One of my biggest problems... besides being a control freak/perfectionist... is my water intake. One of my besties is a self-proclaimed jug-head... no, not the character from Archie, the comic, but someone who carries her gallon of water around, wherever she goes.  So after buying a gazillion different bottles, in hopes that having a new toy would make me want to drink more (logical, I know) I decided that I was going to challenge myself to drink a gallon of water a day, from the gallon. So far I'm going strong-ish, I have good days and bad, but here are 4 things I learned from my gallon a day challenge:

Dem Gunz: A gallon of water is heavy. I often have to use two hands until it gets to about half way and then I go one handed so that I don't have to dumbbell curls at the gym later. In all seriousness, when you make a goal such as this it takes a lot of mental strength. Most of the time, I would look over at my gallon and think, "Seriously?!?!? That's all I've drank so far?!" But that just made me try harder and at the end of the day, when I took that last gulp it was so satisfying.

Haters Gonna Hate: Something I realized when trying new things, is there's always that one person who has something negative to say. For instance, I walked into the kitchen at work and set my jug down on the table and not 2 seconds in, one of my coworkers says, "Got enough water?” I explained why I had it and she replies with, "Ya know you can drink too much water." I wanted to say, "Should I instead have a gallon of that Mountain Dew you're drinking?" But I didn't. I just put my lunch in the microwave and changed the subject.

So it really doesn't matter what you do, good or bad, positive or negative, there's always going to be someone who doesn't approve, tries to sway you or has some type of unconstructive criticism. Some people are just mean and others are jealous. And some genuinely think they are helping, without understanding why your doing it or your lifestyle Whatever the case is, just remember you can't change others, you can only change yourself. And when it comes to your health and wellbeing change in the right direction is always good. So don't let anyone stop you.

My bladder and I are frenemies: Clearly, I need her in my life, but she did not make this easy. I think the first day of anything is tough.  The first day of drinking this much water was rough. My daytime job is very high stress and constant. I'm at my desk all day. I literally got up to pee every 20 minutes. If you asked me that day, I would’ve told you I was up every 8 seconds, because that’s how it felt. It was tough and I felt like I wasn't getting anything done. But it gets better... sort of. If nothing at all, it becomes normal to pee that much. I learned to just keep going. I stopped caring what people thought or what would happen if everything didn't get done right now. Because what happened was when I got back to my desk it was still there... My work, my phone, my computer, it was all still there. It didn't get taken or melt away. It was there. So sometimes life gets stressful and we feel like if we can't walk away because something bad will happen. Well I can assure you, that it will not. You can back away from your desk, go for a walk, take any type of time out you need the world will not end. Everything will be fine.

Set goals: The most important thing I learned is the importance of setting goals. I have long term goals and life goals. I want to do the American Ninja Warrior Course. I want to be a mom. I want to hold some sort of powerlifitng record, even if it’s the oldest woman in powerlifitng record. But short term goals are just as important. If all we had were bucket list type of goals, the grand feeling of achievement would be so far out of reach who knows if those goals would ever come to fruition. Short term goals allow us to stay positive and keep chugging along. They also redirect us. For instance, you have the short term goal of losing 10 lbs. But what if that doesn't happen? For me, that's when I get down and resort to binge eating to feel good. Because ice cream is always the answer, right? No! But switching gears a little might be.  Something like drinking a gallon of water a day. It not only helped me lose a few pounds but it made me feel accomplished. So now I’m back to tracking and sticking to a meal plan and I’m ready to walk into the gym, with my jug and kill my workout. It lit a fire under my butt. If I, the person that could barely chug 8 oz. of water a day can now say I drink a gallon of water a day... anyone can.