So it is the end of August. A lot of folks seemed to have a good month as far as keeping up with goals set for themselves. This was really not about one month only, it was about using the month to try and develop a pattern to follow. Check out the Twitter search for #ActiveAugust to find those blogging about it, or check out my first post with some of those who participdated listed.

How was #ActiveAugust for me?

Final weight – 204.5lbs from 209/210 (and I was actually closer to 211/212 in July but by weigh in day I was trying to eat a bit better in many ways). So counting just the weight in August, I dropped about 5 pounds.

That is not as good as seeing 2lbs/wk going but one of the weeks was a bad week for me and my pants are fitting better (waist is getting smaller), I am feeling better, eating and drinking better and I am being active.

So my grade for myself? B-

What I did well and will continue to do (and blog monthly about at least this year):

• Activity – Swimming and walking extra where/when I can, more active fun time with the kids.
• No Coke – I allowed a couple Coke Zeros during the month but by and large I stuck with water and milk (calcium helps the body to burn fat, helps recovery and is generally good for you)
• Less garbage – Plenty of tasty food that isn’t processed 5 times before it gets to you.

What I should work on in the coming months:

• Goal #1 was a distance swim in open water. I looked around and saw a couple shorter ones (around a mile). I will train for those and hope to compete.
• Triathlon – I want to participate in one next year. I am going to have to get to a doctor for a problem with my right foot and maybe get some PT so I can not deal with the foot pain (plantar fasciitis?) when running.
• Fish/Vegetarian Meals – I enjoy eating either but I didn’t do enough. Probably out of laziness, we have beef/chicken in the freezer and that is what the in-laws (who we eat with often) enjoy. Need to start getting more healthy fish and vegetable into my meals.
• More Activity – I slacked off in the weights, let other things get in the way. Some of those should get in the way, but some of them were just time wasters.

I hope to end the year around 185-190, in size 34s or smaller and feeling much healthier. I also really want to be ready to start doing more swimming competitively so I am going to focus on that as well.

Congrats to everyone who had fun this #ActiveAugust and hopefully it all sticks with us as we move on to the fall.