I've Been Watered Down and Fully Grown!

Its finally over!
For those of you who know I've been doing a 30 day water-intake challenge, you know that getting down at least 2 litres a day has been quite the endeavor (lots of moaning and lots of bragging). For the rest of you...well you may be able to tell from this week's blog title that I was a bigger fan of chick rock band Veruca Salt in '97 than I let on.

But giant water gulps and gnarly guitar riffs aside, this is a natural beauty blog. Let's get down to business as report on my results. How does my skin feel? How does my body look?

Well, I am happy to announce (as I predicted) that I look and feel much better. Now, it isn't just that my skin is more hydrated - which was what expected, but a variety of new beauty changes.

Firstly, I have less water-retention. Anyone who knows me knows that I am very conscious of my puffiness. It sort of runs in the family. My mother tracks her puffiness like Ben track the Liverpool scores. I even remember distinctly when she first learnt about rap mogul Puff Daddy aka. Puffy, she exclaimed "Puffy?! Who wants to be Puffy? I try my hardest to avoid being called puffy?!". I still laugh.

But while may people think water-retention is from too much internal water, it often is caused by dehydration. Our bodies hoard and store water when there is a lack of it in our systems creating emergency hydration reserves. So, very early into my water challenge, I found that I woke up in the morning significantly less swolleness in my face - which really brightened my day.

The second positive change I experienced was that I could sleep better. During times of stress (which is often), I usually wake up in the middle of the night for a few hours. This is due to excess heat caused by mental aggravation and excess Pitta in the liver. But because I was drinking a lot of cooling liquids infused with alkalizing chlorophyll, my body felt less internally inflamed allowing me to get a better night's rest. This of course helps everything - your acid level decreases, your bowels work better and you absorb nutrients easier. Your skin reaps the rewards of this overall balance by becoming more vibrant and glowing.

So, with this motivation, I have continued to consume an increased amount of water each day even after the challenge has been completed (Sunday). Nothing promotes change like results. Just the other day, I told a cheese-loving client who struggles with chronic whiteheads and congestion: "Try avoiding dairy for two weeks. When you see your skin improve, it will be like Havarti what?"

I find when we experiment with new challenges it is best to set goals with a set end in sight. A light at the end of the tunnel makes these lifestyle changes seem less daunting, and if we look and feel better, we will fall into a new habit .