Thursday, March 3, 2016

February 2016 Goals and Results

I kicked ass with most of my goals and workouts in January. In February? Not so much.

Today I'm linking up with Kristen and Gretchen and sharing my goals and results for last month.

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When months like February happen, I hate posting my goals and results. I mean, obviously I'm human and shit happens ... But it still sucks.

My biggest issue in February was getting sick. Eric got sick, and, despite my best efforts, I managed to catch whatever awful thing he had. I feel like neither of us get sick often, but when we do, it completely wipes us out. We were both sick for about two weeks. 

I did try to do a few lighter yoga workouts during that time (as well as work toward some of my other goals), but I just really wasn't feeling it. All I wanted to do was sleep. 

Hopefully March will be a much more productive month for me! For now, though, here are my goals and results for February:

February 2016 Goals and Results


1. Don't buy any snacks or Doubleshots at work.

FAIL. I was seriously so close to achieving this, but I had to cave one day late in the month and buy a Doubleshot because I woke up too late to have coffee at home. I would have filled my travel mug, but the lid broke a couple of years ago and I never bothered to replace it. I prefer to have coffee before I get on the road anyway, so it didn't seem necessary to buy a new one. I feel like I need caffeine to function properly/avoid getting a headache (not a good thing, I know), so I opted for a Doubleshot. Other than that, though, I stayed away from the snacks and sugary coffee drinks last month.

2. Read 5 books.

FAIL. I actually can't believe I failed this one. Five books in a month is pretty average for me, so I thought this would be one of my easiest goals for the month. But, like I said at the beginning of this post, I was sick for about half the month and I spent a lot more time sleeping than reading.

3. Continue exercising 5 days each week.

FAIL. While this was mostly due to being sick for two weeks at the beginning of the month, I also kind of let myself slip toward the end as well. It was like, "Well, I already failed this goal so it doesn't really matter." I know that's a terrible way to think, but I got pretty busy the last week of the month and I guess I felt like I needed to somehow justify not making time for even a 20 minute workout. Whatever. Moving on.

4. Try 3 new recipes.

PASS. Like last month, I tried 4 new recipes. I've already posted the Vegetarian Spinach, Artichoke, and Feta Breakfast Casserole, the Crockpot Chicken Fajita Soup, and the Buffalo Chicken Potato Nachos with Avocado Ranch Sour Cream, and I'm planning to post the fourth new recipe next week.

5. Go completely vegetarian (all meals) once each week.

PASS. This was actually a pretty easy change to make, and it's something I'm planning to stick with in the upcoming months. I may eventually try to go completely vegetarian twice a week (or maybe even more), but once a week is good for now.

6. Post 2-3 times each week on my blog.

FAIL. I started off pretty strong, but the last couple of weeks of the month got really busy. (So if I haven't been as active with responding to comments or leaving comments on other blogs lately, that's why.) I didn't have the extra time to devote to writing and editing blog posts, so I just posted once a week and called it good. I'd prefer to post at least twice a week, though, so this is something I'll continue to work on.

7. Finish New Mexico trip recaps on my blog.

FAIL. I think this one is an obvious fail since there were clearly no new posts about our trip. I'm not sure why I didn't do this (other than maybe lack of motivation while I was sick and lack of time later in the month), but I really need to get it together and finish recapping that trip. I mean, we went to New Mexico in November. I probably should have finished those posts a long time ago.

As you can see, it wasn't a complete bust ... But it wasn't exactly a great month either.

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I decided last month that I would start posting my monthly workout totals in an effort to stay motivated and accountable. Obviously that didn't work so well in February, but I'm still going to share the workouts I did do and hope that maybe it will motivate me to push myself a little harder this month. (Though I did manage to lose another 2 pounds last month even without hardcore workouts, so that's something!)

Again, I know this stuff is boring for some people. I kind of feel like my workout summary is especially boring because I never share what types of videos I did (though, to be fair, I never write that down so I don't remember by the time I'm ready to post it here). If you're the kind of person who doesn't care to read about someone else's workouts, feel free to skip this part of the post.

February 2016 Workouts


Week 02/01 - 02/08:

02/02: Yoga video (30 minutes)
02/03: Yoga video (35 minutes)
02/05: Yoga video (30 minutes)
02/08: Yoga video (60 minutes)

Total Time: 155 minutes (2 hours, 35 minutes)

Week 02/09 - 02/16:

02/09: Yoga video (30 minutes)
02/14: Yoga video (40 minutes)
02/15: Yoga class (60 minutes)
02/16: Walking/light jogging - treadmill (60 minutes; 3.79 miles)

Total Time: 190 minutes (3 hours, 10 minutes)

Week 02/17 - 02/24:

02/17: BodyPump class (60 minutes)
02/19: Yoga video (45 minutes)
02/21: Yoga video (30 minutes)
02/22: Yoga class (60 minutes)

Total Time: 195 minutes (3 hours, 15 minutes)

Week 02/25 - 02/29:

02/25: Yoga video (30 minutes)
02/26: Yoga video (60 minutes)
02/29: Yoga video (30 minutes)

Total Time: 120 minutes (2 hours)

I don't think this was horrible by any means, but I only did strength training once and cardio once. Once in an entire month.

I like to try to do one day of strength training, one day of cardio, and three days of yoga each week, but I'd really be fine with any combination of those things. Yoga can definitely be really challenging (and I usually work up a sweat unless I've specifically chosen something "lighter" for relaxing), but I like to try to vary my workouts (at least a little).

This month I've already been favoring yoga a little more, but I'm going to try to incorporate some cardio and/or strength training back into my workouts. (And yes, I realize that I'm technically strength training when I'm doing yoga, but I'm talking about using weights in a class like BodyPump.) Hopefully I can get back into that habit!

8 comments:

  1. I love how you set up your monthly goals! It still seems like you got a lot accomplished so great job :) Thanks for linking up!

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  2. wait, you only got ONE doubleshot?! that is pretty damn near close to pass girl. seriously, i have already 'failed' a couple of my spring goals, and spring to me started 3 days ago. but i'm powering through and pretending the first 2 days didn't happen haha! but seriously, i know what you mean about 'i've already failed this one'. and i hate posting when i failed too, womp womp. and you can't help being sick, so here's to march!
    i like the idea of going vegetarian once a week. i eat a lot more meat than i used to, i would really like to get back to eating more vegetarian.
    i enjoy yoga, but i don't really consider it strength training unless i'm doing things like crow pose (which right now, i am not) so i know what you mean. some days my yoga is basically me laying on the floor and not doing much, and other times i sweat more than i run! haha. thanks so much for linking up with us girl!

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  3. Getting sick stinks a big one. It's never fun to get sick and see goals drift away, but you've got another month to tackle them and I know you will rock out march.

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  4. February is a shit month so I give you a pass on all the things.

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  5. So sorry you both were sick! My husband was sick at the beginning of February and despite my best efforts I caught it too :(
    www.amemoryofus.com

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  6. I agree with Jana. January and February can absolutely suck it. Overall, they are wretched months. Sometimes I believe the only goal for those months is to emerge on March 1 relatively unscathed.

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  7. i totally crapped the bed with reading as well because of work. it's starting to slow down now so i'm just starting to pick it up again.

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  8. Getting sick can throw all plans into a mess! I hope you are feeling better! It's only February, still time to get back to the goals! February is behind, but March is brand new!

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