Well, my February weight did not go in the direction that I expected it to.  Instead of going down, my average monthly weight went up. 

By 2.3lbs!

My monthly average weight in February was 194.3 lbs.  With a low weight of 190.8lbs and a high weight of 196.8. 

Like last month, instead of getting upset or feeling down, I decided to look closer at what I was doing.  How could I tweak my “system” or routine to get me back on track?

One realization hit me right away…

Water.  I wasn’t drinking enough of it.

For the last couple of years, I’ve been tracking my water intake.  I tried to drink at least 2 liters of water a day.  Before I had my first cup of coffee in the morning, I would drink 1 L of water.

I stopped doing that in December. I stopped tracking my water intake because I felt that I had it down and didn’t need to track anymore. 

Wrong.

I started taking short cuts.  I only drank half a liter of water before my first cup of coffee.  Or not.  And I usually never got around to drinking the rest of the first liter…

So, back to tracking water intake.  And shooting for a minimum of 2 liters a day.

What else?

I said I’d cut back on sugar, which I did. 

I said that I’d do a couple of extended fasts, which I did.  A 43-hour fast started on Feb. 14 and another 43-hour fast started on Feb. 27.

I also said that I’d cut 2 days out of my TV watching.  Which I didn’t do.  I only managed to cut out 1 evening a week.

TV is my kryptonite.  And when I’m watching late at night, I frequently snack.  It’s a bad habit that I’m trying to curb.  One of the easiest ways to curb it is to avoid the prompt in the first place: watching TV late a night.

Fortunately, I just got involved in a play.  And I have rehearsals three nights a week, which should make it easier to avoid watching TV on those nights.  March will be easier to cut out the 2 nights a week of TV watching.

Another thing I realized was that I was still complacent about Intermittent Fasting.  At least for reaching my Marathon Weight. 

I’ve added a simple tweak.  Every morning, I ask myself:

“What can I do today to help me reach my Marathon Weight?”

That’s it.  Sometimes the answer is fast until 5pm.  Sometimes the answer is fast for 24 hours.  Sometimes the answer is be mindful when eating. 

It’s asking the question that is important.  Because it keeps the goal top of mind and gives me an actionable thing to do in the moment or day.

Although, February didn’t go the way I intended, I have a stronger plan for March. 

I’m looking forward to see how the system works out for this month!