Too Much Water Consumption?

Every day I tread 5 miles on my eliptical in 45 minutes. I tend to weigh myself before and after the session. Typically I sweat out 2-3 pounds in that time spand. My question is, after my workout, I can typically drink all that weight I sweated off by the end of the night. People say to consume plenty of water, but am I drinking too much of it? It's frustrating to see I'm drinking back the weight I just worked so hard to lose.

So you're worried that drinking water is making you fat? My sister was hospitalized in an ED ward with girls who were afraid that water made them fat, this makes me worry about you.

To answer your question, sweating out water and drinking some to replenish yourself is not losing and gaining weight so just try to keep healthy.

Nothing to be worried about. I consume between 80-100 oz of water even before my workout while at work. I'm asking about excessive water intake after my work out. Should I try to limit myself so all the weight I just lost doesn't come back?

WATER DOESN'T MAKE YOU GAIN WEIGHT. Sorry to shout but honestly I can't imagine why you think this

You can consume too much water. It's called water intoxication.
I don't think it's very healthy to weigh yourself before and after a workout. From what I've heard they say you should pick a time of day or a day of the week and be consistent. Drink what your body needs for water. If you are thirsty drink. If you sweat a lot you might want to consider a sports drink to keep your electrolytes at a safe level.

Nina I don't think she's talking about water intoxication, she's talking about gaining weight from drinking water.

If you are drinking water because you are thirsty or just worked out, odds are you are not drinking too much. If your body tells you that you need it, you need it.

When you say "It's frustrating to see I'm drinking back the weight I just worked so hard to lose," realize that most of the weight change that happens during your workout is water lost via sweat, and if you didnt replace this water it would result in dehydration. So dont worry about the water- its the stored fat that really counts, and the only way to measure that is when it shows up on the scale over time.

notorespot, I understand what you're saying, but like kaja said, you're not losing fat instantly from one workout.  It's EXTREMELY important to drink water after you workout because of the amount you sweat off.  Please understand the importance of it!  It's for your health.

On a side note, people who drink more water tend to weigh less than those who do not drink very much.  Think about that! :)  Good luck!

Weighing yourself before and after exercise is not productive. One weigh-in per day is more than enough. Anyway, you can't count water loss from exercise as weight loss, and similarly, you can't say that replacing the water after exercise is a weight gain. Concentrate on burning fat, not just the numbers on the scale.

You'll pee most of it out anyway. So don't worry about it, the water weight will drop in about an hour.

My advice is not to weigh yourself before and after a workout.  Your weight fluctuates all day.  I weigh myself once a week.  If you are one of those that must weight yourself everyday, then I would do it once each day and at around the same time.  Don't let the scale control you.  I knew someone that weighed themselves after each meal they ate. 

Drink that water.  It is good for you and your weight loss efforts.  

Feeling thirst is the first sign of dehydration, so if you feel thirsty, you have been needing to drink some water for a while.  The weight that you are sweating off during your workouts is nominal compared to the benefits you are providing to your system as a whole.  Your body will continue to burn calories for 30-45 minutes after you work out and that's when the fat burning happens, not simple water loss.

Don't worry about drinking too much water - like others have said, you will most likely pee it out and it does not make you gain weight.  In fact, if you drink water at an ice cold temperature, your body will burn calories consuming it.

Weighing yourself before and after a workout does have it's purpose, but not to measure fat loss, just water loss. During football preseason, we have to weigth ourselves before and after practice to make sure we're not getting dehydrated. I know that's not the issue here, but I just wanted to say that there is a point to do that. But yeah, what you lose during a workout is just water, well, that doesn't make you any skinnier or healthier.

Weighing yourself before and after is truly pointless.  I would imagine your elliptical session burns about 450-700 calories, depending on your stats.  In order to lose a pound of fat, you would need to do what....5 hours?  So when you see that weight loss after 45 minutes, you see mostly water, and what really amounts to 0.2 lbs or less of actual fat loss.  This is even assuming that you spent only fat in that 450-700 calories. 

I always give people the same advice for the scale.  Weigh yourself at most every three weeks, and not until 6 weeks into a program if just beginning.  Doing more just increases the odds you will be tricked by an illusion.  That illusion, even if still present at 3 weeks, will not be enough to cover up any real loss in fat.

Do not wait until you are thirsty to drink water.  At that point you are already dehydrated.   You would have to consume a ton of water very quickly to have any issues like water intoxication. 

drink electrolyte beverages.

the come in low and no cal (smartwater is my favorite)

drinking too much water flushes the body out. that will affect your bodies metabolic ability to flush out fat because you are lacking in potassium.

calculator:
http://nutrition.about.com/library/blwatercal culator.htm

I eat 2500mg of sodium a day, so for me it's pretty much impossible to drink too much water unless I force it down.  On the days I exercise/train I drink well over a gallon of water that day (that's 7lbs of water, btw).