Category: Challenges

It’s been a great summer and after two weeks in the Turks and Caicos Islands, with everything inclusive, it’s time to lose a little weight.  I’ve been thinking about how to approach things, as in the past I’ve been less than successful at anything other than the 5:2 diet.  It strikes me that as a technologist, technology could provide the answer at getting good results.  That to me means, measuring and monitoring and understanding the physics of how the weight loss process works.  So, here’s the first stage; monitoring.

Weight

For weight monitoring I use Withings scales, now sold as Nokia Body+ since the acquisition.  These scales provide high accuracy, multiple user tracking and uploading of data automatically to their web application, Health Mate, which has also been Nokia branded.  Data is also available online, through the Nokia website.  The upgraded (version 3) release of Health Mate also claims to be able to track pulse, but it’s done through the rear iPhone camera, which really doesn’t work and certainly isn’t practical for during workouts.  Compared to the Withings version, the Nokia rewrite of Heath Mate is pretty awful.  I don’t understand why they couldn’t have simply taken the previous version and refactored the UI, but there you go.

Blood Pressure

I monitor blood pressure weekly using an Omron device.  I’ve thought about upgrading to a Withings for the automated recording, but I couldn’t see the point of paying just for the automation when I have a perfectly serviceable device.  Recordings are intermittent, but around 1-2 weekly.  Data is kept in a spreadsheet and graphed up in Excel.

Apple Watch

I previously recorded pulse and sleep through a Jawbone UP3, however the rubber wristbands kept breaking so I eventually abandoned them and moved to an Apple Watch 2.  The watch is great for keeping track of pulse, both at rest and during exercise.  It also records specific exercise details, including exercise time and calories burned.  All of the data gets uploaded to the iPhone App.

Bringing it Together

With Apple introducing the health app, most data is starting to get centralised.  As yet I’ve not seen this working fully, because weight data is not being moved over from Withings/Nokia.  Obviously BP details have to be entered manually, but that’s not too much of an issue.

With all the data to hand, the next stage is monitoring and looking at progression.  A subject for another post.

Here we are in early February and time for a first update.  It’s been hectic and only two of the challenges are getting somewhere.  First, I’m down 4.5 kilos or 10lbs since the start of the year.  I see this as a good gradual weight loss for the period.  What’s the secret?  There is none.  I did mostly Dry January and simply cut back on things like crisps and other snacks (although I don’t particularly snack a lot).  Exercise was average, with increased knee pain I’ve not been walking that much.  In terms of the challenge, I’m technically 25% through, but in reality I’ve 75% yet to go.

On the startup front, things are progressing quickly.  I’ve been in Israel again and had lots of promising conversations.  The idea is forming well and now it’s a case of writing more software and developing the solution into a more viable proof of concept.  More on that as I get closer to the goal of raising money.

What about the rest?

• Gym visits – none, need to push through the knee pain and get back.
• Cycling – not started yet although that’s not surprising as the weather has been terrible.
• Learn Japanese – not started.
• More cooking – I’ve been doing as much as usual so this needs more effort.
• Build my social brand.  I’ve been a bit lacking here, with not much in the way of posting.  One to work on.

 

It’s always good to have challenges in life.  I’ve always strived to achieve more than I am (at any one point) and it’s one of the things that has driven me over the years, especially having worked independently for most of my career.  This year I thought I would document my 2017 challenges and see how I shape up over the course of the coming year.  The term “shape up” might be more than appropriate for at least one of my efforts.

Physical

• Lose 50lbs.  There’s no doubting I need to lose weight and it’s been a constant battle for me.  The excuses are the same as everyone else; busy lifestyle, too much work to do etc, and in reality in years gone by that could have been true.  However working from home, I have no excuse.  I have the kitchen on hand and can make anything I want.  So, the challenge is to get to 50lbs less by the end of the year than I am now.  It’s not a huge target, but more likely an achievable one.
• Do 100 Gym visits.  It doesn’t seem a lot, but getting to the gym regularly with an average of twice a week will help with the weight loss and increase overall fitness.  The regularity is the key thing; keeping a constant twice weekly schedule.
• Cycle 50 miles.  This doesn’t mean 50 miles in total, but 50 miles in a single journey.  I managed it before when I completed the London to Brighton race for charity.  It’s time to get on the bike and do something again.

Personal

• Learn Japanese.  I love languages, but only managed to get to speak French (and obviously English) fluently.  I can understand and do some Spanish and German too, but in reality not that much.  Japanese fascinated me years ago; in 1988 I started an evening class but had to give it up as I started to work away.  Let’s see what I can achieve 29 years later!
• Cook more.  I really enjoy cooking, including baking and trying food from around the world.  This year I want to make more time to get focused on using even more basic ingredients, cutting out what little processed food we eat and generally trying out new ways to increase our vegetable/meat ratio.

Professional

• Found a Startup.  In 1998 I founded a music company and acted as the Technical Director (CTO nowadays).  It was a great time, with lots of stress, but great opportunities to do creative things.  This year I’m on the cusp of founding a new startup in the data management area.  My professional goal for 2017 is to make this a success.
• Build my Social Brand.  I’ve been blogging since 2003, travelling to events since 2009, but not really focused hard on making my social brand a success.  Although I can’t complain, there’s room for improvement and that’s the second half of my 2017 professional goals.

This doesn’t seem like many new or improved things, but of course underlying each one are specific separate tasks.  I’m going to try and produce an update each week to talk about my progress.  This will include talking about what was easy, what was hard and how I managed to achieve some these 2017 goals.