March Round-Up

As March comes to an end I thought I’d review my March Goals and put some thought into what I’d like to accomplish during April this year.

Reviewing March Goals:

Heath: I’ve been consuming an absurd amount of Diet Coke since November to deal with nausea from painkillers so in March, as my back is healing and I start physical therapy, I’m going to reduce my medications and give up Diet Coke. Can’t wait!

I did a good job of this during the week but had a couple of Diet Dr. Peppers on weekends. Not the end of the world but I’d like to eventually get to a place where a diet soda is a rare treat rather than an every weekend type of occurrence.

Food: My friend Arianna and I have a weekly date set up to cook a healthy, plant-based dinner together. Hopefully these meals will motivate me to watch my snacking, plan my meals in advance for the week, and prepare snacks to take to work. In March I really want to focus on getting all my daily nutrients from my food rather than relying on supplements and multi-vitamins.

Our weekly meals were a HUGE success during March (Farmer’s Market Fare, Vegetable Lasagna & Cookies – fine, the cookies weren’t really healthy or a meal…) and I start stocking up on veggies and cooking basics again each week. Such a great feeling to get back into the kitchen. My whole life runs smoother when I plan out my food intake each week – No reaching for bad snacks because I’m starving, no hunger crankiness, no last-minute decisions to get takeout… Nothing but positives!

Fitness: Physical therapy started March 1st and I’m going to be the best patient they’ve ever had! I’m going to do all my exercises and work as hard as my body allows me to. I’m also going to keep walking as much as possible (2.6 to 4 miles daily) and try not to take any taxis again during March. Finally, I also need to work on stretching. Barely being able to bend at the waist during the last few months has done a number on my overall flexibility and I really need to work on regaining that so I can eventually go back to Pilates.

I ROCKED physical therapy this month! My physical therapist didn’t have the best attitude my first day and even said the dreaded words “well, you may not ever be able to do that again.” But he’s grown more and more optimistic and hopeful as I’ve gotten stronger and stronger each session. I’m even going to add a once a week low-impact exercise session with Arianna in April in addition to my daily physical therapy exercises.

Fashion: Time to reorganize my closets and move Spring & Summer clothes to the front and rearrange my coats & jackets so that shorter, lighter ones are more accessible. I love “spring cleaning” and refreshing my closet. Can’t wait to go to the Container Store for supplies. 🙂 It’s my happy place.

Unfortunately this didn’t happen during March so I’ll have to plan to do it in April. (Clearly I’m still wearing some of my winter black…)

New Goals For April:

Food: Arianna and I are going to continue our weekly dinners and I want to focus on my portion sizes during April. I have a tendency to eat all of anything I make so I either need to stop making multiple servings when I’m home alone or learn to put my leftovers in the fridge and leave them there! (Easier said than done, obviously) I’m also going to be experimenting with my carb intake during April as I take the boyfriend through the joys of a plant-based diet. 🙂 Fingers crossed he can last the whole month!

 

Fitness: This month is all about routine. Each day I need to do 45-60 minutes of physical therapy exercises, meet with my physical therapy once or twice a week, keep walking two and from work (1.3 miles each way) and I’m going to add a day of low-impact exercise like walking stairs – Coit Tower here I come!

Fashion: Time to get my booty to the Container Store and reorganize my closets. I went on a shoe-buying rampage during March so I definitely need to rearrange the hall closets and my walk-in to make my Spring things more easily accessible. Stay tuned for pictures of my progress!

Need some more motivation for setting personal goals and approaching 2012 with an organized plan of attack?

I loved Polish My Crown’s March Resolutions – from taking time to connect with others to planning travel time, she’s got some great ideas for how to make each month even better this year.

Each week Tone It Up! has Motivation Monday, a great weekly reminder to push yourself and focus on your goals for the week. Sometimes breaking your year/month up a week at a time makes for a more manageable approach. Baby steps and all…

Holly Would If She Could is another great blog to look at when you’re setting your goals for the month, Holly’s monthly Progress Report is always exhaustive, covering everything from travel plans to home repairs to exercise goals, she’s an avid list-writer and reading her posts will definitely get you in the mood to write down your plans for the month.

Hope everyone had a great March and has some fun things planned for April!