Water Challenge Week 3

Wowza! 3 weeks in already!!!

So I forgot to take a picture on Sunday....and on Monday.....but I snapped one today!! So maybe the photo tracking isn't the most accurate. Oh well.

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

This week was hard because I was traveling- look for those posts soon!! I went to Universal Studios with some friends and it just made water consumption more challenging. I still managed my goal of 90+ ounces a day even if I didn't reach the full gallon each day. By far the most-seen attraction were the bathrooms!! (For the record, we visited 2/3 of all the bathrooms in the park, it became a thing to use them all).

I started using water flavoring this week too. While normally drinking plain water is fine for me, I found myself starting to struggle. So I bought some simple drink mixes (the HyVee brand of Crystal Light to be exact) and gave it a try. I really don't want to be drinking my calories except for my milk and I was hesitant to start the slippery slope of caffeine some of them provided. What I discovered though was my own personal crack.

One pack of wild strawberry drink mix and I'll have 24 ounces of water downed in 10 minutes. It's amazing. I love artificial strawberry flavor and always have (is that weird?). This stuff is delightful. It only has 75 mg of caffeine too; less than a cup of coffee!! I don't feel as guilty about all that. So now when I find myself behind on my water, I'll just add some of the flavor mix and get some solid drinking done!!

Overall I feel good. I'm used to the bathroom routine now. I'm less bloated and combined with my recent back-to-jazzercise, I've got a slimmer waistline overall. I started the work outs at the same time so I can't say one or the other is having the most impact. I truly think it's a combo. I haven't had such quick results from exercise before and my skin is staying extra clear. That's the water!!

So this is the last week and honestly, I'll continue. I'm snacking less, I like the way I look, why go back? Drinking more and more water every day keeps me from eating and drinking things I should have less of. Win-win!

Gallon Challenge

Ok- so I'd seen some things on Pinterest and then I did some reading and ultimately I decided to challenge myself. No, not to start every post with a run-on sentence (though I would be dominating that challenge). It's the Gallon Challenge.

The goal is to drink a gallon of water a day. At first I thought that was way too much, in reality though it's pretty spot on with my recommended fluid intake. Now you all will get to enjoy my updates and see some pretty honest photos of my face. Get excited.

Starting pic:

In all honesty, my hair and skin are pretty good. I have even skin tone, minimal dark spots, little acne issues. But I wanted to see if this would help with my eye baggies, and just general perkiness of my skin. Instead of trying fancy skin systems, I figured I would just try general good nutrition first!

So after a week (and a day) here I am. I remember to photo myself in bed so you know, enjoy the pillow backdrop.

My results after a week:

• The skin under and around my eyes is a little more plump. Not in a bad, puffy way, in a less-tired way. This could be due to me getting rest over the 3-day weekend though. We'll see what the results are long term.
• My teeth are a little whiter. I'm not really drinking any less staining fluids (coffee and tea aren't part of my daily diet, and I didn't cut back on my red wine any). I figure the constant rinsing from drinking the water has to be helping though.
• I started on Sunday and on Friday was down 3 pounds. I started working out again though a couple of weeks ago so it's not just from the water. The weekend pretty much ruined that though (Restaurant Week will do that to you). 
• I am snacking less. Not because I don't want to. I still crave food at certain times during the day. I'm just being very conscientious about drinking instead. They say that a lot of our "hunger" is actually thirst. And as I've been drinking my water, I have been able to hold off my hunger for longer stretches. 
• No changes in intestinal systems or habits :)
• Less bloating until the weekend. Then the eating really ruined that.

How I'm doing it:

• First concern was measuring. That's actually been the easiest part. I have a 34 ounce Bubba I use. I drink one at work before lunch, one between lunch and when I go home, and a third between home and bed time. I also have 16 ounces of milk in the morning with breakfast (that's 2 cartons in school lunch language). Then I usually have another 12-16 ounces of milk or water in the evening. So I hit my gallon pretty easily.
• Second concern was needing to use the bathroom. I was really worried about this, but in reality I'm not going excessive amounts. Before I usually went once during the school day, maybe twice if I stayed late. Now I go about 4 times or every couple of hours. I was most concerned about night since I normally wake at least once for the bathroom but I've actually been sleeping through better. Not sure how that works but I'll take it!
• What am I drinking? I'm doing just water and milk. That's pretty much all I drink anyway. I still have my occasional glass of wine in the evening but I don't count it as part of the challenge. I did buy some Crystal Light packs for when I get tired of plain water but I haven't broken into them yet. I've always been very careful of not drinking my calories so that hasn't been a big switch for me. If you're a heavy caffeine drinker though I would be careful about weaning yourself off. The goal ultimately is for a gallon of water though so I stick as closely to that as I can.

And that's what I'm up to. I'll post another update in a week and let you know how the challenge went while traveling!