I’m an emotional being. For me, being emotional is like breathing. Something happens to me? My reaction is 100 per cent emotional. I get angry, I get sad, I get elated. Doesn’t matter, really. My emotions rule me and after 43 years and change on the planet, I’m coming to terms with it, slowly but surely and I’m legitimately pleased at this little piece of information that self-introspection has revealed.
Why is that? Because I’m constantly at war with my own self-destructive urges, and my emotions play a big part in that.
For instance, in the early days of the quarantine, I stayed strong, steadfastly refusing to cave and bend to the urge to say ‘F$#& it!’ and dig into several huge bags of chips at once. Then, as the resulting malaise set in and stayed in for the months of April and May, I felt emboldened to give up my bodybuilding diet – and not to mention the fact my show has been postponed with no indication when it might be rescheduled – and I enjoyed any and all manner of garbage food in that time.
Now, the pendulum has swung back the other way and because I’m gainfully busy, stimulated by my work and my training and by the return of youth sports, I’m no longer in an emotional valley and I no longer feel the urge to get into some sugar or other comparable garbage because I’m unsettled, uncertain, or unhappy.
So, I’m back on the wagon. I started back into my nutritional supplementation and my training has been increased both in load and volume.
My daily intake of spinach is back up at an acceptable level again and my protein intake has almost climbed back up to where it needs to be, also.
All good things, indeed. Now it’s a matter of consistent application of the nutritional principles that go alongside the cutting phase of the bodybuilding cycle. My strength has gone up, my lean muscle mass has gone up and I feel like some very real, and very positive, changes are going on in my aging-a-little-faster-every-damn-day body and even though there are some interesting aches and pains that sort of linger, the upshot is that I feel like my surgically-repaired quadriceps is finally starting to respond to my rehab and with the optimism of summer, so has my optimism returned. Not only CAN I do this, but I WILL do this.
And that has never felt clearer to me.
So, on this Canada Day (July 1st, for my American friends and family) I’ll sit and take stock of my life and my gains, and with gyms opening once again (slowly, but surely) it feels like the worst part of the quarantine lockdown behind us (hopefully). It’s my favorite day of lifting in any one week – chest/triceps muscle grouping – and with nothing but 31 days of July happiness yet to come, it seems that anything is possible.
I repeat—anything is possible. Just that I feel that way is a positive development. It’s important to feel like what you do every day matters in some way, and after three and a half months , I’m starting to feel that way again.
Today is July 1, but it feels like the first day of the rest of my life.
Pandemic Viewing Guide:
This week’s Pandemic Viewing Guide comes courtesy of Netflix’ World War II in colour documentary series, which highlights the major milestones of World War II, and does so in full, vibrant colour. Individual episodes mark the attack on Pearl Harbor, the D-Day Invasion and the Battle of Stalingrad, among others, but oh, man is this series all-encompassing. The old saying goes ‘those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it,’ and knowing how the world managed to splinter itself down the middle makes me fear for the future of mankind at times.
Watch the damn thing. It’s great. Thank me later!
Or, just watch Ozark. That first season is dark, terrifying and brilliant in almost every way.