January Retrospective

It's the end of the first month of the year and more importantly for me the end of the first month of Project ME.

January Tasks

I set myself a number of tasks. Some easy, some hard, some quick and others that would last the entire month.

Lose 4lb (Weight)

I was so close. The official word from the Wii is that I lost 3lb. I am disappointed that I didn't get down to 4lb but there is a silver lining to this cloud. My clothes are less tight, I am already having to look at replacing some of the clothing I bought before Christmas as my body shape has changed and I am now quiet toned all over. I am eating healthier and being more conscious about what I eat so hopefully that other 1lb will come off quiet quickly.

Plank Challenge (Exercise)

Sadly I couldn't complete this. I was determined to do it and up to holding for a minute and a half I was doing ok but I couldn't get past 2 minutes. I didn't give up completely though. I have continued doing planks each day in an attempt to perfect my technique and build up my strength to come back to this later in the year and complete it.

Use the gym and pool in our building at least once (Exercise)

I have got into a regular routine now of using the pool at the weekends. I even invested in a swimming hat! Not drinking has meant I have woken on Saturdays fresh and awake and keen to go for a swim. I did get to the gym eventually (Monday this week actually) but for some reason I put it off as long as I could. I am not sure why as after my 40 minutes session I felt great and will be ensuring I pop down at least once a week too. I even managed my first tiny run in 6 months!

Complete 1 sewing project (Craft)

This ended up being a last minute rush but I did come out with something useful which has now stirred my creative juices on how to improve what I did and put the Urban Fox stamp on it. So here is my sewn Blackberry case:

It means I find my BB in my bag now (the black case I had before rendered it lost in my large handbag).

Complete 1 glass painting project (Craft)

I actually managed two in the end:

This one was done using an outline from Hobby Craft which I added the colour to. 

This one I painted by hand.

Update LinkedIn Profile (New Job)

Another complete task. My profile is now up to date and I plan on keeping updating it every time I have additional things to add.

Pay £300 off debt (Money)

I actually paid nearly £500 off in total which I am very pleased with. I am hoping to do the same again next month.

No drinking of alcohol from 5th January to 6th February (Health and Wellbeing)

As the date dictates this is still in progress but no alcohol has passed my lips since the 5th January. It's been hard though. Last weekend we had a dry Burns Night but thanks to the awesome Landlord at The Old Loyal Britons in Greenwich, we had alcohol free beer to drink. The food was also amazing and only £9.99 for a 3 course meal. I am on course to complete this and looking forward to next Friday when we will treat ourselves to a night out at Brewdog in Shepherds Bush.

Fill in MyFitnessPal.com app from 5th January to the end of the month (Health and Wellbeing)

Also complete. It has been quite eye opening seeing how many calories are in certain foods. This definitely helped with the weight loss. Seeing how much I have been snacking on helped me cut down as I think this is where I have been gaining weight as I haven't changed much in terms of main meals. It has also been interesting comparing the amount of calories I have eaten in total and the net amount less any exercise I have done.

I did find that the above wasn't enough so I brought in some tasks from the February backlog to complete as well:

• Update My CV

As I was updating my LinkedIn profile it made sense to do this at the same time. I hate writing CV's but for the first time I felt quite driven to do it. I'll admit though that I finished it at 11pm last night so this one was right to the wire!

• Sign Up to a Yoga Class

This was one of the first tasks I completed. The opportunity came up at work to join a yoga class and as I wanted to get back into yoga this year I couldn't pass it up. I have done 3 sessions so far and love it. Didn't realise how much I have missed yoga.

• Make 6 Cards to sell for Valentines Day

More craftiness. I had an idea and wanted to make a start on it so I brought this task forward.

I have set up a page on Facebook in order to sell the cards and will soon be adding them to my craft blog www.urbanfoxcrafts.co.uk. 

Pass or Fail

Overall I failed this "sprint" for the plank challenge and weight loss. But I have learnt some good lessons as well. 

I found planning out my week enabled me to complete tasks. In the past I have used "to do" lists for a week and then found I haven't completed everything on my list but breaking things down by day made everything much more achievable.

Having the kanban next to my bed has also reminded me daily what I am doing and what I have left to achieve. Although I have always set myself goals, they are on a list, normally on this blog and not somewhere I see everyday.  Also having the tasks visible has enabled @chrisnotwell to push me and support me in what I am doing.

The February kanban is now set up and I will blog tomorrow about the tasks for this month.