The Results are In: Two Week Water Challenge

Tweet

The two week water challenge has ended and boy was it interesting. First I would like to say that it was a lot harder than I thought it would be. On the first day of the challenge, I thought “no problem”, I just have to fill my water bottle three times through the day and drink it to empty. Well, that proved to be much easier said than done.

The fist day went off without a hitch I filled it three times and drank it to empty. I was even pleasantly surprised at my accomplishment. Don’t get me wrong. I had to make a conscious effort to meet my goal. Interestingly I had been so dehydrated that even after drinking my 64oz, I was still thirsty. I thought “this is great.” I am giving my body exactly what it needs. But by the third day, My enthusiasm had waned and I found it harder to drink down my ounces, even coming up a little short for the rest of the fist week.

As far as the second week… My son started daycare in the beginning of June and has given us three colds since then. I am still trying to recover from the third cold which I caught at the beginning of the second week of the challenge. My throat was so sore that I could barely get anything down, and on one of the days, what went down, came up (sorry to be so graphic).

So, all in all, the water challenge for me was at best, a good attempt. Although I did not meet my goal, I learned a lot.

Having a schedule makes it easier

Not having a schedule really hurt me. I realized that since I don’t drink enough water naturally, I need to treat my fluid intake like I do other important habits in my life like exercising and brushing my teeth. It is not enough to jus say that I will drink when I am thirsty; Because by the time I am thirsty, not only am I dehydrated, but so much time has one by that I have now put myself in a position where I have to cram the water down which is neither pleasurable or good for good habit forming.

It’s gotta taste good

I don’t know why, but I don’t like the taste of water. Not all of the time, but most of the time. I mean there are those days where nothing beats a tall glass of ice cold water; especially after a hard bout of exercise. But for the most part I like it flavored up a bit. During the challenge I used mostly lemon; although sometimes I put a swish of orange juice or apple cider to spice things up a bit.

The results

I noticed that the more water I drank, the better I felt (this is based on the first week). I didn’t feel as lethargic at the end of the day as I did before the increase and was more motivated to exercise. This was a bit of an eye opener for me. I hadn’t thought about hydrating being a motivation to exercise. But I guess your body knows that when it is depleted of fluids, the last thing that it wants to do is to expel more of them. But it makes sense. Drink more water, have more energy.

I also noticed improvements in my skin, even after a week. It was smoother and more supple. Simply put, it looked hydrated. All in all I was happy with the results of the challenge, even thought I was not”perfect” at it.

Final thoughts

Water is essential for optimal health and based on my results from the challenge I would like to continue to drink more of it. I now know that it is not a matter of drinking when I am thirsty, but, like everything else, committing to forming a new habit.

Your turn:

I’d love to hear feedback from those of you who participated in the challenge. Feel free to leave a comment or shoot me an email.

What were your challenges?

What were your final results?

Do you think it is something that you will continue to do?

Tweet

Related posts:

1. Two Week Water Challenge – June 29th
2. Are You Drinking Enough Water?