“Staying busy in early retirement?” people ask me all the time. Yes, I guess I can say that I’ve found literally MILLIONS of things to do, since I chalked up a healthy 4,548,220 steps in 2017.
How do I know? Well, about 6 months before I quit working in 2016, I started tracking my daily activity. I’ve kept track of it every day since – over two years – using the simple Health app in my iPhone, which is always in my pocket.
My iPhone is in my pocket when I am walking around the house, going shopping, on the treadmill, going for a walk around the lake, playing tennis, running the bases in my softball league, getting in a round of golf (walking, not riding), looking for my errant disc golf throw, or shuffling down the curling rink ice.
It’s hard to imagine a million of anything, but my 2017 total topped my annual goal by 148K steps (and my 2016 total by 506K steps). My goal for the New Year 2018 will be 4,380,000 steps – which equals 12,000 steps per day.
I also keep track of how many calories I consume each day and try to keep under 2,500 (the RDA for a man). I totaled 836,506 for the year or 2,338 per day and dropped 25 pounds since I retired. I surveyed Early Retirees last year and found that like me, a great majority reported being in much better shape than they were when they were working.
MrFireStation 
You go, Mr. FF! Hoorah, hoorah! I don’t know what I’m more impressed with — those 25 pounds or the 4.5 million steps.
We walk for 50-55 minutes daily (and fast, especially now in 20 degree weather) but haven’t counted steps. I’m also a fidgety person and go up and down our stairs at least 20 times a day. I dropped about 10 pounds since retiring. I wasn’t heavy to begin with but I feel more comfortable now.
Happy New Year!
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that’s Mr. FS. Slip of the old finger.
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I wasn’t particularly heavy either – or so I thought. I certainly have better coverage on the tennis court now. Isn’t it great to have so much time to stick to it every day?
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Great year on the steps, weight and overall great health! Nice job!
I wasn’t quite as good (I only averaged 10,860 steps per day, so just under 4MM steps). But that included January to May 12th, while still sitting behind a desk. When my average per day was less than 5k. So this year should be significantly improved. You also got me on weight loss too, but I’m pretty happy losing 17lbs from May to December. Only 16lbs more to go! The Mrs. and I are doing a modified version of the South Beach diet since early December, so the weight loss is even easier now. And we have started lifting weights on top of running. So I should easily be at my desired weight by May (in time for my 1 year retirement anniversary!).
Good luck in 2018! Keep tracking those steps and pounds, and maybe we can compare notes again in December! Maybe we’ll actually get “younger” in retirement!
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It sounds like you are actually off to a fast start, Thom – my first (partial) year of early retirement (Apr-Oct) only yielded 6 pounds lost. I reached 4M steps, but didn’t diet at all. Cutting back to 2.3K calories a day (avg) in 2017 made a huge difference. I’m adding some weight training in this year, too.
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Best of luck with the weight training. I never thought I’d get away from lifting as a 20 year old, but two kids came along, coaching travel sports, and thirty years of corporate America happened! It’s great to finally have time to focus on health again. It’s the best I’ve felt in (at least) the last 15 years! Cheers to a good upcoming year!
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