This March I Will....
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themedalist
Posts: 3,215 Member
We flip another page on the calendar and it's March! I love March! Living in a cold weather state, March means Spring can't be far away and with it, the return of two of my favorite activities! Walking in my woods and gardening! WOOHOO!!!
Goodbye snow and ice...hello mud season!
So what's on your to-do list for March? What will you accomplish this month? What healthy habit do you want to create over the next 31 days?
And if you are joining us for the first time, welcome! Please post what you will be working on and how we can help! And just a suggestion: set a reminder to check-in periodically with us. Check-in daily, weekly, or as often as works for you, but let us know how you are progressing! We're here to support and encourage you, but if you don't post, we can't cheer you on!
And if you're joining us halfway through the month, no need to wait until April. Begin now and you'll be that much closer to achieving your goal. If you're looking for ideas, our list of previous challenges is helpful.
Please tell us what you've got planned for March!
Using the structure that habits experts recommend, try to frame your goal along these lines:
1. My goal for this month (This March I will...")
2. The small actions I’ll be taking to accomplish this goal
3. The trigger or cue to remember to do my habit
4. How often will you do your new habit (daily is best if possible)
5. What reward will you immediately give yourself for doing your habit? (Small positive feedbacks such as a fist pump, saying "I'm awesome", or a star/check mark on your calendar help cement the habit you are trying to build.)
6. What help do you need from us?
7. What does success look like to you at the end of March?
Let's March all over the winter blues and enter spring a little healthier! We can do it!
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I also live in a cold snowy state and I'm so excited for spring! The picture with the daffodils made me smile the minute I saw it. We have snow on the ground, but today was 44 degrees so we have patches of melting and it's super exciting!
My goal for March is to do some sort of activity or exercise every day. I recently saw the ortho surgeon who said I have bone-on-bone arthritis in my right knee, with bone spurs growing off my bones and my knee cap. It's painful and I'm to only do non-impact activity, so this will take some researching to find out how I can tone myself without hurting myself. I am determined to get my A1C down and my HDL cholesterol up, and the way to do that is through exercise.
1. My goal for this month (This March I will...") do at least 15 minutes of exercise twice a day.
2. The small actions I’ll be taking to accomplish this goal: I will set an alarm on my phone to remind me to do something every evening at 6:00 p.m. if I haven't done so yet.
3. The trigger or cue to remember to do my habit: I'm going to use a few triggers and hopefully one of them will "take". Alarm on my phone at 6:00 p.m. after dinner to remind me. My other trigger will be when it's lunch time at work. I hope to go outside and take a few laps around the parking lot since it should begin getting warmer soon.
4. How often will you do your new habit (daily is best if possible): 15 minutes twice daily. 5 out of 7 days per week.
5. What reward will you immediately give yourself for doing your habit? (Small positive feedbacks such as a fist pump, saying "I'm awesome", or a star/check mark on your calendar help cement the habit you are trying to build.)I will place a checkmark in my Daily Planner/Journal next to Activity using my favorite purple or pink pen.
6. What help do you need from us? Encouragement. Ideas of non-impact activity that won't hurt my knee would be awesome!
7. What does success look like to you at the end of March? I truly believe if I do this routinely that my pants will fit looser at the end of the month and I will feel more energetic. If my pants fit looser, I will let myself go buy a new pair of work slacks!
Spring is coming...it's a time of new growth! Hey 2020, I'm coming for you!!!4 -
One thing that causes me some stress in my life is the number of distractions I get that take me off my focus and what I'm working on. Mainly, it's my phone and the constant texts and notifications I get. The ones we all get. It seems like an innocent intrusion, but more and more experts agree that these incessant distractions have very real costs: time wasted, loss of focus, concentration, and creativity. I know that I'm not as productive as I could be. As I WILL be this month!
So.....
1. This March I will not let distractions take me off my focus and derail my concentration.
2. The small actions I’ll be taking to accomplish this goal: A suggestion from James Clear...I'm going to keep my phone in another room at home and keep it out of reach at work. Since I do want to be reachable if it's urgent, I'll ask those who text me the most to text several times or call me several times if it's truly urgent. I've never gotten an "urgent" text. Since I now wear my Fitbit on my ankle, my ankle buzzes if I get a text or call. I plan on getting up and stretching every 30 to 40 minutes so I'll check my phone then. I want to control when I check notifications and not be interrupted!
3. The trigger or cue to remember to do my habit: whenever I sit down to work at my computer!
4. How often will you do your new habit (daily is best if possible): Many times throughout the day!
5. What reward will you immediately give yourself for doing your habit? (Small positive feedbacks such as a fist pump, saying "I'm awesome", or a star/check mark on your calendar help cement the habit you are trying to build.) When I do get up after working at a stretch, I'm going to pause and reflect on how nice it was to not be distracted!
6. What help do you need from us? Encouragement!
7. What does success look like to you at the end of March? I think this small shift in habit will make me more productive and reduce my stress.
Happy March, Everyone!
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@PackerFanInGB, you asked for non-impact ideas to stay active... When I was on the cusp of having hip replacement surgery, the only exercise I could do with my legs was the elliptical. It saved me and my sanity! I'd use my cane or walker, park it right next to the elliptical, and slowly position myself on the machine. And then I'd start moving...it was heaven! There was no pain! I couldn't walk or use my treadmill, but I could use the elliptical.
You might try it out at your local gym and see how you like it. If you do like it, but the gym isn't practical, now is a great time to buy lightly used fitness equipment. The folks that bought them for their new years resolutions have pretty much given up by now and are selling them sometimes at 90% less than what they paid in Dec/Jan. Crazy but true.
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Hello everyone. Have been out of the group for a while but not from MFP. Been dealing with different things, personal life and mental health. Also go sick with pneumonia and was hospitalized. This group has grown and I am so happy! I was always grateful to be a part of the creating healthy habits initiative when the group started and it was a life saver.I am pre diabetic, going through menopause, but have managed to lose some weight and change my eating habits completely. Lots of road ahead, a day at a time. My mental health gets in the way but I get up and move along. Part of life. In the hopes to continue on my journey I decided to come here and make it a habit again of coming in, participating and supporting the group every month. Thank you for allowing me to be back.
1. This March I will...journal as much as I can so that I can keep up with what is going on emotionally. Also keep tabs on my spending. I am a stay at home mom and can spend frivolously and I know my husband does not appreciate it.
2. The small actions I’ll be taking to accomplish this goal: I will time myself every morning and journal. As the week progresses I will add more time. On that journal I will keep a log of my spending. I am really hoping I do good on both.
3. The trigger or cue to remember to do my habit: the alarm on my phone
4. How often will you do your new habit (daily is best if possible) Daily
5. What reward will you immediately give yourself for doing your habit? Give myself credit for doing it and using my journal daily.
6. What help do you need from us? Encouragement and ideas on how not to spend money. haha
7. What does success look like to you at the end of March? Success will be that I can keep tabs on my triggers when it comes to my mental health. I am at a low right now and cannot figure out what it is. Also success will look good when my husband notices at the end of the month that the cc payments are not as high.
Good luck everyone!3 -
@themedalist Thank you for the suggestion! I will try that! I’m actually intimidated by the Elliptical as I’ve never been able to do more than a minute on them! It’ll be a good way to challenge myself. 😊
I really like your goal this month! I’m interested in seeing how it goes for you. I really don’t like feeling tied to my phone!1 -
@PackerFanInGB like you I did not like the elliptical and it turned out to be a great tool in terms of building strength and weight loss. I worked every muscle of my body. My husband broke it so we don't have one now and other than walking that was my go to exercise. Hope you give it a try.3
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Yay March!! I think it got to 63° yesterday here in Iowa! Here come the daffodils! Love them!
1. This March I will Not Eat after 6:00 pm.
2. Since watching TV is my trigger to eat, I will not turn the TV on.
3. I will put a reminder on my phone "to do" list. I also have a list on my phone of things I will do other than watching TV.
4. This will be a daily habit.
5. I will give myself a check mark on my calendar as a reward.
6. Reporting here gives me the accountability I need.
7. If I succeed I will build confidence in myself. I'll feel glad instead of disappointed, and I know I will lose weight, since this behavior is the only way I sabotage myself these days.
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Two days of success! Yahoozies! 3
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LoriAnna62 wrote: »Two days of success! Yahoozies!
Two consecutive days is great! I could relate to your statement about wanting to building confidence in yourself and the feeling of disappointment when you self sabotage. The better we do, the better we want to do. It's all about persistence, something I have not yet achieved. Baby steps🙂 BTW I'm next door in Nebraska. Howdy neighbor!
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PackerFanInGB wrote: »@themedalist Thank you for the suggestion! I will try that! I’m actually intimidated by the Elliptical as I’ve never been able to do more than a minute on them! It’ll be a good way to challenge myself. 😊
I really like your goal this month! I’m interested in seeing how it goes for you. I really don’t like feeling tied to my phone!
I had to laugh! I remember the first time I used an elliptical at the gym 7 years ago. Once I figured out how to get on it And make it work I thought I would die after a minute or two. But all these other people were on their ellipticals going on and on like it was nothing so I didn't dare quit. When I finally had to give up, my legs literally felt like I had jelly for muscles and I had to hold on to things for support as I slunk away from the people who were STILL going strong. That was quite a workout in a very short time! I found that the weights section and walking outside were more to my liking.
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I’m really enjoying having my phone stowed away while I’m working. It’s much like the feeling I get from meditation. Meditation turns down the incessant brain chatter and there’s a lovely peacefulness that I get. Without my phone interrupting me every few minutes with news notifications and texts, I can really concentrate on what I’m doing. And I love the quiet!
I thought I’d want to check my phone at least hourly but I don’t. Once or twice during the workday is just fine.
I wish I’d done this before in the weeks leading up to the New Hampshire primary. 0 -
So far so good, spending on groceries two days so far. Noticed I am running out of stuff I did not buy last weekend. This shows me that I need to be more careful when making my grocery list and dig deep to see what I have left or what I need and don't need.
Journal posts going well. Will keep this going as much as I can.1 -
prgirl39mfp wrote: »So far so good, spending on groceries two days so far. Noticed I am running out of stuff I did not buy last weekend. This shows me that I need to be more careful when making my grocery list and dig deep to see what I have left or what I need and don't need.
Journal posts going well. Will keep this going as much as I can.
Good job! I love to journal too. Keeps thoughts at bay.
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"I will Not Eat after 6:00 pm.
Since watching TV is my trigger to eat, I will not turn the TV on (after 6:00)."
March
1. Success 2. Success 3. Success
"I also have a list on my phone of things I will do other than watching TV."
I still need to work on this!
So far instead of watching TV in the evenings I've been here, looking at community posts. But that's still a great improvement over what I have been doing!!
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Thank you @LoriAnna62 . It does. Need to figure out the triggers of my foul moods 🤪
Congrats on your success so far.1 -
1. This March I will log food and maintain a deficit when comparing calorie intake to calories burned as reported by my FitBit.
2. The small actions I’ll be taking to accomplish this goal: Log every time I eat something. Check and log my calorie burn from previous day and chart both numbers. Increase my activity level so I will burn more calories throughout the day.
3. The trigger or cue to remember to do my habit: I did this goal last month and logging has become pretty much a habit. I want to tweak the numbers this month. I will check my Fitbit several times a day to make sure I'm moving enough. If it shows if I've been sitting too much, I will know I need to get outside and go for a quick walk or go clean something like my basement that I keep putting off doing:)
4. How often will you do your new habit (daily is best if possible) Daily
5. What reward will you immediately give yourself for doing your habit? Immediately?? This is hard but I will acknowledge to myself that I'm being consistent and I'll just pat myself on the back. Long range I can look at my chart and see that I have persisted over time. I'm tired of letting myself down.
6. What help do you need from us? Encouragement. It helps when everyone is actively sharing how they're doing throughout the month. I get ideas and encouragement when I see that we have similar victories and struggles and I appreciate that connection.
7. What does success look like to you at the end of March? A list of 31 days that shows I have persisted in pursuing my goal. I may not have perfect numbers, but it's the consistent logging and charting that is just as important to me.1 -
I focused on keeping macros in line today and got in a couple exercise sessions and I feel great. I was also able to spend time sewing, doing a French lesson, studying photography, and practicing my guitar. I struggle with overwhelm from wanting to do too many things, but came up with a solution. I need to quit wasting so much time playing Bubble Cloud during the day 🙄 and watching TV at night 🤪. The minutes/hours add up through the day. I do use those as tension relief but I can cut down considerably and use exercise more. Oh, my husband brought home 2 bags of chips again today and my new mantra is “zero chips will pass these lips”! That will be tough but I made it through day 1😊
I hope you’re all having a good week. How’s it going?2 -
@nebslp great mantra about the chips. I may steal it! Glad you are keeping macros in line today. That has been so hard for me lately. My vice is Candy Crush again, since I got a newer phone. Keep up the good work and good luck on day 2 of no chips!
So far my week has been going good. I need to continue to journal about my feelings and my moods to keep tabs on it. This week I have been feeling better, although yesterday I had triggers thinking about my mom and I cried a lot. Guess I needed that.0 -
3-4-20
1. I will Not Eat after 6:00 pm.
2. The small actions I’ll be taking to accomplish this goal - since watching TV is my trigger
to eat, I will not turn the TV on. Instead, I will work on scrapbooks.
3. Reward: Posting my success to the challenge.
March 1-4 Success!
@nebslp Nice job doing your hobbies!! I have the same issues of feeling overwhelmed with the hobbies I want to do or projects that need doing, so I browse on my phone during the day and watch TV (and eat!) in the evenings. Last night I was able to leave the TV off and do some scrapbooking. It was so much fun!!
@prgirl39mfp Glad your week has been going well! Sorry to hear that you were sad....
YAY Journaling!!! 1
