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Over the past few weeks, ever since I’ve been back working locally out of the NY office, I’ve been telling myself to go to the gym… But instead, all I’ve been doing is eating a LOT, sitting on my butt all day, and doing everything BUT go to the gym. =)

As a result, I think in the past two weeks, I’ve managed to undo about 3 months worth of portion control. =/

And… I guess my gtalk status message for the better part of the past two weeks has related to my struggle to motivate myself to go to the gym.

Anyway, thanks to all the people who chimed in to convince me (or not) to go! Haha, a few excerpts below… =)

me <Away Message>: to gym or not to gym…
s: gym!

me <Away Message>: determined to go to the gym today… haha, been saying that for over 2 weeks… =)
h: GO!!!!!!!!!
=)
your body is a temple of God
take care of it
=)
work out for the glory of God!

me <Away Message>: yikes. holiday party tomorrow… must… go… to… the… gym… <sigh> =)
k: hahaha i love your gym dilemmas
hahaa i make it easy for myself – just dont go!

me <Away Message>: yikes. holiday party tomorrow… must… go… to… the… gym… <sigh> =)
w: the gym is fun man.. DO IT
haha

So after getting home, ordering and consuming another ginormous dinner from Texas BBQ consisting of a half slab of ribs, a quarter chicken, a muffin, and two sides (corn and beans)… I finally determined that unless I start exercising again… I’ll be back up to 175 lbs. in no time and all the $$ I spent resizing most of my pants to fit my current form would go to waste and I’d need to pay it again to widen everything (which may no longer be possible for some of my wardrobe!).

Sadly, perhaps it was financial motivation which took me back to the gym. Regardless of the reason, I somehow managed to get dressed, walk down the hall, down the 44 flights (in the elevator of course!), down another hall, and made my appearance in the gym that I haven’t set foot in since… maybe 2006??

And I am definitely out of shape. In the past few weeks, I’ve tried to run 3-5 city blocks and found myself wheezing by the 2nd block!

So off to the hamster wheel I went. It was definitely an odd feeling to be back in the gym after such a long hiatus.

Anyway, so now that I’d managed to wander back into the gym, I started on the treadmill at a brisk walk for about 5 minutes…

As I’m walking, I notice that there’s a girl running full speed next to me and there I was just walking like a pansy… and it was like high school track all over again! So back in high school, I ran with our distance team to try to stay (get?) fit… anyway, one season, a new coach forced me to compete… and the one time that he made me run in a mile race… my only goal was to not be last! I seriously ran for my life (the fastest I’ve ever run) and ran a 5:55 mile managing not to be last!! =)

I guess I figured I should/could do just as well, if not better… =)

Consequently, I ended up setting the treadmill to full speed ahead and running for my life again for another good 25 minutes non-stop. Oh how I wanted to just stop and die… but after a while, it felt good to be dashing along to nowhere as the ground slid by under me. =)

Afterwards, I spent another 20 minutes or so playing on the various machines scattered around the gym. =)

At the end of the day, I think I just reminded myself that I am still capable of more than I attribute to myself (even after having skipped the gym for nearly a year!).

But maybe more than that, I think the lesson that I should learn (that maybe I’m having a hard time accepting) is something altogether more meaningful.

Just as I’ve been pretty much neglecting my physical routine in recent days… I may also have been neglecting the spiritual…

And even though the gym has always been there (9 floors away when I’m in the DR and 44 floors away when I’m in NY)… I chose not to go and spent my time doing other things. Sure , a lot of the time was spent doing other productive things… but I guess it also comes down to priorities.

I didn’t particularly care or bother to take care of my physical body. And even though it’s so easy to get started… I’ve been lazy.

I hope this is the beginning.

Not just of going back and exercising again and rebuilding a lot of the muscle mass that I’ve let deteriorate… but also of another coordinated effort to reestablish my faith.

Because after all, isn’t that what’s most important to me?

Otherwise, I think it’ll be the end of me… and life as I’ve known it.

Oh, and if you happen to have read this whole nonsensical babble, would you care to send me a message every once in a while to see how I’m doing to maintain both my physical and spiritual bodies? =)