so today I planned to discuss the development of the 3rd facet of my Self (after Mind and Spirit): Body.

funny that on the very day I was determined to resume my workout routine with vigor (I’d just started adding jump rope back to my cardio/interval training routine), I wake up late due to a cold I’d started developing over the weekend and a Nyquil hangover. [y’all–that Nyquil is no joke.]

in ironic contrast, however, on the way to work, I read my daily affirmation email from the Law of Attraction:

There is no relationship of greater importance to achieve than the relationship between you, in your physical body, right here and now, and the Soul [spirit?]/Source/God from which you have come. If you tend to that relationship, first and foremost, you will then, and only then, have the stable footing to proceed into other relationships. Your relationship with your own body; your relationship with money; your relationship with your parents, children, grandchildren, the people you work with, your government, your world . . .will all fall swiftly and easily into alignment once you tend to this fundamental, primary relationship first.

hmm. i believe I may be onto something, here. CRAZY how the Universe works.

as I blogged previously, i have always focused on improving my body but in a largely superficial context. that’s not to say it was my only motivation. a large part of being physically active and monitoring what I eat is for health reasons (who knows what diseases heredity has predisposed me toward) but I gotta admit: the image of a rockin-bod sure motivates me. But there are so many hours in a day and invariably, development of my other Selves would get little or no attention.

while I try to resolve that, here are some things I’ve thot of i can do to improve my physical Self.

• eating healthier
  duh (and generally I do this fairly well)…but also…
• indulging responsibly
  i just like food too much! it’s one of life’s great pleasures. I’ve argued with twerps (@RileyATX in particular) about pursuing The Body and not satiating
  its cravings for truly good food. Honestly, I’ve just had a hard
  time being convinced that it’s worth going without enjoying food now and then in order to have the perfect body. I will never look like Rusty Joiner (google him) or fellow blogger DaveyWavey or tweep @KyleCome. but why would I want to bcz they probably only consume protein shakes, chicken breasteses, and steamed broccoli every meal of every day. (and please! no salmon again EVER!)
  the point is…I’m gonna let my body have ice cream now and then. just not the whole carton.
  (and OK OK baby: not a bowl-full of dark Hershey’s kisses before bedtime either. #busted)
• exercising my core
  a lot of us hit the gym for pure vanity. what i’m talking about is this is not just the pretty muscles everyone can see but the ones that can strengthen my infrastructure (which is increasingly important as we, er, uh age. [#realtalk] I’m focusing more on body weight (suggested to me years ago by a close friend) like pushups (provided that weird place in my rotator cuff area doesn’t start hurting) using a bosu ball, interval training with a jump rope, and swimming laps (if I could only learn that turn-at-the-end-of-the-pool
• dual-purpose cardio™ (I ™’ed it just in case it catches on)
  most of the time I work out, I listen to music to keep a high workout tempo (you know, some Chris Willis (@chriswillistwit), Bry’NT (@BryNtMusic) Kid Cudi, Janet (@JanetJackson), N.E.R.D., Kanye (@KanyeWest), Ursher (@UsherRaymondIV) to name a few. I wonder if I could use this as an opportunity to cross-train my mind at the same time with audiobooks or podcasts, particularly on longer sessions and not when I’m jumping rope.
• resting
  most authorities on fitness training say that to build muscle and be healthy in general, the body must get adequate rest. and i happen to be the type of person who needs a solid 7-8 hours a day to maintain a good…attitude. (and #2 inherited this same need for sleep.)
  

  [any other ideas? comment them!]

ultimately, i’m not sure what gets cut in order to work all this in—along with the development of my Mind and Spirit, but we’ll work through that together as we go forward. the thing now is that i’m thinking about how they can all work together to help me grow.