Before I knew it, 2014 is already coming to an end… There have been quite significant changes this year. Following the start of my fitness journey last year, I’ve gained more confidence, more energy, and a greater desire to try new things and make changes.
First, let’s review the execution of previous plans.
Fitness: This year, I went to the gym for about 200 days, accounting for roughly 55% of the total days. I basically completed the task, but honestly, not very well—neither in terms of frequency nor weight loss results. First, there was a period mid-year when I didn’t control my diet, so my weight didn’t drop, and I lost a lot of motivation. Then, the gym relocated, forcing me to take a short break. Fortunately, after I started controlling my diet again, my weight continued to drop. So, if you want to lose fat, it really comes down to whether you can control what you eat. Going to the gym has now basically become part of my daily routine. My health has indeed improved significantly; I rarely felt unwell all year and never caught a cold. My strength has also noticeably increased—changing water cooler jugs is now a breeze~~~
Sugary drinks: There has been a fundamental change here. I used to just try to avoid drinking sugary beverages, but now I simply can’t stand them at all—they taste way too sweet. I’ve also basically stopped eating desserts, mainly because they’re too sweet as well…
BLOG: In 2014, I wrote a total of 74 blog posts, far exceeding the 58 posts from 2013.
Now, let’s talk about the plans I made for 2014 at the beginning of the year~~
Lose another 10kg: This didn’t happen because I didn’t truly realize the huge significance of dietary control in fat loss midway through, and my body gradually adapted to the exercise intensity, so I plateaued for a long time. Only this month, after starting a new round of dietary control, have I seen some changes again…
Visit more places: Not necessarily “more” in quantity, but I did visit several new places~~~ Besides the usual annual trips to Changchun, Shenyang, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Nanjing, and Shaoxing, this year I visited Beijing, Tianjin, and Changbai Mountain~~~ All were quite in-depth travel experiences~~~
Finally, let’s talk about things outside the plan.
Started drinking coffee / tea
By “started drinking,” I mean I regularly drink coffee and tea now. Since I couldn’t tolerate sugary drinks anymore, I had been sticking to plain water, but then I surprisingly discovered that lattes are actually delicious (I used to find them bitter). Hmm… Moreover, caffeine doesn’t affect me mentally at all, but surprisingly, it seems to accelerate gastrointestinal motility~~ Additionally, the antioxidant properties of coffee are also very important. So, having a couple of cups of coffee a week is pretty nice~~~
As for tea, originally I only bought some ripe Pu-erh and Dongding Oolong to drink occasionally. Later, I experienced the magical High Mountain Oolong tea at Wang De Chuan. From Alishan to Lishan and then to Dayuling, the aroma of High Mountain Oolong is truly refreshing and delightful. By comparison, lowland Oolong became quite boring. At the same time, I tried some other varieties, and now I feel that besides High Mountain Oolong, ripe Pu-erh, Wenshan Baozhong, and Ruby Black Tea are also favorites. I took advantage of the Double 11 shopping festival to stock up, and thus began drinking tea frequently. Setting aside other benefits, my daily water intake is definitely sufficient now.
Started practicing calligraphy
This was truly a magical beginning. I never thought I would suddenly start practicing handwriting. I always thought my handwriting was ugly, and my previous mindset was simply: if it’s ugly, just don’t write~~~ But through fitness, I began to realize that for humans, practice is necessary to improve; leaving skills unused leads to regression, and constantly avoiding one’s weaknesses is quite meaningless.
So, I borrowed a fountain pen from my roommate, bought two copybooks at a store, and started doing what elementary school students do~~~ Furthermore, my pen grip was originally incorrect, so I spent some time adjusting it at the beginning. I’ve been practicing for four months now, spending no more than half an hour a day, and the results are already quite obvious~~~
I basically relied on the Tian brothers:
Tian Yingzhang’s copybooks: one for Regular Script (Kaishu), one for Running Script (Xingshu)
Tian Yunzhang’s videos: One topic per day, one session per day, totaling 365 episodes (Youku: {Episodes 1-200, Episodes 200-365) In the public eye, Tian Yingzhang is probably more famous; he has many Simplified Chinese hard-pen calligraphy copybooks, and his stroke order aligns more with Ministry of Education standards. Tian Yunzhang, on the other hand, is more traditional and academic, so he primarily offers brush calligraphy instruction, all in Traditional Chinese, following ancient stroke orders.
Therefore, my personal suggestion is to start by practicing Regular Script from copybooks—first trace, then copy freehand. This process can be quite painful: it’s monotonous, and secondly, practicing Regular Script doesn’t seem to have much practical significance for everyday writing since you can’t write character-by-character in Regular Script in daily life. Consequently, during practice, you see almost no immediate results, and your writing differs vastly from the copybook, requiring persistence. Once you’ve practiced Regular Script sufficiently, move on to Running Script. Note that you must build a solid foundation in Regular Script first; then, Running Script will come naturally.
After practicing Running Script well, you might find your foundation lacking and return to Regular Script. Finally, watching Tian Yunzhang’s instructional videos will be immensely beneficial.
Started reading books
This is largely thanks to buying a Kindle Paperwhite. It’s genuinely very useful, and e-books on amazon.cn are really cheap… Previously, when traveling or going to cafes, I might bring a laptop or an iPad, but ever since getting the KPW, that’s all I need. Since I started reading, I no longer feel bored; instead, I feel like there’s never enough time, as there are countless books to read. Plus, e-ink is much more comfortable to look at than computer screens~~~
Got an app
As everyone has seen, it’sreco. You can see the whole story here:reco Notebook. Although this project was more tailored to my own needs, it was also my first attempt on iOS—learning how to build a product, how to design iOS interfaces, and gaining a deeper understanding of the entire process from iOS development to launch. We will continue to update and improve this app in 2015, so feel free to send us any suggestions~~ Although I didn’t write the code myself, I still hope that in 2015, I can turn this BLOG into an app and launch it on my own.
Various technical improvements
First, the world has entered the era of flat design and mobile devices. Accordingly, I carried out major redesigns of my two websites, giving them a more modern look and implementing responsive design compatible with various mobile platforms. Deep diving into WordPress and learning related technologies like CSS3 have significantly improved my technical skills~~~
Additionally, I used to rely on ready-made virtual hosting and knew absolutely nothing about server configuration. Now that I’m using Alibaba Cloud, I have to handle everything myself. Not only have I gained extensive experience in Linux server deployment, but I’ve also acquired considerable knowledge about configuring and deploying various Alibaba Cloud services, including ECS, SLB, RDS, OSS, and CDN. This server has now been running stably for over 200 days without a single reboot or issue. The load remains consistently low. I’ve also gradually started migrating clients’ machines to Alibaba Cloud~~ It saves worry and effort, offering high speed and stability.
Watched fewer movies
Part of the reason lies with myself, and part is due to various resource sites shutting down one after another… My main personal reason is that my time has become much more fragmented, making it hard to find a sufficiently long block of time. Gradually, my demand for watching movies has decreased; I even have several unwatched movies sitting on my hard drive right now that I haven’t found time for. Personally, I think this is a good thing—it’s nice to allocate that time to other pursuits.
nThe focus of this year has been transforming my time from moments of boredom into having countless things to do, shifting my gaze away from screens, and redirecting my efforts from external appearances to self-improvement.
Personally, I feel that for an individual, true greatness never comes from what clothes you wear, what bag you carry, or what watch you sport—all those things can be bought with money. Rather, it’s professional competence, independent thinking ability, taste in various aspects, physical health, good habits, physique (for men, this should also include strength), accent when speaking (which should encompass both Mandarin and English), and handwriting. These qualities remain unaffected even if you’re penniless and stripped bare, and they cannot be purchased with money.
Finally, wishing everyone a Happy New Year~~~
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