February was a struggle. I think a lot of us had tough Februarys, and I think that happens every year. February is a tough month. It’s the shortest month of the year but seems to always feel like the longest one. For me, February was a struggle in all areas of my life. It was a tiring month, a difficult one. A lot of resistance, a lot of uphill climbing and falling down.
The highlights of my month were planning a vacation for May (cruise #6!), starting a writing group with a friend, landing my first freelancing client, and paying off my credit cards in full.
The lowest point of my month was struggling with my health-related goals. I actually went backward in terms of progress, and I’m ending the month feeling very disappointed in myself.
The best thing I spent my money on this month was a deposit for my vacation in May! I’ve already spent way too much time canvassing the Cruise Critic message boards and finding fun excursions for our stops. Only 62 days until we sail!
In February, I wrote about a day in my life, on what it’s like to be a socially anxious introvert, my current thoughts and feelings towards losing weight, and five random facts about the boy who has my heart, Dutch.
The progress I made toward my obsessive goal was nothing. I wanted to be down 6.6 lbs from the beginning of this year by the end of February and instead, I wound up gaining weight this month. (It was a month of losing, then gaining, losing, then gaining.) While I did wonderful in January and lost 5.7 lbs, I wound up gaining 5 lbs of that back in February, so I’m basically back to where I started. This means I have to somehow lose around 10 lbs in March to be on track to lose 40 lbs this year. Yikes.
A habit I would like to change in March is eating too many sweets and drinking soda too often. And I have a plan for how I am going to do so! It will all be revealed in its glorious details tomorrow.
I am looking forward to March because I’m another month closer to my cruise, there should be more beach and/or pool days in my life, and I am confident I will have a solid month of weight loss. (If anything, I have something major to work towards: my cruise!)
As I wrote last week, I changed my yearly goals up a tad, skimming them down from 15 goals to just five personal ones. Here’s my progress report for February:
1. Get to a healthy BMI and lose at least 40 lbs. Progress has stalled. Let’s hope March is a super successful month for me, yeah?
2. Pay off my credit cards, start an emergency fund (have at least $1,500 saved), and pay off one school loan. My credit cards are PAID IN FULL! Woohoo! My tax refund was deposited last Monday morning and the minute I found out, I immediately went to get my two credit cards paid off. I am so thrilled about this. Honestly, it’s the best feeling. I’m behind on my savings goal, but that’s okay. I’m just happy to have the biggest monkey off my back when it comes to my debt: my credit cards!
3. Read 75 books, including 10 off this list. I read another six books this month, bringing my total to 12 books read. I also made progress with my secondary challenge by finishing The Kite Runner. (Next book on the list: The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood!)
4. Get a tattoo. No progress made.
5. Travel to Miami to attend a Miami Dolphins game. No progress made.
If you could describe February in one word, what would it be? What was one highlight from the past month for you?
Congrats on paying off your credit cards in full! That’s AWESOME. Definitely something to be proud of and pat yourself on the back for =)
And agreed, February is the longest short month EVER. I’m not sad to see it go…
Wahoo on paying those credit cards off! That s DEFINITELY something to be proud of! And how fun to have booked another cruise! We all have ups and downs with the weight loss, and February was hard for me as well …not nearly as successful as I would have hoped!
Congrats on paying off your credit cards! That’s awesome, lady. I can’t wait to feel that same feeling of accomplishment someday. 🙂
WOOHOO for paying off credit cards! I got my tax refund too but instead of throwing it in savings like I should have… I used it to purchase plane tickets and cover other travel expenses. No regrets 😀 Although my poor savings account isn’t looking too good right now, heh.
I just heard about a new app that helps you build habits ‘bit by bit’… I haven’t tried it yet but it looks like a winner (http://littleb.it/#). I read about the app and then I read this post and it seemed like something worth sharing! I know that for me, it’s so hard to continue to hold myself accountable, especially for those goals that require nearly daily maintenance. Good luck with your goals and I hope March is better to you than February was!
February was a good month but also a tough month for me as work has been pretty stressful for me and I am starting to get really nervous that I won’t find a job as soon as I would like. :/
That is exciting that you were able to pay your credits card off. I’ll be paying down a big chunk of my student loans this month when I get my bonus and I can not wait. I also can’t wait for the day when they are paid off and I can put my bonuses in savings.
Here’s hoping March is a great month for both of us.
GIRL, I am with you on the whole February thing. GOOD RIDDANCE to that short, but not at all sweet month.
You should write a post about your writing group…how you formed, what you do, etc. I would love to start one to keep me motivated here!
Here’s to a brighter March!