The 52 week challenge is based off of the book by Brett Blumenthal: 52 small changes: One year to a happier, healthier you. I had started this challenge back in August of last year when I had finished the book, and had tried to post almost daily on how I was doing with the different challenges, and then I slowly stopped doing it.

So I’m going to take the challenge back up (the book never stated when you had to start—just that it may take longer than a year to get each challenge in). So in addition to the photography challenge, I’m going to (hopefully) post a recap for each week to share how I’ve done with that particular challenge.

The first challenge is the water challenge. This is a topic that everyone has an opinion—some agree that you should just drink the 8 to 10 glasses of 8oz (which will have you roughly somewhere between 64 and 80 oz of water a day), while others suggest that you try to drink half your body weight in water a day. Me—I’m in the first camp—I usually try to aim for at least 70oz of water a day (weekends are a particular challenging time for me in the regard). The main reason why I go with at least 70oz of water a day, I’ve tried to drink half my body weight in water a day, and usually fell short by 5 or more ounces (so its easier for me to say–get to at least 70 and you can stop for the day).

While I’m at work, I have a 20oz mug that I will fill up as close to the top as I can from the water fountain and drink from that (and I don’t refill until the mug is totally empty). I try to ensure that I drink at least three mugs (four if I can swing it) before heading home. Then when I’m at home I try to drink another 16 oz or so before, during, and after my workouts.

Like I said the weekends at times are the hardest for me in this regards because I sleep in (therefore am already at least an hour behind on the water), and I’m usually not on my feet as much, so therefore I’m at times not as thirsty. Though I have figured out that if I take the water bottles (when we have them) back to my room, that is motivation for me to try to drink them all before bed.

I also have tea (twice a day—caffeinated in the morning, and herbal at night), plus I put almond milk in my shakes—but I don’t really count those towards my daily hydration.

So I think I’m going strong with my water intake (plus I have it on my weekly habit tracker, that I try to drink at least 70oz a day, and if I fall short I make a note of how much I drank that day). So while I keep up with the water, I’m going to start trying to plan for the second challenge: which is making sure that you get enough sleep.

How do you make sure that you get enough water?