My Commute Is a One-Minute Walk: What Changed Most After Going Independent at 50

Today I spent the whole day at my office.

I rent a room for development work, just a one-minute walk from my home. So my commute is a one-minute walk. It’s a small room, only six tatami mats, but I love it because I can focus on my work there.

Going independent at 50

I worked as a company employee for 30 years. At 50, I decided to start my own business, and I took the plunge and went independent. Since April 1, I have been renting an apartment near my home and using it as my workroom.

Today I went there and came home for lunch. Tonight, I will have a relaxed dinner at home.

What changed the most

The biggest change since I started my business is that I eat out much less.

When I was a company employee, I had dinners with clients two or three days a week. I also worked very late, so I got home at 11 p.m. or midnight every day. In the mornings, I left early and rode packed trains to work, day after day. That was my normal life.

Now, it’s a one-minute walk there and a one-minute walk back. It’s very comfortable.

That’s all for today.

Today's words 今日の単語

commute通勤（する）

So my commute is a one-minute walk.

take the plunge思い切ってやる

At 50, I decided to start my own business, and I took the plunge and went independent.

plunge は「飛び込む」。冷たい水に飛び込むように、迷いを振り切って始めること

company employee会社員

I worked as a company employee for 30 years.

「サラリーマン」は和製英語。英語では company employee や office worker と言う

eat out外食する

The biggest change since I started my business is that I eat out much less.

packed train満員電車

In the mornings, I left early and rode packed trains to work, day after day.

packed は「ぎゅうぎゅう詰めの」

Minus 2.2 kg Is Mostly Water. Add Walking to Your One-Minute-Commute Life

Today’s numbers

Weight: 76.6 kg, down 2.2 kg from 78.8 kg yesterday morning. Body fat is 19.7%, visceral fat is 5, muscle is 58.1 kg, and your basal metabolic rate is 1,698 kcal.

These numbers look exciting, but let’s stay calm. Your body can’t lose 2 kg of fat in one day. What you lost is mostly water and what was in your stomach. Your muscle looks 0.8 kg lower for the same reason. You didn’t really lose muscle.

Also, you weighed yourself in the evening today (7:42 p.m.). Yesterday it was in the morning, so the conditions were different, and the two can’t be compared fairly. The real trend will show after a week of weighing under the same conditions.

After reading your diary

Since going independent, you eat out less, have fewer business dinners, and no longer eat late at night. That’s a big plus for your weight.

But there’s one thing to watch. Now that your commute is a one-minute walk, all the walking you used to do, to the station and between trains, is gone. If you don’t pay attention, you’ll walk very little each day.

Starting today

Tomorrow morning, weigh yourself after using the toilet and before breakfast.
Make time to walk for 15 minutes a day. I suggest taking the long way back to your workroom after lunch at home.

P.S. Meals and squats

You finished 100 squats again on day 2. Feeling tired means they’re really working. Get a good night’s sleep tonight.

For meals, you had natto and an egg at both lunch and dinner, plus chicken wings at dinner. You’re getting plenty of protein.

Two things I’d watch. First, breakfast was only coffee again. Just moving the natto or the egg from lunch to breakfast would help. Second, the drinks: you had two kinds, beer and shochu. If you drink, pick one kind, like “just beer tonight,” and drink water along with it. The morning after drinking, the water in your body changes, so your weight and body fat readings can jump around.

My Commute Is a One-Minute Walk: What Changed Most After Going Independent at 50

Going independent at 50

What changed the most

🍽 What I ate today

Today's words 今日の単語