February Review & March Goals

As ever, this month as passed in a daze, lots has happened! I’ve also been a bit neglectful of the blog, but sometimes life gets in the way.

So first the big news – we’ve found a new house and had an offer accepted! There’s still a way to go before completion, so I’m not counting my chickens, but things are looking good so far. We didn’t actually end up looking at that many (not actually that much out there!), but what we’ve found fits the bill, although it needs a bit of work.

Lots of other good stuff happened in February, including a family trip to Amsterdam which was a lot of fun. I can’t say it was massively cultural (a boat trip around the canals was about as touristy as we got) but it was good to spend some time in a different city and going on a plane was a novel experience for the girls (and not too stressful – but perhaps I’ve just blanked that out…).

I also spent a day in the Nutritional Therapy teaching clinic at the start of the month, observing some of the year 3s undertaking their first client consultations. We build up to this over the course of the first part of the course and then put everything we’ve learnt into practice, supervised by our tutors, towards the end of the course. This was a great insight into what awaits me in year 3. Undoubtedly very nerve-wracking, but of course a very valuable part of getting you ready for seeing your own clients in the real world! We started our first module in Clinical Practice last weekend, so we’re already starting to practice the consultation – it’s all becoming very real!

The upshot of all this fun stuff, alongside more assignments to submit and a continuing busy time at work means that I’ve still not focussed very much on my health over the past few weeks. I’ve been less consistent in my exercise, particularly my running, and I’ve seen a degradation of my pace over the past couple of weeks. If I’m honest, I’ve also eaten a lot of crap too. I can really feel it – I have less energy and have been feeling a bit below part. The upshot of this is that my progress against my February goals looks like this:

Self-care basics – hydration, vitamins, going to bed in good time – not too bad here, I’ve been sleeping well and reminding myself to drink more often.
Viewing a lot of houses – Tick!
Getting our mortgage arrangements sorted – Started the process at least
Submitting assignment on time and to a good standard (that old chestnut) – almost, will be done on time
Gently getting back on track with my usual exercise schedule and making good food choices – not quite
Clearing out some (more!) clothes and books – tick!

I always feel more optimistic in March thanks to the spring flowers and the longer days, so I’m hoping that will give a bit of a lift to my mood this month. There’s no let-up in the work schedule (big project kicking off on Monday plus a trip to Sweden), or the college one come to think of it (the assignments come thick and fast in year 2!). However, I do have less on at the weekends, so I’m hoping to capture the uptick in my motivation to get back on track.

I’m feeling like I’m in need of a reset after a couple of months with my head down scoffing chocolate, so I’ve decided to go sugar free from now until Easter. This coincides with Lent (although I am not remotely religious), but does feel like a manageable period to make more conscious food choices and get in more of the good stuff. When I say sugar free, I’m talking about what’s known as “free sugars” which is anything you add to your food (although juice also falls into this category). I’m not talking about fruit or milk here, but I’ve been playing a bit fast and loose with the honey on my porridge and the dates in my brownies lately, and whilst they might be naturally occurring, the body still recognises them as sugar. Wine ALWAYS falls into the exemption category 🙂

I’m also going to get back into consistent habits with exercise, and before the end of March I think the days will be long enough that I can start cycling to work again, which I’m really looking forward to! Hopefully all of this will contribute to my feeling a bit more human and able to tackle my busy life.

The last piece is continuing to get in shape for our move. We think we’re probably going to put some stuff in storage temporarily whilst we do the work, so there’s no reason why we can’t start packing some of that stuff up now. There are also things to get rid of (why do we have so many mugs?) and I’m dreading tackling the garage, but it must be done. Although maybe not by me…

Goals for March are as follows: