Firstly Happy New Year to all of our customers, partners, colleagues and friends from the WCD Group! Now that the New Year has begun so, too, do all of the diets, healthy eating promises and exercise regimes. Try drinking water throughout the day to help your detox and start a New Year’s resolution to refill your glass with more water and lose weight! So, does drinking more water help you lose more weight? In short, yes. Drinking water helps boost your metabolism, cleanse your body of waste, and fills you up as suppresses your appetite. And surprisingly, drinking more water helps your body stop retaining water, leading you to drop those extra pounds of water weight. That's because if you're constantly dehydrated, your body tends to retain more water in an attempt to prevent its water levels getting too low. So what can you do to make sure you’re drinking the recommended eight to ten glasses per day to keep yourself hydrated and encourage weight loss?

Drink before you eat

Because water is an appetite suppressant, drinking a good glass before meals can make you feel fuller, therefore reducing the amount of food you eat. The theory is that the stomach gets full up of a calorie-free liquid leaving less room for food. Extra pounds can be lost when drinking water before eating, although be sensible if you’re going to try this! NHS guidelines to wellbeing suggest that drinking water before meals results in an average reduction of 75 calories per meal. Drinking water before just one meal per day can lead to 27,000 fewer calories per year. Imagine the reduction in calories if you drank before each meal. Carry a #reusable bottle with you at all times so you can also drink enough before a meal even when you are eating on the go or away from your desk or home.

Replace ‘sticky’ drinks with water

Ditch the sugar-laden fizzy drinks and high natural sugar fruit juices and replace them with water to help you lose weight. If you think water tastes a bit bland, infuse your bottle with fresh fruit, lemon, lime or mint for a zingy mocktail. Water with lemon is a recipe for successful weight loss because the pectin in lemons helps reduce food cravings. If you give up those full-fat sugary drinks for just a few weeks you will see the weight loss difference.

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Drink it ice cold

Drinking ice cold water helps boost your metabolism because your body has to work harder to warm the water up, therefore burning more calories and helping you to lose weight. Fact! Also, ice cold water is just so much more refreshing than tepid room temperature. A Chilly’s style reusable bottle keeps chilled water cold for 24 hours.

Exercise

When exercising always remember that you will need to drink more water. It’s obvious that when sweating more our bodies need to be rehydrated so take a bottle with you and make sure you drink plenty before, during and after your workout! Also, drinking water helps prevent muscle cramps and keeps your joints lubricated, so you can work out longer and harder. Just another way that proper hydration helps you lose weight. [caption id="attachment_2258" align="aligncenter" width="860"]office-water-cooler-with-glass Refill your glass at a water cooler in the office[/caption]

Make sure you drink enough water

According to Healthline.com follow the ‘8 x 8’ rule. Aim to drink around eight eight-ounce glasses of water a day to reap the benefits for weight loss and to maintain an ideal weight. Health guidelines suggest that on average we need to drink two litres per day, but it can vary from person to person, so simply drink when you're thirsty and stop when you feel well hydrated. You might need to drink more water if you exercise a lot or sweat heavily, or less water if you drink other beverages like herbal tea (make sure they are decaffeinated). You can usually use your urine colour as an indicator of hydration - if it's light yellow or fairly clear then you're well hydrated. When it's dark yellow or amber then you need to be drinking more water. Water also boosts your metabolism, cleanses your body of waste and acts as an appetite suppressant, experts say. It's almost important for your liver and kidney health too. But it is possible to drink too much, which can have the opposite desired effect, so it's key to strike a balance.

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Some like it hot!

Hot water on its own is great for the digestive system, but you may wish to play around with the flavour options a little. By adding some lemon or lime to the equation, you are not only making the whole concoction a little more pleasant to taste, but you are also upping the nutritional value somewhat. Herbal teas are another great option if you are looking to mix up flavours. A KettleTap gives you hot water to add infuse with lemon, limes for example, and then leave for a good five minutes to reduce to warm or the temperature you like.

Stay Hydrated

Instead of waiting for thirst to start kicking in, why not avoid it altogether and stay hydrated? By ensuring that you have easy access to cool and hot drinking water at all times, you will lessen the chances of dehydration greatly. Look into installing a chilled water fountain or water dispenser into your home and workplace and also look closer at how instant boiling KettleTaps can have a very positive effect on both your health and timesaving requirements. Here’s to a new year and a new lesser you, with good hydration helping to shift of those festive pounds!