Emiko: Day 21, Spoken Secrets, Broken Day

I told the first of many coworkers, Juliet, today about the PCP, and she had a really positive reaction. I showed her the blogs and told her briefly about the format of the Project. At slow moments in the shift (which were few) she stopped and read our blog, commenting out loud and laughing. She wanted me to send her the link so that she could keep following along, and assured me that when I was weighing out my food that she never thought that I was 'weird'. It was really great. We left the blog up on the staff computer, and my manager came in and happened to see it too. He said it looked awesome, and emailed the link to himself right there. So, we have two new witnesses to our PCP journey! And there are more to come!

I am enjoying having this little secret, and it is really really neat watching people's reactions, whatever they are, as Adrian and I let the secret slip out into the open.

So, after being at work from 6:30am-3pm, I biked home and collapsed next to Adrian on the couch. We talked and had a good time, knowing it was the only couple of hours we'd see each other today. Eventually I had to rush to start my exercises. Emphasis on start, because that's all I got to do before I left for class at 5:20pm. I only had time for 700 or so jump-ropes, and ended up finishing the rest of the work out after class (past 9pm).

I remember Patrick making a post about having to break up his work out during a very busy day, and for that reason I was afraid it was going to really suck. But I got a good sweat going pretty quick --probably helped quite a bit by crazy heat here in Oakland-- and felt like I got a good work out. So this rushed, broken-up exercise routine went alright, but in the future I will try to stay on track and do my jump-ropes and exercises all in the same period.

We also got our new diets today, and like Adrian said we will be drinking lots of tea. I am sad because I am eating less fruit and meat, which are really the best parts in my opinion. Adrian has come up with a KILLER cayenne-pepper doused turkey burger recipe (I think he put it in an earlier post), and I am in love. But moderation is continually emphasized and further enforced each week with smaller portions, and I am grateful for that reminder.

I am also really excited because it's almost time for the pounds to really start melting off, and boy am I ready!

And HEY! Keep yer eyes peeled! New Flickr photo coming tomorrow of me and Adrian posing like macho men (hopefully with some noticeable changes this time). Aren't you thrilled?!

Either way, good night all. I hope that you get some good rest and, for those of you like Tim and Patrick living halfway around the world and already well into your Friday, I hope you are having a lovely, lovely morning.

Emiko: Day 19, Rest After the Rope

Hello, there!

Today was fairly uneventful, PCP-wise. Tuesday is my heaviest school day, I'm pretty much tied up between 1-9pm, so there isn't much opportunity for recipes or revelations of that sort. Although, Adrian did get us limes at the grocery store the other day, and they are most delicious squeezed over a spicy-turkey-patty, tomato, avocado, whole-wheat-pita wrapped sandwich! mmm! (Patrick is right, PCP round 2 is totally obsessed with food! But all the better for the PCP Cookbook, right?)

As far as exercises went...well, they didn't really. I took my rest day today. I was planning on going through my Work Out 2 exercises, but after finishing the jump ropes I was all outta steam. I got a side cramp about half way through the 1,500 jumps, and had to limit my last sets to about 100-150 jumps. I also kept tripping a lot more than usual, and kind of wanted to make a noose out of that twisted jump rope (as displayed in Tim's Day 18 post...he he). I stretched out in between, swirling my body around and stretching from side-to-side, but that cramping just wouldn't pass! So after finishing with the jumps I went upstairs and called it a day. It is really nice to have a rest day when you need it.

Still haven't settled into a balance between work, PCP, and school. I will begin working less next week which will help, but both the PCP and school feel like full-time jobs unto themselves!

Thus it is time to get to bed. I must get my required 8-hours of sleep, and I still have to finish my drawing hw for tomorrow's class! Hope you all are well out there, and good night!

P.S. Spilled the beans about the PCP to my Dad today, and he was equally unsurprised as my mom!

Emiko: Day 12, A Lust for Life

Hello! I just came home from printmaking class and hour or so ago, completely blissed out from three hours of art class, but then I was like, "holy mother of god, I have no idea what to write about." And then I realized, I should really just share with you all how amazing I am feeeling!

Today in Patrick's daily email, he wrote that right now we might be experiencing this crappy stage in our progress that's kind of like a rotten, marshy no-man's land between having to struggle through all these changes and when we will actually start to see results. The point was basically to not let it get to us, and to just keep marching on.


But I have to tell you, I feel F-ing marvelous.

Tonight as I walked away from the printmaking studio, holding a giant, juicy, crunchy Pink Lady apple in my hand, I could not help but feel my body literally glowing with glee and energy. I know a lot of my happiness is connected to really getting into making art again, but that's just not all there is to it.

During the three hours of class, all I did tonight was cut, bevel, file-down, sand, and polish a single 5"x6" zinc plate (in preparation for etching a design into the plate on Thursday). That's it. We didn't work on our designs or draw at all, but the whole time I felt engaged and really satisfied.

While sanding my plate down -- which believe me takes a looooooonnnnggggg time to complete -- I could feel my muscles moving around and I could sense their new strength for sure. It was wonderful. Even as they struggled, I enjoyed just feeling the connection between my exercise and my real life. Of course a lot of the other students in the class hated the struggle, and gave up half way through and went home. But I guess giving up is just not something I've allowed myself to do lately.

Right after class was the best part though. The combo of the slight burn in my right arm from all of that work and the replenishing goodness of my apple was incredibly invigorating. It is such a change to experience my body responding to the food that I am eating the exact moment it is happening.

That apple was so pure and nourishing. Food is amazing. My body is amazing. How did nature come up with all of this stuff? It has become apparent that my body is coming into an equilibrium, and my energy and concentration and happiness are directly, positively affected.

I just ate two egg whites in a row and it was so great. I can't even tell you. Feeling this good inside, I know what I am doing (and all of us on the PCP are doing) is right. I am so stoked on life. I am living! And alive! Alive and living and I LOVE IT!

It reminds me of something Adrian said to me recently: "If you are excited about your life, you won't even want to go to sleep at night. But you know you should, so you sleep. But that excitement is what keeps you from snoozing the alarm in the morning and instead gets you jumping out of bed."

Well, I don't want to sleep! I want to stay up all night and draw and dance and draw some more! But we all know what Patrick said yesterday, so buffy sleep it is. :0)

Emiko: Day 11, Catching yer ZZZs

So Patrick a.k.a. "Papa PCP" just gave us our newest assignment:
SLEEP.
8 hours.
Every night.
Maybe more.

Why? Well, only by allowing our bodies ample time to rest and recover, do we build our strength. He explained that our muscles literally cannot become strong unless we rest well. And now it is required as a part of the PCP!

This one was a shocker, because with all of the work that goes into our new diet and lifestyle changes, getting up early is a necessity (and Adrian and I were already getting up at 5:30am every day pre-PCP). There is a lot of prep work to make sure each meal runs smoothly, and for Adrian and I (and I'm sure the other PCPers alongside us) the morning is when that happens most. The PCP is a huge presence in our lives and has really changed how we spend and interact with our day.

I feel like I don't really even have time to sleep! Our schedules are already so full: Get up, eat, go to school, eat, cook, eat, exercise, go to work, eat, do homework, EAT EAT and....well, after all that hard work, the length and quality of my sleep at night is sort of an after-thought. I mean, look at me right now! I'm blogging after coming home from work (my night shift gets me home around 11pm) instead of getting the rest I need. I am reminded that the time during the day is not to be wasted. Even those little moments where I let myself be lazy for five minutes, by doing so I am escaping my responsibilities.

This is on my mind especially because tomorrow is a very busy one, and I know I need to be very present in order to get things done well. Adrian and I actually had to sit down and plan every part of the day, because there is just that much to do.

Well, I had better go get my beauty sleep (now known as BUFF SLEEP!), and gather my strength for tomorrow!


Goodnight y'all!

Adrian: Day 6, Happy Feet

I woke up around 6 this morning. I was hungry when I woke up, so I ate half a banana. Emiko got up a few minutes later and made me a ham, egg and cucumber sandwich. Ate a date shortly afterwards, and snacked on some kettle chips as well. We listened to music for a while, and then it was off to our first day of school.

We're taking a few classes together, web design, drawing and Buddhist philosophy. Today it was drawing, and class was in Alameda. Alameda is a weird little island suburb...more on that later. There were some people in class who didn't seem like they wanted to be there. There was a girl sitting next to me who had restless leg syndrome. It looked like she was playing a kick drum solo through the entire class. I wondered why she was there. You're grown up now. You don't have to draw if you don't want to! Haha.

After class we were both pretty hungry, but it was only eleven o'clock, so we decided to go and buy our art supplies for class first. About half an hour later we went to lunch at a cafe in the Rockridge district of Oakland. We split a "Cuban sandwich" which is a grilled sandwich made with Black Forest ham, onions, pickles, & pepperjack cheese. It took about 15 minutes to make (they had to warm up the grill), but I ate it in under 1.5. On an interesting side-note, Pasta Pomodoro, also in Rockridge, was robbed a couple nights ago. We used to eat at that restaurant all the time. If we hadn't started the PCP, we might've been robbed!

After lunch, we went back home. Emiko did her exercises and then rushed off to work. I went to work too (in front of the computer), packing up a couple dozen books that had been ordered in the past couple of days. I did my exercises shortly after. The squats and crunches seem to be challenging me more lately, but I was able to do the maximum number of reps per set today. I've been listening to music during my workouts. After pushups, I often get a bit winded and lie on the floor for a bit. At that point, music becomes very engaging..

That's all I have to say for now. Good night everyone.

Adrian