Day 64

It's tough sometimes to know what to post here, but I want to keep posting when I can. There aren't big exciting changes every week like I felt I saw during the PCP. This work is more internal and mind-related. I feel more relaxed about the whole process but I'm having to remind myself not to be too relaxed and fall out of discipline all together.

The PNF trick yesterday during the wide angle forward bend totally worked! Fascinating to explore. I usually put my meditation cushion in front of me on the floor during this stretch, and a few weeks ago I was actually holding onto it to pull me forward a bit. By the end of yesterday's stretch, I was comfortably resting my elbows on the cushion. I was watching a TV show on my iPhone, which was initially propped up at an angle so I could see it, but by the end of the stretch, the iPhone was flat on the cushion, pointing directly upward, because I had leaned over so far that I didn't need to prop it up any more. I almost wanted to stay in the stretch longer and see how much more I could do, but when the timer rang I very slowly sat up and bent my legs. Yikes! That's a lot of sensation all at once. There'll be another chance next week to sit even longer.

As a result of this work I can comfortably bend over and touch my toes at any time of day. I'm not entirely sure of the value of that ability, but it's something I couldn't do before.

I'm not sticking perfectly to the diet but I feel like I'm learning how to eat well in a real-life kind of way. We've got a couple of trips coming up before the end of this project, and I know I'm not going to be able to weigh & measure everything I eat. But I am feeling more settled in my ability to make good choices, day in and day out.

A week from today we're going back to New York, this time bringing our daughter, so we can visit our best friends for Passover. (We're not Jewish but our closest NYC friends are Israeli and we always spend the Jewish holidays with them.) Then we'll be going to Florida at the end of April for a week's vacation with my parents, where we'll be renting a beach house and hanging out in the sunshine for a few days. In both situations I should be able to have plenty of healthy food choices and shouldn't have a problem keeping up with my workouts.

I was sorry to hear that Ilan couldn't stay with the program, but there's only so many life-changing events that anyone can handle at one time. He's a strong person, though, and I know he'll do fine.

Where's Deborah? I miss her voice here. Deb, I hope you're doing okay.

On to a new week!