The Universal Solvent

40 to 60 percent of our body weight is water. Isn't that remarkable.

Water is also the most universal solvent known. It has the ability to dissolve both bases and acids. Apparently it also has the ability to dissolve fat. Water makes your metabolism burn calories 3% faster.

LS said she has had success this week and she says it's because of her increased water intake.

There are many reasons given for drinking water to facilitate health and weight loss. Proper hydration makes our bodies run more efficiently overall. It's good to remember that if we feel hungry, it might just be a sign that we are a little dehydrated and all we need is a nice cool glass of water to feel better.

So how many glasses a day? How big are the glasses?... one source says: 1 ounce for every 2 lbs of body weight in order to gain the metabolic bennies. Meaning, somebody who is 150 lbs should drink 75 ounces of water a day. That's 9.3 eight ounce glasses per day. (I worry about this formula for kidney function reasons, so someone correct this if it is too extreme.)

If I'm stressed out or achy, I sometimes get into a nice hot bath. It relaxes me and has a meditative effect. I highly recommend this. But you must remember, to maximize the hot bath experience, you must burn at least one candle and maybe even play some nice music. Try to avoid placing the radio in the tub with you. This kind of weight loss is not recommended -- it's a quality of life thing -- diminishing returns, you understand.

Swimming is another wonderful activity. It stretches you out and takes stress off of your poor old joints. It has an ebullient effect on your spirit and can be a transcendent experience (as long as you know how to swim, if you can't swim, it may have a very different effect, that kind of transcendence we can do without!) And don't worry about the swimming suit thing. It's only temporary -- from the locker room to the edge of the pool, 12 seconds at most -- then it's an invigorating plunge into some nice chlorine saturated water. But once you are acclimated and buoyant and start to push yourself along, it's almost like you're a kid again -- weightless. The hot tub aprés bain isn't bad either.