Articles

It's one of the worst feelings in the world. You're so close to being back at the weight where you were when you bought the holy grail of weight loss, your skinny jeans. But when you slip them on, you can't quite get that last button to close.

Not fitting into your favorite jeans is mildly annoying, but seriousness of water retention runs the gamut from mild annoyance to a condition requiring medical attention.

Some of the side effects of water retention are:

• Swollen tissues, especially in the ankles and feet


• Irregular menstruation


• Pressure on artery walls

In fact, water retention - sometimes known as edema - can even cause serious cardiovascular problems.

Water retention is exactly what it sounds like, a buildup of fluids in your body. Water retention can be caused by any number of things, including sitting or standing too long in a single position. Capillaries, tiny arteries that ferry vitamins, nutrients and oxygen throughout your body, generally release the appropriate amount of fluids into your tissues. Pressure in your capillaries causes them to tear and release excess fluid into your tissues, causing them to swell.

There are diuretics that doctors can prescribe if you have a long-term or serious problem with water retention. But if water retention is a temporary or, as in the case with most women, a once monthly annoyance, there are ways to help your body naturally eliminate excess water.

 

 

3 easy ways to effectively eliminate excess water weight:

1. Drink more water!: Somewhat ironically, drinking water is an excellent way to resolve problems with water retention. It goes straight to the kidneys and causes you to urinate more frequently. Frequent urination reduces both excess water and sodium in your body.


2. Eat fruits and veggies: Americans have been searching for a "weight loss miracle" for decades, and it may actually have been hiding in plain sight in the produce section of our grocery stores for years! Fruits and vegetables, in addition to being vitamin, nutrient, and fiber rich, are among the top foods that act as diuretics, again because of their high water content.


3. Exercise (even a little bit counts!): One of the healthiest ways to eliminate excess water is to sweat it out! And no, I'm not asking you to spend hours upon hours on the elliptical each week. In fact, I just want you to adjust your routine for the week. If you don't currently exercise, go for a 30 minute walk each day. If you exercise moderately, go for a quick run or do a 30 minute yoga routine. Getting fresh oxygen and blood to your tissues, increasing circulation, and sweating will help eliminate that feeling of edema in your limbs and stomach.

Doing a complete 9-day cleanse is one of the easiest ways to drop water weight. Detoxing eliminates processed sodium, processed foods, and nutrient deficiencies – all factors that could be contributing to that excess water retention. However, cleansing can be dangerous if you don't do it right. The right kind of cleanse will lead to fast, yet long-term, weight loss, energy, and flush excess water and toxins from the body using all whole foods.

»Lose water weight and fit into those skinny days in 9 days without starving yourself.