If you’ve ever tried to lose weight, you know what I mean when I say there’s a TON of information out there that either makes it seem like all you need is a magic quick fix and POOF, your problems are over…
OR that complicates the heck out of it, to the point you get frustrated and say “Heck with it!”
After being in the weight loss and fitness industries for over 25 years, and coaching tens of thousands of people from all over the world, here’s the truth:
Healthy, sustainable weight loss is SIMPLE.
It’s not a magical gimmick.
But it’s not as complicated as most programs make it.
A great example of this is drinking water. Mention that you drink a gallon a day, and people in your life will come out of the woodwork to tell you how “unsafe” that much water is (even if you were drinking 4 liters of Pepsi a day before).
Google various search terms about how much water to drink, and you’ll find conflicting information up the wazoo, along with plenty of articles about how “dangerous” drinking water is, and that drinking too much can kill you.
All this stuff makes the simple and healthy act of drinking water WAY more complicated than it really is, so let’s unpack this.
Q: Can I drink too much water?
A: It’s true that there’s an amount of water you can drink that may harm, or even kill you.
But it’s incredibly unlikely that will ever happen, because you’d have to FORCE yourself to gag down a bunch of water in a short amount of time, and do it without throwing it all back up.
In other words, you’d make yourself sick even trying, and do so long before you got to an amount that would hurt or kill you.
The only people in danger of doing this are those with certain mental disorders that affect their ability to “hear” their body’s “enough” signal.
If you drink a lot of water, like we do on Code Red, don’t try to drink it all in 30 minutes. Space it out over a few hours.
Q: Does drinking a lot of water have side effects?
A: For people on a nutrition plan like the Code Red Lifestyle™, where you limit carbohydrate intake, you may experience an electrolyte imbalance.
What happens is, on Code Red (and similar low-carbohydrate plans), you’re not eating foods that hang on to water or salt, so salt and other electrolytes get flushed out.
As a result, some people (not everyone, but some) experience symptoms of low electrolytes, which can include cramps and feeling tired.
Replenishing your electrolytes is simple and inexpensive. And the detriments of dehydration far outweigh any minor “concerns” about electrolyte replenishment.
The bottom line with water is: Don’t let yourself get bogged down in all the complicated sludge about stuff like your urine color, or how drinking “too much” water is gonna give you brain damage…especially if you were chugging energy drinks, coffee, and soda all day long.
Sleep and water are the #1 and #2 rules in weight loss, respectively. If you wanna lose your weight and keep it off, they’ve GOT to become and stay priorities in your life. Period.