So, last year, I resolved (I think - I didn't actually so much call it that, but that's what it was) to walk a mile each day. I started on Jan 1, 2025, and walked a mile (1.04 to be exact). I posted it on Facebook, saying I planned to walk a mile a day in 2025. Repeated on the 2nd, 1.39 miles. I was pretty consistent in January, only missing a couple of days. I got the flu in February, and that derailed me for a while, but eventually I got back to it. Overall, I hit >40% of the days for walks, and >46% of the days with either walks or some alternate, non-walk cardio. You can see the full results of 2025 here. December, August, and April were the weakest months in terms of "non-exercise." 234 recorded miles of walking, with an average of a little over 5k steps per day. (I did do a mile on the last day of the 2025 at a rest stop on the way back from post-Christmas family vacation.)
Now, my scale doesn't really reflect much change from all this (I think I need to add some weight training - even things like pushups or hand weights - and obviously diet is key, too, which I really need to work on). In fact, I found the most weight loss during illness and non-exercise periods, although adding the rower into the mix along with the exercise bike (after the treadmill started slipping) seemed to be working (I need to get back on that), and my sister-/brother-in-law gave me a weighted vest for Christmas that I plan to wear on my walks this year, which should help, too. But it's still good for my heart.
One thing I did, though: I posted to Facebook. Every day. Walk or no walk, I posted. Why? It was accountability, I think. It helped me reflect on my exercise or lack thereof, and urged me to get back to it when I missed. Which was, unfortunately, more frequent that I wanted. But something else came out of that. People started noticing my posts, commenting on them, both on Facebook and in person. I didn't set out to inspire anyone, just to be accountable to my "mile per day" goal. But, apparently, it did inspire people. And people started doing their own thing, whether it was walking daily, getting to the gym, adding fitness to their daily routine... and they let me know. They thanked me, they commented, they actually mostly did better than I did in terms of consistency. But it turned into a positive thing for many people, both nearby and far away.
This is a follow-up to the "Reflections (and ripples)" post. Sometimes the things you don't think much about have a much bigger effect than you realize. Positive or negative, your actions will impact people around you every day. I still plan to keep on trying to be consistent in my exercise in 2026, although I don't plan to post daily on Facebook. But maybe a weekly or monthly summary (not sure yet whether I'll track it in a Google Sheet). Last night I walked not-quite-a-mile with my wife, dog (Nera the Destroyer), son, daughter-in-law, grandson, and their little dog (they're living with us for a bit). It's a start.
I think, though, my 2026 resolution should be "Less like me":
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