The 30-Day Challenge
March 05, 2012
By Katrice
Before I discovered the online word game Literati, I never considered myself competitive — at all. And there's a catch — I'm most motivated to achieve when I'm the only one competing. Thus, my recent 30-day water challenge.
Last month, a Twitter friend asked if anyone in her timeline wanted in on the challenge to drink only water as a beverage for 30 days and, without hesitation, I tweeted back that I did. I didn't even think it through. I drink 64 ounces of water every day before 3 o'clock {a habit I started four years ago with working out}, so I figured this would be no big deal. But, by day two, I realized what my main consideration should have been: I'm nothing without options. I complained incessantly for the first 20 days. And like magic on Day 21, I didn't go through my normal routine of being bummed about not having a cup of cappuccino as soon as I got to the office that morning. I just drank my first 16 ounces of water and commenced to working. Around midday, I realized that I had turned a corner. Three days later, the magic wore off and I wanted a Coke {LOL}. But, I'm so excited to say that I made it through the entire 30 days on Friday.
I was proud of myself for not giving up. What really impacted me was how many times I've launched into betterment schemes and haphazardly let them fall by the wayside. For some reason, I was determined to see this one through to the end. And on the last day, I told my friends I planned to stay up until midnight so that I could drink a strawberry Fanta. The closer midnight came, the more uninterested I was in that soda. Don't get me wrong ... I was one step from resenting water at several points throughout the challenge, but I the benefits I was noticing were enough to keep me going.
I had no bloating around my stomach, hands or feet. I haven't noticed any real obvious changes in my skin and hair yet. But, I've definitely been inspecting both.
So, this morning I went for one of my favorite drinks. A Frappé from McDonald's. But, mid-way through, I thought I wouldn't be able to finish it. I actually lost interest in finishing it and got up to get some water from our office cooler; Not because I love water so much now, but because I love the way my body feels minus the sugar and preservatives in the drinks I usually have. And at that moment, I realized that this is what the challenge was all about.
The bottom line is changing your mind's behavior and thus your body's behavior.
The Frappé didn't taste any different to me than it had before and it wasn't hurting my stomach as I suspected it may. But, I was "feeling" as if it was too much of something, and the something wasn't important. The "feeling" was. It was that I'd prefer to not experience that feeling — whether it be bloating or a craving. I used to crave frozen coffee drinks. I haven't in about 10 days.
Now, I'm wondering what other healthy habits I can challenge myself to {begin to} make normal over 30 days.
3 comments
Wow, I commend you greatly my dear!! I may give such a thing a try someday, but right now I'm not ready :-).
ReplyDeleteYou are so right to think of being ready. I was NOT. lol But, it was a good learning experience.
ReplyDeleteAwesome post! So glad you stuck it out!
ReplyDelete