You know those people who magically blow through eight water bottles a day? The ones who thrive off hydration and ~just aren’t that into~ soda? Yeah, I’m not one of those people. Instead, I’m over here paying $5.95 for my one-pump caramel mocha and blowing through… half a cup of water per day? Maybe less.
I know. I KNOW. There are tons of articles out there on how much your body needs water. It’s basically the elixir of life, but I just can’t get jazzed about eight glasses of plain water a day (I mean, who would?). I’m already having the salad for lunch, what more do you want from me world?!
But when I started cracking sodas bright and early at 10:00 am, I knew it was time for a change. It’s true what they say about your body craving sugar — the more soda I had, the more I wanted it. I was hooked on the fizz, and I needed an intervention. I needed to drink water that tasted better than water… or that actually had a taste at all.
Enter hint water. Known for their zero diet sweeteners (see you in hell, added sugar), zero preservatives, and non-GMO fruits, I originally heard of hint while roaming the aisles of my local grocery store. Easy to grab n’ go and flavored and still actually water?! Sign me up.
My goal? To spend one week drinking the suggested amount of water and nothing else (what can I say, life is about living in extremes). I’m keeping my normal eating habits (yay for pasta!) to see exactly how the water effects me when I don’t change anything else. The suggested daily intake of water is half your body weight in fluid ounces, so in my case, around four hint water bottles. Challenge accepted.
Getting Started
Lucky for me, hint has a range of options that sounded a lot better than simply drinking 54 ounces of plain ol’ water every day (no thanks). The three options they offer are:
hint water – fruit infused water with flavors such as pear, blackberry, and raspberry.
hint fizz – sparkling water with flavors such as cherry, watermelon, and grapefruit.
hint kick – caffeinated water in the flavors of apple pear, black raspberry, and lemon cayenne.
As someone who lives off anything carbonated, I immediately went for hint fizz (cherry and blackberry flavor) to ease myself into this transition — see soda, I don’t need you. Now that I had purchased the water bottles, it was time to drink (all of) them. Let the journey begin!
Days 1-3
Breaking out of sugar cravings is hard, and I’ll admit, the first day was a struggle. I was going from barely a sip of water a day to drinking it non-stop, and it felt like I was drinking ALL THE TIME. I was getting full so much quicker because I was filling up my body with water — which is actually a really good thing, it just took a second to adjust. I would’ve been appalled by the difficult time I was having, but hint fizz made the whole scenario a lot less overwhelming with its carbonation (god bless) and refreshing flavor. The carbonation was subtle and I quickly realized hint fizz cherry was my favorite.
Another immediately noticeable change? I needed to go to the bathroom all the time (but seriously though). It felt inconvenient on the first day — I hated having to stop in the middle of something to pee AGAIN — but after day two, I was already used to it. I even appreciated the not-so-subtle reminder to get up and move around every half hour or so. I was actually using my legs during a workday and getting enough water at the same time — #winning.
Overall, the first three days were a combination of constantly reminding myself to drink water while also trying to live my life (and catch up on The Bachelorette). Nonetheless, I stuck to the amount of water I needed to drink — hint was a huge help here, the watermelon flavor was the perfect antidote to 80° days and it actually tasted like watermelon and not the sticky sweet synthetic watermelon you find in Jolly Ranchers and Smackers lip balm.
I was on the lookout for clearer skin, more energy, and better overall health (naturally all things that can happen in seven days, right?).
Days 4-7
Like all habits we form, there’s a threshold we reach where everything suddenly becomes easier. Day four was that threshold for me. I would love to be able to say I woke up with Carrie Underwood’s voluminous hair and Jessica Alba’s flawless skin while also being able to run a 5-minute mile and not spend an extra hour on social media before going to bed (dream of dreams, am I right?). Instead, I woke up as myself, only I felt so much better. I could drink an entire bottle of water in a sitting comfortably — HALLELU. And there was a subtle glow happening — it was like I had an invisible beauty light hovering over my face all day. Let me tell you, it was one serious confidence boost.
As the days went on, I started to notice obvious changes in my everyday life. I drank the necessary amount of water without even thinking about it and woke up so energized that I forwent my morning coffee (and subsequent headache) *gasp*. The caffeinated version of hint — hint kick — ended up replacing my morning boost and it made me feel so. unbelievably. healthy. I was actually doing it — drinking (tons of) water and not hating my life. The fruit flavors — pear, raspberry, and watermelon ended up being my favs — were a lifesaver and kept my routine varied. Instead of drinking regular water for 14 hours straight, I was drinking different flavors at every turn — while mixing in some regular water too. Without that variation, I would have struggled to meet my quota.
It turns out if you give your body what it craves — in this case, water — it rewards you. It seems like a “duh” moment, but it’s often hard to look past the instant gratification of that soda or coffee or candy bar. Once you do, you start seeing and feeling the results. I had energy (my usual 2 pm slump was nowhere to be found), my skin felt less oily, and I was eating less overall — which led to fewer stomach aches and after lunch regrets. That lunchtime salad actually started to feel fulfilling. I didn’t want the side of mac n’ cheese because the water was sustaining me. Once you get past the mental block of I DESERVE THIS MAC N’ CHEESE I WORK HARD DAMMIT, you reach a point where you realize you don’t even want it. If this is what water could do for me, I wanted more. I was finally hooked on something that was actually healthy for my body. Weird… but also pretty freakin’ cool.
Ready for your own water challenge?
Click here to buy the hint variety pack and start your own water challenge — who knows what benefits you might see? The pack includes hint’s four best sellers (including my fav: watermelon!). Use the discount code “variety15” to get 12 bottles for only $15 + shipping.
For me, this experience was an eye-opening one. Before, I was spending money on every drink — that $5+ coffee every morning adds up FAST — and struggling to get through the day without a nap. Who would’ve thought that simply drinking enough water would help with the majority of these problems?
Although I still needed to go to the bathroom more than usual, the improvements I saw from the last seven days were enough for me to know that I needed to continue building up drinking water into a habit. It only takes 21 days, supposedly. With hint by my side, I feel up to the challenge. Sure, I may not be as focused on drinking exactly four bottles a day after this, but I’ve felt the difference that drinking water can make and I’m excited to see how these differences and improvements grow and flourish as I continue to give my body the water it needs. Not bad for my first intervention.
This post was in partnership with hint, but all of the opinions within are those of The Everygirl editorial board.
The post I Drank Nothing but Water for 7 Days — Here’s What Happened appeared first on The Everygirl.