My Journey With Health And Fitness – Building Back Up

There has been a bit of a challenge being back to in person classes. There has been so many that have come to give me condolences, even ladies that I don’t really know. On top of that, the number of ladies in the classes that have either come to give me a hug or send me a message has been amazing. This is what building a community looks like.

I came back from Mexico and all of the grief I dealt with determined I need to get back on track as quickly as possible. Some of my family and friends encouraged me to take some time but really I need this. I need to have my head in a focused space and that is what my workouts do. Some may find this strange but to me it is getting me to a place I want to be.

This week I have accomplished a lot. Firstly I have worked out every single day since Monday. Secondly I have walked more than 10 km every day with yesterday peaking at 20 km (after having done a fitness class in the morning). Finally I have burned my calorie goal each day. Good for me as I try to take car of my brother’s estate.

Having said all of that, today was the best day. I did the Power Hour at 5:30am and then at 7:00am set out for a 10 km walk. I was about 1/3 of the way into the walk when I ran into a long time friend who has been devastated about my brother’s death. He asked if we could walk together even though he walks a bit slower than me. I happily agreed with him and we set off on about a 7 km walk. It was almost cathartic as I got to tell the story of my brother’s death but also talk about all the things we had in common. When we finished our walk I felt so much better as we hugged.

My sister suggested that on Saturday (the day of our brother’s celebration of life) that I take the day off. I told her I can’t do that. I am working on getting myself back up to mega 4 hour a day exercising and taking an extra day off really won’t help me. I am back at it and I’ll be honest it helps the coulda/woulda/shoulda voices in me head when it comes to how much more I could have done for lil’ bro’.

And so I will continue to build myself back up. Having done 7 weeks of using only 10 lb weights I am using 12.5 and 15’s. I don’t think it will be long until I am able to snatch at least 20 lbs. I just need to keep moving and building so that I don’t have to think about everything going on around me.

It is unlikely that there will be a post on Saturday as it is my brother’s send off. I just ask all of you to give me the strength to get through the day as I know it will be extremely difficult. Goodbye to my best friend, know you will always be in my heart.