In a May 2017 post, I set a goal of losing 30 lbs by year end, to again get down to the 190’s. Unfortunately, that did not happen, and I actually gained 5 lbs from my year-end weight in 2016. Objectivity is an essential component of any successful endeavor, so this is as good a time as any to take stock what happened, and what might need to be done for 2018.

I track my weight every week, so since 2012, my end of year weight was the following: 195 (2012), 199 (2013), 200 (2014), 225 (2015, this was after my shoulder surgery in May 2015, where I lost much muscle mass and was limited in my exercise), 230 (2016), and 235 (2017). So excluding 2015, I have had an incremental gain average gain of around 4lbs. per year, with 2015 being the outlier. During this time, my exercise level has either stayed the same or even increased (averaging 2 hours a day, 7 days a week), and objectively, I really do not see much room for a further increase in my exercise level.  Although I could workout a bit smarter, I firmly believe that the real solution is food intake, and getting over a bit of the anxiety with overcoming the big jump that occurred in 2015.  Historically, otherwise large amounts of food, have not registered with me as too much, since growing up, our family eat an abundance of food.  My sense, I am particularly guilty of eating too much at breakfast, and while watching TV, and for 2018, those are two areas I will try to stay focused in avoiding. Also, instead of setting a ambitious goal of losing 30lbs in the year, I am just trying to focus on losing some weight by the end of 2018.

Looking at my weight chart for 2017, I got to a low of 224lbs. in April, but gained weight the following week, and the year sort of played out like that, in that I lost week one week, then regained weight the following week. I was unable to be consistent, and that is something I plan to focus on in 2018.

Otherwise, there were some exciting things i did in 2017. Some of those things included going to the Americas Cup in Bermuda and also playing golf, ski camp in Deer Valley with the Mahre brothers (see above picture), sat in the Paddock Club for US F1 GP at COTA, played a round of golf at Baltastrol, went to tennis camp in Stowe, won my group at a BMW autocross event, and attended racing school at BMW’s facility outside Munich. For 2018, the year will start off with a bang, with a trip to Australia, where I will complete my tennis grand slam (US Open, Wimbeldom, Roland Garros and the Australian Open), climb the Harbour Bridge, and take surfing lessons at Bondi beach. Also on tap, is to join a friend, on his 60’s birthday, driving a Ferrari on a race track. Honestly, not such a big deal for me, as my own car is almost as fast any current Ferraris, but this has been a deam my friend has had for a while, so I thought it would make a great event for the both of us. And I’ll see what happens from there. On the social front, still nothing lasting, so maybe 2018 will change all that — still trying.

That’s it for now. Looking forward to Australia.