February Recap/March Goals

Well, February was a short month, but I'm still proud of the progress that I made. I'm still not doing all that great at remembering to log everything, but doing is much more important than logging, I think, so I'm alright with that.

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Here are my first 3-months goals and how I'm doing so far on them:

1. Log 90 miles

January - 26
February - 12
Total = 38/90

Left to Log - 52!
YIKES! Again, not doing so great at logging, so I may have done more than I realize, but still, this one makes me sad. Of course, it's no surprise to me considering my poor attitude regarding my inability to run. I need to just be okay with walking the miles I need. I don't know that I'll get this goal, but I can try to do the best I can, right? I think I can at least do 30 miles this month on the elliptical and treadmill and road. I need to train the next two weeks for the 7k, and then that will add some miles to my total as well.

2. Lose 20 pounds.

January - 0
February - 5

Left to Log - 15 pounds.
Alright, let's face it. I'm not going to hit this one. I'm alright with that. At least we're moving in the right direction again (FINALLY!) so as long as there's progress, I'm happy. Let's hope March will bring me another 5 pound loss at least!

3. Complete Couch 2 5k Program

Not going to happen, so let's just leave that alone.

4. Finish 2 Races

Left to Log: 2/2 races
Okay, so I have registered for the 7k at least. There are a couple other races this month that might give me my two for the first 3 months of the year. Right now I'm looking at the Celtic Knot 5k in Lewisburg, WV on March 26th. I'll have to make a decision on that one soon, though.

5. Complete 30 Day Shred

Again, I haven't started it, but as I noted last month, I've been working a different program - the freetrainers.com 8-week Weight Loss & Definition program will run me until the end of March. After that, I'll start 30DS and get that done before summer...that's the plan right now. I'm alright with not completing this one simply because I have something to put in it's place. I kinda missed a lot of workouts last week when I was sick, but I'm going right back to it tonight. I'm already noticing changes, so I'm a happy girl with this heavy lifting stuff right now. Plus, it kinda makes me feel a bit like Wonder Woman...and that's not a bad thing at all, is it?

6. Finish "Winning After Losing"

Read in January - 0 pages
Read in February - 75 pages

Left for March: 118 pages
Yes, I could have done better, but I was working on a few other things this month, including memorizing 3 monologues for VM, so I was a little busy. I didn't even finish my Burstyn book and have already thrown in a Terry Brooks book for the heck of it. (I just needed a fast and easy read, and I'm almost halfway done...I just started it 2 days ago.)

7. Read 3 Books (including 1 for research)

I'll finish this one for sure. And I read 2 with child's POV narrators, which can count toward my research goals.

Left for March: Finish Terry Brooks and Burstyn books

8. Do 1-Minute Plank

I had worked my way up to 50 seconds, and then started my heavy lifting program and completely forgot all about it. I may try out the arms tonight or tomorrow and see where I'm at, but I think I can for sure get this one accomplished before March 31st.

9. Log 3,900 Fitness Minutes

January - 1620
February - 630

Left to Log - 1650
Sad, right? I don't think that's right, but that's all I logged. *sigh* I think I might be able to hit this one, mainly because I'm nearly done with the paper, which will free up my Thursdays for more Zumba. For this week alone I have 345 minutes planned.

10. Attend 20 Zumba classes

Honestly, I stopped counting, but I think I'm at about 5, and I know how sad that is, but I've been crazy busy. There is a Zumbathon this weekend, but I'll miss it because I'm going out of town. However, they're having an event next weekend bringing in a woman named Heather Rounds to teach 2 classes on March 12th and I'm pretty sure I'm going to try to be at one of those.

11. Fit into size 24 jeans

I'm calling this one -
Those tight 24s are still tight, but less tight and I can wear them out in public if I want (they just give a little more pudge up top then I'd like. Still, most 24s are fitting pretty darn well, and I even had to buy a size 22 pants at LB this past month.

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Measurement Changes:
Body Part / February Start / March Start / Total Loss

Waist -- 47 -- 46 -- -1 inch!
Hips -- 58 -- 56 -- -2 inches!
Neck -- 15 -- 15 -- 0
Thigh -- 24.75 -- 24 -- -.75 inches!
Calf -- 21 -- 21 -- 0
Upper Arm -- 14.25 -- 14.25 -- 0

Total inches lost in February: 3.75
Total inches lost with SP to date: 44 inches! (and 17 are from my hips alone!)

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My Specific Goals for February Were:

* Be under 330 pounds (I said I'd like to be around 325, if possible.)


* Lose some dang inches! (especially in the hips and waist, but also the legs)


* Log
Okay, not exactly...but I'm getting better. Time to get really honest and serious about this one!

* Get 12 glasses of water a day
Uhm, no. That happened a lot, but I can't say I did it every day. Is that unrealistic to expect?

* Start cooking at home again.

We had some great dishes this month!

* Boxing practice at least 1x/wk
Nope. I did it a few times, but it's much easier to do when CT is pushing me to keep going.

* Get ready for spring by walking, rowing, etc.
I did a little of this, but not nearly enough!

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So that's how February went. I'm pretty pleased, even if I only lost 5 pounds. I realized today that even if I lost just 5 pounds a month, the continued progress would keep me going. That being said - I would love to have my 8-10 pounds a month losses back!! *lol* So, now we're starting March and besides the minor annoyance of having to scrape my car windows this morning on MARCH FIRST (WTF?!), I'm actually looking forward to it.

Let me start off by saying that things are moving in a somewhat different direction around here. Both Hubs and I have been changing a lot as people. I'm not sure if it's because we're both 30 and finally settling in, or because I've started all these big changes and it's sparking other things as well. I've noticed we're kinder, more forgiving, more willing to accept and admit to our mistakes...and we don't stay as angry as long with one another. I can honestly say it is making me a happier person. Even days like yesterday, when everything went wrong and I was bored out of my mind and got none of what I wanted to accomplish done, I'm still able to get through and bounce back with more vigor than before.

Changes to expect in March:
* A new car??
Hubs and I have been shopping for a new baby since my old girl is finally starting to show serious signs of old age. (She's a 1995 with 306k miles on her...it's really no wonder!) So we're looking and seriously considering. Old but new to us? Completely new? Not sure what will happen. I know what I want to happen, and I actually had dreams about it last night, but that requires a lot of cards falling in just the right places for it to happen. We'll see. Let's just leave it at that.

* A haircut!
Seriously, my hair has become so unmanageable and I'm annoyed. Plus, it's almost spring, which is when I usually get my shorter cut back again and get it thinned to high heaven. I'm making an appointment to see my stylist soon...and I'm probably going to make an appointment for Hubs as well.

* Adventure Blog
Now that I've left the paper (well, Thursday is my last day), I should have more time to devote to this and, perhaps, to writing articles for Hubs. We shall see. I do know that I have to review an iPhone case before the week is out...I'm testing it now and not quite sure what I think yet. Anyhow, I'll let you know when updates are ready. I really need to get a blog post somewhere written down about the VM experience before I forget it.

* Lone Wolf
Okay, I know I mentioned it before, but my BIG adventure for March will not be walking a 7k or meeting a Sparkie, but will, instead, be driving 16 hours in a car by myself from WV to MN. I'm nervous, excited and about 10 other different things. What's more, I'm not even sure what I'm driving. I can't take the van up there, so I've got a rental car reserved right now...but if Hubs and I make a car purchase before then, I might be testing out the new girl on the open road. All the unknowns are driving me a little bit batty, I'll be honest, but I'm trying to just go with it.

* Country Girl?
Okay, so I'm going to a country concert this weekend. Anyone who knows me would find that humorous. I'm not a huge fan of country. There are a few singers I like - Faith Hill, Garth Brooks, and even Taylor Swift is alright. Thankfully, when my friend told me that she wanted to go see a country concert this weekend for her birthday, she immediately said one word that made it alright -- Reba. Okay, I like her. I know NONE of her "new" stuff (new meaning since the late nineties...the last time I listened to any country music), but she's a great woman - empowering, with the great red hair and the sassy attitude. I can handle that. So, yes...the girl who doesn't like country, who moved from OH to WV and was surrounded by it, who blares her Pink Floyd to compete with Toby Keith (UGH!) on the open roads around here, that girl is going to a country concert on Friday night. Oh, the things we do for our friends. I do hope I have some fun...and at least it's not Toby. (No offense to people who actually LIKE country music...I'd just rather see Blue October or some alternative rock group mmmkaythanks.)

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So, finally...after I bored you with all of that.

Specific goals for March:

Under 320. (Which is -6 pounds.)
I want to see my 319 by the end of the month. And, to be perfectly honest, I would LOVE to see 316.2 - my 100 pounds lost mark...but I'm just going to get as close as I can without expecting everything to happen at once because that's the SMART thing to do! (See, I'm learning!)

Finish the freetrainers program
I can't wait to see how much I can lift by the end and compare that to what I was lifting when I started. Plus, I will have all these new exercises to add into my regular routines!

LOG!
It's time to get super serious about this. I do not eat it if I will not log it. And I must log each and every exercise and every minute spent working out.

12 Glasses of Water
Okay, so I'm not good at keeping things going like this for a WHOLE month, and it also ties into my logging - I suck at logging it. BUT, I have to remind myself that I need more water.

Get more sleep!
I seriously need to work on getting more sleep as well. To be perfectly honest, I think sleep had more to do with my big weight loss week of 2.2 pounds last week than anything else. I like to stay busy, so sometimes I simply forget that my body also needs sleep. 6-8 hours, Esther. You can't make it all up on Sunday! 6-8 hours PER NIGHT!

Try at least 5 new recipes
We're still doing our "exotic cooking" challenge to ourselves, so we're going to pick a few more countries and see what they have to offer us. In February we found 2 new loves - Moussaka (an eggplant lasagne dish from Greece) and Cassoulet (From France. OMG! LOVE! as did everyone else). I know one recipe I'll already be cooking is the new lentil soup recipe my nutritionist just sent me. I have to find a way to use the miracle food that is lentils!

Yo-gatta Yoga!
I'm challenging myself to use at least 20 minutes every Sunday to decompress and stretch with Yoga. I have fallen off the Yoga wagon, and I seriously need to get back on. Sunday is normally a rest day, but Yoga is so low impact, I'm pretty sure I can get in just 20 minutes every Sunday.

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Finally, I need to put this Fitspo somewhere:

Quotes -
"I may not be there yet, but I'm closer than I was yesterday."
"Sometimes you have to stop thinking so much and go where your heart takes you."
"Everyone loses games. Few change them."
"The greatest pleasure in life is doing what others say you cannot do."
"Make your own luck."
"You miss 100% of the shots you never take."
"Yesterday you said 'tomorrow.'"

And this Nike ad with Marilyn Monroe:
"A woman is often measured by the things she cannot control. She is measured by the way her body curves or doesn't curve, by where she is flat or straight or round. She is measured by 36-24-36 and inches and ages and numbers, by all the outside things that don't ever add up to who she is on the inside. And so if a woman is to be measured, let her be measured by the things she can control, by who she is and who she is trying to become. Because as every woman knows, measurements are only statistics, and STATISTICS LIE."


Happy March, everyone!