Day 78 : Theraputic Skipping

The tone of my blog yesterday is an indictation of the discomfort I was in and I got up this morning feeling no better. But I had no choice but to go into the office and so, of course, I skipped. It wasn't very good but improved in each of the three sets and by the time I had finished, I realised something had changed. My neck was still stiff with restricted movement but it had stopped HURTING. Still a bit sore if I try to move too far or too fast but a huge improvement. I don't know what I did. Probably I managed to somehow click the neck into a more normal position or maybe the muscles loosened up a bit, but whatever it was, I'm grateful. Facing the boss on Monday relatively pain free will be a bit help.

Day 77 : Barely holding it together

It's really great to read the progress from the team but it is adding to my sense of frustration. This week I have been going to work, at least, but physically feeling worse and worse.

Today I had a scheduled day off because I had booked myself to go to a seminar given by a world-famous behavioral coach, Marshall Goldsmith, that I didn't want to miss. So, of course, I went (after managing the skipping despite the neck pain - it woke me up three or four times in the night).

It was worth going. One of the best parts was when Marshall was explaining how he "fines" his clients small sums of money that they can easily afford for negative behavior and he introduced that into the seminar, "fining" participants Y50 (equals 50c) for similar behavior. He asked the attendants if anyone knew a worthwhile charity to whom the money should be donated ..... and I was the only person to put a hand up so I walked away with a pocket full of loose change, and a $20 bill from Marshall, for the Philippine Self Help Foundation, a micro finance organisation helping the poor in the Philippines run by a saint called Richard Foster, who I met in the spring.

At least that made me feel good to compensate for the physical discomfort that just got worse during the day.

And I have the weekend from hell coming up. We are moving office so I MUST go in tomorrow to finishing packing my desk and papers. I feel obliged to show my face on Saturday and Sunday to show support for the team actually doing the work and then the founder of the company flies in for meetings and an inspection of the new office on Monday, a public holiday. I will have to meet him at his hotel at 8am on Monday morning.

Once again, the sensible thing would be to rest but as readers of the blog will have realised, I seldom do the sensible thing.

Either way, the effort I am able to put into PCP has taken a battering so in the same way that Amy is considering extending her programme, maybe I should do the same. Something to think about.

Day 76 : Indulgence Three

For Indulgence Three, I decided to revisit one of my old lunchtime haunts and have a set Chinese lunch. Today's special was prawns in chilli sauce (one of my favorites) with white rice, soup, pickles and almond jelly for dessert.

Once again, I waited for a negative feeling that just didn't come. In fact, it was a bit of a letdown. I enjoyed it but actually left the restaurant feeling hungry. That suggests that my PCP lunch is more filling.

So apart from worrying about the potential monosodium glutamate content of any Chinese meal, and eating white rice instead of brown, it was completely unremarkable, making me wish I had tried a new Indian I've spotted or my (previously) regular Thai place.

Health-wise, I'm still struggling with the stiff neck which today translated into a fairly constant headache so I cut back the workout again but skipped OK.

Congratulations to the PCPJ team who completed their project today - Kumiko, Kazue and Kazuhiro. Well done .... and we are only two weeks behind you.

Day 75 : Letting Off Steam

I'm feeling pretty frustrated. It's all the little things. The stiff and painful neck that doesn't seem to want to get any better; the permanent feeling of exhaustion; well-meaning friends who say "you've lost too much weight" or "you are not eating enough" which WE know isn't true, or even "you've lost weight too quickly, that's what's made you ill" etc etc.

And getting home tonight with a workout still to do, needing to find some energy from somewhere.

So, in these circumstances, as I may have mentioned before, there really is only one thing to do. Play this VERY LOUD


And voila, a three quarters completed workout (still missing out a couple but a great improvement).

Meep, meep

Day 74 : A Long Day

I was hoping to report that all of my troubles are behind me and that I completed the workout full of energy. No such luck. I got up this morning and skipped. Then got halfway through the workout before I ran out of time. However, a full day in the office plus two evening meetings absolutely drained me so by the time I got home at 11.15, all I wanted to do was eat and sleep.

Better luck tomorrow.

Day 73 : .... and half a workout

I managed the skipping this morning and half a workout this evening, with a lot of rest in between, so I seem to be getting back on track. Let's see what I can manage tomorrow. Work unfortunately but maybe a full workout too!!

Day 72 : Signs of Life

There are signs that the drugs are having some effect so I could be back in action soon. As it was, I only did a token skip this evening after it got dark. I found it difficult without enough light but I haven't missed a day's skipping since I started PCP so wanted to continue the sequence.