It is the last day of August, dear reader! Where did this month go? All I know is it went by too quickly, and I think getting COVID contributes to me feeling that way. The universe definitely threw me a curveball, but I am recovering. Not as quickly as I want, but it does not seem like the universe cares what I want these days. HA! Please do not smite me universe! I promise I will not dwell or hold a grudge. Instead, I will wrap up my August challenge and let you know how I did August 25th-31st. This past week was more about getting back on track.
No book reviews on Goodreads. I am disappointed that I did not write one book review this entire month. I guess my heart was not into it. Therefore, I am taking my friend Liz’s advice, and I will be clearing the decks.
As for building on my habits I started in July, I met my water goal 4/7 times with an average of 60.0 ounces of water consumed over the course of the 7 days. My water consumption dropped on Monday with 56 ounces, picked back up to 64 ounces for the next 4 days, dropped again on Saturday with 48 ounces, but back up today with 60 ounces. For the month, I drank an average of 61 ounces of water.
Out of the 7 days, I consumed NO added sugar except 1/2 tsp of sugar in my morning coffee, 1 tbsp of honey in my afternoon tea, and 8 ounces of Sprite that I drank with my pizza on Wednesday. That left me with 6 days of no added sugar (the sugar in my coffee and honey in my tea is negligible). Much better than last week. For the month, I consumed added sugar on 12 of the 31 days.
My walking streak started again on Sunday, August 24th. My walking has been at a moderate pace while recovering from Covid. I am still dealing with a cough and sinus congestion. Thankfully, the stiffness in my knees has gone away. For the month, I walked 26 days of the 31 days.
Now, for my new habits, I caught up with my JOY List! As for grounding, I did none last week. For the month, I have 31 entries in my JOY journal. I participated in grounding 2 days of the 31 days.
While weight loss was not a part of this challenge, I weighed myself on August 1st (160.5 pounds) and again this morning (158 pounds) for informational purposes.
ATOMIC HABITS by James Clear
I read Chapter 15 of Atomic Habits this afternoon. One of the takeaways that resonated with me has to do with the cost of your habits on your overall well-being. James Clear states, “The costs of your good habits are in the present. The costs of your bad habits are in the future.” Basically, when you make a plan to improve your life (get healthy; meet a personal goal; start a business), you are making plans for your future self. In order to stay the course with the habits to achieve whatever it is you are striving towards, the habit needs to be satisfying. I still need to read Chapters 16 and 17, but those two chapters will have to wait until tomorrow.
Overall, I am pleased with my progress last week as well as my accomplishments this month. August’s challenge was about pushing myself a little bit more. I will continue walking daily, striving to reach my water goal each day, keeping track of my daily sugar, dairy, and gluten consumption, and recording in my JOY journal. I have decided I will not be grounding which I do not think is my thing, at least not right now. Since September 1st falls on a Monday, I have decided that I am going to time track the first week and go from there. I am using this first week to also clear the decks of my Goodreads account. My readalong of Atomic Habits will be completed in September as well. Autumn is just around the corner, and I am looking forward to preparing for a new season. Dear reader, what did you accomplish in August? Happiness!
“To get a habit to stick you need to feel immediately successful – even if it’s in a small way.” ~ James Clear, Atomic Habits
The Kat Files 