Aching Muscles

My new protein supplement

Today marks a new journey for me: I am officially trying to build muscle and lose weight. This doesn't sound horribly groundbreaking, but for someone such as I who has struggled with his weight for most of his life this is a huge step.

I have played at working out, going to the gym regularly, eating healthily, even following strict dieting and gym regimens, but I always gave up on them quickly because they were not important to me. However, I need to take better care of my body as I leave school and begin my career. In any performer's life, it becomes obvious at some point that their health is of utmost importance. Especially for singers who use their own bodies as instruments; my body must work at its best at all times.

In order to facilitate this change, I have begun to use a protein supplement in order to better feed my muscles. During college my low budget kept me eating a lot of carbs and fats, as they were the least expensive option. Due to this I have now reached my heaviest at 405.2 lbs. While I will not be regularly checking my weight (as that is the easiest way to become discouraged while gaining muscle and losing fat), it was important for me to know this number as a way to show myself the importance of this journey. The next thing I have done is I enrolled in a group weight lifting and endurance course at my local rec center in order to keep myself working out on a regular basis.

This is the closest I could get
to smiling after the workout

My first time in class was tonight. It was exactly what I expected, but worse. The hardest lesson I learned tonight was that I need to hydrate even more than I normally do (which is considerable as a vocalist). I sweated more than I ever have before, but had an incredible amount of fun. Everyone there from the teacher to my fellow workers-out were extremely encouraging and welcomed me warmly, introducing themselves and urging me on throughout the hour. I think the best part of being in a class was seeing other people working just as hard as me and in various stages of fitness. It gave me hope to keep going.

This journey is going to take me awhile, and I will need to keep on it all summer in order to create a habit that will stick with me into the next school year, but I look forward to seeing the benefits of exercise and seeing how my art improves with my health.

I do not post any of this to brag about my accomplishments - goodness knows it has taken me long enough to get to this point and I have nothing to brag about - but instead to encourage others who are in my same position and need to see others to get the hope I found today. I plan on continually updating you all on this journey as I count it as part of my artistic and personal journey. I send out a thank you to everyone who has encouraged me thus far and, if you want to, I would love for you to continue as I know I will want to give up, but I cannot afford to do so.

This is a great article on the subject of opera singers staying fit: https://opera.org.au/discover/features/Opera_Singing_Fitness