52-Week Challenge: Week Two

Greetings!  Thank you to all of you who agreed to do this "52-Week Challenge" with me!  I'm looking forward to hearing how you implement each week's challenge and how successful you are.  I really think it will be helpful to share our personal experiences; someone who may be struggling with that week's challenge may get a tip from YOU and learn how to succeed!  I'll continue to link this blog to Facebook each week, but feel free to leave comments on here as well.  You never know who you might help by simply sharing your thoughts!

So, with that in mind, how did you all do with week one's challenge of drinking more water?  I didn't find this week to extremely difficult because I've always been quite a camel when it comes to drinking water; however, I don't think I've ever attempted to drink AS MUCH as I did the past week.  The first two days were a struggle.  I found myself gulping down at least half of the last bottle of water right before bed just to make sure I got it all in. . . and then I was up at least twice during the night to go pee!  But after the first few days, I seemed to actually crave the water.  I was feeling the need to drink more, and I wasn't forcing it anymore.  In fact, I found myself actually drinking MORE water than was necessary to complete the challenge.  I was downing FOUR Camelback bottles a day.  Did anyone else have this experience?

The only bad part of this challenge:  having to pee CONSTANTLY.  I felt like I was pregnant again.  Bluh.  Supposedly this will fade as your body gets used to the increased in-take of water.  Let's hope so.

Anyways, on to week two.  The focus this week is on sleep.  The challenge is to get 7-8 hours of restful sleep each night.  I can almost HEAR some of you sighing.  "Trust me, Jenn.  I WISH I could get 7-8 hours of restful sleep a night!"  Well, this week, make it a priority!

I know there are some things out of our control that might prevent us from meeting this challenge.  Small children, for example.  There will definitely be nights when 7-8 hours of sleep are impossible, but those should be the exception and not the norm.  Focus this week on things you can change to make 7-8 hours of sleep at least a possibility.

For example, I know that my son gets up between 7-8 every morning like clockwork.  That means I should be aiming at going to bed around 11:00 every night.  Easy enough, right?  Should be.  But I often find myself up waaaay too late doing silly things:  watching mindless TV, tinkering around on Facebook, playing 'Words With Friends, or--lately--reading.  I also have a bad habit of sleeping with the TV on which causes me to wake up several times each night.  These are things I can change to make sure I am at least setting myself up for 7-8 hours of sleep each night.  So this week I vow to turn off the tv and computer, put the book away, and get to bed at a decent hour.

As always make sure to check out the book '52 Small Changes' for more tips and facts on how to complete this week's challenge.

And by the way, before I go, I just wanted to remind that just because technically week one's challenge is complete, it doesn't mean you can just go back to not drinking any water!  Be sure to keep up with your goal!  Don't worry if you still have remind yourself to drink more.  Studies have shown that it can anywhere from a week to an entire year before our habits become actual habits.  But that's our ultimate goal during these next 52 weeks:  to turn these small changes into habits that will make us all "healthier and happier."

Good luck!  Be sure to share your experiences!