THE FITNESS CHALLENGE is nearly over. And I’ve begun to reflect on how it may or may not change me, beyond the physical transformation my body has undergone (it’s the lightest I’ve been since my school days, having gone from 175.9lbs to 153.4lbs in 10 weeks).
One issue that has come into focus is time management.
All parents of toddlers will relate to how there isn’t room for much else amid this busy stage of life.
That responsibility, coupled with a full-time job and the complication of moving house, leaves you with maybe two or three hours free max on most days.
So for the foreseeable future, there is room for one hobby at best.
For almost 12 weeks now, the fitness challenge has filled the void.
Before, the two-to-three-hour window went by with TV blaring: a show, a movie or a sporting event.
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Part of me is tempted to revert to that old lifestyle once the challenge officially ends. In middle age, is it best to devote part of the day to simply switching off, relaxing and conserving dwindling energy despite laudable ambitions to the contrary?
But another part feels emboldened. You are only as old as you feel.
Years ago, I lacked the willpower and discipline to try something like a fitness challenge, and preferred to devote my energy elsewhere.
Now, I’m starting to wonder how I could navigate this valuable newfound time.
Should I merely do another fitness challenge and remain in peak condition for as long as possible?
That seems a little boring, to be blunt, if doable.
Several other ideas I might have lacked the confidence or focus to attempt previously suddenly feel viable.
Should I learn a new language? Somehow, despite spending years studying Irish, French and Latin in school, I regrettably struggle to hold a conversation in any of them. It’s easy to blame the education system, but harder to do something about it.
Or maybe golf? I never had the patience to play it regularly, and I assumed I never would, but it does seem like one of the more appealing sports to practice for someone on the verge of turning 40.
What about taking up a musical instrument? My attempts at playing guitar as a youngster were about as uninspired as the cúpla focal I acquired.
Not to bash anyone who has succeeded at these tasks, but they do seem a little arduous and unenjoyable, although the same could be said about the fitness challenge.
Branching out and avoiding deep-seated habits will always require effort.
But maybe it should be a more agreeable challenge.
Like many people, I profess to love reading, but have countless unopened books at home.
Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Recently, I came across a list of 16 that Ernest Hemingway gave to Arnold Samuelson, a 22-year-old journalism graduate.
Maybe that could be the next challenge, with a time limit.
It might take a year to complete. The list includes Leo Tolstoy’s ‘War and Peace,’ which, per readinglength.com, at 250 words per minute, will take 41 hours and 52 minutes to read, or 84 days at half an hour per day. Though I’ve seen it suggested the novel is anywhere between 587,287 words and 628,215 words, or 1200–1400 pages and 361–365 chapters depending on the edition and translation.
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Or maybe I should make better use of one of the many different subscription services I use? Commit to reading one article a day from The New Yorker or The Athletic, or catch up on endless hours of Netflix?
Or perhaps I need to exploit the fact that I am fitter than I have been in years, and take the challenge to the next level by running a marathon, climbing a mountain, taking up triathlon or attempting another significant endurance test that would have seemed terrifying until recently.
Whatever happens, I can safely say these past (almost) 12 weeks have changed me as a person.
I’ll aim to avoid doing everything out of habit or operating on autopilot in the future, even if it means speed-reading roughly 600,000 words of 19th-century Russian literature, or embarrassing myself on the golf course.
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How the past 12 weeks have changed me
THE FITNESS CHALLENGE is nearly over. And I’ve begun to reflect on how it may or may not change me, beyond the physical transformation my body has undergone (it’s the lightest I’ve been since my school days, having gone from 175.9lbs to 153.4lbs in 10 weeks).
One issue that has come into focus is time management.
All parents of toddlers will relate to how there isn’t room for much else amid this busy stage of life.
That responsibility, coupled with a full-time job and the complication of moving house, leaves you with maybe two or three hours free max on most days.
So for the foreseeable future, there is room for one hobby at best.
For almost 12 weeks now, the fitness challenge has filled the void.
Before, the two-to-three-hour window went by with TV blaring: a show, a movie or a sporting event.
Part of me is tempted to revert to that old lifestyle once the challenge officially ends. In middle age, is it best to devote part of the day to simply switching off, relaxing and conserving dwindling energy despite laudable ambitions to the contrary?
But another part feels emboldened. You are only as old as you feel.
Years ago, I lacked the willpower and discipline to try something like a fitness challenge, and preferred to devote my energy elsewhere.
Now, I’m starting to wonder how I could navigate this valuable newfound time.
Should I merely do another fitness challenge and remain in peak condition for as long as possible?
That seems a little boring, to be blunt, if doable.
Several other ideas I might have lacked the confidence or focus to attempt previously suddenly feel viable.
Should I learn a new language? Somehow, despite spending years studying Irish, French and Latin in school, I regrettably struggle to hold a conversation in any of them. It’s easy to blame the education system, but harder to do something about it.
Or maybe golf? I never had the patience to play it regularly, and I assumed I never would, but it does seem like one of the more appealing sports to practice for someone on the verge of turning 40.
What about taking up a musical instrument? My attempts at playing guitar as a youngster were about as uninspired as the cúpla focal I acquired.
Not to bash anyone who has succeeded at these tasks, but they do seem a little arduous and unenjoyable, although the same could be said about the fitness challenge.
Branching out and avoiding deep-seated habits will always require effort.
But maybe it should be a more agreeable challenge.
Like many people, I profess to love reading, but have countless unopened books at home.
Recently, I came across a list of 16 that Ernest Hemingway gave to Arnold Samuelson, a 22-year-old journalism graduate.
Maybe that could be the next challenge, with a time limit.
It might take a year to complete. The list includes Leo Tolstoy’s ‘War and Peace,’ which, per readinglength.com, at 250 words per minute, will take 41 hours and 52 minutes to read, or 84 days at half an hour per day. Though I’ve seen it suggested the novel is anywhere between 587,287 words and 628,215 words, or 1200–1400 pages and 361–365 chapters depending on the edition and translation.
Or maybe I should make better use of one of the many different subscription services I use? Commit to reading one article a day from The New Yorker or The Athletic, or catch up on endless hours of Netflix?
Or perhaps I need to exploit the fact that I am fitter than I have been in years, and take the challenge to the next level by running a marathon, climbing a mountain, taking up triathlon or attempting another significant endurance test that would have seemed terrifying until recently.
Whatever happens, I can safely say these past (almost) 12 weeks have changed me as a person.
I’ll aim to avoid doing everything out of habit or operating on autopilot in the future, even if it means speed-reading roughly 600,000 words of 19th-century Russian literature, or embarrassing myself on the golf course.
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