I’m taking the H2Only Challenge with three friends to raise money for the RNLI. This means we will drink only water for 10 days from 5pm on Tuesday, September 13th, until 5pm on Friday, September 23rd. No coffee, tea, squash, pop, wine – even fizzy water is banned! It has to be just plain water, “H2Only”. You can sponsor me, Beckie, Karen and Keith at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/createh2only 

Here we are. As I type, it has been three hours and 15 minutes since I glugged the last drops of the Coke I bought earlier today to mark the start of my water only challenge.

And in that three hours and 15 minutes, I have so far fancied a glass of sparkling water, a cup of tea, and copious amounts of fresh orange juice to try to beat the cold that my five-year-old’s return to school has blessed me with. Later tonight, I will inevitably long for my usual mug of hot milk with honey, or maybe even a nice hot toddy with a medicinal shot of something to help me sweat out that cold overnight. But no, it’ll have to be a glass of water or a mug of hot H2O, without even so much as a slice of lemon to help it down.

Why am I doing this? Partly to raise money for the RNLI, a charity I love despite living pretty much as far from the sea as you can be in this country, partly for the personal challenge (and to please my mum, who is always trying to get me to stop drinking Coke!), and partly to see what effect drinking only water will have on my weight and my rosacea.

Hot drinks, alcohol and caffeine are common rosacea triggers, and the internet abounds with people crediting drinking more water with calming their skin and helping them shed pounds. I am tired of having a red, spotty face, and I am tired of weighing too much.

I’m going to weigh myself every morning and take a selfie to see if there’s any noticeable difference. And I’ll keep myself accountable by posting them on here.

My friend and co-challenger Karen has taken the sensible step of weaning herself off coffee gradually. I am going full cold turkey. I want it to be hard. I want to see how badly my body is addicted to caffeine. I want to exert a bit of willpower for once in my life. I wonder if my cold will mask any withdrawal symptoms, or if I will just feel extra awful for a couple of days?

I realise that doing something as simple as drinking only water isn’t like running a marathon or climbing Mount Everest for charity, but there’s nothing wrong with starting where you are and doing what’s in front of you.

I raise my glass (of water) to the men and women of the RNLI – may your courage never falter, and may we never need your services. Thank you for all that you do.

Day 1