Michelangelo's David

Working from the disegno paradigm, the artist considered that the essence of his David was already present in the block of marble and that he was simply cutting away whatever was not David.

As I'm watching my own body change, I find this notion even more intriguing and romantic than I did before. I am simply chiseling what is not myself to become more fully formed as myself. The Greeks definitely gloried in the physical form and praised it, when athletic and in top condition, as an indication of a sound mind.
The Latin idea for this is men san in corpo sano.

Exercising has given me a mental clarity I wasn't expecting. My clear mind enables me to be commited to my exercise routine. Now that I have put food in its proper place and have an appropriate perspective on it, my body is better able to do the things I want it to do.

Now we begin to form the abdomen...one stroke at a time...