{"id":6341,"date":"2014-03-13T10:09:07","date_gmt":"2014-03-13T14:09:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alifeofproductivity.com\/?p=6341"},"modified":"2022-09-07T17:01:29","modified_gmt":"2022-09-07T17:01:29","slug":"experiment-top-10-things-learned-drinking-only-water-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chrisbailey.com\/experiment-top-10-things-learned-drinking-only-water-month\/","title":{"rendered":"Experiment: The top 10 things I learned drinking only water for a month"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Takeaways:<\/b>\u00a0Water is one of the best things ever. My biggest lessons from this experiment (in order of increasing importance): every day you drink a whopping 400 calories; there are 8 triggers that motivate you to drink something; caffeine boosts your athletic performance; what you eat and drink are two of the biggest things that impact your energy levels; coffee\/tea are just as hydrating as water; take the time to be grateful for all of the nice things you have; you should drink caffeine strategically, not habitually; and caffeine boosts your focus, but makes you less creative. Whew.<\/em><\/p>\n

Estimated Reading Time:<\/b>\n11 minutes, 57s. It’s pretty skimmable, though.<\/div><\/div>\n

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For the entire month of February I drank only water as a productivity experiment<\/a><\/span>.<\/strong> I had no caffeine-based pre-workout drink to get ready for the gym, no mid-afternoon tea, no red wine on Valentine\u2019s Day, and no drinks on my girlfriend\u2019s birthday\u2013the fanciest thing I drank all month was a cup of hot water with a lemon wedge. (I\u2019m definitely kicking myself for not picking an easier month, but hindsight is 20\/20 I guess.)<\/p>\n

To be honest I didn\u2019t expect to learn much from this experiment, but looking back, I learned a ton. This article is a long one, but I know you\u2019ll get a lot out of it, and I tried to make it as skimmable as possible so you can easily skip to the parts you\u2019re interested in.<\/p>\n

Without further ado, here are the top 10 lessons I learned drinking only water for an entire month!<\/p>\n

10. Every day you drink a whopping 400 calories<\/b><\/h2>\n

If you\u2019re average, every day you drink a whopping 400 calories.1<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

With a bit of basic arithmetic, it\u2019s not hard to calculate how drinking more water will help you lose weight. To lose a pound of fat, you need to burn off (or have a deficit of) about 3,500 calories, though this number varies depending on how fast your metabolism is, and how much water and lean tissue you burn off as you reduce your caloric intake.2<\/a><\/sup> That means that if you drink only water (or fluids that contain no calories), in 9 days you will lose one pound of fat. That\u2019s equivalent to the amount of calories your body burns running at 5mph for 30 minutes every day for 9 days!<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not easy to lose weight, but drinking more water has got to be one of the easiest ways out there to cut back on how many calories you consume.<\/p>\n

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Not only will drinking more water help you cut out unhealthy, high-calorie drinks from of your diet, but water also serves as an appetite suppressant that will help you consume less calories in the first place.<\/div><\/div>\n

9. Know the eight triggers that motivate you to drink something<\/b><\/h2>\n

I think one of the keys to changing your habits<\/a><\/span> is recognizing what drives your behaviour. Taking a second to ask yourself why you\u2019re about to drink something is the perfect trigger to make yourself drink healthier.<\/p>\n

There is always a reason you drink what you do, and\u00a0when you drink so much over the course of a day, being mindful of whether that reason is productive or unproductive for your health is definitely worth doing. Personally, I can think of eight reasons you drink (if you can think of any others, sound off in the comments and I\u2019ll add them to the article!):<\/p>\n

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  1. Socially<\/b> (e.g. if you\u2019re at a party, or grabbing a coffee with someone)<\/li>\n
  2. For energy<\/b> (i.e. with caffeinated or sugary drinks)<\/li>\n
  3. For enjoyment<\/b> (e.g. a cold beer after a long day at work)<\/li>\n
  4. For nourishment<\/b> (e.g. drinking water to rehydrate)<\/li>\n
  5. For health reasons<\/b> (e.g. drinking protein shakes and fruit smoothies)<\/li>\n
  6. Because you\u2019re addicted<\/b> (e.g. with caffeinated or sugary drinks)<\/li>\n
  7. For pleasure<\/b> (e.g. drinking a fancy bottle of red wine)<\/li>\n
  8. For relaxation<\/b> (e.g. drinking a cup of herbal tea in the evening)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    When you are about to drink something that\u2019s unhealthy for you, chances are there is a substitute that will reward you in the same way that is much better for your health.<\/p>\n

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    Another awesome way to take control over what you drink is to look for the cues<\/em> that cause you to drink certain things. Your cues will always fall into one or more of five categories<\/a><\/span>: a certain time of day (e.g. morning), a certain place (e.g. Starbucks), the presence of certain people (e.g. coworkers), a particular emotion (e.g. feeling low on energy), or a preceding behaviour that\u2019s been ritualized (e.g. waking up).<\/div><\/div>\n

    \"1088335_88516343\"<\/p>\n

    \"449682_44154882\"8. Caffeine<\/a> boosts your athletic performance<\/b><\/h2>\n

    Caffeine has been shown to significantly improve your athletic performance, which may be why more than two-thirds of 20,000 Olympic athletes studied in one report had caffeine in their bloodstream after the World Anti-Doping Agency removed it from its list of banned substances.3<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

    According to research, caffeine significantly improves your performance in both aerobic and weight exercises<\/strong>:<\/p>\n