I’ve been thinking about this update for awhile and just haven’t been able to find the time to do it all in one go, so I’m going to split it into several smaller postings.

I did do a mid year update for 2018 so you would think there would be few things to review, but that isn’t really the case. There have been changes related to jobs, the loss of a friend, some additional work on the house, a couple of new apps I’ve been using, getting out and meeting new gamers, and the regular updates on various projects to cover.

I think I’ll start with an easy one, health and fitness. I see from last year’s New Years posting that I started at 260 lbs which was down from 268 from 2016.

I made some decent progress again this year, primarily around May and then maintaining it through the rest of the year. My actual weight on Jan 2 2018 was 252.5 lbs, which is a pretty good indication of most of the year, I’ve been bouncing between 250 and 255 since my initial drop in May. And, here is a nice little graph that shows my progress throughout the year.

I’m hoping to pull off a similar thing this year, I’m continuing to adjust my diet, really going to focus on getting in more veggies and fewer carbs, particularly white pastas and breads and anything with added sugar. More meals at home and less eating out. I slipped a little on getting out to spin class over the Christmas season, so I’m going to make a good effort to get back to getting at least two, preferably three classes in a week. I may swap the third one out for different activities dependent on weather. We did get out for a couple of hikes and some bike rides last summer and plan to do more of those this year. I’m also thinking of adding in some weight training, but have to figure out the plan for that. I do have some dumbbells and an adjustable kettle bell at home, so I’ll likely start with those and go from there.

I’m back to tracking my meals in “My Fitness Pal” which always seems to help me get back on track when I’ve started slipping. I’ve also tried out a few new recipes in the Instant Pot that we got last year and have had some fun with that.

Overall, I’m reasonably happy with my health, my sugar levels have been a little high lately, but I’m hoping the diet and exercise adjustments will settle them down. Weight loss will certainly help with that too and so far I’ve managed to buck the trend of gaining an additional pound or two each year.

Oh, and I recently decided to grow a beard, just because I’ve never let it grow in fully before. I’ll probably shave it off for summer, but I’m having fun with it for now.