It is the 24th of July and time for the third update for my Jumpstart July Challenge. Since my last update, I have made some progress that has me excited for the rest of this month and the remainder of the year.
HABITS
Wake up at 5:00 AM. Because of a new evening routine with Bailey and my oldest son not waking up before 5:00 am, Bailey is doing better with when she wakes me up in the morning. Thanks to Bailey, I woke up at 4:50 am on Friday, 5:45 am on Saturday (my hubby got up with her), 5:24 am on Sunday, 5:30 am on Monday, 5:25 am on Tuesday, 5:15 am on Wednesday, and 5:09 am today. I realize that I am NOT waking up at 5:00 am, but that is fine because it makes more sense for me, under my current circumstances, to wake up closer to 5:30 am. I will share more about this in a future post.
Walk at least 30 minutes daily, preferably outside. I am still on a walking streak. My walks this week began between 6:05 am and 6:15 am with the exception of Friday. Since I walked on the treadmill on Friday, I started my walk at 6:45 am. I knew I would not be on that treadmill longer than 30 minutes. I continue to NOT bring my phone with me on my outside walks. Not bringing my phone has been a game changer, especially since it helps me pay more attention to my body (especially my right knee). I got wild on Monday, and reversed my route. HA!
Here are my times for each walk. If you read my last update, on Wednesday (July 16th), my right knee was feeling weird; not painful but a slight twinge under my kneecap, so I cut back on distance and walked on the treadmill (Thursday and Friday). Since Friday, I have incorporated 8-10 squats each morning before putting on my running shoes as well as 6-8 step ups onto my porch before setting off on my walk. My knee still felt a little wonky on Sunday and Monday after walking, so I took Ibuprofen (400 mg) and the twinge went away throughout the day. Tuesday – today, knee is feeling better and no Ibuprofen after my walks.
- 07/18 (30:45) – treadmill
- 07/19 (43:58) – added a little distance; walked slower
- 07/20 (35:52)
- 07/21 (33:52)
- 07/22 (35:33)
- 07/23 (40:45) – added a little distance
- 07/24 (33:38) – felt like I could run today
Drink more water. I tracked my water consumption! I’m averaging 46.9 ounces of water. I want to be more mindful of this habit because I do not think this is enough water consumption for me.
Mindful eating. I have avoided dairy (4/7 days), gluten (3/7 days), and added sugar (6/7 days). I am doing well with veggie consumption and drank my protein shake with turmeric for breakfast (Saturday; Monday – today). If I do not drink a protein shake, I mix the turmeric in my coffee; however, I prefer it in a shake.
Keep a JOY journal. I made NO attempt with this habit. AGAIN! I did NOT even think about it.
Write a daily to-do list. I continue to write a daily to-do list. Except for this morning, I wrote the list after my walk, shower, and breakfast which is my preferable time. Since I was up earlier this morning, I decided to knock it out before getting Tooty and Luna up. I am getting better at completing EVERY task on my list, and designating times to complete those tasks have helped with completion.
Track book spending. I continue recording my book spending. On Friday, 07/18 I ordered Lunch in Paris: A Love Story by Elizabeth Bard from Amazon. This memoir was written prior to Picnic in Provence which I am reading for the Cozy Cottage Book Club this month. It cost me 59 cents (what was owed after credit card points). I also volunteered at the Friends of the Library store on Friday, and I purchased 8 books for $4.00. My year-to-date spending for 2025 is now $626.44.
Declutter/Chores (schedule). I completed chores throughout the last 7 days and decluttered a couple of hours in my scrapbook room on Tuesday, 07/21. I have set aside Friday to work some more in my scrapbook room. AND, I have been in touch with my friend Liz for accountability. I have NOT created a concrete weekly schedule where I do certain chores or declutter on certain days of the week (and follow that schedule every week); however, I did schedule which days to complete chores and which days I wanted to work in my scrapbook room. I am keeping track of which days seem to work best for certain chores. Maybe, a week-by-week schedule is more my speed?
Creative Time/Aims (schedule). I wrote this blog post (9/25) which counts toward my 25 posts I want to write in 2025; however, still NO schedule for scrapbooking or completing my aims for this year. I really cannot schedule any scrapbooking time until I get my scrapbook room in order. HOWEVER, I did volunteer for the first time at the Friends of the Library store on Friday, 7/18 and then again today (#20 on my 25 for 2025 list). In addition, I created a schedule to read The Gunslinger by Stephen King with my friend Alex, starting on August 1st. This novel is the first in The Dark Tower series which is a series I want to start reading this year (#15 on my 25 for 2025 list). I also worked an hour this week organizing my home library (#10 on my 25 for 2025 list). I mailed 2 books to my friend Lee, 3 books to my friend Stormi, and donated 10 books to the FOTL store.
Monitor progress (habits/routines). For the first time this month, I can say that I am monitoring the progress on all of my habits (with the exception of the JOY journal). Although slowly, my routines are coming together. I am experimenting with what works for me in my current season of life.
These past 7 days, I have seen more progress. I am making strides with the majority of my habits. Of course, there is always room for more growth. By the next and final update for this challenge, I want to (1) maintain waking up no later than 5:30 am 2) maintain my walking streak (3) drink at least 64 ounces of water daily (4) try harder with avoiding dairy, gluten, and added sugar (5) consider creating a junk journal centered around JOY (6) continue my daily to-do list with designating times to complete tasks (7) avoid buying books for myself for the remainder of July (8/9) instead of creating schedules for decluttering/chores and creative time/aims, schedule them into my upcoming week (10) continue monitoring habits.
ROUTINES
My morning, weekly, and evening routines are in development! I will share more about this in a future post.
ATOMIC HABITS by James Clear
I finished Chapter 5. I think this is my FAVORITE chapter thus far because it is really what I am trying to accomplish. I want to create sustainable habits within a routine. Here are the ideas in this chapter that resonated with me, and I feel could be a game changer for me.
1) Implementation Intention – a plan you make beforehand about when and where to act [how you intend to implement a particular habit] (page 72) I feel like that is exactly what we are doing for Saturday Morning Momentum. We state our intentions beforehand, then figure out how we are going to follow through with them. I did this with my walking habit. “I will walk daily at 6:00 AM in my neighborhood.” My contingency plan is the treadmill. The habit is walking daily in the morning.
2) Habit Stacking – a special form of implementation intention. (page 74) I love the formula because this is going to help me create my routines! “After (current habit), I will (new habit).” I want to make these my non-negotiables. And, specificity is key. I’m excited!
Wow, what a difference the last 7 days have made for me! I remain hopeful that I can finish my July challenge strong with habits and routines in place. I am also entertaining the idea of creating an August challenge for myself. Why not? Dear reader, what do you hope to accomplish by the end of July? Happiness!
“Give your habits a time and a space to live in the world.” ~ James Clear
The Kat Files 
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