Throughout the 30 day water challenge you drink 1 galon/3.7 liters of water each day for 30 days. The rules of the 30 day water challenge are simple. Get to know the rules of the 30 day water challenge here>>>
Why drink water
Water does the body good. We all heard the fact that if you drink 2 glasses of water before a meal, it will help you lose weight. This is correct, because you will eat less calories when you fill your belly with water before starting to eat.
The benefits of drinking water are numerous – wrinkles gone, no pimples, perfect poop every morning, minor weight loss, more energy, no headaches and many more. See my resultsafter the 30 day water challenge here>>>
Sounds like a real dream!
When to do the water challenge
You can start the 30 day water challenge whenever you feel like. You just pick a date and start drinking 1 gallon / 3.7 liters of water per day and continue it for 30 days.
Starting the 30 day water challenge during summer when it’s hot outside is more convenient – your body needs more water to stay hydrated anyways. However, you can start the 30 day water challenge whenever you feel like it. There are no limitations to it.
Who should start the 30 day water challenge
Gina, no! Beverages are not allowed during the 30 day water challenge!
The majority of people are dehydrated. So starting a water challenge is a good idea for almost everyone. It will give you an insight into how much water you are drinking usually and you will be able to see various awesome results.
Start the water challenge if:
You want to lose weight
You believe you should drink more water
Your skin is dry and not elastic
Your urine is dark yellow instead of lemon yellow or see through
You have headaches
You deal with constipation
You have dark circles around your eyes
Your lips are dry
Your heels are dry, cracked
You are curious if you will benefit from drinking more water
Always consult your doctor before starting any kind of diet or fitness program! Consulting your doctor before starting the 30 day water challenge is a good idea! See the incomplete list of the risks of the 30 day water challenge here>>>
[Image courtesy of marin at FreeDigitalPhotos.net]
I have a confession to make: I enjoy being the fit girl! Not just because of my looks and health benefits of regular exercise, but also because of the things that I’ve learned during my journey from fat to fit girl.
Some of them are little, important things that I’ve discovered during my journey from fat to fit while other things came as a big revelation! Looking back I wish I knew all these things before I started losing weight while I was obese, because it would have made my journey from fat to fit more easy. And faster. Knowing all this, I would have jumped on the “get fit now” bandwagon a decade ago!
Becoming fit is not a destination – it’s the road that You’re on
The new year has started! Whoohoo! Back to my usual workout routine! The holidays gave me time to look back at my last year’s accomplishments. Going from fat to fit was the biggest achievement of my previous year! Becoming fit takes a lot of commitment and focus. You learn a lot along the way from fat to fit. Thinking back to my old fat self made me think of things I wish I knew before I started losing weight.
Sometimes it’s the journey that teaches you about your destination. [Tweet this!]
The things you learn during your journey from fat to fit are a valuable lesson. So what are these secrets?
15 things You need to know before You start losing weight
I figured that I’ll compile a list of 15 things I wish I knew when I was obese! Let it be a help on your weight loss journey from fat to fit. It doesn’t matter if you are getting started now or if you already made the first steps towards becoming fit and living a healthy life!
You don’t have to be fat. I wish someone had told me this when I was a kid. Seriously. I’ve spent my childhood, teen years and adolescence thinking I have to be fat, because I don’t have a choice.
You weren’t born fat. Have you seen a newborn? Babies aren’t born fat. They are fed into being fat. Trust me, it’s not your genes, it’s the amount of food that you eat.
Being fit is not just a temporary state. If you keep up with your lifestyle changes by developing healthy eating habits and make exercise part of your life, then you won’t get back to being your old fat self.
You can be a fit mom. This realization comes from the fact that my family was fat/obese. So I figured that I can get fit while single, but once I have kids, I’ll go back to my old fat self. Well, that’s not true! Check out my inspiration mom, Maria Kang!
The time you spend figuring out how to dress to cover up your fat body to look slim could be spent at the gym making your body sexy/fit. Think about this for a second. All that time and brainpower wasted into hacking your looks to make you seem thinner. Let’s get real: you’re not fooling anyone, but yourself.
Being fat is exhausting you. You may not be aware of it, but looking back I see now how little energy I had because of my bad lifestyle choices. One more reason to change from fat to fit!
Working out and exercising will make you feel in control of your body. By engaging yourself into any type of exercise or sport activity will make you more in control with your body. Yoga will help you with your clumsiness, running will tune your gross motor skills, Zumba will improve your coordination skills, weight lifting will make you carry your heavy groceries in one trip.
That voice in your head that feels ashamed of your fat body that you are trying to silence is actually trying to help you. The voice is trying to tell you that you are hurting yourself by getting any fatter. You lifestyle is bad for your health, and you know it. Deep down you know that being fat is unhealthy for you, even if you don’t admit it openly to others or even to yourself.
Being fat is your choice. Your choice only. So is becoming fit. So choose wisely.
Going from fat to fit isn’t emotionally harder than living as a fat person. I realized this now looking back at my mostly fat and obese life and the journey from obese to fat and then fit. Becoming fit made me struggle with body image issues, I couldn’t see my new fit body, I thought I was going insane. But being fat also had it’s emotional downs, and struggling with emotional issues while reaping the benefits of being healthy was way easier than it was struggling with being fat.
Being fit doesn’t mean spending endless hours on the treadmill or in the gym. I wish I knew this at the start of my weight loss journey. It’s the type of the exercise adjusted to your goal that is important, not the time spent with workout. I fell into the trap of exercising for hours exhausting myself, with no benefits whatsoever. Now my exercise is 3 days at the gym for 1 hours lifting weights, and on the 2 between rest days doing Zumba for faster, active recovery (it helps relieve soreness by stimulating blood flow and improving circulation to the muscles).
Being fit is more about your eating habits than working out.Weight loss is 80% nutrition or what you eat, and 20% exercise, also known as the 80/20 Rule. Yet again, wish I knew this at the start of my weight loss journey.
Being fit doesn’t mean that you can never eat sweets or junk food. Weight loss is more about eating less food than you used to. Just make sure that the healthy foods way overbalance the junk food that you eat.
You can start exercising or get into a sport at any age. There is no such thing as not being born as an athletic type – you make yourself an athletic type by engaging in a sport activity.
You feel awesome and accomplished after a good workout. An intensive workout is exhausting, but after it you feel like you accomplished something. You don’t feel depressed like after you finish stuffing unnecessary sweets in your face in unlimited amounts.
Ready to start Your 30 day water challenge? Not sure how to get started? First thing first: let’s see what are the rules of the 30 day water challenge!
Rules of the 30 day water challenge seem simple: You should drink 1 gallon/3.7 liters of water a day for 30 days, no sweetened beverages nor alcohol are allowed for this period.
How to start the 30 day water challenge?
If you are serious about starting the 30 day water challenge, there certainly are more questions that will arise. Now let’s break down these simple steps of the 30 day water challenge one by one, and answer the big question:
1. Create a water drinking plan
If you are not much of a water drinker, then making yourself to drink 1 gallon/3.7 liters of water a day for 30 days will be tricky at the start. You will need to monitor your water intake, but eventually you will get used to drinking that amount of water. I suggest starting the 30 day water challenge by creating a water drinking plan for yourself to drink that 1 gallon/3.7 liter water a day. You can even have a weekday and weekend water drinking plan if your daily routine differs during the week. The trick is to create a water drinking plan for yourself that fits your lifestyle. The point of a water drinking plan is to plan the water drinking in advance – so you will be more likely to stick to it and meet your daily goal of water intake.
Creating a water drinking plan helps you develop a habit of regularly drinking water throughout the day. It is important if you are not used to drinking water.
Don’t drink all the water in once! In fact, you mustn’t drink more than 0.21 gallons/0.8 liter of water in an hour, because water poisoning is a real threat. You can prevent water poisoning if you distribute your water intake throughout the day.
Just be mindful of your water intake frequency: having a water drinking plan is a great way of achieving this.
2. Swap sweetened coffee, tea, soda, juices with pure water (or their unsweetened equivalent)
If you strictly follow the rules of the 30 day water challenge, then you shouldn’t drink sweetened soda/coffee/tea/juices nor alcohol at all. Swapping your sweetened drinks with pure water is great step towards a healthy lifestyle!
If you are finding this to be really strict, then start the 30 day water challenge by taking your coffee/tea without sugar, honey or artificial sweeteners. Swap soda and juices with water! Limit your alcohol intake to drinking 1 glass of vine or other alcohol 1-2 times per week as a treat.
[table caption=”Am I allowed to drink this during the 30 day water challenge?” width=”500″ colwidth=”20|100|50″ colalign=”left|left|center”]
Drink type,Allowed,Not allowed
Coffee,Yes if unsweetened,Sweetened coffee NOT allowed
Tea,Yes if unsweetened,Sweetened tea NOT allowed
Soda,Yes if soda water,Sweetened sodas NOT allowed
Juices,NOT allowed,NOT allowed
Milk,Yes if unsweetened,Sweetened milk NOT allowed
[/table]
3. Does water in my coffee/tea/soda/juice/soup count as water?
Drinks such as unsweetened coffee and unsweetened tea also count in into your water intake during the 30 day water challenge. You can also count the water in soups as well.
We agreed that you are going to drink water instead of juices and soda during the 30 day water challenge, so it is clear that water counts as water.
Soda is allowed only if it is soda water (sparkling water), a natural potable mineral water with high concentration of sodium bicarbonate, typically carbonated. Keep in mind, that flavored carbonated water contains sweeteners, so it is not allowed as a drink during the 30 day water challenge. You should stay away from any kind of soda beverages.
However, if you choose to treat yourself with that 1 glass of vine or other type of alcohol, don’t count them in your daily water intake.
If you’ve read this far, it means that you are ready to start your 30 day water challenge! If you have any reservations about drinking 1 gallon/3.7 liter water a day for 30 days, consult your doctor.
A lot of you asked about the 30 day water challenge I’ve completed, so here you will find answers from how much water should you drink during the water challenge to how often should you drink, as well as advice to 4 alarming issues you will come across during those 30 days.
If you are reading this, then it means that you are ready to start your 30 day water challenge and you need no more proof of the benefits of drinking more water. However, if you are still not convinced of the benefits, head over here to read about the results you could have after completing the 30 day water challenge>>>
The rules of the 30 day water challenge are simple: you drink 1 gallon/3.7 liters of water for 30 days. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? But there are questions that will emerge after you start the 30 day water challenge – so let’s address them one by one:
1. How much water should I drink during the 30 day water challenge?
The starting rule is to daily drink 1 gallon/3.7 liters of water for 30 days. If you are anything like me, you have busy and hectic workweek and eventful weekends, and at some point you will just forget to drink enough water.
So start the 30 day water challenge by creating a water drinking plan for yourself to drink that 1 gallon/3.7 liter water a day.
My weekday water drinking plan was that on weekdays I drank 2×50 oz/2×1.5 l during my office hours from 9 till 5, and then drank my my 26 oz/0.75 l workout bottle during my afternoon workout. The truth is that this water drinking plan worked perfectly on weekdays, however on weekends I needed another plan to meet my water goal of 1 gallon/3.7 liters.
The weekend water drinking plan that worked for me was to drink a glass of water before and after every meal. On Saturday mornings I drank a glass of water right after I woke up, then 1 more glass after my morning routine of washing face, teeth, and dressing up for the day, and 1 more glass of water during/after breakfast. With 4 meals a day, I still had to fill my 26 oz/0.75 l workout bottle twice a day and carry it around with me to come close to my goal of 1 gallon/3.7 liters.
I recommend drinking just water, but at first it might feel too overwhelming and boring. This is when you can spice things up! If you are tired of drinking just pure water, try infusing water with various fruits and herbs! Your taste buds will thank you, and it still counts as drinking water! What I’ve found useful, is this water bottle that you can drag around with you all day and have different fruit flavored water every day!
2. How much water should I drink all in one during the 30 day water challenge?
“Let’s cure him of those pesky electrolytes!”
Don’t drink 1 gallon/3.7 liters of water all at once, because water poisoningis a real thing. It happens when you wash out the electrolytes that your body needs. In fact, this was used as a way of torture in the Medieval century.
To avoid water poisoning, just don’t drink more than 0.21 gallons/0.8 liter of water in an hour. If you have healthy kidneys, they filter 0.21 – 0.26 gallons/0.8-1 liter of water per hour. See this list of risk factors for water poisoning. If you have your reservations about drinking 1 gallon/3.7 liter water a day for 30 days, consult with your doctor.
Don’t worry too much, because if you are anything like me, then usually you don’t drink enough water. So at the beginning of your 30 day water challenge, your main problem will be to get used to remind yourself to drink water – the risk of water poisoning won’t be on the table until later on. Only when you develop the habit to drink plenty water, and get used to visiting the toilet more frequently, you might face the problem of drinking excess amount of water in a short period of time.
Don’t let the thought of water poisoning discourage you in starting your 30 day water challenge, because drinking lots of water has many benefits. But just like all the other issues in your life, you must be mindful of your water intake frequency. You easily can prevent water poisoning if you distribute your water intake throughout the day.
So the next question that pops into your head should be:
3. How often should I drink during the 30 day water challenge?
Distribute your water intake throughout the day: drink water in the morning, before and after meals, during workout, during work and running errands.
During my 30 day water challenge, I was drinking 2×50 oz/2×1.5 l during my office hours, and a 26 oz/0.75 l workout bottle during my afternoon workout on weekdays. On weekends I usually failed to meet the 1 gallon/3.7 liters goal; tried hard coming close to it by drinking a glass of water right after I woke up, then 1 glass after my morning routine, and 1 more glass of water during/after breakfast, and drinking 1 glass of water before and after my other 3 meals.
Your goal is to get close to your daily water intake of 1 gallons/3.7 liters, but don’t overstress if you fail. There are days when you won’t make your goal, but that doesn’t mean that you won’t experience the benefits of your 30 day water challenge.
4. Does soda/coffee/tea/juices count as drinking water during the 30 day water challenge?
If you want to strictly follow the rules of the 30 day water challenge, then you shouldn’t drink sweetened soda/coffee/tea/juices nor alcohol at all. In fact, you could stop to drink sweetened drinks even after the 30 day water challenge is over! Changing your drinks from soda/juices to pure water is your best bet towards a healthy lifestyle. So during the 30 days, start by taking your coffee/tea without sugar, honey or artificial sweeteners. Swap soda and juices with water! Limit your alcohol intake.
During my 30 day water challenge, I drank one coffee in the morning without sugar and just a little bit of milk. Stopped drinking sweetened beverages a long time ago, and drank water instead, so that wasn’t a problem. However, I like to drink a glass of vine few times a week with my dinner – so I limited this to one glass per week. It was a special treat to drink a glass of vine for my romantic weekend dinners.
To sum it up: consider the water in unsweetened coffee or tea, but don’t count the once-a-week alcohol if you are choosing to have that fun drink.
Ready to start you 30 day water challenge? Way to go! If you have any questions about the 30 day water challenge before you start it or during it, feel free to ask it in the comments section below.
It was summer, it was hot, and I knew I should be drinking way more liquids. That’s when I stumbled upon the call for Maria Kang’s no excuse water challenge, so it was the perfect opportunity to make myself drink more water. I was skeptic about keeping up daily drinking 1 gallon a water for a month, but I started anyway.
Rules of the 30-day water challenge
You hear everywhere about the benefits of drinking plenty water, but if you are anything like me, you know that it is good for you, but during the busy and hectic workweek and eventful weekends, you just don’t remember to drink. So I started by creating a plan to drink that 1 gallon a day. Got a 50 oz bottle sitting on the table of my office desk which had to be drunk twice during my office hours, and then I only had to fill and drink my 26 oz workout bottle during my workout to drink a gallon a day. Sounds easy? Well, like everything else, it is challenging at first, but then you get used to it. I was really curious about all the positive things that consuming more water and keeping yourself hydrated would do to my body.
The unexpected results of completing Maria Kang’s 30-day no excuse water challenge are:
1. Wrinkles around the eyes are gone
After 5 days of drinking plenty water the wrinkles under and in the corner of my eyes visibly reduced. 25 days into the challenge I did a 2-step wrinkle test with strips. The test shows how deep your wrinkles are, and mine said that I am wrinkle free! I have to admit that lines under my eye are still visible, but their length and depth is reduced. Not bad at all, especially if you consider that all I had to do is keep myself hydrated for a month!
2. Pesky pimples and acne free face
If you suffer from cystic acne, you pretty much know how irritating and depressing regular monthly flare ups can be. Nobody needs to tell you how uncomfortable it is. I am a 33 year old female and until recently I also struggled with acne. I’ve seen improvements in the last year after an active year of trial and error and finally I’ve found the best skin care regimen for myself – 3 months ago I have finished developing an ultimate home skin care routine that made a difference (see how: use your brain to help your face). However, once a month the start of my period still marked another monthly event: a total skin freak-out.
So imagine my surprise when only after 6 days of drinking plenty water I noticed an improvement in my overall skin tone. Even further, when that time of the month arrived and for the first time in my life I had no breakouts! It’s been 30 days, and I am pimple free!
My honest confession: after finishing the 30-day #noexcusewaterchallenge I stopped watching my water intake and drink less than 1/2 a gallon a day. After only 3 days 3 pesky pimples appeared. Bummer.
3. Perfect poop every morning
Are you a perfect pooper? Research suggests that the range of “normal” pooping is typically 1-3 times a day. And it should look like a snake (see the Bristol Stool Chart Type 4 ). You should not push hard for the perfect poop: it is a balance between not having to push or strain, but also not having so much urgency you barely can hold it. Thanks to the water challenge, my bowel movements became normal and I make the most perfect snake poop every morning. This alone was a motivation for friends around me to start drinking more water each day, and now we are a bunch of happy friends creating perfect snake poop!
4. Lost almost 9 lbs in 30 days
I never believed that I could lose pounds by not changing my habits and by not incorporating more exercise into my current routine nor by consuming less calories, but it became a reality! On day 11 I weighed 4 pounds less than when I started the challenge! It was quite a surprise for me! Although the weight loss did not continue in this initial rate, I still weighed 9 lbs lighter at the end of the challenge! I have to emphasize that the calories I burn on a day-to-day basis remained the same as well as my healthy eating habits.
5. Highly energized and well rested every single day
I resent waking up early and walking to the office. My only motivation is the first and only fresh cup of coffee that I drink at the office. Then on the last week of the 30-day water challenge everything changed. I haven’t slept more than usually, but after I woke up I felt refreshed and full of energy. It wasn’t just a one-timer: this was the case every single morning, and the fully energized feeling lasts throughout the day. I have tons of energy for the gym after my workday, and I Hulk smash every single workout!
When I spot a woman on a street walking towards me with dark circles or wrinkles around her eyes, I can barely hold myself from approaching and shaking her, screaming:
“Start drinking more water, woman!”
Completing the 30-day water challenge and seeing the positive results it has made me crazy, I know. Although I wanted to scream at and shake women when I found out what a difference a perfectly fitting bra makes, so maybe it’s just me reacting weirdly to new things that make me prettier and my life easier and healthier.
Any of these benefits alone were enough motivation for my friends and family to start consuming more water, and they experienced after a few days the advantages themselves! The 30-day water challenge is over, but this should not keep you from starting your own water challenge and see the benefits for yourself!
Throughout the 30 day water challenge you drink 1 galon/3.7 liters of water each day for 30 days. The rules of the 30 day water challenge are simple. Get to know the rules of the 30 day water challenge here>>>
You can start the 30 day water challenge whenever you feel like. You just pick a date and start drinking 1 gallon / 3.7 liters of water per day and continue it for 30 days.
A lot of you asked about the 
The starting rule is to daily drink 1 gallon/3.7 liters of water for 30 days. If you are anything like me, you have busy and hectic workweek and eventful weekends, and at some point you will just forget to drink enough water.
If you want to strictly follow the 
