How to Lose Belly Fat by Drinking Water

Co-authored by Jeff Siegel

Last Updated: August 20, 2024 Approved

While you cannot target belly fat in particular by drinking water, you can use water to help you lose weight overall. Drinking enough water on a daily basis can help you shed permanent pounds, but there are no quick shortcuts to weight loss. A water fast might help you lose a few pounds in the short term, but be aware that the weight will come back as soon as you break your fast.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Drinking Water to Aid in Permanent Weight Loss

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Drink enough water every day to fill yourself up.^{[1]
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Research source} The Mayo Clinic recommends that adult women drink 9 cups of water per day, and men 13 cups per day.^{[2]
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Mayo Clinic
Educational website from one of the world's leading hospitals

Go to source} Not only does this keep your body hydrated and healthy — it also prevents your body from confusing thirst with hunger. If you drink enough water to fill up your stomach, you can trick your body the other way, into thinking it’s full of food when it’s really full of zero-calorie water.
- Remember that these amounts are general guidelines and the amount of water required will vary based on your weight and activity level.
- Keep a water bottle with you so you can sip on water throughout the day.
- Know how many ounces of water your bottle holds, and make sure you refill it enough times in a day to reach your water goals.
- If you’re feeling hungry, drink a glass of water and wait 10 minutes. If you’re still feeling hungry, eat a light snack. You’ll often find, though, that a glass of water can stave off snack cravings.
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Replace caloric drinks with water.^{[3]
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Research source} One of the easiest ways to cut large amounts of calories from your diet is to stop drinking your calories. The energy drink you use to get your day started, the soda you drink with lunch, and the beers you grab with friends at the end of the workday — those are all empty calories added on top of the actual food you eat.
- A couple alcoholic drinks with friends might be an important part of your social life. Just make sure you don’t drink to excess. Have water while you’re drinking, both to keep your body hydrated and to keep you from drinking too many alcoholic calories. Aim for a one-to-one ratio of alcoholic drinks to glasses of water.
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Embrace coffee and tea. If you’re one of the many people who has trouble getting started in the morning, don’t worry! Experts count coffee and tea as part of your daily water intake.^{[4]
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National Health Service (UK)
Public healthcare system of the UK

Go to source} If you’ve relied on energy drinks in the past, these unadorned caffeinated drinks are a much better way to wake yourself up.
- Don’t add calories to these drinks with unnecessary additions. A caramel latte or Frappuccino will be full of added sugar and calories from milk, whipped cream, and flavoring syrups. A plain cup of coffee, on the other hand, has only 2 calories and no fat!^{[5]
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  Educational website from one of the world's leading hospitals
  
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- Be aware that your body must still metabolize the caffeine, which requires water. Make sure you drink enough water to allow your metabolism to do so.
If you find yourself missing the flavored drinks you once used to tide you over, you can make your own flavored drinks without the sugar and calories. Slice up your favorite fruits — strawberries, lemons, cucumbers — and soak them in a pitcher of water in your refrigerator. After a few hours, the water will take on the fruit’s flavor, and you’ll have a delicious, low-calorie drink.
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Take sips of water between bites during meals. Water helps you digest meals by ensuring proper kidney function.^{[6]
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Research source} But taking sips of water in between bites can also stop you from overeating. It can take 12-20 minutes for your body to realize that its hunger has been satisfied, so if you’re eating too fast, you may eat far more than you need to.^{[7]
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Cleveland Clinic
Educational website from one of the world's leading hospitals

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- Fast eaters often find that they feel overly full and sluggish after meals. By sipping on water between every bite, you lengthen the meal and give your brain time to process how full your stomach is.
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Drink water before and during exercise.^{[8]
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Michigan Medicine
The University of Michigan's medical center, which provides patient care, supports research, and educates the public on health topics

Go to source} Research shows that drinking water can raise your metabolic rate, allowing your body to burn calories at a slightly higher rate than normal. While the metabolic increase isn’t staggering, it is significant, and it’s easy! Researchers estimate that if you increase your daily water intake by about 6 cups per day, you could lose an extra 5 pounds over the course of a year.
- Make sure you are drinking enough water to replenish what you sweat out during exercise. Failure to to do so may cause dehydration, which leads to a multitude of health risks.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Water Fasting to Lose Temporary Weight Quickly

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Understand that water fasting does not yield permanent results. A water fast is when a person does not eat or drink anything but water for a set period of time.^{[9]
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PubMed Central
Journal archive from the U.S. National Institutes of Health

Go to source} This obviously results in rapid weight loss because your body is not taking in any calories through food. However, the weight you lose through fasting will come back when you start eating again. In fact, because your metabolism slows down to deal with the lack of energy coming in through food, you may gain back more weight than you lost in the first place when you start eating again.
- If you’re trying to lose permanent weight, you should drink plenty of water in concert with balanced meals and regular exercise.
- However, if you need to drop a few pounds for an event, a water fast might be a quick solution for you.
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Consider the health limitations of water fasting.^{[10]
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Research source} The human body is incredibly resilient, and can last a long time without food — so long as it’s not dehydrated.^{[11]
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Research source} Fasting for a few days is not harmful to most people as long as they drink plenty of water — which you’ll want to do anyway to trick your stomach into thinking you’ve eaten something.
- However, people with some medical conditions should not fast under any circumstances. Diabetics, for example, need to regulate their blood sugar with food throughout the day. Consult your doctor before beginning a fast.
- Children, the elderly, pregnant or breastfeeding women, and people with chronic illness should not fast.
- Even otherwise healthy people will feel negative side effects while fasting. When you stop eating, your body doesn’t have an energy source; as a result, you will feel fatigue and dizziness. You may also feel nausea or suffer from constipation, and, obviously, you will feel very hungry.
- You may want to consider a clean eating cleanse instead. Focus on eating lean proteins, vegetables, fruit, nuts (i.e. almonds and cashews), and complex carbohydrates like sweet potatoes, brown rice, and quinoa, for at least 48 hours.
You may see recommendations for 21 or 30-day fasts online, but these are extremely dangerous if not under direct medical supervision. If you choose to fast, do so only for the three or four days before the event for which you’re preparing. Beyond that, you will be so fatigued and dizzy that you may hurt yourself or others just going about your daily life.^{[12]
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Fast during a stress-free stretch of days. If you have a big deadline coming up at work, or you’re going to be taking a road trip, you shouldn’t fast. The side effects will impede your ability to concentrate, and you’ll end up doing a bad job or being dangerous behind the wheel of a car.
- Don’t try to exercise while fasting, either, as you have no excess calories to burn off. It will only make you feel terrible! Ideally, you should have a stress-free, low-energy stretch of days during which you can lay about.
You want to look great on that day, not nauseous, tired, and dizzy! Don’t rush back into fatty foods immediately, as they can cause digestive problems after a fast. Instead, eat healthy, low-fat foods like fruits and vegetables to get you back on track for your big day.

Can You Lose Belly Fat By Drinking Water?

Ways to Drink More Water Water and Water Fasting Schedule

Ways to Remind Yourself to Drink Water

Making Drinking Water More Appealing

Water Fast Schedule

Expert Q&A

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Question

What melts away belly fat fast?

Laura Flinn
NASM Certified Personal Trainer
Laura Flinn is a National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) Certified Personal Trainer, USA Olympic Weightlifting Sports Performance Coach and Certified Fitness Nutritionist, with an additional qualification as a TRX Suspension Trainer. Laura runs her own personal training program based in the San Francisco Bay Area and specializes in topics such as weight loss, muscle growth, cardiovascular training, and strength training.

Laura Flinn

NASM Certified Personal Trainer

Expert Answer

A combination of clean eating, cardio, and resistance exercises will help burn fat overall. Core exercises help tone and strengthen your belly, but they won't necessarily burn fat in this area.

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What is the best way to lose weight quickly?

Jeff Siegel
Holistic Life Coach
Jeff Siegel is a Holistic Life Coach and the Founder of Jeff Siegel Wellness. With nearly 10 years of experience, he specializes in mind-body medicine, life coaching, health and wellness coaching, mindfulness, corporate training, and transformational public speaking. He received a Master of Education from Harvard Graduate School of Education, a Master of Buddhist Studies from The University of Hong Kong, and a BSc in Neuroscience & Biology from Emory University. He’s also a certified personal trainer, a certified Eating Psychology Coach, and a certified Koru Mindfulness Teacher.

Jeff Siegel

Holistic Life Coach

Expert Answer

Losing weight quickly is usually either unsafe or unsustainable. A safe rate of weight loss varies from person to person. Your starting weight is one factor used in determining a safe rate of weight loss. For most people, it is probably around a pound per week. Calculating more specific measures, such as body composition, will provide better data. Ideally, you should be losing fat mass and preserving muscle mass.

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Tips

You may lose a large amount of weight at first by drinking more water, but losing one to two pounds per week is a more realistic weight loss rate.^{[13]
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You will probably lose weight in areas other than your belly as well, such as your arms, thighs, and hips.

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Drinking more water is a great start, but you will probably need to make some other changes to lose weight as well, such as counting calories and exercising more.

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Warnings

Be careful not to over-hydrate yourself! An adult whose heart, kidneys, and pituitary gland are functioning properly would have to drink more than two gallons of water a day to develop water intoxication. This condition is most common in persons whose kidney function is impaired and may occur when doctors, nurses, or other healthcare professionals administer greater amounts of water-producing fluids and medications than the person's body can excrete.

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