Staying hydrated

I'm new to this site, so don't know if this is the best place to post my comment, but I'm 5 months post op, and the last 4-5 weeks have struggled with a plateau despite exercising every day. Even though I've heard that in getting our 8 glasses of water a day, things like decaf coffee count, I have to say that when I started counting decaf coffee as my "water intake" was also about the time I hit this weight plateau. Of course, I was sick for 2 weeks during this time, so there have been other contributing factors as well, but today I weighed, and was below this plateau for me. The difference? About 5 days ago after reading more about our fluid intake needs, I began drinking my 64 oz of water, and making sure it was water. I still have 2 cups of decaf coffee per day: one right after I drink my first 32 oz of water, and the second after I've drank the next 32 oz of water. For me, I have come to realize I have to county only water as my water intake. Not saying it will work this way for others, but wanted to share this experience with someone. Thanks, Jill

I can sympathize. After 3 years, I've come to "embrace" those plateau periods. They are going to happen. I went for almost 9 months without loosing a single pound. Then all of a sudden, it started coming off again. Not sure what I did differently! Yes, drinking water is important. I must confess tho...I sub iced tea with "no calorie" sweetner. It doesn't seem to slow the weight loss down. What DOES is diet soft drinks! Bad, bad bad...make you retain sodium and not nutrious at all! Keep up your good work and know that you'll hit walls. But it will pay off!