30 Day Water Step Challenge
Background
I love experimenting and trying new things for 30 days. The gradual change can become incorporated into your daily life with the notion that this new habit formed could possibly continue afterwards. The simplicity of it is so alluring, realistic and attainable. So far I’ve completed and documented the following: 30 Days of No Cardio then 60 Days of No Cardio (Team No Cardio 💪🏾), 30 Day Plank Challenge, 30 Days of 100g of Protein and 30 Days of Coconut Oil Pulling. I’m still keeping up with all of these to this day. I have not done any cardio since Feb 2019, I now hit 200g or more of protein a day, I coconut oil pull everyday and planks are still fun! They are now embedded into my daily life.
The 30 Day Challenge
I wanted to start a new 30 day challenge and connected with my clients to get ideas. They came up with increasing their daily water intake 🚰And I threw in to also increase their daily steps 👣So voila! 💪🏾I wanted to keep this simple and not create a one size fits all criteria. If you typically drink a glass of water a day. I challenged folks to drink 2 glasses a day, then steadily increase to 3 glasses the following week, etc. When it comes to steps I challenged folks to aim for a range of 5k-10k steps a day. Most smartphones and/or watches can assist in tracking daily step counts. Maybe take the stairs instead of the elevator and/or go for a walk. Sustainable habits -> Consistency -> Lifestyle.
The goal was to commit to implementing these activities into a daily routine for the next 30 days at an individual’s pace. You can find the documentation of each day via my IG highlight reel: 30 Day Challenge
Below is a testimonial from my amazing client Vanna.
Testimonial from Vanna
“Drinking water? 💧(seriously though, why isn't there a water glass emoji) anywho continuing - I ❤️ it. The majority of the population will always say "water has no taste" which it technically doesn't. But as weird as it may sound, there are some water companies I do not like. Their water is simply nasty. Since I have no problem with water consumption I had no problem with this challenge. Where my personal challenge came in is remembering to drink water. Yes everyone can be busy and drinking lots of water means frequent trips to the bathroom 🚽 (Oh look what I just found👉🏼🚰 haha). Soo I have to say forcing myself to drink lots of water has been going great. There are many benefits in doing so. I'm sure there are those who would find drinking so much water a hard thing to do. But there are also ways of tweaking the challenge to work specifically to fit your needs and goals. That is crucial is having yourself be comfortable with starting and confident with finishing!! I look forward to many challenges with my girls 💪🏼😆 - P.S. Get you a trainer like mine”
My Experience
This experience was one of the easier challenges for me to complete on a personal level. As I make sure to hydrate and have a daily 10k step intake overall. Out of the 30 days there was one day where I did not hit the 10k step goal which was on November 18th when I lost my voice due to laryngitis. I stayed home from work for vocal chord rest. I got a total of 5,715 steps that day. Why do I share this? Again the goal was not perfection the goal was to simply move more and increase daily water intake. That was achieved and I did not fail. No one failed the challenge.
Something I have been doing since October is carving out 30 minutes a day to go for a walk during my 9 - 5 job. No matter what I was going to commit to walking outside for 30 mins no matter how busy my day got. It was such an amazing experience. It was so therapeutic. I would put my headphones on and be one with the world. It was the me time I so needed.
What was challenging was motivating the group. I have a private IG group for my clients. Everyday I would message the group something like this for example “Good Morning Team! Happy Day # 5!”. The momentum was high the first week with the group. They would post on IG, tagging each other and share their pictures on the private group. After the 1st week was done, the momentum was gone. So as a Coach I was constantly thinking how I could assist them to push through. I would offer suggestions such as setting reminders on a work and/or personal calendar. Sticking to just water intake or daily steps. Setting alarms. Checking in with one another. Reflecting on this, I need to figure out how to better assist my clients and be a better coach.
Conclusion
This was a great experiment to conduct and experience with my clients. They all were able to work on personal goals, connect with others and try something new. I am so incredibly proud of them. There is no failing. Everyone tried and that is what matters. Now to think of the next challenge!
I hope that sharing my personal experience can aide in your own personal journeys as you continue to work on your own personal fitness and nutrition goals.
If you took the time to read this blog. I thank you. Till next time.
xoxoxo,
Jess
“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty”
