Are you ready for the VG Wellness Challenge? Lessons in health!

By Kanika Sharma

Welcome to Week 2 of the VG Wellness Challenge: Eat only vegetarian food!

If you’re just joining us now, read up on our Week 1 experience to see how we stayed on track to complete the Drinking Water Challenge.

The Verdical Group team and a few of our friends at LACI decided to challenge ourselves by taking one different wellness activity each week for five full weeks. Our first challenge for the week of Aug 6-12 was to meet our drinking water quantity targets as recommended by the U.S Institute of Medicine. The Institute recommends that women consume approximately 2.7 L (90 oz) and men 3.7 L (125 oz) of water per day. While these targets may seem pretty high for some, keep in mind that this is the amount of water consumed from multiple sources including drinking water, other beverages, and food (no, alcohol doesn’t count ;D).

Almost all of us were able to meet our goal over the weekdays; the weekend, however, was a little hard!

So how did we do it?

Day 1

Day 3

Day 5

Day 7

Invest in a water bottle: First and foremost, invest in a good water bottle, preferably non-plastic. Having a water bottle definitely helps to keep you on track.

Whether its a 500 ml, 750ml, or a 1L bottle, you can set your targets and start drinking that water!

Water Refill Station: It definitely helps to have easy access to filtered, clean water. Rather than stocking up on plastic water bottles for employees and guests, offices should install a water refill station. Thanks, Flowater!

However, if you do not sit close to a water refill station, get a large bottle and fill it up early in the day!

Set small targets: Set small targets for drinking water throughout the day. Knowing how much water you need to consume before lunchtime and before the end of your work day will keep you disciplined. Pro Tip: Plan to meet your target for the day before you leave the office, so you don’t have to worry about it when you get home.

By making this small change in our daily routine, we all noticed some BIG changes overall:

1. We felt fuller during the day, so we were not overeating.
2. We felt awake and less sleepy during the afternoon.
3. Our concentration significantly improved and we were more productive.
4. We all felt more happy in general, also pushing and motivating each other to meet our water goals for the day.
5. We definitely took more bathroom breaks, but that also meant we were getting the recommended number of 5 min. breaks throughout the day, keeping us all more active.

So in short, the best way to beat the heat and stay cool in this weather is to drink plenty of good old fashioned water, at least 2.7L for women and 3.7L for men per day – something we all plan to continue doing!