Where Did March Go????

Holy cow, I can't believe that today is April 1st.  March was such a busy month and a whirlwind...where on earth did it go. 

So, I had some goals for the month of March.

1.  Log My Food Everyday - Today makes 40 days straight that I have logged my food and exercise faithfully on My Fitness Pal.  I remember I had gone back and forth on whether or not this was something that I needed to do anymore.  I think this month has shown me the importance of doing this.  This holds me accountable and I think about what I eat because I know that I will have to log it.  If you were to look at my food log (which if you are my friend it is all out there in public to see, I got nothing to hide) you will see that I am not perfect.  There is some fast food a few times, the occasional treat (that darn time of the month tends to wreak havoc).  I definitely have areas I need to work on, find other healthier alternatives when I am having those TOM cravings, but if I were to look at a food log from a couple of year ago, I have made HUGE strides.  Rome wasn't build in a day, and neither am I.

2.  Get 10,000 steps a day - SUCCESS!!!  As part of the monthly Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans challenge you were to get 10,000 steps a day on top of certain exercises.  Before the month started I had been debating on getting a Fitbit.  I had heard so many things about it.  I have a co-worker that has one and she even let me borrow it for a couple of days to try it out.  Pretty neat how it keeps track of things.  So I ordered one, but it didn't get here before the month started.  Fortunately I have an app on my IPod that tracks my steps so I used that until my Fitbit got here.  I made a very conscious effort to always have it on my person.  For the first seven days of the month with my IPod:

Then I received my Fitbit...YAY!!!  I surprised a lot of people when I ordered the PINK one.  I usually keep my colors plain and boring.  My heart rate monitor is black and doesn't stand out at all.

After using it for a few weeks I gotta say I love it.  I have linked it to my MFP account.  I love seeing during the day how my progress is going and feel like it has been a successful day when I feel the buzz of hitting those 10,000 steps.

My Fitbit stats for March:

 

So combined for the month of March I had 441,770 steps.  WOW!  My daily average was 14,251 steps.  That's pretty good.  Some days were pretty easy hitting that 10,000, while others it was a struggle.  There were a few nights where I was walking in place or walking around the apartment to get those last few steps.  I also realized just how few steps that I get at work when really busy and I don't get up much from my desk.  Makes me glad that I print to another room so I have to get up and move a little to get papers from the printer.  Hopefully now that the weather is starting to get better, I can get out from time to time to do a quick lap or two.  Some of my BIG days are definitely due to my classes at the gym, plus I have been putting in a lot more walking/treadmill time.  Classes like Body Combat and Zumba produce some pretty good steps.

3.  Lose 7 pounds for the month - I didn't do a weight in at the end of the month.  I did this for a particular reason.  That time of the month is on the verge and I feel like I am getting my normal bloat.  While I know the number on the scale may be deceiving because of this, I didn't want to get disappointed by this.  I did weigh in once during March (on the 15th) and I had lost 8.2 pounds since 3/1. 

4.  Try to get more sleep - This has been going really well (minus the last couple of days).  I have been so busy that by the time I would get home from a busy day at work, followed by the gym, once a dinner and shower were done each night I was ready to crash.  While it is still difficult to get to bed early (used to staying up late) I feel like I am seeing some progress in this area.

5.  Controlling my stress levels - this was hit and miss in March.  Work was very busy.  I had a co-worker, someone in my department that was out for a month for some personal reasons so I had to take on a lot of her day to day tasks, on top of my own duties.  The was a challenge, some days much better than others.  During this month, I was so thankful for exercise.  It was a good release for me.  It was also very helpful to have such supportive co-workers who were there for me to offer a hand.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Recap of My March

Exercise - KILLED IT!!!  If you look at my exercise schedule, yup busy class schedule.  I took one weekend off from the gym.  Funny, the words "cardio junkie" were used to describe me.  Yes, I love my cardio, and do I do too much sometimes...maybe.  But here's the thing, if you look at my schedule I am taking a variety of classes.  While Zumba and Body Combat are pretty high impact, if you look at Body Pump I would consider that more Strength Training (although you are definitely getting some cardio too).  Booty Barre would be a combination of strength training, some flexibility, and other things.  I tried Spin again at the end of the month.  I think this will be important with better weather and outdoor bike season coming up before you know it.  In addition to my regularly scheduled gym classes and time on the treadmill, I also had three challenges in March.  I had my gym challenge (see March Into Fitness post), plus the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans and Well-Girl calendar challenges.  I really think I bit off more than I could chew, but I did them all.

Pretty much the majority of my month consisted of work, exercise, eat and sleep.  My sacrifice came in the form of social media and journaling.  I didn't make any blog posts during the month, which is why this is a long one.  Also, my time on facebook was severely limited.  While it was necessary, I really missed it.  This is how I keep up with my friends and family back home, see how they are, and what is going on.  I really felt a little isolated.  There is also a few groups on facebook that I have become a part of that I missed.  I hope to try to find more time to check in more often without sacrificing my need to get more sleep (as I type this it is getting late, but I need to finish this).

If you have been reading my blog you know that I have been attending a Demo and Dine night at my local hospital each month.  I was able to make the time for this and so glad I did.  It was another great night, wonderful food, and good company.  I tried a few new things that I hadn't tried before (eggplant, goat cheese, jicama).  Looking forward to the next one in April.

On my weekend off from the gym I decided it was finally time to get back to my task of going through clothes.  While I am still having a hard time getting rid of things, they are getting closer to the door.  One thing I did manage to complete was clean out some drawers.  I threw away lots of underwear, bras, and PJ's.  I couldn't get over the size differences.  I also while in my closet found my old pair of jeans.  Funny, I had to try on one of my old bras.  I am currently wearing a 40C, but the biggest one in my drawer was a 48C.  Couldn't get over how big it was.  Also, there was my undies.  There were lots of bigger pairs that I couldn't read the size on but I did find some old ones that were 11.  The most current ones that I bought were a 9...NICE!  As far as my jeans, my biggest pair was a 28 and the new ones are 18.  I had to lay them on top of one another, amazing to see the difference in size.  This helps to remind me how far I have come.  Sometimes when I look in the mirror I don't always see this.  My clothes and also seeing old pictures (plus all the positive feedback from others) definitely help reinforce all the hard work and progress.

I also took my weekend off from the gym to go shopping for my new bike.  I have been filling my exercise jar since January of last year, one dollar at a time, to reward myself with something.  I really had no idea what I wanted to do with it until last summer when I started riding bikes with a friend.  She had an extra bike that she let me use.  I knew that I needed to keep saving and use my "exercise jar" money for a new bike.  I picked out the one I wanted.  I will be ordering it in the next week since it only takes a day or so to get here.  Today I also purchased a bike rack.  I am so excited, especially with the great weather that we have had the last couple of days.  I have a feeling I will spending a good bit of time outdoors on the bike.

So for the month of April -

1.  Continue to try to get 10,000 steps a day and keep logging into MFP
2.  Lose 7 pounds (I probably won't weigh in until the end of the month)
3.  Try a few new things on my foods to try list
4.  Take a good look at my schedule and try to find that balance between work, exercise, and social things
5.  Be more mindful of my intake of sugars and sweets.  Try to find alternatives or substitutions

Oh yeah....can't forget this month's new calendar.  Thanks Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans for another great calendar.

Here's to an AMAZING APRIL!!!