Six years of daily measurement, augmented in the past three years by the Huawei Health App (according to which, I'm 'better' than 99.99% of users). "Beat yesterday" is Garmin's slogan. "Beat last year" is mine. Long-term rather than short-term metrics count.
So how did I do this year? Pretty good! What's the secret? The key is to never miss a day's 10,000 - with that as a basis, everything else builds up as a bonus. Compared to previous years, this year saw no great walkathons; several 20,000+ days, but nothing spectacular. Not in the table below - was 'moderate to high intensity' walking, of which every day this year I did an average of 24 minutes, according to Huawei Health. This metric was introduced to the app in November 2018. It's made me walk just that little bit faster.
| Measurable and manageable | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | |
| Paces/day (average over year) | 9.8k | 10.7k | 10.6k | 11.0k | 11.4k | 12.0k |
| Alcohol drunk (units/week) | 33.4 | 28.0 | 25.0 | 20.8 | 19.7 | 18.5 |
| Dry days over course of year | 94 | 123 | 155 | 186 | 196 | 198 |
| Days with zero physical training | 234 | 266 | 148 | 83 | 27 | 17 |
| Push-ups/day | N/A | N/A | N/A | 25 | 60 | 90 |
| Sets of weights exercises/day | N/A | N/A | N/A | 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.3 |
| Portions fresh fruit'n'veg/day | N/A | 4.3 | 5.0 | 5.2 | 5.3 | 5.4 |
Bit of product placement here - pretty much every one of those 4.3 million paces I walked outdoors this year was in a pair of Loake shoes. No trainers, no wellies, no hiking boots - just four pairs of Loakes. Two pairs black, for office use, two pairs of ankle boots, for country walking.
Less alcohol consumed - still way off the NHS guidelines of 14 units a week, but a huge reduction from my late 50s, when in my first year of monitoring consumption, I averaged over 33 units a week. Key here is not to drink 'empty' units, purposeless drinking from boredom, keep the units for celebrations, for meet-ups, for dinners with friends, for sparkling chat.
More exercising. Planks - this year I managed less than a day's worth (22 hours), so more to do here. Press-ups are improving, as are weights - pull-ups are not so good. Left elbow gets sore if I overdo it on the exercise bar, so I did fewer (five a day averaged across the year) than in 2018 (seven a day). Overall - less 'lazy days' in which I couldn't find the motivation to exercise.
More fresh fruit and vegetables - just a small improvement, but moving in the right direction.
And blogging - second-highest output in terms of blog posts in since 2014, the year Twitter and Facebook caught up with and distracted me.
You may ask - what is the aim? I will answer: Pascal's Wager. In this case, I'm not betting on the existence of God (or otherwise), I'm betting that a healthy lifestyle will prolong years of active life. If I live to 100 in good form, you'll know why. My father set me a good goal - 96 and half years, 94 of which were 'active' (as in walking unaided, driving a car, mental acuity on form). If I sit back and do nothing, I will atrophy, my body will start winding down.
Ah yes - blood pressure. Today it was 116/80; last year it was 123/82. These are both average of three early-morning readings.
This time last year:
2019 - a year in numbers
This time two years ago:
2017 - a year in numbers
This time three years ago:
2016 - a year in numbers
This time four years ago:
2015 - a year in numbers
This time five years ago:
Economic forecasts for 2014 - and 2015?
This time six years ago:
Economic predictions for 2014
This time seven years ago:
Economic predictions for 2013
This time eight years ago:
Economic predictions for 2012
This time nine years ago:
Classic cars, West Ealing
This time ten years ago:
Jeziorki 2009, another view
This time 11 years ago:
Jeziorki 2008, another view
This time 12 years ago:
Final thoughts for 2007
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