March Madness #50_before50

Last Updated on April 7, 2020 by Jody Halsted

Oh, March. I had such high hopes for you.

The month began so strong. My income for the year was on an upward trajectory and I was on track for my best professional year ever.

I put an exercise plan in place and started working out daily.

I even had another debt in my sights to be paid off.

And then the world caught a virus…

March #50_before50 Goal Report

The further we venture into this year I see more of my goals turning into failures. It's difficult to press on, if I'm being honest.

Quite a few of my goals are both travel and income based – and neither of those things are happening right now.

Of my 50 goals I'm going to report on 6 today, as well as tell you about a change I've made.

Goal #1 Lose 50 lbs
March report: lost 3 lbs

At the end of March I was hovering just above my first micro goal of losing 10 pounds. I had hoped to hit that goal, but everything COVID-19 related hit at the same time and it became a struggle for me to even drag myself out of bed and accomplish anything.

To be honest I wondered if anything I had been doing was even worth continuing.

So I began cooking and baking, which calm me. But, since I'm also pretty handy in the kitchen we had some comfort food meals and tasty treats that I find hard to resist.

For April I'm just trying NOT to gain my ‘quarantine 15'. Anyone else?

Goal #9 Pay Off Debt
March report: plodding along

I had planned to pay off our next smallest debt but with the disappearance of my income for the foreseeable future we chose to keep the money in the bank and continue with minimum payments.

Goal #24 Income Goal for March
March report: Missed my income goal by $150

Because February was such an abysmal failure I was very happy with March's recovery.

Knowing that the utter decimation of ad revenue combined with travel cancellations mean my income in June, July & August is going to be non-existent I took a part time job with a local grocery store chain filling online shopping orders. It's not a bad gig, it pays decently, and it will keep us from falling further into debt, which is a blessing.

Goal #46 Monthly Genealogy
I reserve the final Friday of the month for genealogy and it just didn't happen in March. I prefer to work on this away from the distractions of home and that just wasn't possible.

While March didn't turn out quite like I had hoped I did have a few good bits…

Goal #18 Complete 10 mile bike ride
Mild weather at the the end of the month meant a 16 mile bike ride on March 25.

Goal #19 Complete 20 mile bike ride
Followed by a 25.11 mile ride on March 30

I am lucky to live in the suburbs of Des Moines with wide open spaces within a few miles of my home. A few minutes in my car and I can be to a large portion of bike trail and see only one or two people.

Looking forward into April

I've managed to plan my month in a way that (I hope) will allow me to keep up with my projects and not overwhelm me.

No one can predict when the virus will lift, how it may happen, or how it will return. With so much hanging in the unknown I'm planning to take the month one day at a time and do my best.

How about you? How are you doing?

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4 Comments

  1. I have good days and bad. My work is not impacted, but when my day job is over I have zero motivation to blog! I have been drinking more wine which adds to my daily carbs. I have added 5 pounds in the last 2 months but did do a 5 mile walk on Sunday which I hope to repeat a few times a week. Keep the chin up!

    1. I think we are all right there. I have days when I am highly motivated- and days when all I want to do is eat and sleep.
      Adding the grocery job is a blessing. It gets me up and provides income- as well as a grocery discount for my own food. I predict my online income won’t come back to even 50% of what it was in 2019 until 2021.

  2. March (and April) have not been my friend. I’m disgusted to say I have gained the quarantine 15. 🙁 I’m so disgusted. I joined Noom yesterday in an effort to get back to losing and stop gaining. I’m looking forward to better days ahead.

    1. I completely understand! And you’ve had additional stress, which is never helpful for mind, body, or spirit!!
      If you need someone to talk to or just offer encouragement I’m here for you!

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