Ah March, what a good month you’ve been! After February being a big meh, March has brought sunshine, eclipses, positive vibes and new phones! I did ok with my goals…
MARCH GOALS
- Really refocus on eating well – need to eat larger, more filling meals and reduce snacking considerably! Have a focused and clean eating March – Kind of, definitely not clean eating (er slutty brownies anyone?) if anything I found a much better balance with treats
- Make our kitchen gluten free – Success! James had 3 weeks gluten free and felt much better after it. He experimented with eating gluten again this last weekend and found some symptoms came back, so we’ll be gluten free from now on!
- Work out 3 – 4 times a week including one run and one yoga workout – Success!
- Complete the squat challenge! – Success!
- Focus on business development – make the most of mentoring programme and start working with a virtual assistant – Success!
- Declutter desk area, Finley’s things and beauty drawer in bathroom – Kind of, I decluttered the visible areas of my desk but that was it!
- Paint nails once a week – total fail!
- Moisturise twice a week – Success!
- See a financial advisor to get a solid idea of what mortgage we can afford – Success! This went very well, in fact we can afford more than we realised, fingers crossed our flat will sell soon
I’m really happy with how I got on with my goals this month, although I had a few fails, I did well with the key ones and I feel like I’m moving forward towards my big year goals. I’m still using my Shining Year Workbook to help me stay on track.
One thing that has developed more this month is not weighing myself. I stopped doing this in February and I’m so much happier. I’ve decided I don’t need the scales to tell me how to feel about my body. I know I’m in a smaller clothes size to what I was at the end of last year, I know I’m eating well within a balanced approach, and I feel good about being more active.
Of course a huge thing for me this month was Grains as Mains being published. I keep having to pinch myself when I see the cover with my name on! I shared my favourite recipes from the book here.
My favourite posts on the blog in March included:
- Eating too much healthy food? Read this…
- The Happy Health Chat Podcast – how to make healthy changes last
- Ways to become financially healthy
- Recipe for buckwheat and banana muffins
- A recipe for natural toothpaste and toothbrushes with gold and silver
- A Day in the Life
APRIL GOALS
- Run twice a week and start to build up training for my races this year
- Get my Just Giving page set up
- Complete my push up challenge!
- Declutter the flat even more – I need to sort out under our bed, my desk drawers and my bathroom
- Do a spring clean on the flat
- Do a few home improvements including new kitchen work benches and door handles
- Arrange dentist appointment and smear test
- Bake a proper cake
- Do a mini nutrition reset after Easter – with lots of green smoothies!
- Keep up my self care – oil pulling, dry skin brushing, moisturising and sort out my nails!
Quite a lot I’d like to do there, hopefully all do-able with some help. What I’ve learned recently is that it’s ok not to do everything yourself, even if that means paying for help. I may very well get a handy man in to do the little jobs around the flat and pay for a cleaner. James and I would rather spend our weekends with Finley than having to work or clean and that’s ok!
I mention the dentists and smear test thing as I had those things on my self care list for last month and didn’t get them done, so I’m sharing those with you now for accountability! Neither are very pleasant, but both essential for good health of course.
I’m excited about really challenging myself with running more this month, I have 4 races to prepare for! I think having my Just Giving Page set up ready for CHUF and the British Heart Foundation will be good motivators. What I haven’t listed, but may well happen is leaving the gym. There’s a metafit class on a Friday that you can take your little ones to, so if I get into that then there’s really no need for me to keep up with the gym until the autumn.
I’m really looking forward to Easter and I’ve already indulged in some Mini Eggs, my not so guilty pleasure! I’d also like to bake a proper – i.e. not healthified, cake. With mini eggs on it. Yum. Hence why I think I’d benefit from a bit of a clean week after that.
To hopefully burn off some of Easter treats, and tone up our arms ready for summer, we have my April challenge!
You can do the full version, or like me, the on the knees modified version. I’d love to work my way back up to full push ups by the end of the month. Here is a good guide for correct form and safety, so check this out if you are in. Really looking forward to this one!
How was March for you? What would you like to achieve in April? Are you up for the push up challenge?
I can seriously recommend the Hummingbird Bakery’s Carrot Cake recipe – search on the internet for it. It is not a healthy cake, but my god it is SO worth it. I’m going to try to make a dairy free version for Colin to try, but a bit hindered on the cream cheese frosting bit!
I’m going to have a go at the push up challenge. My back and core is pretty weak and I missed most of your planking one due to a bad back at the time. I shall be starting out with press-ups on my knees though and we’ll see how I get on… :S
Oh my goodness, Laura, the idea of a push up challenge terrifies me! Go you of brining yourself to the challenge, I’m totally c r a p when it comes to push ups. Everytime I do a YouTube workout that features push ups, I’m just a total mess!
Congratulations on a successful March, and of course for the book too! I look forward to seeing this mini eggs cake! March was the best month of the year for me so far, most likely due to my birthday being last week! The glimpses of good weather also made me feel more motivated in my work. April is the final big push before my University degree is over, eek! So I will be a very, very busy bee but I hope the hard work pays off. I’m also properly getting back into fitness, with a good variation of different at home YouTube workouts.
She’s So Lucy
Fab effort on your goals! The push up challenge should be good. I’m up to 20 full ones at the moment. I tend to them as part of my strength routine. Has taken a while to get there though!
I always think I should paint my nails more but I just can’t be bothered as they chip so easily. Such a lot of time and
effort on something that won’t last (though my toe nails are a different story! They last for ages and to be honest my feet would look awful if I didn’t because running really messes them up).
Good luck with your running challenge this month Laura! I am looking to get more runs in during April with the (hopefully) nicer weather. I took 2 weeks off as was travelling for work and then went for a run last night and it was HARD! So I’m going to plan to go over Easter to get back into it. Hope you have a lovely Easter! xx
Nice work on all your goals!
We just got a cleaner as I was getting so fed up with spending m y weekends cleaning and working- the work is not optional but the cleaning is (well someone else can do it)- they are only coming once a fortnight so I will still keep things clean ish, but the difference it made last week was amazing.
Good luck with your running- I am sure you will enjoy it and that can only help.
All I want to achieve in April is finishing the marathon! Very nervous about it now, but once that is done I can enjoy the rest of the holidays :)
Great month- well done on your goals! I’ve had a good month with a marathon pb and 2 weeks of holidays although definitely feeling the effects of that now, we are doing a mini reset now with lots of juices and smoothies and already feeling much better! Have a good April- hope to join in with the pushups!
I am so bad at push-ups so definitely in on this challenge! I’ve been focusing on running so much lately ahead of the marathon that my arms are definitely in need of a workout.
In April I want to continue making my own healthy snacks – it saves so much money and its so satisfying knowing exactly what has gone in to what I’m eating. x
It looks like you have had a great month. I have been thinking about getting a virtual assistant. If you could email me some tips, that would be much appreciated :)
Well done you ! I am so in for the push up challenge – been getting lazy doing them so going to aim to do this and maybe by the and of the month I will be able to do 50 full one!!??! Sounds like a great month Laura and so glad you VA is working well :)
I really enjoy reading about your goals and accomplishments. Makes a lot of sense to break goals into personal/self-care, financial and kitchen goals. Reminds me to set some goals again.
Also, I would love to know how you approached making your kitchen gluten-free. Did you do go through and toss all the gluten at once or was it a more gradual process (i.e. not bringing in new ingredients with gluten?