Sometimes easy things are harder than they need to be. In this case, the easy thing is “keeping track of data about my exercise routines”. The hard thing is “making the diverse ecosystem of exercise data gatherers and providers work for me.” It has taken a few attempts to find a collection of equipment and services which meet my needs, so I thought I would share in case it helps others.
About 18 months ago, my wife suggested our family take a weekly Pilates class with a local instructor. The intention was to do something together as a family, something fun and beneficial all around. Whilst I agreed, if I am honest, I was sceptical. I was very happy with the family and togetherness part, that was great. What I was sceptical of was the value of Pilates as an exercise discipline. However, I try not to pre-judge things in life, and as such the four of us were soon attending weekly Pilates sessions.
My last two blog entries covered the first 15 days of a 30-Day Primal Challenge. I had fully intended for there to be a third entry that summed everything up on the 30th day, as if reaching that point would be some magical revelation. I assumed I’d have a nice tidy conclusion to the challenge; the results from my 30 day experiment, if you will.
As of last night, I have reached the half-way point of my 30-Day Primal Challenge. Here is a brief update on progress.
In the past couple of years I have become very active and lost quite a lot of weight. Initially, a lot of running and cycling helped me lose about 30lbs, and then a switch about a year ago to more of a gym and cardio mix helped me build some strength. However, with neither approach have I managed to lose the excess body fat I am carrying. Despite being lighter overall, I still have about 25% body fat. I’d really like that to be lower, perhaps closer to the 15-18% range.