Final stats: 2022

The year of riding and attempting to get healthier gradually was ultimately a failure, and a success.

TL;DR :  I didn’t hit my goals, but I got close.

I’ll elaborate

The goals were simple. I wanted to ride 1500 miles, lose 15 pounds of weight overall, and continue trying to gradually eat healthier and healthier.

Simple goals, but a long timeframe, and life is complex. I only needed to get 4.1095890411 miles a day, every day,  for 365 days. (This is the actual number) Since my daily commute is 7-8 miles,  on the surface this seems like a cakewalk. However,  I only ride that commute during the workweek, so Saturday and Sunday were out. The progeny have music lessons on Tuesdays, necessitating taking a quicker conveyance to work to allow for speedy pickup after school. So out of 7 days at 4.1095890411 miles a day, three days are out. I didn’t do this math until now, but I really had 4 days a week, minus spring break and fall break and winter break; so 49 weeks at 4 days a week or 7.6530612245 miles per day. I probably should have done figuring sooner, as missed my goal by 50 miles; I got to 1450 and stalled out there.

*insert sad trombone sound here: waaah, waaaah, waaah, waaaaaah*

My weight-loss goal was probably a little too optimistic, considering the complexity of just existing as a dad of two young children in the Midwest. I wanted to lose 15 pounds and move from 230 to 215 by the end of the year. I was doing pretty well, the weight was slowly coming off, due in large part to making healthier decisions repeatedly, which may be the hardest part of this journey. My lowest weight of the year was 209, but that was due to the covid I contacted in September. My lowest real weight was 213, it surpassed the goal! However, (insert dramatic minor- key music cue) that weight was before Thanksgiving and the Christmas season, which destroyed my progress. Good habits are pointless if you don’t stick to them, as I missed my goal by 5 pounds and ended the year at 220!

*insert sadder, more drawn- out trombone sound*

So, you ask, “What did you learn by chasing your arbitrary goal on a self-imposed deadline?”

Nothing ground-breaking, no giant revelations at all. But I’m going to keep going.

Eat better, Move more, get out and ride.