My April fitness goal was to complete 23 workouts and do at least 4 pull-ups at the gym.  I achieved both goals. I thought I’d be more excited and proud of myself for these accomplishments, but honestly, it was somewhat of a letdown.

I was crazy busy last month.  I had to wrap up at a job I’d had for 6 years.  I started a new job. I worked on the Trader Joe’s cookbook submissions, bio, and photos.  I traveled a bunch.  I was out of state 8 days in the month. Crazy busy, right?

I made it a commitment to get my workouts in and I hit exactly the number I committed to (23), but my heart was not in all of them and at times I felt like I was just going through the motions to hit the number.  I’m sure anyone reading this has felt the same way.  Coming from March when I did 27 killer workouts and felt like I had made a big change, April was a bit of a let-down.   Ok, enough with beating myself up for today… let me brag now about what I DID accomplish:

• I jogged during my lunch break. I covered a minimum of 5K during each session 8 times last month, so I’d estimate a minimum of 28 miles covered at lunch!
• I ran in a 5K race and beat my best time!  I completed the race in 28:28, which is around 6.6 MPH average for the full run!
• I added other cardio activities when running was not practical. I completed 5 cardio workouts at the gym, on the road, or at home.
• I beefed up my weights routine and and completed 9 strength-based workouts either at the NAC, a hotel gym, or my home gym.
• I exceeded my goal of 4 pull-ups!  I can do 5 really solid ones and then two weak ones that maybe count.  My goal is to work up to 12 by the end of the year, so this is promising progress toward that goal.  I think I want to install a pull-up bar at home so I can practice more!
• Finally, many of the 7 days I took off from exercise last month involved a lot of walking.  And every day had a real reason for missing the exercise.  I did not miss any days because I was just too tired or didn’t feel like doing the work.  They were all days that were just too full and working out would have taken some kind of herculean effort to accomplish.
• I lost a pound! I am not sure how because I did not follow my diet plan at all, but I lost a pound and I can see more muscles visible, so there’s some good progress there as well!

So, written out like that, it does sound better!  This month I will put more energy into the workouts and try to focus more on pushing my body to change.  I am going to make a goal of 25 workouts this month and I want those extra 2 wimpy pull-ups to become strong ones.  I’ll shoot for 7 good pull-ups and hope I can be close to 10 with extra wimpy ones after the good ones! Is that a weird goal or what?

What is your May fitness goal?  How do you stay accountable to it when you are losing motivation?

This month has been super busy! When I wasn’t working, interviewing, working on a cookbook submission, chasing kids, making lunches, or blogging, I was most definitely exercising!

I am very close to goal weight now and that makes it harder to achieve weight-loss goals. I just can’t make the scale budge a pound a week anymore. Part of the issue is that I am gaining muscle, while I am losing fat. I can see this on my body as I drop a pants size and can visibly see some muscles now, but the number on the scale is going down painfully slowly. This phenomenon is discussed in a Fit Villains post I like. I think the picture they use illustrates the topic very well and I hope this is what is happening to me!

The article definitely helped me stop beating myself up over slow weight loss and remember to focus on my fitness goals. I decided to make a very BIG fitness goal for March: 27 workouts in 31 days. Only 4 rest days for the month! This was a challenge for me with my busy schedule, but I made it a priority and saw it through to the end. Today is day 31, workout 27, and I am very proud of myself for sticking with it, even on days when I was exhausted and just didn’t think I could! Healthy eating is a lifestyle choice I try to model for the kids, but there are plenty of times when I give in to something and exercise really helps me feel like I can balance those kinds of issues out.

So, what did I do with my 27 workouts?

• I jogged during my lunchbreak. I covered a minimum of 5K during each session, 3 times a week, 14 workouts total. I did not keep track of total miles, but I’d guess I covered at least 55 miles for the month. I did track each individual outdoor run using MapMyRUN, an app I absolutely love for tracking distance, pace, and route details.
• I did some a weights routine workout using 10 pound dumbbells in my basement workout space every Wednesday (4 workouts for the month). It is actually an old upper body/core routine I clipped out of a bridal magazine 8+ years ago, but I love it, so I still use it.
• I worked out with a friend at the gym every Saturday AND every Sunday. I always did some cardio, but we mostly focused on weights. My friend is a great trainer and really kicked my butt week after week. Also, we have a goal of increasing the number of unassisted pullups by one a month, so we can hit 12 by the end of the year. We’re already ahead of schedule! I can do 4 and she can do 5! I love being able to see progress. So that’s another 9 workouts.

I spent a lot of this month exhausted and sore. However, I did find a lot of stress relief in the workouts and I really needed that this month! I think the exercise keeps my eating on track too.

Next month has potential to be even busier, especially with me starting a new job. I may need to reduce my exercise goal to 23 / 30. This will give me some extra days to take a pass if I need to. Then again, those are the days I probably need the endorphins most!

Do you have an April fitness goal? What is it? How do you stay accountable to it? Good luck!