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Water Retention Rescue
Health | March 12, 2015
Retaining water is annoying, but, generally, not a health risk. It can be a nuisance though and most often occurs during PMS. It can cause bloating and cause our weight to fluctuate a little, but usually this is nothing out of the ordinary either. Still, retaining water can make us feel like a balloon animal. Here are some tips to help rid our bodies of excess water weight.
Sweat!
No surprise here. The simplest, most effective way to shed excess water is to sweat it out. I’m guessing most of the consistent warriorz who regularly attend the Zgym don’t retain a lot of water. You can also attend a local spa and sit in the sauna during that time of the month to sweat it out. The sauna can also be incredibly soothing for your mind and muscles.
Drink More!
Drink more water that is. Often a properly hydrated body naturally retains less water. That may sound odd, but proper hydration ensures healthy kidney function. Kidneys act as the body’s fluid regulator. Mild dehydration can cause water retention.
Say No to Sodium, Yes to Potassium
Sodium, especially in processed foods, is a major culprit of water retention. High amounts of sodium are often hiding in supposedly healthy prepackaged foods. Before you grab that sandwich to go from the grocery store or your local Starbucks check the ingredients. Chances are the amount of sodium is very high.
Potassium, on the other hand, helps the body get rid of water. Bananas, leafy greens and avocados are high in potassium and can definitely help to get rid of excess water weight.
Avoid The Pills
It’s common to reach for painkillers during our menstrual cycles, but many anti-inflammatory drugs actually increase water retention. Here’s a piece I wrote about dealing with menstrual pain a few months ago that should help.
Also many forms of birth control contribute to water retention. If you think you’re retaining more water than usual, talk to your doctor about possibly switching birth control medication.
I hope these suggestions help! Is water retention a problem for you? What do you do about it?
Private Member |
Such a cute picture zuz!!
I do have problem with water retention, although I’m only 22 and am not on any pills.
I am trying to drink more water. When I drink tons of it it seems to help, but its difficult for me to drink like 3 litres or so.
How much water do you drink z? 🙂
Private Member |
lake tahoe, nv, usa
about 1.5 liter of water and the rest in green tea and coffee 🙂
Private Member |
switzerland/, france
I can’t believe how many times people asked me if I am not “destroying” my kidneys by drinking 3 liters!
Another interesting thing I read about water retention is that if your body is “toxic”, your metabolism will try to dilute those toxic molecules in your body so they are less nasty…hence water retention.
Eating unhealthy, but also household and body products can lead to being “toxic”.
The picture is big.
Private Member |
I read about it too! Also hormonal problems may cause water retention. It make sense though 😉
Private Member |
Glad I’m not the only one. I would say I drink 3-4 liters in pure water, not including teas or coffee. I’ve read countless articles, and I’ve decided people are just different. If I’m thirsty, I drink water,
Private Member |
Hey Zuzka, i agree with you.. before period i have horrible water retention, but like you say exercise and loads of water helps.. i hate that feeling 🙂 but movement helps A LOT!!!!!!!!!
Private Member |
Hi Zuzka 🙂 is bloating only linked to water retention or are there other specific things that can be done in order to prevent bloating?
I often feel like a balloon and its so annoying because you can not really see you weight loss progress if you look like a balloon 😀
Private Member |
Try cutting down on your gluten intake. I know it sounds so cliche because gluten intolerance is very “popular” at the moment but when I cut it out, my bloating went from out of control to not bad at all. Also plants in the onion family can cause gas and bloating. That includes garlic. Also broccoli and different types of cabbage can cause it as well. I find if you cook these foods well, it drastically minimizes chances of gas and bloating. If you eat them raw it’s very likely you will experience discomfort. Especially if you eat cooked foods after consuming raw foods because the cooked foods digest faster. They interrupt the digestion of the raw foods and get tangled up with them and cause fermentation which is what causes our gas to smell bad. Drinking tonnes of water is always the best solution though because it keep the fibre from all your veggies moving through you at a good pace. Hope that helps!
Private Member |
I agree. Gluten may be evil if you are even slightly intolerant to it. You basically need to listen to your body. Either gluten or lactose..they both can cause a lot of bloating.
Also portion sizes are important! 🙂
Private Member |
ponte vedra beach, fl
I have this problem and I do not drink enough. Something I’m trying to fix. My stomach also bloats pretty large anytime I eat anything. It’s been like this my whole life. I remember being little, swimming at a friend’s house and wondering why my stomach was so huge after we ate lunch and all theirs were not. I hate it b/c I never feel like I can eat if I’m going to be in a bathing suit or tight fitting clothes. I’ve added probiotics, apple cider vinegar, l-glutamine, HCL pills with meals but not noticing much difference. I thought maybe food sensitivities or allergies but its all the time, not just after eating certain food/s.
Private Member |
I have the same issue. I started drinking hot tea after lunch and dinner, because this only happens afternoon and evening. I also find that chewing gum and drinking through a straw aggravate the problem. Hot water with lemon also helps. Some foods you just have to avoid. Gas x does not work.
Private Member |
switzerland/, france
I have had this for as long as I remember (from my teenage years until recently), I found that if I eat smaller meals, but more frequent, I get less or barely no bloating. Food choice (as said above , I avoid any gluten grains, some cabbage), long mastication and eating slowly (to avoid swallowing air). I also massage my tummy / guts several times a day, possibly when empty stomach. I rarely drink during meals (up until 30 min before eating, and restarting 1-2hr after meal).That means I drink a looot in the morning (1liter of green tea…1 liter of water with 3 tea bags…drinking lukewarm is so much easier) while I am still fasting, have my workout fasted state over lunch time and eat around 2pm. By then I would have been drinking nearly 2liters.
If in need to eat something, I make a chocolate “mousse” : greek yogurt, chocolate whey, cocoa powder, cinnamon, cayenne pepper and goji berries…sometimes a few nuts….1-2 hours before the workout.
Private Member |
I’m not a doctor but you can check IBS and Candida if you haven’t before 🙂
Private Member |
I meant leaky gut syndrome but IBS too 🙂
Private Member |
Ahoj Zuzko, chtěla bych tě poprosit, jestli by ses nezúčastnila průzkumu, který dělám pro svoji diplomku. Jedná se o téma vztahu mezi YouTube Stars a jejich odběrateli a nezabere to víc než 10 minut času – je tam jen 6 otázek. Všechny odpovědi budou použity výhradně pro tu práci a pokud nechceš, není ani nutné uvádět tvé jméno. Jelikož už tvojí tvorbu sleduju 5 let, budu moc ráda, když se právě ty zúčastníš – a samozřejmě mi to moc pomůže. Otázky ti můžu buď poslat mailem, nebo se na ně můžeš podívat (a rovnou i odpovědět) tady: http://goo.gl/forms/37yvqjrVpW.
Díky moc a měj se fajn,
Markéta
Private Member |
lake tahoe, nv, usa
Hotovo, ale uz jsem u toho usinala, tak to bylo dost strucny 🙂
Private Member |
Díky hrozně moc 🙂 Děkuju.
Private Member |
seattle, washington
A very simple way to know if you are retaining to much water is to place your thumb against your skin just above your ankle and press and hold it for a few second. If after you remove your thumb there is a clear impression you are retaining excess water.
Private Member |
Going on a ketogenic diet helped me a lot no water retention, no cravings, better endurance during workouts and overall more energy. Also giving up contraceptive pill which used to cause me a big bloated belly and cellulite very nasty that was.
Private Member |
la valette-du-var, france
Yes I do have to deal with water retention ! I do many things to help but still ..I it’s there, I know what the main reasons are tho : tight clothes and not drinking enough water ! I wear pants that are not that comfortable, all the time 🙂 and I pee all the time when I drink so I avoid drinking at work because it’s not convenient …
On the other hand, I dry brush my body, do headstands regularly, stay faithful to the ZGym, avoid sodium :D.
I’ve made some changes (like since today haha) to help it because it’s located in weird placed, like just above my knees, and in my ankles haha and I’m really thin so it’s really noticeable ! Now I take tea at work to force me to drink, I want to reach about 1,5 litre … I think it’s the healthiest amount ! I don’t want to damage my kidneys 🙂 and once it’s getting warmer here, I’m gonna do 10 min of massages per day with the water jets from my mom’s spa ! It’s THE BEST !!! It helped me so bad last summer 😀 it also help reducing cellulite :3
Private Member |
Manon why do you wear uncomfortable clothes?
Private Member |
Gotta admit though, potassium and magnesium from fruits and veggies made a huge difference for me, my periods are more relaxed.
BUT I don’t really understand what people mean by “retaining water.”
After you eat sugar/carbohydrates, it gets stored as glycogen in your muscles (as fuel) and that’s what causes the big fluctuations on the scale (and your muscles to swell). This is not a bad thing, you need glycogen to do these intense workouts or you’ll get burnt out. You might hear guys complaining how flat their muscles look in the morning and that they lost weight (but girls will appreciate the feeling) because you’ll have burned through a portion of this fuel during your overnight fast. It’s shocking how few girls know about glycogen; at higher intensity workouts you will be burning more glycogen (less fat). Not a bad thing either, because intensely contracting your muscles is natural and healthy: it burns glycogen, it builds muscle, more muscle means bigger fuel tanks for glycogen, and improved insulin sensitivity.
And anyways things like salt and potassium etc they’re all electrolytes, retaining water – doesn’t that just mean you’re hydrated? You should be, why would you want to be dehydrated? Look up how doctors rehydrate a patient, they don’t use pure water they use sugar + salt water solution. You’ll faint for fewer pounds on the scale? When I first started working out, I was fainting and I was just told I was in bad shape. Gulping down water made me feel worse and wanted to vomit. Once I started putting electrolytes in my water and eating salty snacks, I got through the workouts no problem.
The fastest way I’ve seen this “water weight” disappear is eating a high fat, low carb diet (Ketogenic Diet) because this “water” just flushes out. I will feel “smaller” because I’m dehydrated and glycogen depleted. I tried a Tanita scale a few years ago, they’re not perfect, but it showed me that I lost 7lbs in one month and it was mostly water from lean mass. Only 0.5lbs was fat. So did I accomplish anything??? My bodyfat % actually went up! My workouts sucked! Sometimes gaining this water weight is the key to leaning down and feeling better.
If you’re bloated then maybe you ate too much (if it’s indeed too much salt you’ll be genuinely thirsty), your digestion is sluggish and gassy (try probiotics, apple cider vinegar, or foods that soften your stool), or what I noticed happened was that once I started to focus on strengthening my core, my muscles held my abdomen tight even after a heavy meal. Russian twists with a challenging weight worked the best for me!
Oh I talked way too much, but this topic really bugs me.
Private Member |
switzerland/, france
you need balanced electrolytes for sure..too few is not good , too much is not good (e.g.drinking sea water )…this is the basic of osmolality.
About grains (or is it gluten) , some say that it gets our body to use 3x times more water when we eat those food. I never really “felted” water retention. I know what it may look like as seen on others (and I actually had water retention during pregnancy)…it has to do with lymphatic drainage.
The more your exercise , the more muscles move and get the natural way out for the lymph. Hormonal state for women is changing over the month, those hormone have influences on our body…there is no way around that. I deal with it and just accept that my body is changing, looks and feels different for a few days.That’s life.I just try to avoid to make it more complicated, ha, ha!
Private Member |
Yeah for sure there are legitimate medical reasons for retaining water, if you have a geniune condition with hormones, or a heart or kidney problem etc. but I would follow a doctor’s diagnosis on this. My doctor actually told me to include more salt in my diet because I have low blood pressure (I have a tendency to get faint).
I use to feel “bloated” and crampy during my period. But I realized I was actually constipated! I wasn’t pooping for days so my stomach was distended and I felt stuffed, but drinking water didn’t help at all. This is no longer a problem for me though, and now I have great periods (I barely notice them now). I think eating more healthy fat and magnesium was the best (it’s a muscle relaxant, and generally reduces anxiety). So some say that all girls must be cursed with horrible periods and hormonal problems, I think it’s a myth. My hormones improved with nutrition and exercise, I think it can for everybody one way or another.