The Internet is full of articles claiming if you drink more water you’ll lose weight, have more energy, and have glowing skin. Coming into this experiment of drinking 3 liters of water every day for five days, I was pretty excited to figure out if all the benefits of being extremely hydrated were true. I wasn’t, however, excited for constant trips to the bathroom and the hassle of chugging water constantly.
Here’s how my 5 days of 3 liters went:
Day 1
I said I was excited to try this out, but I might have been exaggerating. Coming into this week I was stressed about writing papers and midterms, and I didn’t want another thing to worry about. But on Day 1, I magically drank 3 liters of water without even noticing it. Disclaimer: I usually drink about 3 water bottles per day, so by the time I drank my normal amount and had a few cups of herbal tea I had accomplished my 3L goal. Day 1 = success!
Day 2
I woke up with a headache, and I was not impressed. Isn’t water supposed to stop headaches?! I also was hit hard by my normal midday slump, and didn’t feel like drinking more water gave me any extra energy. I did, however feel very full after chugging 4 cups, which prevented me from snacking in between meals. I started a tally in my planner to keep track of how much water I was drinking—a strategy I really liked! The downside of day 2 was that after dinner I still hadn’t finished my 3L yet, so I chugged down my final cups—and then had to wake up to pee TWO times in the night.
Day 3
On day 3 I decided to spice things up with some cucumber and lime flavored water. This made it more enjoyable and refreshing to gulp down my 13 cups. I also developed a strategy to finish drinking my water early in the day, because I was seriously not happy about having to get up at night.
Day 4
To be honest, on day 4 I was ready to give up. I was feeling a bit more full than usual in between meals, but other than I wasn’t seeing any extra benefits. By afternoon I had only had about 6 cups and started to develop a headache. Was I having water withdrawals?!? I quickly drank 4 cups, and my headache started to fade.
Day 5
The last day! I was ready to go back to drinking my normal amount of water.
5 days of drinking 3 liters of water went differently than I expected. I thought I would literally be drowning and hate having to drink so much water, but it really wasn’t that bad to up my daily intake. Because I normally drink 8 cups per day, I didn’t notice that many changes, except maybe feeling a bit more full and snacking less (turns out I actually lost 2lbs!). I really liked keeping track of how much water I’m drinking, so I’ve started drawing 8 water drops in my daily planner which I fill in as I drink! Now that summer is almost here, do whatever works for you, but remember to stay hydrated.