Final Post - In Love

First off, let me apologize for taking so long to get this final post pulled together. Let's just say that the Holidays are a most challenging time for finishing a hard-core project such as KFB. No excuses, though. I chose it; I must follow through.

I am in love with my body. I love the way it looks now. I love the way it feels as I move through space. I love the way my body burns through Thanksgiving and Christmas meals. I love the way my body bounces back from a knock-down, drag-out flu. I love how it plies and pirouettes and jump kicks and puffs candles out (once in awhile). I love how my body is nowhere near its peak and everyday of practice brings triumphant accomplishments and frustrating challenges. I love it, totally and completely. Thank you to the creators of PCP and KFB for bringing me to a wonderful, fresh understanding of my physicality.

Now, let's break it down to some specifics, starting with the benchmarks. Jump Height. Honestly, my jump height didn't improve all that much. Maybe I added an extra half inch? Not much more. After all the floor jumps, pistol squats and creeps during PCP, I already had some killer leg muscles. Perhaps I should add some extra leg exercises to my workouts once in awhile and see if it carries me higher. Ball punches went from 26 to 72. I'd say that's some improvement. Morning forward bend from touching toes to touching the floor, hands not flat on the floor but halfway flat. Nice. My flexibility makes me happy, and it can only get better.

Pictures. This montage is a post-PCP picture on the left and a post-KFB picture on the right. I apologize for not brushing my hair for the KFB pic but really are you interested in my hair?

The differences are subtle. Legs are bigger. Some of that may be high calorie holiday dishes, hard to say really. The biggest difference is in my core, especially my external obliques. Those babies are impressive.

The strength packed into that core blows my mind. No, I cannot do 10 full kung fu sit-ups in a row (toes touching bar) but I can do 2 with my toes ALMOST touching the bar. That is a far cry from barely pulling them to a 90 degree angle in my first attempt at a kung fu sit-up. I can now do 4-5 pull-ups in a row, up from the 1-2 that I could do when I finished PCP. Jumping rope. I'm a pro. Criss-crosses, I got 'em, multiples in a row. Double jumps are easy. Jumping on one foot, doing the Rocky, give me a jumprope trick, I'll make it happen.

So, those are the stats. Now for my feelings. Actually, I want to do some comparison with PCP. My experience of each program was completely different. KFB was a fairly solitary journey for me, whereas PCP was a group adventure. I chose not to share my KFB blog with the Facebook world or even with many of my friends. Also, the support was just not as enthusiastic or as constant as during PCP. I know this has a lot to do with timing, with group dynamics, etc. but I wonder if KFB is just bound to be more isolating. Because of this, I almost think that PCP should be a prerequisite to KFB. I'm not sure that I would've been as successful without my first COMPLETE stamp.

I was less disciplined with my diet on KFB. I wasn't super lenient, but I was more forgiving of special occasions. Coming off of PCP, I knew the diet. I was prepared. I didn't think twice about my veggies for breakfast or refraining from salt. No sugar in my coffee. No problem. No desserts in the house. Done. Limited cheese. Fine. No fried foods. Easy enough. And, most importantly, lots of lean meats, fresh veggies and fruits. These things were easy because I already had my system from PCP in place. I didn't need to think twice. So, whereas I think PCP turned my world upside-down, I think KFB was the one stabilizing factor in a life that's gone hectic, topsy-turvy in the last couple of months. The times they are a-changin', but I'm still jumping rope and meditating everyday. I need some constants in the face of a completely blank slate future.

I adored the KFB workouts. I still adore them. I've done two maintenance workouts and plan on trying to intersperse some workouts from the PCP maintenance plan. Mostly for a little diversity and to target some other muscles. I'll continue to work with ballet and plan on focusing more intensely on yoga while in Africa. I'll have enough time to do 2 workouts a day if I so desire. Cardio/strength in the morning. Stretching/flexibility work in the evening. It'll be awesome!

So, with that, let me just say thank you to my team for having my back. No matter how far along you made it in the journey or how challenging it was to stick with KFB, I know you all grew from this experience as much as me. Also, thanks to those who followed my blog, the commenters and the lurkers. And, of course, thanks to Patrick. I won't prolong the thank you, because I think you know how much I appreciate you. At this point, I consider you a long lost friend who's finally reentered my circle. Here's a gift for you. The metro-Atlanta area covered in Christmas snow.

This White Christmas was a gift from the Universe, a reminder of why life is so precious. The snow started to fall only 5 minutes into my 4-mile Christmas day run. At the end of my run, I was rewarded with a solitary moment at the edge of a magical field, a place that fills my childhood memories. I stood quiet, listening carefully as each gentle snowflake embraced the dry, brittle leaves leftover from Autumn's massacre. Life is truly breath-taking.

So, I've been waiting for this moment since I started KFB. Without further ado,

And, I will kick your ass in my zebra skivvies!

Day 90XXX - Complete

For those of you still tuning in.... Done. Done. and Done. It took me about 20 minutes to get a no miss on those 3 ping pong balls. Who knew that one day I would think of ping pong balls as my arch nemesis. Wrap-up to come in a couple days with pictures and deep thoughts and all that jazz.

Day 90X - I'm back!

Ok, fever gone, cough subsiding, snot not as intense. My body is 80% better. A monumental come-back, which says a lot for the health of my body on KFB. Dude, I was sooooo sick. On Saturday, I was still running a slight fever and was RAVENOUS. I ate and ate, drank tons of broth, and the slightest activity wore me out completely. I did motivate enough to go see Black Swan, which was exhausting in itself, also exquisitely exhilarating and erotic. A must see for any fans of Aronofsky, Natalie Portman or ballet.

So, I was feeling much better last night and did a half hour stretching session then went to bed early. I'm starting where I left off on the program (cutting sets in half temporarily while my body continues to heal) this morning and should finish up on Wednesday with a wrap-up final post on Thursday or Friday. Patrick instructed me to "git 'er done!" Ok, ok, Patrick, did not say that EXACTLY, but something like it. So, per his instruction, I will finish as quick as possible. I'm only a few days behind. Hopefully, my 3 days of flu didn't diminish my strength too much. I want that COMPLETE and I'm not stopping till I get it. I've come too far to slide now.

Congrats to my teammate, Renfield!! He looks and sounds amazing!

Day 89B - Still sick

Fever up to 102 now. ~sigh~ Well, obviously, I'm not going to be doing any working out until my fever breaks and then I'll have to start back slow and work into it. Unfortunately, I didn't sleep this morning as I'd promised a friend that I'd take him to get his bottom wisdom teeth out, sit and drive him home. 4 hours later, I'm finally relaxing on my couch. I have some turkey broth (from the Thanksgiving turkey) heating up on the stove. I'll supplement with some sweet potatoes and citrus. Basically, I'm just going to eat what I crave and what I'm craving right now is good but bland food. No fat, no sugar. Just straight up vitamins and proteins. Lucky for me I cooked up a big batch of pumpkin soup last night and I have loads of turkey stock. I'm good to go.

Send me healing vibes, people. My body is pain, total and complete pain. If my fever reaches 103, I will break down and take ibuprofen but until then, I'm covering up and sweating it out. Eat, sleep, eat, sleep, eat, catch up on Fringe, sleep.

PS My dreaded goodbye has come and passed. There's some pain in my heart lingering from that as well. All is ouch.

Day 89 - Sick

101 F fever. Suck.

Day 87 - Ballet

That's my ballet teacher in that picture, Carla. Beautiful, yes? Ballet is all over the place right now. It's nutcracker season; Black Swan is in theaters; and a new book on ballet, Apollo's Angels, is getting rave reviews, so I thought I'd share this NPR article with you, The Tutu's Tale. Quick, easy read. I love that ballet is getting so much respect, because until I started to train, I never understood the accomplishments of professional ballerinas. I will continue to train in the basics while I'm in Africa, but I'll miss my formal class. Even though I'm still the most novice in class, everyone really tries to help me understand. They're patient with me, and I think I've at least earned their respect by sticking with it.

Day 83 - Yard sales & goodbyes

~sigh~

Yes, that's how I'm starting this post, with a sigh. KFB is taking a backseat to life right now. I skipped my workout yesterday and drank WAY too much last night (which really isn't much compared to my past, but still too much). I woke up this morning, sad, with a slight headache and thinking to myself, "Oh yeah, this is why I've made those seemingly hard but healthy choices over the last few months. I hate this feeling." My body doesn't like skipping workouts; it enjoys the activity, the stretching.

Let's back up. The reasons for yesterday's decisions. One. I had a yard sale. I woke up early, and with the help of a kind friend, spent the morning moving furniture and stuff into my yard, then spent most of the day working it. Then, moved all the stuff that didn't sell into the carport and helped my new roommate move some of his stuff into the house. It was a busy day. And, last night was the very last concert of some close Gaineville friends (or should I call them family, that's what they really are). I'm not the only one moving on from Gainesville. 2 of the 3 band members are leaving...one to DC and the other to Hawaii. Tonight will be a goodbye party for the first ones to go. Hence the drinking too much last night.

It's all so heart-rending and final. All of it. The yard sale, the last concert, the good-bye party. Other final things, my gecko and my fish are gone. I've found good homes for them. My house is slowly emptying of the things that I identify as part of me, MY leopard gecko, MY aquarium, MY bookshelves, MY ficus tree, MY scales, MY books, MY CDs, MY, MY, MY STUFF. Symbolic and strange and scary.

This week, a best friend will fly home to South Africa for Christmas and his sister's wedding and won't return to the States until the day I start my journey to southern Africa. Symbolic and strange and scary. I'm dreading this moment, this good-bye with this person. Odd that its the first true good-bye. All I can do is just try to focus on the present moments and appreciate each one for their beauty, let myself grieve and move on. This is life, true and real.

And, so, with that thought, I will move through my day. I'll do my workout from yesterday and just finish out a day behind. No big deal. I'll eat healthful, good food today and nourish my body for the stress to come. I recommit to watching my intake of intoxicants so that I can enjoy all the moments of my life fully. Don't get me wrong. Last night was fun but it's a rarity, not the norm. I'm still here; I'm still plugging along; I'm scared but open and ready to face what's to come.