Time for a personal challenge! As the title reveals, I want to try drinking only water during a week. I wanted to try this for a really long time but either forgot or did not make it for a whole week. The past week (Monday till yesterday) I decided I just had to do it. For those who read my 25 before 25 blog, you might recognize this as one of the items on that bucket list. Therefore, another reason to simply go for it. The reason why I decided to give this a go is mainly my skin condition. I never had a perfect skin but lately it is a real mess. Acne everywhere and my skin looks tired. My pores are huge and my eye bags as well. I don’t get happy when I look at my skin condition. I want to see if there’s some sort of relation to drinking water. Also, I find myself a bit swollen in my face and body while I don’t eat any different than usual.
I usually just drink whatever I want more or less. In my case this means, coffee, juices (fresh or not), diet coke and other sodas, hot chocolate, wine, beer. You name it, I really don’t have rules when it comes to my drinking habits. But maybe I should and therefore I want to do this little experiment.
Rules
-One coffee a day with a tiny bit of milk – Yes, I know this is not water but otherwise I can’t start my day
-Tea is allowed
-No sodas, especially no diet coke
-Smoothies are allowed when they’re made with fruits and water only
-No alcohol
So how did my week go? Check my diary below!
Monday
I started the day as usual with my daily cup of coffee. Nothing special about that. In the afternoon I had a smoothie with leftover fruits: apple/banana/lemon and blended it with water. I love smoothies. Smoothies are a good way for me to get my daily dose of fruits and vitamins. It was a nice and warm October day with 26 degrees, which is extraordinary for The Netherlands. We therefore decided to do a BBQ. I obviously drunk water but was craving a beer.
Tuesday
In the afternoon I had the yummiest smoothie ever! With frozen mango, banana and lemon, blended with water. So yummy, definitely a must try! I feel that I didn’t drink enough this day. I’ll have to do better on Wednesday. Around 4 o’clock I was craving a nice cup of coffee such as a cappuccino or an ice coffee. I can really tell now that my body is used to drinking whatever, whenever.
Wednesday
Boo I ran out of milk so I had my coffee black. It fits the challenge better I suppose. This day I didn’t feel annoyed by just drinking water. Maybe I am slowly getting used to it?
Thursday
Time for breakfast. The milk in my coffee is back. It was also my meatless day. It’s one of my 25 before 25 goals to introduce some meatless days. I had a day full of struggles sticking to both the meatless aspect and drinking only water. My hormones were crazy and I was craving everything, you girls will understand. Still, I managed to stick to it and rewarded myself with Ben & Jerry’s.
Friday
This day I didn’t feel like a smoothie at lunch so I took a vitamin with water as a sort of replacement. I know very well that this is not the same as eating fruit but hey. As Friday is the start of the weekend, I was really craving my diet coke and perhaps a beer.. struggles.
Saturday
Best way to start the day is drinking coffee from your favourite cup. Unlike Thursday and Friday, I didn’t feel any cravings to have anything else to drink but my morning coffee and water. In the afternoon I drank another vitamin capsule with water.
Sunday
The last day of this challenge arrived. This day I drank pretty much the same as Saturday and I felt more ok with limiting my choice to water. No difficulties this day.
CONCLUSION – My reason for trying this was mainly my skin condition. Do I notice something? Well, the acne seems to be even worse. I got a massive breakout. Why did this happen?!? The thing I noticed though, is the fact my skin is glowy and healthy looking, if you look past the acne. Eye bags are still there. Another plus that I notice is that my belly is less bloated, yay!
I am quite proud that I stuck to my challenge and that I didn’t cheat. I also feel is that I don’t mind drinking just water anymore and the cravings for something else have become a lot less.
What do you think of this personal challenge? Do you drink enough water? Let me now in the comments.
*Main image from Pinterest
23 oktober 2017 at 18:34
My biggest problem is he Diet Coke!!
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24 oktober 2017 at 10:33
Ahh same here!!
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23 oktober 2017 at 19:59
I love this! I really need to up my water game! Great challenge! I think I may have to partake in it to 🙂 I also think the break out is just you flushing out the bad stuff, its gotcha get bad to get better! xx
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24 oktober 2017 at 10:38
I think you’re totally right about the fact that my skin first needs to get bad to get better. I’m always a bit impatient and want to see direct results :p although I know very well that it doesnt work like that haha. I’d love to know if you end up doing something similar as well 🙂 Really curious what you would experience 🙂 xxx
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25 oktober 2017 at 21:46
I hear ya, I want clear skin and I want it now!! Your not the only one there 🙂
I started the water today, 2 litres!!! My poor kidneys don’t know whats hit them! Looking forward to the same again tomorrow!! I’m hoping a new habit will stick!! Thank you for spurring me on 🙂 xxx
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28 oktober 2017 at 11:14
Hahaha wow 2 litres! You go girl! Keep it up, you can do it 😊 for me it has been week two… only cheated once with a glass of Diet coke 🙈 aaaand you were right that my skin was flushing out the bad.. it’s already a bit better xxx
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30 oktober 2017 at 22:47
I’ve been keeping it up and loving it!! A few more trips to the bathroom i’ll admit and I’m getting spots now to but I’m eager to keep it up 🙂 I find now I’m more thirsty and reach for the water quicker than I did before! xx
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23 oktober 2017 at 20:28
I’m trying to do this too! It’s hard 🙈
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24 oktober 2017 at 10:50
Good luck! Fingers crossed 🙂
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23 oktober 2017 at 20:41
I’m motivated now. I’m going to start the water challenge tomorrow. I’ll let you know how it goes.
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24 oktober 2017 at 10:40
Awww that is amazing! I am happy that I could motivate you to try this 😀 Yes, do let me know how it goes and what you experience throughout the week. Good luck!
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23 oktober 2017 at 21:42
One thing that may be useful when you do challenges like this is to remember that your skin should usually take at least 30 days to show internal changes like dietary habits – I remember reading that somewhere and for me it’s held pretty true 🙂 So maybe if it hasn’t helped already try a 30 day version?xx
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24 oktober 2017 at 10:44
Hey girl! Thanks for sharing this info, really appreciate it. It’s motivating and helpful to know these facts. Especially as I am always so impatient when I add new changes to my life and want to see quick results, even if I know that’s usually not feasible. One of my biggest flaws haha! I will try to stick to this for a longer period. Hopefully I see an improvement next month. Thanks again lovely! xxx
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24 oktober 2017 at 00:40
This is good, but water alone will not solve the problem with acne. Try going to the dermatologist and getting a Retin A prescription. It will clear up the acne. You may also try clay masks to dry out the acne. Try a rice toner as well. Hope his helps. So sorry t hear about his issue. 🤗
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24 oktober 2017 at 10:47
First of all thanks for your tips! I think these are very helpfull and will for sure go look for a good clay mask. I had never heard of a rice toner, I will also look for that. If it continues for too long then you might be right about the dermatologist. First I’d like to try it the easy way. Hope it works as I feel too old to have acne. I really appreciate the help ❤
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24 oktober 2017 at 13:49
Here’s the link to my blog on DIY rice toner. https://ingridmadisonave.com/2017/10/19/diy-rice-toner/
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24 oktober 2017 at 13:49
🍀
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24 oktober 2017 at 01:18
Will definitely have to try doing this! I mainly stick to a cordial & iced coffee most days. The iced coffee in the mornings though just for a quick kick but I have at least 300ml of Diet Coke / Pepsi a day! Determined to try this challenge x
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24 oktober 2017 at 10:51
Diet Coke is also one of my guilty pleasures! Good luck if you try this! Fingers crossed 🙂 xx
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24 oktober 2017 at 20:11
i seriously need to do this too!! great post! ❤
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24 oktober 2017 at 20:29
you go girl! drinking water is so important! you will see more and more benefits when you keep drinking water ❤
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25 oktober 2017 at 11:08
Water really makes your skin super glowing & healthy! Hope you’ll keep it up!! 🙂
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28 oktober 2017 at 11:10
Thanks girlie! Week two is almost over and I see more improvement 😍 so happy!
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27 oktober 2017 at 00:33
Hey 🙂 great challenge – water intake is a biggy for me too, I never drink enough! So good on you for sticking to your challenge, hopefully it will become more of a habit. I have definitely found that the more you drink water the more you get used to it and don’t mind it as much an even end up preferring water to other drinks. As for the acne, water won’t flush out all the bad toxins I’m afraid – it’s a great help, but it’s very often milk products that cause bad acne I find. Since going dairy free I rarely get any big spots or breakouts 🙂 xo
https://simplycarinaxo.wordpress.com
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28 oktober 2017 at 11:18
Hey! Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting 😊 Week two is nearly over and you’re right, I am slowly getting used to drinking water and don’t mind it so much now. Thanks for the dairy tip! I didn’t know this. I’m crazy about cheese and butter 🙈 might not be a bad idea to reduce the amount I eat of it! Do you for example use almond milk instead of reguar milk? Have a lovely weekend 😊 xx
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28 oktober 2017 at 15:20
Hey no worries 😊 and yes dairy and sugar are the two worst for outbreaks I find, you should definitely try cutting it out/reducing it to see if it makes a difference, I can’t promise anything, I can just say for me it made a massive difference 😊 However it will take some time for your body to get used to a new diet and impurities to leave your body so don’t give up if you don’t see results straight away. And yes I use almond milk for my smoothies and porridge/cereal… there’s lots of varieties out there though, oat milk, soy… experiment see what you like best 🙂 I think its a really easy swap to make. As for cheese, yeah the dairy free ones aren’t great, but again try it see if you can swap some of them maybe, my favourite it violife 🙂 xx
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27 oktober 2017 at 05:40
Such a great post! I need to drink more water. Thanks for sharing this! Xx
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27 oktober 2017 at 14:25
I’ve been trying to drink more water for a while now, I saw a slight breakout during the first little while, I think that its just your body flushing out all of the bad etc all in one go. I definitely saw a huge difference in the health of my skin after that though! Keep it up x
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28 oktober 2017 at 11:53
Yes I experienced the exact same! After a week I had a massive breakout and now after almost two weeks it got better 😊 Will definitely continue, curious how it will be after a month! xx
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29 oktober 2017 at 15:03
People always wonder how can I drink so much (in their eyes) water. But I just like it. And days when I’m not drinking enough, I just feel physically terrible. I’m sure once you stick to the habit, you won’t be able to let go 😀
And also, beer is nice, don’t necessarily cut that.
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30 oktober 2017 at 09:59
Yes, you’re so right! I think it has to become a habit and then I will not find it so hard and bad anymore haha. I have to say that I am slowly getting used to it. And… a beer from time to time doesn’t hurt :p
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30 oktober 2017 at 01:41
I need to try this little challenge! I drink way too much coffee haha.
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30 oktober 2017 at 10:00
Coffee is life ❤ hahah! Give it a try, it's not always easy and fun but worth the try 🙂 x
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4 november 2017 at 10:22
This is such a ‘healthy’ post ❤ Much Love.
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