What’s so great about water? From a weight loss standpoint, there are two things. First, it temporarily fills you up so you eat less at a meal. Second, when you drink zero-calorie water, you are ditching other high calorie beverages such as consumed on this typical day:

• Medium café latte with whole milk (16 oz.) at breakfast – 265 calories
• 20 oz. bottle non-diet soda at lunch – 227 calories
• Sweetened lemon ice tea (vending) – 180 calories
• Regular ginger ale (12 oz.) with dinner – 124 calories

Total calories from beverages: 796

Imagine the weight loss if only half of these sweetened calories were cut out.

You may have heard the tip that you should drink water to help with weight loss. A new study out of Virginia Tech found that drinking just two 8-ounce glasses of water before meals does indeed help get those unwanted pounds off.

This particular study looked at adults age 55 to 75 who followed a low calorie diet. One group drank two cups of water before meals and the other did not. After 12 weeks, the water-drinking group lost about 15.5 pounds while the non-water drinkers lost only 11 pounds. Plus, the water drinkers kept their weight off for a full year after the study….something that rarely happens in weight loss…gaining the lost weight back is very common.

More great water benefits when you want to lose weight:

1. Water boosts metabolism. This can be true when the water is ice cold. The body must put forth the effort to warm up the water so you burn a few extra calories.
2. When you feel zapped, water can serve as an energy boost. Did you know that dehydration makes you feel depleted and fatigued? When you drink water, it helps the blood transport oxygen and needed nutrients to cells all over the body.

Be sure to check out our back-to-school giveaway from Pirate’s Booty…a three-month supply of Pirate Brands products. Register for the drawing on WDBO.com at the Nutrition & Health center.

For more water tips, listen to this week’s podcast.

Listen to this week’s podcast