So, there's always a lot of talk about retaining Water weight, but not a whole lot of solutions to that. Are there any out there? Is water retention only caused by either not drinking enough and/or consuming things that dehydrate you (caffeine, alcohol, sodium)?

Is there an amount of caffeine, alcohol, and sodium that tips you over into likely water retention or is abstaining from these forever the real goal? I'm curious to hear other folks' experiences with water retention and how they finally got the fluids moving through their system better.

I know not drinking enough, consuming a lot of sodium, and hormone fluctuations can cause Water retention for me.

This sounds like a great question for your NUT.

Water retention is usually not a problem if you are eating like you should be and consuming enough water in a day. For men, the problem is rare. Protein itself is a diuretic. So if you focus on protein you should be good. Women have to struggle with it a lot more than we do.

Water retention is usually not a problem if you are eating like you should be and consuming enough water in a day. For men, the problem is rare. Protein itself is a diuretic. So if you focus on protein you should be good. Women have to struggle with it a lot more than we do.

I did not know either of those things! That's pretty cool.

I also found an informative article about the causes of water retention. I was surprised to see that general activity during the day also has an effect!

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/187978.php

For me, eating a lot of carbs cause me to start retaining a lot of water.

For me, eating a lot of carbs cause me to start retaining a lot of Water.

Same here. Add in a lot of sodium and it's swole time the next day or two.

I simply keep my system running smoothly on a high water intake and try to limit salt. Carbs are limited already due to my weight loss goals.

Try adding lemon to your water. Alot of prepared "diet foods" have lots of sodium so you need to be mindful of that. If you were previously on a BP med and aren't any longer - some of those are diuretics so you may retain when off of them.

My ankles swell up if I have to sit for long periods. I work in IT and ride a desk all day so by friday I'm pretty well swollen. That's with making sure I get up every half to 1 hour, and averaging 4.5 miles a day. On the weekends I find myself doing things where I can stretch my legs out more often even if I am sitting, so mondays are my lightest days. By the end of the week the scale tells me I'm at the same weight I started at, or even up a pound. Mondays It might be -1 to -7

I notice that if I eat something with a higher sodium content or hi carb it will NOT generally show up that day on the scale its the next day and the one after that. It takes a day or so for my old body to purge the retained Water. So if I eat a small square (2x2) or two of meat lovers pizza on Friday I will more than likely see a gain on Sunday morning and Tuesday or so its gone. That also means maintaining, if not bumping up, the water.

For that TOM, I can go up 5-7 lbs in a day ;(

I have had edema since my middle 30's and take a prescription for it. I am hoping that I will be able to come off the meds, but have tried all the dietary changes in the past with no change in the edema so we will see.