I have only just got my head around it being 2017 and 2018 is a few hours away. And with the New Year brings a slide into my 60th year. How on earth did that happen? When I embarked on my working life 40 years ago retirement was just for old people and I never imagined myself old. But, of course, if we are lucky enough, we do get old. What we can only hope for is that we enjoy our last 20 to 30 years. And the only way that is going to happen is if we remain relatively healthy.
So to kick  off 2018 I am going to share three of my health and fitness throwbacks.

The first is of two Christmas Days. 2011 and 2017. In 2011 I was overweight even though I was active. I completed the five Great Swims in 2011. Strangely enough I never bought an event photo of me encased in a wetsuit. In 2012 I cycled from London to Paris. But it was only when I joined RAW Inc. Training at the end of 2012 did I start addressing what I ate. Some people can maintain a healthy weight by just exercising. I have never been one of those people. For me it is 90% about diet.

The second throwback is a photo taken 1 week before having open heart surgery in 2015 compared to how I look today. Up until a few weeks before surgery the only symptoms I experienced were on exertion. I never felt ill or tired. I worked up until my admission into hospital. But looking back at this photo I can see that I was starting to look rather ropey. Two years on I look and feel the picture of health. Long may it last.

My final throwback photos are 16 months apart. The first I took in April 2016 when I was fully back in the swing of training but needed to get rid of my post op weight that had sneaked up on me. At that time I weighed 75kg. I now weigh 72kg. I would never win loser of the week with those statistics. It has been hard. The medication I am on makes it difficult and I do like my food and drink. But I hope you agree that I do look leaner. At the same time as I have lost body weight I have more importantly lost body fat. Down from 39% to 36%. Which does suggest that my lean body weight has increased. So all good.
So what do I hope to achieve in 2018. My gym has a blackboard to record our 2018 goals. Mine is to get to a healthy body fat percentage for my age. I am aiming for 28%. And I want to be able to perform a pull up by the time I am 60. Believe me I am a long way from achieving this. But it is on the blackboard so it has to happen.

Write it down. Believe. Make it happen.
A very happy, healthy 2018 to you all.