Just a quick note to let you know that I'm alive and still living the kung fu life style. Diet is going well, but I've been extremely tired during the workouts. Working 4 jobs keeps me busy, busy, busy. But this is temporary. I could use more kung fu sleep, that's for sure.
I did get around to doing my latest challenge update:
Round 1 - February
35 solid straight punches to ping-pong ball in a row
first wake forward bend - fingertips just above ankles
jumping - 1-inch below wrist above volleyball net
Round 2 - March
150 solid straight punches to ping-pong ball in a row
first wake forward bend - fingertips reaching tops of feet
jumping - 2.5 inches below wrist above volleyball net
Round 3 - April
209 solid straight punches to ping-pong ball in a row
first wake forward bend - first knuckle reaching tops of feet
jumping - 3 inches below wrist above volleyball net
Will catch up soon!
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Attack of the blah, blah, blahs
Day 68 of the program and yes, I'm being attacked by the blah, blah, blahs! Patrick's email couldn't have come in a more timely manner. I do find myself getting occasionally bored with the exercises. I don't necessarily smile when the feeling of blah comes about into my workout practice but I do just trudge forward and keep moving through the workout and eventually, I'm not as bored because I start to feel invigorated. Working out everyday is something I know is important for me. I know that if I don't make time for it, I don't feel as good body-wise. Even on days where my body just doesn't want to move a certain way, just attempting or doing a little bit of exercise goes a long way. Keeps me fighting off the blah, blah, blahs!
A few years ago, I had a workout buddy. She was a former college track star, I was a former college volleyball star. We were a good pairing because we complimented each other. She pushed me on the running side of things, particularly when we had track workout days and I pushed her on the weight lifting and technique side of things. At the time, I did not like running. It was hard work, took too long and I was impatient. Once piece of advice she gave me for running on days when it just wasn't easy mentally or physically, was to run a 1/2 mile warm-up and see how your body feels. If your body is absolutely saying no, then stop and move onto a different cardio activity. If however your body starts to feel better after the 1/2 mile warm-up, continue on. This piece of advice has helped me become a much better runner. Learning to withstand the uncomfortableness during that first 1/2 mile warm-up, has helped me complete more running workouts.
This Saturday I will be running in a local Mud Dog race. It's a 5K obstacle course run with you guessed it - MUD obstacles. I hope the weather is warm. It can be cloudy or rainy, just please let it be warm! Hopefully I'll remember to take a picture and share the experience in a future blog.
A few years ago, I had a workout buddy. She was a former college track star, I was a former college volleyball star. We were a good pairing because we complimented each other. She pushed me on the running side of things, particularly when we had track workout days and I pushed her on the weight lifting and technique side of things. At the time, I did not like running. It was hard work, took too long and I was impatient. Once piece of advice she gave me for running on days when it just wasn't easy mentally or physically, was to run a 1/2 mile warm-up and see how your body feels. If your body is absolutely saying no, then stop and move onto a different cardio activity. If however your body starts to feel better after the 1/2 mile warm-up, continue on. This piece of advice has helped me become a much better runner. Learning to withstand the uncomfortableness during that first 1/2 mile warm-up, has helped me complete more running workouts.
This Saturday I will be running in a local Mud Dog race. It's a 5K obstacle course run with you guessed it - MUD obstacles. I hope the weather is warm. It can be cloudy or rainy, just please let it be warm! Hopefully I'll remember to take a picture and share the experience in a future blog.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Patience is back, now I just need to Focus!
First, I am so thankful to have "dinner" back in my life. Hooray for new diets!
Everyday I get up and I look forward to the workout. The legs swings for time make the reps fly by. I'm getting much better at the resting buddha hold. The leg that I hold up is so close to being parallel to the floor. The Kung Fu sit-ups are still super tough. I will keep working on them though. It's just hard to hold myself up there and to not be effected by the slight swaying. I usually finish out my reps on the roman chair, when I eventually cave to the Kung Fu sit-ups...oh you sinister activity!
My patience is back and I think it is directly connected to my stress level. The stress level has gone down, things are getting to where they need to be and I'm making better choices in my daily activities to reduce the stress.
This past weekend was full of exciting stuff. Played in a very special volleyball tournament which was celebrating 100 years of occurrence, the Pop Idell. It is the oldest running volleyball tournament in the United States, possibly in the world! Anyhow, my team took 3rd and afterwards I celebrated with my mindful consumption of 2 slices of veggie pizza and a salad. This mindful consumption went much better, but at the same time, was it really a mindful consumption?? The next morning I woke up and felt great. I was full of energy as I ran my personal volleyball training session, did my workout and then celebrated the afternoon by shopping for a new wardrobe. I was down to only 2 pairs of pants that fit well for work so it was time.
I think it caught up with me though...the dreaded cookie cravings. I had 5 oreos last night. And they weren't even mine, they were my roommates. But even after I ate all my nutrition plan foods for the day, I was still ravenous. At a moment of weakness, I caved and had 3 Oreos and then decided I needed 2 more shortly after. Ugh. Oh well, moving on from my weak point. This morning I awoke and jumped rope for 20 solid minutes, mostly to make up for my moment of weakness. And I'm back on track!
The Wu-wei Patrick has been addressing is quite interesting. I have noticed that there are a lot of times I feel off balance on my leg swings, kicks and agility section. I think it's just a matter of focusing and slowing things down when I can.
Also doing the double punch in 10 seconds or less, well I'm glad I didn't have a mirror, cause I felt like I looked silly moving so fast. But I was tired after those!
Everyday I get up and I look forward to the workout. The legs swings for time make the reps fly by. I'm getting much better at the resting buddha hold. The leg that I hold up is so close to being parallel to the floor. The Kung Fu sit-ups are still super tough. I will keep working on them though. It's just hard to hold myself up there and to not be effected by the slight swaying. I usually finish out my reps on the roman chair, when I eventually cave to the Kung Fu sit-ups...oh you sinister activity!
My patience is back and I think it is directly connected to my stress level. The stress level has gone down, things are getting to where they need to be and I'm making better choices in my daily activities to reduce the stress.
This past weekend was full of exciting stuff. Played in a very special volleyball tournament which was celebrating 100 years of occurrence, the Pop Idell. It is the oldest running volleyball tournament in the United States, possibly in the world! Anyhow, my team took 3rd and afterwards I celebrated with my mindful consumption of 2 slices of veggie pizza and a salad. This mindful consumption went much better, but at the same time, was it really a mindful consumption?? The next morning I woke up and felt great. I was full of energy as I ran my personal volleyball training session, did my workout and then celebrated the afternoon by shopping for a new wardrobe. I was down to only 2 pairs of pants that fit well for work so it was time.
I think it caught up with me though...the dreaded cookie cravings. I had 5 oreos last night. And they weren't even mine, they were my roommates. But even after I ate all my nutrition plan foods for the day, I was still ravenous. At a moment of weakness, I caved and had 3 Oreos and then decided I needed 2 more shortly after. Ugh. Oh well, moving on from my weak point. This morning I awoke and jumped rope for 20 solid minutes, mostly to make up for my moment of weakness. And I'm back on track!
The Wu-wei Patrick has been addressing is quite interesting. I have noticed that there are a lot of times I feel off balance on my leg swings, kicks and agility section. I think it's just a matter of focusing and slowing things down when I can.
Also doing the double punch in 10 seconds or less, well I'm glad I didn't have a mirror, cause I felt like I looked silly moving so fast. But I was tired after those!
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Day such and such
I've been pretty much coasting along and living a nice Kung-Fuey style life. I'm finding the workouts invigorating and the meditation is much better now that I use a cushion. The stretching portion of the workout is a nice precursor to the meditation. Stretching calms my mind and makes me more aware of where my body is. Listening to it's aches and pains, listening to what is feeling really good and what I may need to pay more mind to. It's nice just getting to be fully aware of my body, connecting my mind and my body.
No troubles food wise other than it's too much food! Maybe I'm just over-doing the AMAYW vegetable portions. But I've had to pass on the yogurt evening snack for 2 nights now because I've been too full of veggies!
I'm still a bit stressed in life. Work is spiraling sideways, front-ways and back-ways. Coaching is going to pick up double time in April with the college season starting. I'm in the process of buying my first home, so any free chance I get I'm just trying to really establish a mindful budget, going through old papers and receipts. Spring cleaning of clutter!! Cooking and prepping is just a way of life for me now. Man it used to be so difficult, but 7 months later (including my PCP time) I'm a pro.
Somehow, I need to make time for myself. To just chill. I think I have an open weekend in June for that. We'll see. Now to catch up on my fellow KFB blogs!
No troubles food wise other than it's too much food! Maybe I'm just over-doing the AMAYW vegetable portions. But I've had to pass on the yogurt evening snack for 2 nights now because I've been too full of veggies!
I'm still a bit stressed in life. Work is spiraling sideways, front-ways and back-ways. Coaching is going to pick up double time in April with the college season starting. I'm in the process of buying my first home, so any free chance I get I'm just trying to really establish a mindful budget, going through old papers and receipts. Spring cleaning of clutter!! Cooking and prepping is just a way of life for me now. Man it used to be so difficult, but 7 months later (including my PCP time) I'm a pro.
Somehow, I need to make time for myself. To just chill. I think I have an open weekend in June for that. We'll see. Now to catch up on my fellow KFB blogs!
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Kung Fu - Half-way thoughts
The time seems to be flying by. I can't believe it's halfway thru KFB. I remember halfway thru PCP and I felt like I was in a pit of despair. So miserable, trudging thru workouts and chowing down food in such agony. But with KFB, it's halfway and I find myself looking forward to the workouts. I find myself looking forward to eating the good, medicine everyday. Plus I'm way excited to have more amounts of food in my diet this week! Hunger pangs are gone!
On the otherhand, mindful consumption #2 did not bode well for me. I had the same thing as mindful consumption #1, a chicken and cheese burrito with a side of steamed broccoli and a dollop of guacamole. Just like the first time, I picked around the tortilla to get to the cheesy-chicken goodness. But this time, it didn't taste as good. This time it wasn't as satisfying and I felt ubber full, ubber fast. Disappointment and staying awake for most of the night is what happened next. I felt ubber full for the entire night as the food just sat in my stomach. I felt heart burn, indigestion and mega-bloating.
The next morning, despite my tiredness and overall cruddy feeling, I went for a run. I ran for 40 minutes, hoping to help my system get the food from my mindful consumption out, it did help but the cruddy feeling remained for the rest of the day. Tried to stay active all day long and also drank tons of water. But I knew my Saturday of feeling good was not going to happen due to the food choices I made yesterday.
I was able to sleep on Saturday night and so I woke up feeling pretty refreshed Sunday. Got my workout in, got my breakfast in, went to train volleyball for an hour and then just walked around the city because it was a beautiful day. Sunday was a better day - body feeling wise and I felt thankful to feel good again.
In conclusion, 24 hours of crappy feeling is not worth the consumption of such food. Next mindful consumtion I will need to do better and I will.
On the otherhand, mindful consumption #2 did not bode well for me. I had the same thing as mindful consumption #1, a chicken and cheese burrito with a side of steamed broccoli and a dollop of guacamole. Just like the first time, I picked around the tortilla to get to the cheesy-chicken goodness. But this time, it didn't taste as good. This time it wasn't as satisfying and I felt ubber full, ubber fast. Disappointment and staying awake for most of the night is what happened next. I felt ubber full for the entire night as the food just sat in my stomach. I felt heart burn, indigestion and mega-bloating.
The next morning, despite my tiredness and overall cruddy feeling, I went for a run. I ran for 40 minutes, hoping to help my system get the food from my mindful consumption out, it did help but the cruddy feeling remained for the rest of the day. Tried to stay active all day long and also drank tons of water. But I knew my Saturday of feeling good was not going to happen due to the food choices I made yesterday.
I was able to sleep on Saturday night and so I woke up feeling pretty refreshed Sunday. Got my workout in, got my breakfast in, went to train volleyball for an hour and then just walked around the city because it was a beautiful day. Sunday was a better day - body feeling wise and I felt thankful to feel good again.
In conclusion, 24 hours of crappy feeling is not worth the consumption of such food. Next mindful consumtion I will need to do better and I will.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Challenge Update
Round 1 - February
35 solid straight punches to ping-pong ball in a row
first wake forward bend - fingertips just above ankles
jumping - 1-inch below wrist above volleyball net
Round 2 - March
150 solid straight punches to ping-pong ball in a row
first wake forward bend - fingertips reaching tops of feet
jumping - 2.5 inches below wrist above volleyball net
The stats don't lie, KFB although a test of my patience has taken my volleyball game to another level. I am forever thankful for that as I train up for the 4-day tournament in Dallas, Texas this year over the Memorial Day Weekend.
I still need to work in the bean count challenge.
Staying kung fuey and looking forward to a mindful consumption - veggie pasta watch out!!
35 solid straight punches to ping-pong ball in a row
first wake forward bend - fingertips just above ankles
jumping - 1-inch below wrist above volleyball net
Round 2 - March
150 solid straight punches to ping-pong ball in a row
first wake forward bend - fingertips reaching tops of feet
jumping - 2.5 inches below wrist above volleyball net
The stats don't lie, KFB although a test of my patience has taken my volleyball game to another level. I am forever thankful for that as I train up for the 4-day tournament in Dallas, Texas this year over the Memorial Day Weekend.
I still need to work in the bean count challenge.
Staying kung fuey and looking forward to a mindful consumption - veggie pasta watch out!!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Rejuvenated!
So I'm really liking this week's workouts, I especially enjoy the freestyle agility sections. They are a lot of fun and going for time makes it seem not as mundane.
I'm getting hungry again at nights. I think my body could use some sort of whole wheat pasta dish in the evening as medicine. I'm just saying...I'm HUNGRY!!! at times...
Besides the hunger, I've been reflecting on the events that happened and are continuing to unfold in Japan. Sending some light your way!
I'm getting hungry again at nights. I think my body could use some sort of whole wheat pasta dish in the evening as medicine. I'm just saying...I'm HUNGRY!!! at times...
Besides the hunger, I've been reflecting on the events that happened and are continuing to unfold in Japan. Sending some light your way!
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