Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream…

I think of that a lot when I’m rowing.

Now, as someone who has a huge fear of water, you probably won’t find me out in the actual water rowing my boat – or any boat, since I don’t have a boat at all. What you will find is me on my rowing machine for 20 minutes most days.

The middle of last year, I started looking into the idea of a rowing machine. I seen them somewhere or it may have popped up when I seen an add for the Row House in town that was gaining popularity. By October, when Amazon was having their Prime days, I added one to my cart that had good reviews and was also basic and cheap.

As soon as I got it about two days later, I was so excited!! I rowed for a consecutive three days.

I rowed off and on after that, but mostly not.

I’ve lacked motivation. Working out has never been a priority, but still something I want to do and get in the habit of for a few reasons.

I’ve felt convicted for a while that because I don’t work out that I’m a bit lazy. I’m not lazy in other areas in my life, but really, I just sit a lot. I sit for work at my desk and then I sit a lot when I’m not working because hello, reading. I don’t even really walk. I sometimes stand up when my watch reminds me and so I take my book with me and read through the house or just stand up to get my watch off my back. 🙂

I also believe that just like our minds, we should work to keep our bodies to the glory of God. Our bodies are temple after all and we should be taking care of them. I haven’t been good about doing this. Letting mine sit and get all stiff doesn’t help me or anyone else.

The other contributing factor for getting myself in gear this way is most noticeably that my clothes don’t fit like they used to. It’s a depressing occurrence when your favorite jeans or shirts no longer fit or the clothes you wore to work pre-COVID no longer fit. I also don’t want to let this go and have to buy a whole new wardrobe simply because I’m not doing things I should be doing – like taking care of this body.

So since I got inspired to get this rowing machine, I had looked at rowing as a workout and found it to be low impact but a full body workout. That’s my vibe if I ever heard one.

I don’t have any known heart problems, but this is also a good cardiovascular workout, so why not? My family – particularly my grandma’s side of the family – seems to have heart issues so I’m just more aware of that possibility.

I’m not one for making resolutions, but since my friend (also named Summer) got a rowing machine for Christmas, we’ve decided together to be accountability partners this year.

We’re committing to rowing daily for 20min M-F and also eating healthier options as much as possible.

Though I want to lose weight, the main thing is losing inches around the waist line. We will see how this goes. There’s much hope in this endeavor. I’ll be posting updates later in the year about my/our journey. So far, it’s been going well, but we’re only one week in. LOL