Hello My Sweet Lovelies,

Earlier in this beautiful autumn season, I was inspired by one of my favorite beauty influencers, Nabela Noor, to embark on the 30 Day Water Challenge. This challenge is a great way to jumpstart improvement to your overall health and lifestyle. So I decided to drink a gallon of water per day for thirty days in the month of September. You may be wondering why I didn’t write about this in early October. It’s a valid question. I decided to write about it after I was able to make it a consistent part of my daily routine even after the challenge was officially over.

How do you drink a gallon of water a day? One sip at a time.

I have always been a daily water drinker since my early teens. The list of benefits of drinking water daily in lieu of soda or juice is almost endless: healthier skin, better digestion, boosts the immune system, flushes out toxins from the body, and even prevents headaches. Before starting the challenge, I was drinking about half a gallon a day so I was not full mermaid status. I went on Amazon and snagged the BuildLife 1 Gallon Water Bottle Motivational Fitness Workout with Time Marker. I would fill it up in the morning after breakfast and the time stamps on it would help me stay on track during the day to make sure I was fully hydrated. I have seen different incarnations of the 30 day water challenge online. Some of them prohibit drinking alcohol (guess who didn’t do that?), and some of them prohibit drinking sweetened coffee (guess who skipped that part too?). I already have a balanced diet, only drink two cups of coffee a day, I like working out, and only occasionally have a glass of wine so I didn’t feel the need to drastically change my day to day routine. All I did was start drinking A LOT OF WATER. I truly believe that when it comes to fitness and health you achieve better long term results by making small changes at first to your lifestyle so you can develop healthy habits you will stick with in the future.

Welcome To My New Life As A Mermaid.

When I told people I was doing this month long challenge, the most common response was. “Wow, I guess you will have to pee a lot!”. Yes that’s true. The first three days I was definitely making more trips to the ladies room that normal, but after those first few days my body stabilized. I started noticing the benefits of all this aqua after the first seven days. One week in and my afternoon candy craving was gone. In fact I noticed I stopped craving sweet things in general.

After two weeks I said bye-bye to bloating! I noticed that my tummy started looking flatter and that pesky bloating that so many women deal with was reduced. By the last week of the month, I noticed that I did not have a single breakout for the entire month, the dry patches on my chin were softer, and overall I felt better. When October rolled around I did fall off the wagon but I promptly got back in formation, diligently filling my water bottle every morning when I noticed I did not feel as well and my skin was showing some new signs of dryness when I was applying my makeup. Now that I have completed the challenge for almost three months in a row it has become second nature. There is definitely a difference in the extent of the benefits of drinking half a gallon a day versus a full gallon of water per day. #MermaidStatus.

What I will say about the 30 Day Water Challenge is that the first week is the hardest but if you stay consistent you will see multiple benefits for your skin and your overall health. In order to stay on track here are some helpful hints:

1. Start the day by drinking water as soon as you wake up!
2. Be sure to drink your water at least 30 minutes before you eat to help digestion.
3. Use the time stamps on your water bottle to help you stay focused!

If you decide to do your own water challenge, be sure to snap a picture and tag me on social media @sagebeautyblog! Cheers to the next 30 days!

XOXO

Lily Sage