Day 71

Sprouting Onion

Today was pretty great.

Got into Sacramento pretty late last night, but luckily got enough sleep today. Tomorrow might be a nightmare, but today was good.

Amineh and I took my mom and sister out to breakfast for Mother's Day, where i ate my morning snack. Shortly after my sister came with us to the Natural Foods Co-op, where we initiated her in the long tradition of taking one of every flier/handout that they offer your first time, and by having her drink some Kefir for the first time.

I bought a small basil, and along with the Rosemary i was given at school this semester, i intent to try my hand at keeping plants alive for an extended period of time --- My track record isn't great. But, there's always new beginnings eh?

So.. that next week of workouts looks pretty brutal. I mean, i'm optimistic, but damn.
Also, i'm going to have to set up my own chicken coup in the back yard if i'm going to be eating eight eggs a day... or just buy them by the flat. But even after all this egg-eating, i still love them.
Chicken breast on the other hand, is something i'm going to lay off of for the rest of the year after my project is done.


Alright, time for pcp sleep.



Oh, yeah and "Happy Mother's Day, Mom and Grandma"
"Felix Dies Matris! Mater et Avia"

Day 68

I woke up today knowing i was out of my valley. And since then it's been a good day. I got straight to work and things went pretty smoothly.

Work did one of those things where it looks like it's going to be a day from hell, but it actually turns out alright.

Got in some 8 min abs, which i don't do nearly often enough.
The rest of today's workout was good, though my body has been rejecting Planks the last couple of times. I get through them, but they kick my ass. The Elevated push-ups were a nice change.


Alright, short post and time for sleep.

Day 65 - 66

This will be a pretty tight week for me, so i guess in terms of challenges i'm not quite out of the valley yet.

At this point i'm mostly afraid that i'm not really working hard enough. I catch myself stalling before a workout, resisting and taking a bad attitude when i finally get to it.

Granted, my workouts are typically too late at night, and a great deal of my problems stem from my not doing the workout while the sun is up. And i was thinking the other day that, despite my work, and how i look and feel, i don't really feel any stronger, and i'm not any stronger against my sparring partners. I worry a lot that i must be doing something wrong, or not well enough. That i could fail my project somehow, and especially because of some inability to tough it out, or work hard enough.

But, when it comes down to it, this is all just a bunch of complaining. I know i can't take my worries too seriously, and in the end, i can't give up. I just have to remember to not let it get to me too much.

Day 60 - 64

Mmmm, delicious breakfast. Pictured above: Chicken, Asparagus, Sunflower greens, whole grain Tortillas, and Oatmeal. Best of all, i didn't have to cook it or measure it myself!

So, these last four days have been more of a rebound from a string of ("horrible, no good, very bad") days.

My iPod came back to life, which is always a fortunate thing to see happen to expensive machinery, (and old friends! ...wait). And in general affairs are looking like they'll be back in order shortly.

Made it to Sacramento alive this week, and took a journey to the Natural Foods Co-op there, which, if you've never been to one, is like a small Mecca for eating well. I took the opportunity to stock up on oatmeal and brown rice. Also, sought out some Renfield-inspired Pumpernickel.

Exercises were going alright. Tough, and longer than they probably should be, but i'm working on it. Seeing some progress in Kung-fu Sit-ups, though i never expected to. But still, much like pull-ups, those beyond 1.5 sets are just jumps and futile attempts. Planks seemed particularly hard last time as well. But, so much the better!


Well, that's all for now anyways.

Oh yeah, Day 64 is up --->


Be strong everyone.

Day 54 - 59

So, to start off, its been a bad week for technology. I broke my nice digital scale (i dropped it on it's corner while taking it to Sacramento). My iPod broke, by being fine one minute and then refusing to turn on forever the next. Aaaand i accidentally put my car into neutral in the fast lane (which, to my surprise, apparently wasn't a problem)

On the up side however, i did buy a new jumprope (yay)

Pictured above from left to right: Amineh, my jumprope.

Food is going well.
I'm expanding my borders a little bit in terms of daily oatmeal. That is to say, trying different kinds of hot cereals that prove to be delicious.
Also, fresh eggs are at least twice as good as any egg you could buy in the store. If it is within your means, i highly suggest you find some, its so worth it. The egg itself is incredibly rich and has a much cleaner taste to it. Everything about it feels "right". Seriously, go find some.

It's been an interesting couple of days, mostly characterized between frequent (and sometimes rapid) ups and downs. I don't have bipolar disorder or anything, but it's been either deep sadness or real contentment, with not a lot of inbetweens.

I find that, even on catch-up day (wednesday; today) i wait till the last minute to do my exercises. Still. But, even in the worst of circumstances, i do my workout. Even if it's four in the morning (like last saturday). I dread it all day long, but i won't let it go in the end. And after the workout, just like always, i'm free of stress. Kind of reminds me of a quote...

"the pupil follows out this intention with untiring industry. As though he had no higher aspirations he bows under his burden with a kind of obtuse devotion, only to discover in the course of years that forms which he perfectly masters no longer oppress but liberate."
- Herrigel

...i may not have much going for me, but at least i can say i have "obtuse devotion"

___________________________________________

During tonight's jumpropes, i couldn't help but think about how i'm slowly destroying my old self every night and building a new one. Which reminds me of the monomyth - something i've been wanting to mention since before i started my PCP.

By "monomyth" i mean that process in which each individual is made to venture into the unknown (i.e. their own subconscious) and ultimately fight their own demons. Returning to the conscious world as victor when they're done, and applying their new found victory over themselves to their life.

This process corresponds to the PCP quite well. Often times, pushing oneself and maintaining self-discipline is one of the hardest things to overcome, because it has to come of your own will against your usual habitual patterns. Am i making any sense here? I guess what i mean to say is:
"Final Boss: Your Old Self"

Days 52 - 54

Digital Upgrade!
Yes, it's true, all this time i've been using a conventional scale, but now i have digital technology on my side! Which, is even nicer than i thought it would be.

This past couple of days has gone alright for me. Somehow i keep getting tossed around until my exercises are in the evenings again, but midterms are done, so i should come a little easier.
The workouts are sucking a little because i am so tired by the time i start them, but i get everything done, and when im done, im always happy.

By far my biggest challenge right now is the diet. I have to eat my lunch in two sections, and i spend most of my day buying more chicken, cooking chicken, and then consuming chicken. And chicken because it's the cheapest i can find. The protein portion in the morning has not gone so well, especially today, when i actually had it to eat, and then my step-sister's puppy found it. Very unfortunate. But, all of this is just my complaining. It won't be long until i am more in the swing of it. And i'm sort of hoping that the protein goes down again next week.

Looking forward to Sacramento this Sunday. Both in terms of my little sister's birthday (Happy Birthday Kathleen!) and because we reserved some fresh eggs at the farmer's market. It should be interesting to see the difference between those and store eggs, i hear it's like comparing real food to cardboard... but i hope to blog about it whichever direction it goes.

The more i think about it, the more i really owe a debt to the god of chickens for my muscle fibers. Maybe i'll go and make an offering on a mountain or something after my project is done. =D

Oh, and as far as jumpropes go, im using a heavy vinyl one for now, and damn is it different. I swear it's in the realm of weight lifting, and actually i took the weights out of the handle to make it lighter. Still, it worked better than "Old Jumpy", my rope jumprope.. which i can't even jump more than twice with anymore. It was a pretty weird feeling. That light vinyl rope i had really bent me to its style, because i can hardly jump with anything else!

Day 51

A long day.

Food highlights of the day: Kefir in the morning; Amineh's delicious chicken.

Listened to: Stephan Hoeller

Found clock for timing jumps, hope to find an egg timer soon.

The End