Friday, March 1, 2013

February Goal Wrap Up & March Goals

This month was exhausting. Happy to focus on March now. :-) You can read about my original February goals here.

  1. Lose 2 pounds, bringing my weight to 143. - I'm ending the month exactly where I ended it. Given how much I worked out. . . . wow!
  2. Track my calories in MyFitnessPal every day, & stay within my calorie allotment 90% of the time. In February, that boils down to 25 days. It's my birthday month, so trying to be realistic. - I tracked my calories every day, & was on track 79% of the time. Mixed results.
  3. Get 1,000 minutes of cardio. - Yes! A definite win, with 1267 - more than January!
  4. Complete 10 strength workouts. - 6 strength workouts in February.
  5. Complete 7 stretching workouts. - NO. 2 stretching workouts.
  6. Bonus goal - attend a Pilates or Barre workout class. I have a Groupon for a local studio, but have never made it given M's travel schedule & the kids. I'd love to make this a priority. - No, abandoned this goal.
  7. Run 20 miles/week, 80 miles in February. - 60 miles for February.
  8. Buy one college tuition credit for each child. - No. We had unexpected home repairs.
  9. Have one date night (or lunch) with M. - Yes, two lunch dates! 
  10. Get together with two friends. - Yes! Several get togethers with friends.
  11. Track spending, stick to budget, create monthly spending reports. - This is an old hat now! :-)
  12. Increase charitable contributions by 10% (Year Over Year) - Yes!
  13. Clean out my closet & dresser. - I'm about 1/2 way through my closet.
  14. To increase my baking skills (and reduce our grocery budget), try English Muffin bread (again!) & bagel making. Bonus would be tortillas. :-) - I tried both English Muffin bread & bagels.
  15. Set up meeting with attorney to go over wills & guardianship. - No.
  16. Generate $400 in "side hustle". Mostly from Ebay, I think, but open to other methods of generating income. - Yep! I'm at $426!

It looks like, out of 16, I had 7 wins, 4 partial wins, & 5 fails. I'm going to try for even better results in March! I didn't do a good job of reviewing my goals weekly, & I know that's a big motivator for myself.

Goals for March! I'm setting these up to be both goals I can work on all month, as well as things that I can tick off at once. I need some easy wins this month. :-) There are 31 days in March, so I have 31 goals. I'm feeling like some big challenges! :-)

1) Lose 2 pounds, bringing my weight to 143. 
2) Track my food/exercise every day in MFP
3) Average 1500 calories/day for the month
4) Complete 1,200 minutes of cardio
5) Complete 10 strength workouts
6)Complete  7 stretching workouts
8) Run consistently
9) Run 5 miles without stopping
10) Run 20 miles+ per week, 80/month
11) Run 1 race
12) Achieve a PR in my half marathon
13) Find an April race
14) Find a race with Kiki
15) Plan Mother's Day
16) Coordinate spring break plans
17) Buy one tuition credit for each child
18) Pay $5,000 of principal on mortgages
19) Have one date night per month with M
20) Get together with 2 friends/month
21) Track spending, stick to budget, monthly reports
22) Review our charitable contributions & increase giving by 10%
23) Clean out my closet 
24) Clean out my dresser
25) Make croissants
26) Set up meeting with attorney
27) Generate $400 in "side hustle"
28) Book flights for girls trip
29) Buy & mail secret sister gift!
30) Read 3 books
31) Experiment with new methods of stress management - deep breathing

And with that, how did you do with your February goals? What are you hoping to accomplish in March?

11 comments:

  1. I am going to urge you on in two areas - not beat it with a stick, but gentle urging.

    1) Tortillas are the easiest thing in the world. Much easier than english muffins or bagels - go for it!

    2) You must stretch. It is not a matter of just working it in for fitness - it is your life. Very few people in later years complain that did not do enough cardio, but keeping those muscles, tendons and ligaments stretched is VERY important in aging. Think of like that and maybe you can squeeze more in.

    I think your goals were lofty! So I am amazed at what all you accomplished!

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  2. Oh, I also would love to know about the tuition credits!

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  3. I'd love to have a tortilla recipe, if you'd be willing to share!

    And, you're right about the stretching. It also makes running far easier, & less injury prone. I just have to find time to do it.

    With regard to the tuition credits, it's part of Washington's GET program. You buy pre-paid tuition credits at today's prices for future use.

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  4. This is the one I use:

    Ingredients

    2 cups all-purpose flour
    1 teaspoon baking powder
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    2 tablespoons shortening
    1/2 cup warm water

    Directions

    1. In a medium mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut in shortening until combined. Gradually add warm water, tossing together until dough can be gathered into a ball (if necessary, add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time). Knead dough 15 to 20 times. Let dough rest for 15 minutes.

    2. For 8-inch tortillas, divide dough into 12 equal portions; shape into balls. (For 10-inch tortillas, divide dough into 8 equal portions; shape into balls.)

    3. On a lightly floured surface, use a rolling pine to flatten out each ball of dough into an 8-inch (or 10-inch) circle. Stack the rolled-our tortillas between 2 pieces of waxed paper.

    4. Carefully peel off top sheet of waxed paper. Place tortilla, paper side up, on a medium-hot ungreased skillet or griddle. As tortilla begins to heat, carefully peel off remaining sheet of waxed paper. Cook tortilla about 30 seconds or until puffy. Turn and cook about 30 seconds more or until edges curl up slightly.

    Place in damp towel or tortilla holder. Reheat in the microwave with damp towel.

    However - they never last in my house - kids are grabbing them before I have time to lay them down! I usually double the recipe for my clan of 6.

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    Replies
    1. AWESOME! Can't wait to try them. Thank you so much!!

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  5. You are doing great. I can't wait to see all that you accomplish for 2013!

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    1. We'll see. I like to set the goals high, to motivate myself. :-)

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  6. That's a lot of goals. When do you have time to run so much? Do you do a treadmill or outside?

    When we did our wills, we contacted the attorney prior to meeting and filled out their will preparation kit. It saved some expenses on our side because the more you meet with the attorney, the more it costs.

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    Replies
    1. That's a good question. :-) whenever I can! I try to run at 5:00 am, outside with a headlamp. I also have a treadmill at home, & belong to a gym. If it's over 5 miles, I really don't like running on the treadmill but will if absolutely necessary. If I can't/don't run at 5:00 am, it gets dicier & I have to find time when the boys go to bed.

      Thanks for the will tip!

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  7. I think you did really well in February - it was a tough month!

    Good luck this month, I'm hoping the better weather will inspire me into action on the fitness front (big failure in Feb!).

    :)

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    Replies
    1. I love running outside, & definitely would prefer it over the "dreadmill". Hopefully the rain will stop & I can get outside more!

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