two-thirds down, one-third to go

Day 60: done.
I sit here munching on some pear and apple slices dipped in cinnamon, I reflect back on the past two months, and I extrapolate a month into the future.
First of all, I am finally, really, seriously starting to feel the effects of KFB. I find it almost reassuring that the numbers are monstrously misleading.
All the suit pants that I had taken in after PCP still fit just fine.
I have lines on the sides of my stomach, going down into my pelvis, indicative of the serious core muscle build-up happening below the surface.
I ran 10k in 58 minutes and recovered in 10 minutes.
I planked for 3 minutes straight. It hurt like a bitch, but I did it.
I can balance on one foot, body extended in various positions, for over 30 seconds at a time. 1-2 of those seconds I am totally and completely stable; rock-solid steady and perfectly balanced, effortless.
The muscular definition I had at the end of PCP (after pumping my muscles expertly for the final day photos) is still there, joined by some new lines, especially on my legs, arms, and abdomen.
I can deep wide-angle forward bend deeply and widely.
I can punch and kick a ping pong ball on a string hundreds of times in row without missing.

And what does the next month have in store?
First, food:
I think I will use the next 30 days to fine-tune my "normal" eating habits. For example, I really, really don't want to eat carbs at night. The more I think about it, the more it is and has always been a bad idea. I feel too full and my blood-sugar spikes just when I need to wind down and sleep.
Yet every meal I encounter is carb-based, especially in this the-land-of-white-rice Japan. So I am developing strategies: don't order rice with Korean BBQ. Instead get a couple salads and a bunch of sangchu (Korean lettuce) and a pile of kimchee. Have the soup with the lunch set. Buy osozai instead of a bento with a pile of rice in it. Raw fruit is king.

Exercise:
Need to figure out how much running I want to do. It obviously is not conducive to keeping high muscle mass -- no mystery that all long-distance runners are skinny -- then again it is a great way to keep the body-fat percentage down and build cardio strength. As the weather gets colder I prefer running on the treadmill at the gym. Preferably late at night, when it's practically empty. Headphones on, speed set to a constant rate, staring at myself in the window-become-mirror, I can definitely zone out and knock out 30 minutes no problem.
Most likely I will run 3 days a week, keep going to fighting 2-3 days a week, and do a bunch of pull-ups and sit-ups and stretching most mornings. We'll see; whatever catches my fancy, I reckon.

Meditation:
This one is easy. I have already been sitting daily fairly consistently for several years now, and I will continue to do so. I find it much, much easier to sit after a workout. With the body tired out, it's less of a distraction and it's nice to sit down, catch my breath, and find my balance again.
Also I don't feel bad about "only" doing 5-10 minutes; I think a solid 10 minutes of zazen is better than slouching on a cushion for 30 minutes thinking about the crap I have to do at work and what's on TV this weekend.

For now, I got 30 more days of slapping a little white ball on a string, hundreds of leg-lifts a day, and some deep, wide-angle forward bends to get into!