Drinking a gallon of water per day sounds like a task but the 30-day water challenge did more for me than just detox my body. It has completely changed the way I look at sugar and my body’s dependency on it. My journey into lifestyle change started about five years ago. Kneeling over on the floor having severe chest pains, screaming in agony at 30 something years old to find you’re having a heart attack will have you rethinking everything you thought you knew about your life. Long story short, I am thankful to be alive and well today. The experience certainly changed the way I saw nutrition and has led me to lead a much more active life and has shaped my overall health for the better. To this, I cleanse my body every quarter during the year. This cleanse consists of foregoing the consumption of red meat, processed food, dairy, alcohol and coffee for about 30-31 days. My most recent cleanse took place during the month of April. For the first time, I took on a new challenge by deciding to integrate another way to cleanse into it. The 30 day water challenge has become quite popular lately and I am always down to try new things. With this I had one goal in mind; make it through those 30 days successfully just to say that I did it. What I got was so much more.
Week 1 – I like to drink water. I really do. But I’ve always viewed drinking it as an option rather than a necessity. This was the struggle week. I was prepared but not prepared. It was my first time ever drinking nothing but water. This meant going cold turkey. I was constantly flooded with thoughts of what I could not have versus what I could. These thoughts haunted me day and night for the first four days. Meanwhile, I am drinking up to 2 liters of filtered water per day. It took everything within me not to stop at the local 7/11 to get my favorite raspberry iced tea. I had to look away. By day five, it had truly hit me that I was starved for sugar. On day seven, I was breaking out in cold sweats at thought of a glass of cranberry juice. Although I felt like a junky who desperately needed a fix, I didn’t break. I was determined to do this.
Week 2 – This week things got a lot easier. Much easier than I had anticipated. The results were also beginning to show up. My energy levels were changing. I feel different. Most times when we drink sugar beverages (this includes coffee) we experience what is called the sugar crash. This is the fatigue we experience after consuming a large quantity of carbohydrates, also known as reactive hypoglycemia. I did not experience this feeling once. In fact, it’s safe to say that my energy levels began increasing a lot more and I felt less tired. This was a good thing. The increase in my energy levels made my thoughts a lot more lucid and my sleep habits were becoming a lot more consistent. The downside is that I was now peeing every 15-20 minutes. I can recall taking about 17 trips to the bathroom one day during this week. Yes, I counted!
Week 3 – No more struggle. The feeling has totally left me. I’m now drinking up to 3 liters of water a day by this point. My energy levels are balanced and my new sleep habits have all now become normalcy to me. Even my frequent bathroom trips felt normal by this point. I felt no need to even have a sugar beverage. The thought actually never crossed my mind once during this time. I also felt less hungry, and get this; I had dropped an entire pants size without realizing it.
Week 4 – By this week, I’m not only full of energy but I feel less thirsty than usual as drinking water and staying hydrated is now part of my everyday. It was no longer about reaching my 3 liters-a-day quota but rather consuming water just because and continuing with my daily routine. Now I am no longer counting the days. My mind and body are now both fully used to drinking water and it is who I am now. Success!
Here’s the thing, the water challenge was definitely something I needed to do. I’m glad I challenged myself with this. But the lesson I took from it became so much more for me. Somewhere along the way this challenge became less about completion and more about being in tune with my body. The most important lesson I learned in is how well my body became acclimated to staying energized without the need for sugar. I realized that the co-dependency on sugar beverages is all in the mind. The morning coffee that we need to start our day, the late afternoon cup to finish it off, the sodas, the juices and the teas that we drink in between are all a part of the placebo effect. The concepts we invent in our minds can be incredibly powerful and dangerous as it effects our how we view our bodies and what it needs to function. Although, the 30 day challenge was successfully completed and is now long over. I no longer see water the same. I no longer look at sugar the same. My relationships with both are completely different. I do have a drink of coffee, tea or even juice every now and again but I no longer consume the large amounts I once did prior to the water challenge. It’s more like once a day or once every other day. It’s all about water for me. I love the change I’m experiencing with my body because of it. What started out as a challenge has now become the newest addition to my lifestyle change.
