It's Working!

Tomorrow will be the three week anniversary of my having begun my physical transformation by going to the gym and working out. Every day except Friday I dutifully go to the gym and perform my ritual. I do a cardio workout every day by spending either 20 or 30 minutes on a treadmill. On the 20 minute days I precede the time in the "cardio theater" with a series of exercises in the weight room. At the end of most of my workouts I spend about 10 to 15 minutes in the sauna. The copious amounts of sweat that I squeeze out of my pores is the topic of another posting. I take Friday off and like to spend the extra time with Max. God I love that dog. And, in the three weeks that I have been doing this I have only missed one regularly scheduled day: it was a Sunday that I had gone to visit my folks and by the time Max and I got back I was way too tired to work out. Missing one work out is not going to be catastrophic.

I feel good after my workouts. I even feel "high." I stand a little taller, it is easier to keep my gut "sucked in" when I'm not blobbing out on the couch, I hold my shoulders back a bit more and I am far more aware of my muscles than ever before in my life. I still can't fit into my favorite pair of jeans, but I have faith that I will soon enough.

Now, I've said in these posts that I'm looking at this process as a type of art project. I tend to think of art as an exercise in awareness. The making of art is not only the practice of awareness but also the documentation of that awareness. As I proceed with this art project of mine I find that I am becoming more aware of myself as a physical being. By exercising I am practicing and the documentation of this practice is manifest in the visible and ultimately in the measurable changes in my own body. So, does this make my corporeal self the artwork?

The fact that I feel better makes the sacrifice of time and effort worthwhile, but what is really desired are those visible changes. And the first two unsolicited observations of the changes in my body have come my way. Saturday, while walking Max out along one of the local nature trails I ran into a woman that Max and I often meet out there as she walks her two dogs. Max and Haley, a small, somewhat homely looking female beagle, are pals and the human often makes comments on how good Max looks. She commented this time on the fact that he looks to be losing some weight. She then looked up and said to me, "You look like you've lost some weight, too!"

Sweet.

Then, the same day and, ironically, no more than an hour after my workout (which included work in the weight room) I ran into a friend of mine while, again, walking Max. As a taunt he inquired with his usual gusto, "Where you hiding the muscle?" So I flexed an arm for him. His eyes popped, "How long you been working out?"

"Not quite three weeks."

"And you did that in less than three weeks?"

Sweet enough to cause tooth decay.