A New Year

A year later, let's see what happened in 2018 and what I'm looking at for 2019.

Looking Back at 2018

Let's look back at 2018 and see how I did with my goals.

What I Wanted to Do

Lose Weight

Unfortunately, no progress was really made on this front. I did shed a few pounds over the course of the year, but nothing to really write home about. That said, I did make progress in my lifts. I ended up hitting 315 lbs. on deadlifts, 250 lbs. on squats, 195 lbs. on bench press, and 130 lbs. on overhead press. A torn tendon in my groin has set my squats and deadlifts back a bit, but I'm working my way back up. I do feel like I'm in better shape but I could have done better.

Reading More

I did better with reading than I did with my fitness goals. I ended out the year reading a total of 13 books. I probably could have done better, but as I mentioned, I subscribed to The Economist which occupied some of my reading time as well. I think my three favorite books this year were

• The 2020 Commission Report on the North Korean Nuclear Attacks Against the United States: A Speculative Novel by Jeffrey Lewis
• Shooting Ghosts: A U.S. Marine, a Combat Photographer, and Their Journey Back from War by TJ Brennan & Finbarr O'Reilly
• Vacationland by John Hodgman.

Side Projects

My recipe project has taken a pause right now as I was starting to struggle figuring out the best way to move forward with it. I decided to buy Wes Bos' Advanced React & GraphQL Course in hopes of finding the best way to do things, and I have to say that it was just what I was looking for. I haven't completed it yet, but it's given me a lot more insight into React and something completely new with GraphQL. I'm hoping to finish it up soon and use what I've learned to build out my project.

Write More

This was a bust. Not much more can be said other than I just didn't write nearly as much as I wanted.

Moving onto 2019

I'm going to stick with the same four goals for 2019.

Lose Weight

Over the last two months of 2018, I was very good at making sure to hit the gym almost daily. I'm going to continue to do that and move forward on my PPL (Pull, Push, Legs) routine. I'm also going to try to hold myself more accountable with my diet. I've created a spreadsheet to go along with my use of MyFitnessPal to help me with this. I'm color coding my calorie intake as well as my macros to help push me towards my goals. Three days in, and I already hate seeing numbers red. Fortunately most are green or yellow, but it's a small sample size. I'm also going with a dry January. My alcohol intake isn't excessive by any means, but I'm hoping that by kicking it out entirely, I can help shed some pounds in January and have the momentum carry over for the rest of the year.

With regards to fitness goals, I'm hoping to hit 400 lbs. on deadlifts, 275 lbs. on squats, 225 lbs. on bench press, and 150 lbs. on overhead press by the end of the year. I'd also like to hit the 300 mile mark running.

Read More

I've already finished one book this year (ok...ok...I started it in 2018), and I'm hoping to keep that going. I'm trying to mix the fiction in with the nonfiction to keep things interesting. My goal this year is 20-25 books, so hopefully I can reach that goal. I've done it before so I know it's attainable.

Side Project

As I mentioned above, I made some good progress with my recipe project, but my limited knowledge with React and Node started to limit me getting further. The Advanced React & GraphQL Course has been doing a great job helping me get my head around some of the more advanced areas, so once complete, I plan on moving forward. Hopefully, by the beginning of February I can get back to my project.

Write More

One of the biggest limiters I felt last year was trying to come up with what to write about, and how to put those ideas into words. I'm hoping to find ways of improving that this year, and maybe add some stream-of-consciousness posts as well.

Those are my four main goals of 2019. Here's to hoping that I do better this year than last.