From Rock Lifting To Body Building

This year I have a fitness goal. It's more challenging than any other year of my life and the one I like to talk about the least. My goal is to have a muscular body. From where I started this year, after spending 7 weeks feasting in Canada, it seems like a joke. I mean, still wonder about this goal as I returned to the Azores nicely plumped up.

In early January I took my time and selected the exercise program. I had everything ready and barely completed my Day 1. The walk out crawl nearly killed me. I managed to get through one crawl, collapsed on the mat and hung out there for awhile. Before the end of that same day I became sick. I couldn't continue and spent the next 4 days in bed. I like to allow my body to heal on its own, so healing took a little longer. While I was recuperating, meaning, still coughing but able to get out and work, I took on the job of cleaning up the pyramid. This challenged me physically in every way. Pulling vines embedded in rocks, using the hoe, rake, axe and saw, cutting stumps, clearing weeds and cleaning the pyramid stones with a brush....it was a Karate Kid training experience. What used up most of my strength each day was lifting rocks. It became a daily exercise in lifting countless rocks, all sizes.

I think God has a sense of humour. He probably knew I was very unfit at the beginning of the year and that the exercise program would not be the best way to train my body. After 2 months of working outside I knew I was getting stronger. I probably don't look it, but I am able to lift the larger rocks and now throw some of them up one level of the pyramid. The exercise goal is more of a mental battle, so I allowed myself time to sit with it and allow my deepest thoughts about it to come forward. I found inspiration in my Bible App's devotional which was about fitness. My take home was fit people have a different mindset from unfit people. Ouch. That shifted me and really made me think about what was happening and what I wanted to do about moving forward with this goal. I also know that this transformation takes time.

I changed a key component to experience success. I decided to change the time of exercise. Normally I would get off the bed and hit the exercise mat first thing in the morning. I found my mornings were stressful and seemed like a crazy rush. Now, I have breakfast with Ernest, see him out the door and then complete my program. I have time to log my program, check in with myself and update the progress of my goals.

The most miraculous thing that happened was God was right. By having 2 months to work outside doing manual things, I became so much stronger. This week I had a totally different experience of my Day 1. I did it effortlessly. I was able to complete all of the walk-out crawls with ease. My arms felt very strong and for the first time out of all of the exercise programs I've done since 2019, I was able to lift my heaviest weights without straining on Day 1. Yaaayyy!!!! I guess all of this rock lifting makes me a "Rock Star"!