What do your water cooler and weight loss have in common you might ask? And the answer would be that while water itself is not a miracle fat-burner, drinking water can definitely help you to lose weight.
The reason for this is that very often the triggers for thirst and hunger are the same. In most cases when those first rumblings of hunger begin, we immediately grab a snack. But our Pavlovian response should be to drink water instead – particularly if we’re trying to lose weight. If after a short while the hunger pangs persist only then should we head for the fruit bowl and enjoy a healthy snack. Another reason is that by regularly heading to the water cooler and quenching our thirst, we’re not drinking sodas or other sugar-laden liquids, all of which add unnecessary calories to our day.
Many of us have simply fallen into bad habits – we awake desperate for coffee which we drink before we leave the house, we buy a cup on our way in to work and we have another cup once we arrive at the office. By mid-morning we’re ready for another caffeine boost so instead of heading for the water cooler we head back to the coffee machine or the soda machine for a sugar boost and so the day continues.
While one or two cups of coffee early in the day are hardly a health risk, by relying too heavily on caffeine and sugar drinks we not only drink more calories than we should, but we also affect our sleep patterns which recent studies have shown play a huge role in our fight to lose weight. With healthy sleep our bodies function optimally – part of optimal function is our ability to secrete Cortisol, a hormone that regulates our appetite. When our sleep is disturbed, which often happens if we have too much caffeine or sugar coursing through our veins, the secretion of Cortisol is affected which in turn affects our ability to lose weight. And when we wake up, the vicious cycle begins again.
In short, by visiting the water cooler on a more regular basis we quench our thirst, we feel sated, we help our bodies to function healthily and we sleep better – all fundamental factors in losing weight.
