Water may be your magic potion. Water naturally suppresses appetite and helps your body efficiently metabolize stored fat. Swollen legs, feet, and hands result. Excess salt in your diet can also cause water retention, so the more salt you eat, the more water you need to drink. Overweight people need to drink more water than others since they have larger metabolic loads to process.
Water helps flush waste out of the body.
It also helps to prevent the sagging skin that usually accompanies weight loss. Shrinking cells are buoyed by water, plumping and smoothing the skin. Overweight people should add an additional glass for every 25 pounds of excess weight. Increase your consumption if you exercise vigorously or if the weather is hot and dry. A hacksaw cut the hand of a maintenance worker.