My Experience With the 30-Day Water Challenge

I am not in this video, just to let you know.

31 days ago, I felt like shit.

I was constantly bloated, and I was the heaviest that I have ever been: 198 lbs. with a paunch of fat at my gut. I was out of energy a lot, and I couldn't function without sodas or a frappuccino from Starbucks. I was too tired to get anything done, and I felt like I actually couldn't get anything done, and that I would never accomplish anything in my life.

Yes, it's one of those blogs.

31 days ago, after a particularly painful experience in the bathroom, I had told myself that something needed to change, that I needed to fix my situation for myself. I took a moment to think about myself—which, back then, was not something I did—and how I could improve my situation. I remembered watching the above video, which showed how water can massively help people become more energized and active. I thought to myself, "Well, I like water, and drinking more of it should help me out. What do I have to lose?"

So beginning May 24th, I set out to drink more water. I went to the grocery store across the street and bought myself four 1L bottles: one for the early morning, one for the afternoon, one for the evening, and one that I would leave for work. I've even had them labelled at the start. I put the three bottles for home in my refrigerator, and left the other one at work. My goal was to drink 3L of water a day for 30 days, and hope that things would improve.

Here's how it went:

Week 1

Oh, God, was that a hard week!

Firstly, I had a lot less energy than usual. I had given up sodas and fraps and other sugary drinks, and stuck with water. It was nice hydrating myself in the morning, the cool water hydrating myself and getting rid of the morning fog in my mind. But then later, when my body craved the sugar, I would just want to lie down and sleep, or drink my weight in sugar. I shook a lot during the early times.

I should mention that I had also made a drastic change to my diet. I cut out a lot of sugar, fast food and general overeating when I began. That part was, admittedly, a lot easier, because I'm not that picky when it comes to eating, and getting away from fast food and sugary treats didn't really affect me that much. At least I don't think so.

Back to water. I experienced a lot of headaches. It was, to use a 90s phrase, bogus. I took quite a number of ibuprofen pills during that time.

I also broke out with zits, but I was expecting that. I was already struggling with this before the water challenge, and it just became more noticeable. I knew this was going to happen, and I couldn't do much about it, so I ignored it.

At about day 5, I think, my body began to feel better. My shakes were gone, my headaches reduced to near zero, and my face began clearing up. Not only that, but my body felt better. I felt "cleaner," if that makes sense to anyone. I began feeling more active, more lively, and my head was less foggy.

For the first time in a long while, I was beginning to feel good.

This was the time that I had re-started A Little Cream for a Lotta Coco. I'm not sure if it was the water or not, but something clicked in my mind that told me that I should go back and get working on it. So I did, and it felt great to jump back into writing.

Week 2

I continued drinking water on a daily basis, nothing changed there. I attempted to reduce my eating in half, in order to expend calories and lose weight. That went rather disastrously, as I was constantly getting shakes from needing to eat. People around me intervened, telling me to not do that, and instead focus on eating healthier. I already had a habit of doing that, so that was easy.

I did find that I would impulsively eat junk food whenever there were leftovers from last night. This comes from a "waste not, want not" mentality that I have. I talked to the people I'm living with, and they told me that I didn't have to eat fast food if I didn't want to (which I didn't). So I've been attempting to stay away from that.

I've failed to do it so far, but I think that I can do it.

At the end of the week, Day 15, I posted my progress on Facebook. I told people about my plans and doubts, and that I would continue with the second half of the water challenge. I got a lot of encouragement, which helped me get through the rest of the challenge.

Week 3

I began jogging at this time. Jogging had been something that I had done for a while, but had stopped doing because I just didn't want to. I had forgotten how good it felt to do it.

I jogged every day on Week 3, and it felt amazing. It felt great to wake up, down some water to hydrate my brain and body, and get my heart pumping with a good job. I only jogged one mile, but I had a route that I would take, and I just wanted to build consistency, so I stuck with that route.

It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I think the water I was drinking had helped me build up my stamina, or something, or helped my physical performance in some way. Whatever it was, I actually completed my route fairly easily, whereas in the past I was out of breath at the end of it. I conclude that was a positive step at that time.

I continued writing on a daily basis, and updating on time. I felt more focused, more determined, and more connected with my work. That is unconnected to the water challenge, I think, but I did want to report that this had also changed during that time.

People around my commented on how much skinnier I was looking. Seeing the progress myself was a very joyous experience every time it happened. I will say now that I'm not at my target weight of 165 lbs yet, but I do feel determined to get there.

On Day 21, I decided to push myself further on my jogging path, from 1mi. to 1.7mi. It was a little bit more difficult, but it was still manageable. Pushing myself, I believe, gave me the motivation to do something I was terrified of for a long time.

Week 4

I went to the gym.

For the first time in ages, I went to the gym. I've always been afraid of the gym. I'm not that strong a person, and I still had a gut, so seeing people who were stronger than me was intimidating. On top of that, the biggest reason I avoided the gym was my lack of knowledge on planning a workout routine. I didn't want to overwork myself, to work out muscles disproportionately, to miss anything or do workouts wrong. I was afraid.

With all of the progress I had made, though, I decided to take the next step in the improvement of my body. I went in with a tentative schedule:

Thursday (when I first went): cardio
Friday: legs
Sat & Sun: rest
Monday: arms and chest
Tuesday: back and abs
Wednesday: rest

I wanted to focus on form first, so as not to screw anything up. I got some advice from a trainer named Richard, who I think is becoming a friend (I can't tell). He helped me with squats (which, on recommendation, I'm not allowed to do with weights until I get the proper form down), and finding some other exercises for muscles I didn't know how to work out (like my upper back).

Progress at the gym has been snail's pace slow. I am near ignorant on it, but I've been getting a lot of help, something I was afraid to ask for in the past. I still need to come up with a suitable routine, find workouts for my lower back and calves, focus on form and that shebang. But I am confident that with continued help, I can do it.

I continued drinking water, and my diet became a lot stronger. I've been eating a good amount of protein and fiber, been eating gummies that are meant to help with my immune system, and have been eating fruit instead of sweets and pastries. My body felt like it was getting weaker at first, and I can't explain why, but later on I felt stronger. I experienced a lot of soreness, and I'm sure I will continue to do so as I continue, but I can stick with it now that I am making progress.

I've begun influencing my family with my progress. My oldest-younger sister, who's extremely overweight, has been accompanying me on jogs in order to help her lose weight and become more active; my mother's been drinking a lot of water in an attempt to get rid of headaches and control her blood pressure; my younger-younger sister has seen how I set my mind to something and stuck with it, so she's begun to do it with her drawing. Friends on Facebook have told me that they're thinking about trying the water challenge as well. I feel pretty good helping people out with their problems, being an active model and go-to person for motivation and whatnot. Not to sound full of myself, but that is what's been happening.

The Final 2 Days

I continued drinking water (obviously), and took note of how I felt. The best way that I can describe my feeling is "the good kind of bloated". Like, not a nauseating bloated, but a fullness-bloated. My joints and muscles feel a lot more spry, and my mind feels a lot sharper. My breathing's become better, and I've been more active everywhere I go (except for bed ).

My eating hasn't changed much. I have been, and am still struggling, with leaving junk food in the refrigerator if it's there, and I'm not sure how to get around that.

I pushed myself yet again to jog further. My new extended route is 2.2 miles, with a sharp uphill street at the end. I nearly vomited when I went up the first time, and I'm hoping that I can get over that in the future.

One thing I've not mentioned yet is perhaps what makes me the happiest: I'm waking up earlier. I am now waking up at 5:30 AM, which is slightly later than I would like to wake up (4:00-5:00AM is ideal for me). I have more time to do the things that I want to do, and as a result have been accomplishing tasks that I've needed to, and wanted to, get done.

I also increased the amount of weights that I'm lifting at the gym, in order to push myself. This might be the most dangerous thing that I'm doing, as I don't want to hurt myself. I will be taking this slowly.

At the end

Yesterday, June 23rd, was the last day. I got through it no problem, actually.

In summary, compared to how I felt before:

1. My body feels incredible. I rarely ache or get headaches, and every part of me feels more active. My mind feels a lot clearer as well, no longer in a constant fog of disappointment. I think just sticking with a goal helped me out there. My end weight is... actually hard to tell. The scale I'm using said I was at 192 last night, and 187 this morning; it told me I was 182 at minimum. I have no idea what to say about it; I should go to a non-digital weight machine, I think.

2. I'm writing more. I wonder if it's linked to the water challenge, but I have been more focused on it, and tackling it with more confidence. I've been writing on a daily basis, and I'm very happy to be doing it.

3. I'm getting stronger. I've been running more, and I've been lifting weights finally! I've never been scrawny, but building up muscle feels really great.

4. I'm clearing up. My skin isn't as ridden with acne as it was before. One day I might actually be considered handsome. But that has been a big plus.

5. I have more energy. Waking up at 5:30 and doing the things that I want to do has been a blessing, and if I can wake up at 4 or 5, then I will have ascended to... something beyond what I am at right now. I can do more things physically and mentally, and take care of things that I would otherwise put of forever.

6. I have more confidence. I no longer look at my skills as the enemy; for the most part, I see challenge as an opportunity to grow.

7. It hasn't solved all of my physical problems. I still have really frequent bathroom breaks from #2, which hits me 4-6 times in the morning alone. It is a semi-serious health concern and royal pain in the arse. I will need to get this looked into.

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So that has been my experience with the 30-Day water challenge. I will need to find something else to focus on in my quest to improve myself. I will continue drinking 3L of water for the foreseeable future, since I like water, and it's making me feel terrific.

There are things that I look into for my future that I don't feel too confident with. But hey, if I was able to do this for a month, what else can I do with the right amount of focus? I don't know, but I know that I can find out.

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Sorry if this seemed sappy, but I did feel the need to share this. I hope you all have a great day!

Comments

[Icanhazmochi]

Well, water is natural, soda and juice is not! Apart from having excess sugar, sodium and various chemicals, it also has a surprising amount of calories if you aren't paying attention. Glad you're feeling better! This is an awesome start to a full body transformation, potentially :P
As I read, it wasn't easy for you, and it probably still won't be if you do drink some sugary drinks still, but even cutting out soda on its own will help immensely with weight loss.
The irony being, of course, you write fetishy weight gain stories makes this even better, haha.
Good blog by the way, very thorough! Stay positive!

[Learn for Life]

4582168
Thank you for the encouragement! I no longer drink soda, and won't be going back to it, so no worries there. The closest I may get to that is orange juice, but I will be sticking with water as my preferred beverage of choice.

As for weight loss, I think I'm doing as much as I can. I just need to keep at it and let my body take its course.

And yes, it is odd that I write weight gain fiction. I think big women are beautiful, and growth/inflation/fat interests me greatly.

I shall stay positive, and you have a positive day!