It's been a month and a half since Kyle and I set out on our Spring Detox/Budget Crackdown. In a nutshell, we made the commitment to be really active and eat healthy everyday and to reduce our grocery budget in half for the month of April! Major goals! So how did we do? Pretty great actually!
EXERCISE:
THE GOAL: Our goals for exercising are... to do something active (workout, go for a walk, shoot some hoops) five days out of the week. Rain or shine. No matter what.
THE RESULT:
Okay, so we weren't active every single day, but I went for lots of walks, did some dance cardio and spent less time sitting on my bum. Kyle works so hard during the day at the brewery that he is active without having to try! It helps that the weather is starting to improve and we've been getting outside more. I've been walking with Poppy to ballet and to pick her up from school and this weekend I went for a four hour walk! Yeah, seriously. It was soooo nice out and the lilacs were in bloom and Gigi was wearing her finest Parisian ensemble and all I wanted to do was to be outside so I just... kept... walking! I was hoping to keep my back pain at bay by increasing my activity. Unfortunately, despite my efforts, my back pain is returning with a vengeance. It's incredibly frustrating and disappointing. The fact that I have seriously considered getting pregnant again (which includes the whole giving birth thing) in order to alleviate it is an indication of how bad it is. I'm back to slapping on icy-hot patches and popping ibuprofen every night and squirming all over the place because I can't sit still. Not sure what to do now... I have no real desire to become like that weird mom with the 20 kids so I'll have to find some other remedy that doesn't involve pregnancy!
Lilacs and a beret! Perfect for a loooong Saturday walk! Noteez Meez 'Epbern on zee onezee! Oui, she eez somking a zeegarette. But oo carez, eez French, no?
EATING HEALTHY
THE GOAL:
Our goals for eating are... for the entire month of April we are cutting out as much as possible of the following: fried foods, refined foods, processed foods, bad saturated fats and desserts/sugar.
THE RESULT:
We did a great job eating healthy! Yes we did cheat and share a burger and sweet potato fries and we did have a few slices of pizza and I did have a Blizzard, but overall we ate really, really healthy! We skipped the desserts, cut back on the red wine, cut out the refined carbs and had light, healthy dinners. It felt great to cut out some of the junk we'd fallen into the habit of eating.
A great bonus to the healthy eating is that I dropped the last of my pregnancy weight! From 131 to 125 which is exactly what I weighed when I got pregnant. I also lost one more inch on my waistline (from 37-28-37 to 37-27-37). I have to admit it feels pretty great to be back to "my old self". Growing up as a gymnast, dancer and diver I have always felt the best when I felt healthy and fit. Here's a little snapshot of me now...
BUDGET:
THE GOAL: Reduce our grocery budget from $475 to around $200 (that's $50 a week on groceries)!
THE RESULT:
We did it! It was challenging and, at times a little frustrating but overall I found it to be an empowering experience! We were able to eat healthy, mostly local/organic foods for half the amount we had been previously spending. As you all know, I love to eat and love to cook so this was a huge challenge for me. I have been known to buy $50 ingredients for one indulgent meal! We really didn't have a choice since we are really broke right now but, by setting this goal for our budget, I made it feel like a choice! It ended up being fun-ish and we are basically using the same menu again this month but we're adding in a few changes to richen up the protein and iron and to keep things fresh. I'll have a couple more great easy and inexpensive recipes for you this month! The menu from last month is on same post linked above and here. I promise I'll have a new menu for June!
Did anyone else set health, fitness or budget goals for the month?
Also... if you haven't already, don't forget to check out my last post and Giveaway!