 |
| Credit: Pinterest |
Over the month of August, I did the 30-day water challenge, in aim to keep my hydration levels up and out of pure curiosity, what drinking more water would do for my body and skin. It was hard but it was so worth it at the end. I drank over 4.5 litres a day and I did stick to it after but then I had one crap day and I stopped.
One thing that came out of the challenge, was me becoming more aware of how much water I'm drinking each day, not counting any other form of liquid, such as lemonade, fruit juice, hot chocolate etc. Just pure water.
On average, I drink around 2-2.5 litres a day. After a little bit of research recently and a little consultation with my doctor, I found out that I should be drinking around 5 litres a day, 5.3 litres to be exact. And that's a lot of water.
This month I wanted to partake in the challenge again, drinking just water, for 30 days. This time around I'm challenging myself to hit the 4.5 litre mark every day, yet again. Which acquaints to 135 litres of water at the end of the month. Now, that is a lot of water.
What is the 30-day water challenge?
The aim of the challenge is to drink between 64-150 ounces of water, per day. This equates to between 1.8-4.2 litres.
How do you do it?
You can start the challenge at any time, but personally I think it's best to start it at the beginning of a month as it helps you to keep track and stay on target. Before beginning the challenge, I'd measure how much water you drink daily, over the course of a week, to find out your average intake. If your drinking about 2 litres a day, like I was, then I would recommend trying to drink around 3-4 litres per day, during the challenge.
What are the benefits of drinking more water?
Just to name a few:
- Increase in energy and relieves fatigue
- weight loss
- flushes out toxins
- improves skin complexion
- maintains regularity with digestion
- headache remedy
- boosts immune system
- prevents cramps and sprains
- mood booster
- prevents cancer
- less joint paint
- helps maintain the balance of body fluids
- helps to control calories
- energizes muscles
- helps your kidneys
Before and after results (from when I did it in August)
Like I mentioned earlier, I first did this challenge over the summer in August. I first started noticing results 3 days in to the challenge, my skin cleared up and became smoother and I was generally feeling much more energized than I was before the challenge, when I was drinking around 2 litres a day.
I have sometimes problematic combination skin, with dry spots prone to eczema, especially in the colder months of winter, whereas in the summer it becomes very oily. After the challenge, my skin was very smooth, and I no longer had any trace of eczema and/or dry spots on my chin, around my eyes and cheeks.
Not once over the course of the month did I have a headache, which was very rare for me. I normally get at least one or two when I'm stressed. In addition to this, I was more energized, I was waking up earlier naturally, and I was getting through the day with less sleep, and I had never felt better.
One of the things that attracts people to this challenge is the benefit of weight loss. Yes, this did happen to me, but it wasn't my reason for doing the challenge. The reason for weight loss when you begin drinking more water, is because sometimes your body is unable to tell the difference between hunger and thirst. Drinking more water makes you less hungry, your appetite goes down significantly. I lost five pounds over the month, with no increase in exercise, purely from drinking water and as a result eating less.
I would recommend this challenge to anyone, especially if they were wanting to drink more water. Obviously, not everyone will be able to consume over 4 litres per day, every day, due to a lot of factors, so please don't feel pressured to try and do so. Start drinking a little bit more every day to help you ease yourself into it, it helps I promise.
I shall be back at the end of the month to update you all on doing this the second time around and to see if there were any more changes in my body.
