out what works for you.

Having said that, I have learned that I sometimes confuse hunger with thirst. If I think I am hungry, and I know I have eaten recently, I'll have a glass of water to see if that makes the hunger go away. Sometimes it does, most times it does not.

'Lo Liz,

Now I wonder. You know, if you drink a lot of beer, one of the contributing factors to a hangover the next morning is, I've read, that all the water soluable vitamins, including the B vitamins, have been flushed out of your system. Won't excessive amounts of water tend to do the same thing?

As far as beer goes, I can guarantee that fat is not flushed out of your system.

Arrow

Can't remember where I plucked this from but here goes...

Water -- It can help you lose fat!"

We get LOTS of letter asking why we're constantly preaching the importance of drinking lots of REAL water (not sodas, juices, coffee, etc). We want to stress how strongly we feel about this. If you're "stuck" and haven't been losing, not drinking enough water daily is one of the top 5 culprits.

Drinking enough water is the easiest thing you can do to lose
excess fat.

Drinking water is not just to make your mouth feel less dry. In fact, if you wait until you're thirsty, your body is already dehydrated because your salivary glands are the last resort for getting hydration to your cells. Water is what causes your body to function efficiently.

One of the first signs that you aren't getting enough water is fatigue. Sometimes we satisfy the need for a burst of energy with coffee, which is the opposite of what you need. Coffee is a diuretic, which actually dehydrates you further, nurturing a self-destructive cycle.

You'll see that drinking water spaced evenly throughout the day also suppresses your appetite -- sometimes even to a greater degree than the natural effects of low carbing!

Your hunger for water can be the cause of your cravings, rather than the need for extra food. Thirst signals are often confused with hunger signals. If you aren't used to drinking much water, this could be more of a problem to you than for people who are familiar with the feeling of being thirsty. People who don't drink water get a small amount from the food they eat, which is not nearly enough.

For them, hunger and thirst feels like the same thing - so along with the tiny bit of water absorbed from food, they also get the unnecessary calories, and often carbs which are eaten when cravings take hold -- and which are definitely stored as extra fat.

A sure sign that you're dehydrated is the color of your urine. If you're drinking enough water, it should be very light yellow to nearly completely clear in color. Medium yellowish to nearly orange in color merits a trip to the water fountain. (Any other colors merit a trip to the doctor.)

Water helps your liver convert fat into usable energy. If you don't drink enough water, your kidneys are overwhelmed with concentrated fluids, and they make your liver do extra work. Your liver works hard to turn your body fat into energy you use, and if it has to do the kidney's work, then you hold onto the extra fat that would have been burned if you'd simply had enough water. And what's worse is that instead of excreting water and waste products, you reabsorb used water to reuse again. This is what causes water retention and bloating.

When you don't get enough water, your body panics and holds on to it selfishly, as though you're in a famine. The best way to get rid of this water retention is to drink enough of it. You'll also feel thirsty more often, and this will start a healthy cycle of thirst leading to hydration. But you have to keep it up because if you stop drinking enough water, all the good things you've gained from drinking water (balanced body fluids, weight loss, decreased hunger and thirst) will reverse back to the way they were.

You need at *least* 8 cups of water a day, but we strongly recommend 10-12. If you exercise or live in a dry climate, add 2 more cups, and if you're more than 25% overweight, drink 1 to 2 extra cups. Overweight people have higher metabolic requirements, more waste products to flush out, and it helps keep extra skin from sagging after the fat is gone.

Here's a good water drinking schedule that will help you remember to drink until you don't have to think about it anymore:

Get a 32 oz. plastic cup at a drug store to drink from. One big cup
seems easier than lots of little ones.

Sip one big cupful in the morning as you're getting dressed.

Have one cupful during the late morning/early afternoon.

Drink one cupful gradually in the late afternoon/early evening - the earlier you finish this one the better so you won't have to get up during the night.

Drink and LOSE!

Karen