Day 24: Go... Bathe in Espresso and be Forever Smooth!

I have received a couple comments that have to do with importance of drinking water while trying to lose weight. One of these comments had to do with the effect of caffeine on body cells while trying to lose weight... so I did some reading and found out something interesting.

Caffeine, it turns out, has a marvelous effect on the fat cells that make cellulite. It lessens the lumpiness, smooths out the bumps, and appears to get rid of some of that icky fat. Here's the catch... according to studies and testing, it is not the internalization of caffeine that brings about these changes. The great changes come from applying the caffeine EXTERNALLY!

It seems that creams which contain caffeine as the main ingredient, "work great to pull fluids out of the spaces between cells and induce lipolysis – fat burning in the layer just below the skin’s surface." This means fat cells will give up their fat particles, thereby shrinking in size.

Neat, huh?!

While the external application of caffeine is beneficial to decreasing fat, the internalization of caffeine has an opposite and negative effect. Drinking caffeine, while it does boost your metabolism a little bit, is also a diuretic which sucks and expels water from your body.

Great! You may be saying. I wanted all that extra water weight to go away! Here's the problem. Your body NEEDS water to burn fat. Without it, kidneys can't work properly so the liver lends a helping hepatocyte. While the liver is tied up helping the kidneys, it can't burn as much fat and because not as much fat is being burned, it gets stored for later.

How much water? It is now recommended that for each 25 pounds you are overweight, you add another eight-ounce glass of water to the daily eight eight-ounces you should be drinking. Another one I've heard is to take your weight in pounds, divide by two and drink that amount in ounces of water (i.e., a 100-pound person would drink 50 ounces of water each day). Personally, I find myself drinking anywhere between 1.5 and 4.5 liters each day.

Won't that mean you'll spend a huge portion of your life in the bathroom? Maybe for the first couple days, until your body realizes there is a constant, sufficient supply of water coming in. After the body releases all the extra water stored between the cells (for emergencies), you'll not only weigh a bit less, but your body will start to do neat things with the water as it repairs and rebuilds throughout your body - in addition to burning more fat. You will not be in the bathroom forever.

Other benefits to drinking sufficient water? How about improved muscle tone? Your muscles will contract with greater ease when you are properly hydrated, allowing a more effective workout. Your skin will plump out, filling wrinkles and flushing impurities, making the skin look younger. Besides, you want nice skin covering those now-plump muscles!

So drink more water and less caffeine... and remember caffeine is in tea, coffee, and cola sodas, even the diet ones. Spread your water drinking out over the course of the day; too much at a time can be harmful, flushing valuable electrolytes and salts from your body. Lastly, drink before you become thirsty. Thirst is a sign you are becoming dehydrated. Oh, and if you don't like water, try adding some lemon or lime or a splash of some other flavoring... it adds just enough to help you get past the whole "drinking water" obstacle.

And with this post, my plans to increase my Starbucks intake have been foiled yet again. Grr... Oh, well... when I am svelte and awesomely toned in body, I shall take my gorgeous self to Starbucks and order a drink of my choice, smallest size mind you, in celebration of the moment.