Day 20 and the last week

Long time, no write.



Fortunately, not the case for the workouts--or the diet. Both continue strong, overall.

Meditation is about the same--lots of buzzing thoughts, and still a struggle to not get caught up in them--or not get caught up in the struggle to not get caught up in them. Every time I feel like I'm straying from the 'present' path, I try to focus my attention back on the breath. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it sucks. Either way, I'm trying to break the habit of 'judging' or 'rating' the session or, worse, berating myself for not focusing enough--I feel like that sort of defeats the purpose.


Today was probably the biggest test of the diet thus far--our department director's 'retirement'/(not really) 'going away' lunch. (In fact, she's transitioning to another role, but will still be engaging in many of the same activities with our team). At one point, our conversation in my part of the room turned to weird things everyone has eaten. I'll spare the stories from overseas (e.g., pancakes with extra 'protein'), but I've now added elk to the list of meats I'd like to try.


And since this is the good 'ol US of A, every transition must be celebrated...



...with tons of carbs and sugar. Unfortunately--or, fortunately?--I didn't snap any camera-phone pics of the ginormous chocolate chip cookies and red velvet cake, all washed down by litre after litre of sugary soda. That was just dessert; lunch was pizza--from Pizza Hut. I stuck to my guns, and stuck with the fruit salad (as my morning fruit snack), then ate a later lunch of sauteed ground bison, steamed squash, and quinoa. (It was easy to avoid Pizza Hut; I worked there in college and, like the red Everclear Kook-Aid that I drank to near oblivion sophomore year, I've already consumed enough for one lifetime, and will never go there again). I've been pretty open about the diet; it's actually easier this time around, since most of my colleagues have already seen me drop my first 25 lbs or so during the PCP (sorry, can't resist a little bragging--it still amazes me...) I just tell them I'm doing another diet/exercise thing, they make a mental note--but hopefully not to avoid inviting me to happy hours, where I'll merrily drink water and socialize.


The workouts have proved a bit more challenging over the past 6 days. I started off the jump-kicks with a little too much gusto, and suffered a small muscle pull. Running 4 miles with a friend later in the weekend was probably not the wisest move, either. I've laid off the Aikido all week, just to play it safe, and I rotated my workouts to evenings, allowing me to sleep in until 8:00 a.m. I also stopped at 6 sets of kicks during work-outs the past two days, rather than the full 8--again, just to play it safe.


It seems to have worked; I just knocked out Day 20, flying kicks, punches, sucky stretches, and all, and the leg bicep has held up fine. Otherwise, push-ups, pull-ups, dips, V-sits--all completed to the max.


Flexibility is still the challenge. And since I'm desk-bound much of the day, I recently resurrected my stand-up desk:











I figure since I'm trying to become more flexible, I can use every advantage. Toward that end, I'm also hoping to add several longer sessions of wide-angle (forward bend?) to my weekly routines.

All in all, I'm starting to notice subtle changes--my balance feels better; I can much more easily stand on one leg while doing my set of shoulder/arm warm-ups before the work-out. I've also been 'surfing' on the Metro a lot more--that is, just standing and focusing on my center of gravity to stay upright, rather than grabbing one of the germ-infested overhead hand-rails.

So the gonfu keeps getting a little stronger.