(h/t The Retroist)
I’ve come to the conclusion that my body is like manna.
My body is a gift from God. Ok. That sounds pretty arrogant. My body isn’t God’s gift to humanity, or anything. But it’s a body. And God made it.
Oh boy. This isn’t going anywhere helpful.
So in Exodus, God provided the wandering Israelites manna from the skies. It was a gift to sustain them for the journey, but they had to use it right. If they didn’t, it turned to worms.
And that’s my point. My body was turning to worms. Figurative worms manifested as back joints, tight muscles, and an increasingly flabby 30 year old tummy.
At this point, my body breakdown is an annual tradition. Work gets hectic in the winter and through the spring, and I would always cope through food. You can pull off frequent counseling sessions at Chick-Fil-A when you have a fast metabolism, but be forewarned your wife will be envious.
While a fast metabolism work wonders for keeping the pounds off even when I eat poorly and don’t work out, it does nothing to make my body work and feel like it needs to. The way my work schedule flows, that makes every May my January. I call it Manuary. I resolve to take care of my body.
Except that last year I had no Manuary. LilJedi was born, and that really wonked up any kind of rhythm I had. So now it’s been a couple of years since I’ve had a good Manuary to fight off the worms and such.
Now I stand 10 days into my Manuary. Pushups and Situps 5-6 days a week. Yoga is a new addition this week as I latch onto a family tradition Stacy and Elli started. I’m sure the three of us look awesome doing yoga in our small living room. And I certainly feel awesome when Elli notices my very limited range of motion and tells me I’m not doing it right. And I feel even more awesome when my joints pop with every movement.
In a couple of weeks I’ll throw in some jump rope and cardio. But I’ve come to the realization that Manuary isn’t going to cut it anymore. The deeper I get into my Thirties, the more important it will be for me to be diligent about keeping healthy life habits consistent. The journey back to a happy body is getting longer and longer.
We’ll see how this plan works. If I fall off the wagon, I can always try Jazzersize. I hear it’s the key to Kobe’s success.
Renew and Restore
