Another year in numbers

A good year in terms of health and fitness, all logged for comparison with past years. Walking was good - with a million paces achieved in each quarter, and the four-million pace year cracked for the first time. Walking is good for you!

Less alcohol consumed than for many, many years - I started to keep count in 2014, and each year I've been supping back fewer units and having more alcohol-free days. The 21 units a week was the old NHS guideline (down from 28 units for men); now the guideline is 14 - a tough target but an ambition for years ahead! December, however, remains the least restrained month, with 36 units downed (compared to 56 units in December 2014!). This year, every other day was alcohol free, with two consecutive days off each week as recommended by Public Health England (and 46 days of total abstinence during Lent, as usual).

Measurable and manageable
	2014	2015	2016	2017
Paces per day walked (average across whole year)	9,800	10,700	10,600	11,000
Alcohol consumed (units per week)	33.4	28.0	25.0	20.8
Alcohol-free days over course of year	94	123	155	186
Days without any physical training	234	266	148	83
Portions of fresh fruit & veg per day	N/A	4.3	5.0	5.2

A new metric appears this year - number of days of the year during which I did no physical training at all. This means no sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups or weights exercises. The number is successively declining, as I get more self-disciplined. A big thanks once again to Michal Borzyskowski for suggesting my weights routine (now I'm moving up from 1kg to 1.5kg for the external rotations and from 2kg to 2.5kg for the internal rotations and lateral lifts. 15 repetitions of each.

On to dietary matters - the gurus are now telling us to aim for ten portions of fresh fruit and veg with the emphasis more on the veg than the fruit. All well and good, but preparation time is key - on a day off work like today, I managed eight portions, harder when you're on the go all the time. Still, the trend is good, moving up to 5.2 portions. Expect much more next year!

New Year's resolutions must be sustainable if they are to make sense. In 2014, I kicked off enthusiastically with the exercises, then tailed off early. In 2017, I plugged away for longer, setting myself a clear goal for 2018 and beyond.

But our goals must be more than physical, more than just due care for our shell of foam. Our primary goal must be to deepen our understanding of our sentient existence upon this planet - on a solar system within a galaxy of 100-400 billion stars; one of 200 billion-2 trillion galaxies in our Universe.

To further our understanding, we should pursue two strands of thinking - the scientific; drawing on empirical observations, repeatable experiments and peer review - and the artistic; intuitive, emotive, based on sensations and feelings. The two strands should be interwoven, bound tightly together as one. The aim - to leave those who come after us a better frame of reference from which they can continue to explore, and to move along that infinite continuum from Zero to One. From the bestial to the angelic. And this I wish humanity for 2018.

This time last year:
2016: A year in numbers

This time two years ago:
2015 - a year in numbers

This time three years ago:
Economic forecasts for 2014 - and 2015?

This time four years ago:
Economic predictions for 2014

This time five years ago:
Economic predictions for 2013

This time six years ago:
Economic predictions for 2012

This time seven years ago:
Classic cars, West Ealing

This time eight years ago:
Jeziorki 2009, another view

This time nine years ago:
Jeziorki 2008, another view

This time ten years ago:
Final thoughts for 2007