I have been tracking my fitness results since 2011 using a variety of apps & programs, most recently Map My Fitness, Strava and FitBit Surge. Each one has its benefits and drawbacks, however, I will be continuing to use all three in 2017. Feel free to friend me on any of them.
First a quick bit of background. In 2011 I decided that I had enough of being out of shape and overweight. I eventually lost over 50 pounds and have maintained a fairly consistent workout regime. You can read about my weight loss journey here: Fitness, Body Image, BMI & Health At the end of 2015 I made a series of goals for the coming year and while I did not meet any of them except for doing longer bike rides I still feel that I did accomplish quite a bit.
A look at my actual statistics for 2016:
139 – Total workouts for 2016
I did not make my goal this year of over 250 workouts for a number reasons including having other things as a higher priority in my life, losing motivation a few times during the year, and then being sick for much of November & December. I had some good months at the start of the year and then fell off track and never really recovered. I only count structured workouts based on fitness routines, bike rides and runs. My breakdown of each activity is listed below.
79 – P90X Workouts
I focused on P90X routines for the colder weather months and then as fill in during biking season. I never did a full cycle of the program in 2016, which is the first since I started them that I haven’t. Since I also have P90X3 I also added a few of those routines into the mix when I wasn’t doing the structured program. I have tried a few other programs, but I do feel that P90X works best for me and my body.
53 – Bike Rides
In 2016 I rode 1,252 Miles overall with an average ride length of 23 miles. My number of rides did not meet my goal of 75, however, I did reach my goal of longer rides with my average raising from 17.5 miles in 2015 to 2016’s 23 miles. Again, I primarily rode my Cannondale Synapse and even took some rides with friends/groups. My rides were not as frequent as I had planned this year, but they were longer and faster on average along with a greater variety of trails. I plan on doing a series of posts talking about local trails and pointing out some of the features and landmarks. To track my rides I primarily use Strava. One of the great features of Strava is the heatmap where you can see all of the routes that you have taken with the ones in Red being the most frequent.
See Mine: Greg Simerlink Biking Heat Map
7 – Runs
I barely ran at all in 2016. I did have a great run in San Diego while there on business which was fun and refreshing. I had planned on running quite a bit more in 2016, but that never did become a reality. For 2017 I have set a goal of 150 miles which is quite a lot considering that my standard run is 3.1 miles.
140,108 Calories Burned
This loosely equates 40 Pounds! However, my weight really did not change at all this year, except for some slight fluctuations. I am sure that I added some muscle mass, but really weight loss comes from what you eat and I let myself slide a bit in that respect. One of my primary focuses this year is to loose back the bit of weight that I have gained in the past three years. So, my diet is coming back into play again pretty strongly. I’m a vegetarian and am pretty smart about what I eat, however, I have let my portion control get a bit out of hand as well as eating too late at night…especially wine & cheese.
Goals for 2017
– Bring my workout total to over 200 for the year
– Take over 75 bike rides for a total of 1,500 miles. I really enjoy biking and need to make more time for this activity.
– Run a lot more for a total of 150 miles. I don’t consider myself a runner but in 2013 when I ran fairly regularly I was able to bring my time for a mile to just about 8 minutes sustained over the length of a 5k. Right now it hovers at about 10:20. I also noticed that I get the best overall workout from runs.
– The calorie burn will come, but I really need to lose some of the weight that has crept back over the past three years so taking a look at my diet closely again will be a primary focus for me this year.
– Run at least two mud runs. I always enjoy these events whether it is the Warrior Dash or the much more intense Tough Mudder. It’s always great to have something to train for and to complete.
I might make updates regarding my process throughout the year, or just do another summary at the start of 2018. Either way feel free to follow me on any of the apps listed at the top of the post…see you on the trails!
