Shir tries to drink the recommended amount of water each day

For my 20 days, I committed to drinking a full recommended amount of water each day.

I chose this lifestyle change because during the school day, I would not often go out of my way to fill up my water bottle or drink anything close to the recommended amount (around 5 or 6 bottles a day). By doing this challenge, I was forcing myself to go out of my way to drink the proper, healthy amount of water. I hoped by the end of this challenge, I would feel less tired, have a more positive and enthusiastic outlook, and live a healthier lifestyle overall. I definitely thought that I would be able to stick with it during the twenty days and, if I see positive results, will definitely continue even beyond the challenge.

The first week was surprisingly the easiest week for me. I remembered to pack my bottle every morning, I made sure to ration how much water I was drinking throughout the day, and I was excited to tell all my friends about the challenge, who in turn gave me a lot of support. In addition, I was getting migraines a lot less frequently than I did before the challenge. The only main problem I ran into was that I underestimated how many times throughout the day I would have to leave class to refill my bottle or go to the bathroom.

The second week into the challenge was my worst week. The support from my friends began to fade as this challenge was not really “new” or “exciting” anymore. I began to forget to pack my bottle some days throughout the week and found myself too focused in class, causing me to forget to drink the water even when I remembered my bottle.

The last week of the challenge was a lot easier than the second week; I learned to be much more self-reliant and self-motivated. Although I still did not have as much support as I did the first week, I set reminders on my phone to pack my bottle in the morning and started making drinking water a priority throughout the day. By the third week, my skin cleared up, I felt slightly more energetic and I was getting migraines even less frequently.

Overall, although the challenge may seem insignificant or even ordinary to some, I realized just how much our school or busy everyday lives do not accommodate for even the simplest of health habits. There is barely time in the day between classes to fill up water bottles, the school’s water fountains are often not at the “green” or “ready to use” filtration levels, and even gym classes do not give the proper opportunities throughout class for students to stay hydrated. Although this challenge did have many benefits, I just do not think I saw a big enough change to continue drinking that much water beyond the challenge, but this challenge definitely has caused me to drink more water in my everyday life and has opened my eyes to the ways our school could better encourage healthy lifestyles.