Dirt Off My Shoulders

Remember a few weeks back when I posted about my 30-day challenge? Well, it's officially April and here's a recap of how it went:

Goal 1 - Workout 4+ times a week (mix between cardio and weight training/BodyPump)

Hhhm, I'll give myself a flat B on this one -- better than in previous months, but still plenty of room to improve.

As you all have heard (probably more than you want!).... at the beginning of the month I was attempting to train for my first 8K race, which had me at the gym 5-6 days a week. I got into a bit of rut, but with some assurance from friends and family, I pushed through it. The Friday before the 8k, I pulled a muscle in my leg. Efff. I was still determined to run the race, so I did. Looking back on it, probably not the best idea, but I needed to run it for my own sanity.

I took a week off from exercising after the race (my body was creaky, and I'm still having some shin/ankle issues), and now I'm back on my routine of going to the gym around 4-5 days a week. No running until I go to the doctor to have my left leg looked at, but I've been mixing things up between lower-impact activities like swimming, spinning and the elliptical. Unfortunately, I get an F on weight training. I only did two BodyPump classes during March and barely touched any free weights. Oops.

I've (maybe) toned down a little bit, but I'm mostly happy about feeling stronger and more energetic. The focus for the rest of the spring will be to heal and start running again, and to build more strength training into my workouts.

Goal 2 - Eat a healthy breakfast everyday
Goal 3 - Pack breakfast and/or lunch 3+ days a week

B+!! This is probably where I've improved the most, which is awesome since I pretty much hate breakfast and I usually like going out for lunch to avoid being stuck inside the office all day. But, packing food for the day really helps with sticking to a routine. I now bring my breakfast and lunch into work around 3-4 days a week -- usually a Greek yogurt mess or some Kashi Honey Sunshine cereal for breakfast, and a sandwich and fruit for lunch. If you haven't tried Kashi Honey Sunshine, do! It's like a healthy but delicious version of Waffle Crisp. YUM.

Goal 4 - Get 7+ hours of sleep a night

Probably a B-. I'm doing a little better, but some nights I'm still up way too late and miserable the next day because of it (thank you, grad school). I've also had this weird pattern of waking up around 4:00 a.m. and not being able to fall back to sleep. That's just once and awhile, but it still throws me off. On days when I do get a full night's rest -- I'm so much happier! I'm going to keep working on this goal and hope that I eventually get into a good pattern.

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Well that's the jist of it.  Not too bad for a first time challenge!

OOH, I have something fun to report. Since I've promised to try and be less vanilla and more adventurous, I took the plunge and cut my hair a few days ago. 6+ inches, gone! I now have a A-line bob, which people tell me is cute, but I'm still getting used to it.  It looks kinda like Ashley Green's style below, but a tad bit shorter:
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
What do you think?  My hair has been my security blanket over the past couple of years, and I just wanted something more fun and less high maintenance. I think once I get used to it, I'll love it.  The first time working out with it was not cute. Too short to pull up, but too long to not bother me.  I think I need to buy some of those elastic headbands?
 
BTW, I'm planning to post some healthy but really good recipes I've experimented with over the past few weeks.  I'll get to that ASAP since I know a couple of people have already asked me to post them and I've been slacking.
 
Happy April! 
 
xoxo,
Olivia