A Year In Review

 Another year has come and gone. 2022 appeared to be the quickest year to pass in my entire life. As per my last year's resolution the following was my prediction.

Here are some ideas I've had for 2022.

I will be a Master2 in 2022, 50 y/o. I want to compete again. Many records are available to me as long as I stay healthy and strong.

I am working only a couple shifts a month but have been an important to my place of employment. I'll continue to work but not too much.

My time with my family is the best. I've been able to be there for my family which wasn't the case in the past while I was working.

2022 will be an important year for my family. My two oldest may be both moved out. My two youngest children will be in high school. One a freshman, one a senior. The nest is starting to empty.

Here is what actually happened in 2022.

In an effort to stay healthy and strong I have reset my training. Everything went back to square one. Form and mobility have been paramount and the focus of training. It's paid off well. Adductor issues are non existant. However, cyatic issues have appeared while sleeping. I'm not letting that interfere with training. I sleep with a pillow between my knees, extra core work and losing bodyweight is good medicine.

With regards to losing weight, at the begining of October I started taking Contrave. Medication to help with weight loss. My heaviest BW was around 370lbs. YIKES! So far I've lost over 30lbs and I feel much better. There's still a lot more weight to lose but it's slowing coming off and the new body weight seems to be sustainable unlike with gimmicky diets I've done in the past. How Contrave works is it blocks the rewards portion of my brain. The cravings for food are gone. Now only bad habits are left and thats much easier to deal with.

At work I've decided to work every Saturday and Sunday. More shifts in the month means a bit extra money and since they are weekend shifts it doesn't interfere with family. I also fill in throughout the week occasionally when required.

Family life is awesome!!! My eldist child moved out at the begining of the year. My second oldest moved out for work shortly there after. I'm so incredibly proud of them. Having only two at home seems empty but allows me to improve my relationship with them. My wife and I continue to be deeply in love. We are soul mates and best freinds. Love doesn't really cover it. She is my life partner.

Here are some predictions for 2023.

Since Covid is slowing becoming a thing of the past moving back to normal is the goal. We caught Covid and servived Covid. We got our shots. Time to move on. Being a recluse is comfortable.Being social takes effort. When the winter is over it's time to party! Life is too short to hang out at home.

I really want to tour the Central/Southern/Eastern United States. It would be a very long trip but life is short. Now to convince the wife. My two kids at home would love to do it. Fingers crossed.

As per getting out of the house I would like to compete again. It's been since 2016 that I did battle. There's a novice strongman competition coming up in the spring. Maybe. I'll continue to focus on form and mobility and continue to get stronger.

Other than getting out and about I'm very happy with life. So, not many changes for 2023.

Snowdaddy