Less than 2 weeks to go...

Home stretch, yesterday I nearly bested the pull ups, doing 5 sets of 8 before failing at 6 on the final set, before this is over, I am going to get thru 6 sets of 8.  Kung fu sit ups are tough on the shoulders more than anything, I have trouble by the last two sets because of the pain from hanging, but can usually manage to finish them all.   I am trying to go to failure in all exercises now, some days it means adding more in the final set, other days it happens before I get to the final set.  Jump rope is testing my ADD, I get bored with the longer sets more than I get tired by them, same reason I have always hated running, sheer boredom, I don't feel that runners high, so every minute is just annoying and I can't wait to finish.  I think the jumprope length is about the most I can stomach, but certainly a maintainable level.  I've tried to do some tricks, but realized quickly that 1) I don't know any and 2) I am not that coordinated.  So I went with seeing how many jumps I can do in a minute, record so far is 177, I am gonna try for 200 by the end of this thing.   I can really feel the full body work out when I go for speed, have to tense the upper body to get the speed up, it's tough, probably makes the 6-7min set a bit tougher than if I just went at a steady pace the whole time, when I am done, my pecks and arms are sometimes sore.  Maybe I need to relax...

Food is good, getting to actually be a bit much at times, but I have been finding a few restaurants that are able to do PCP friendly dinners, Yakitori seems the best, just grilled meat and veg, wasabi and Ume, nothing else.  I will not miss the endless prep of making all my meals all the time, but I have found that you can have some pretty good stuff that is very PCP friendly and that certainly a healthy balance of homemade meals and eating out is doable in perpetuity.   

Indulgence this week, though I am trying to think long and hard about what I really want to eat or drink and nothing, NOTHING, is coming to me.  I don't crave anything when I think about it...I do however crave things when I see them, so maybe for this indulgence I am not going to plan anything, and some time in the next few days I'll see if the mood strikes me and just go with it.  I would like to wait until next Tuesday night, get a burrito and some McDonald's fries, a beer and watch the Patriots play the Jets in Monday Night Football, but that would be day 84 and past the deadline for indulgences, and if the Pats don't win, would ruin the meal for me anyway. 

Day 77...wow. 

PCPizza

Made pizza last night.  Whole wheat crust, no salt, homemade sauce with PCP approved spices, grilled chicken, veggies, one was asparagus, broccoli, mushrooms, onions, and basil, the other was cilantro, bell peppers, mushrooms, onions, and red chili peppers with a bit of lime after baked.   All in all was pretty good, put a tiny bit of cheese on it, but just enough to taste.  The dough was pretty good, a bit heavy vs white flour I guess, still would recommend it if you have time, takes about 15-20mins to cut the stuff and make the dough, then about 25mins to cook in the oven....looks like this...

Day 72, Happy Thanksgiving

After lunch today I will have eaten the exact same thing 7 times in a row now.  Brown rice, grilled vegetables, and grilled chicken.  I marinated the chicken in the yogurt mix again and threw in a couple habaneros, damn spicy.   I am not sure what this says, either I am getting less creative or lazy, or just tired, I don't even really think about the taste, I just eat it at each meal and go on with the day.   Am not really craving anything to be honest, not saying this to complain, just stating what has been going on with my diet.  What has NOT been going on with my diet is all the eggs.  I have taken to milk and a raw egg white when I first wake up eating breakfast (no milk) about 90mins later.  Then I have fruit, no egg for the AM snack.  I am choking down an egg white in boiled form after the workouts, but can't bring myself to eat another in the afternoon snack.  So am getting 2 out of the 3 required eggs...and trying to have a tiny bit more protein to make up the difference, I just can not get anymore down.  Actually like the milk and raw egg best, don't even taste it, but not doable at the office.   Hope that the egg white I miss isn't killing my muscle growth.   Has anyone got a substitute?  

Workouts are going all right, I get to failure pretty quick on some exercises, while others I add a few reps at the end.  Plank is now my most hated exercise, I haven't completely conquered pull ups but I can do a lot more than when we started.  Shoulders are still the most difficult area for me to do all the reps, I reach failure pretty quick, whereas biceps seem to be the region I have to add reps to get to failure (though today I upped the resistance band and it wore me out).   Workouts still take less than 50mins with the jump rope, and if there are no legs on a given day and my jump rope goes smooth, I can usually get done in about 40-45mins.  I don't think I am waiting as long as I should between sets and wonder if this is a bad thing.  I definitely don't wait much at all between exercises.  I almost challenge myself to get it done as quickly as possible. 

I really need some new clothes, I cut 2" off my belt the other day and it is still big on me, and my pants are starting to look retarded, which isn't what you want when you already look retarded regardless of your clothes being ill fitted or not.  And what the hell is with the lack of tapered sweaters and stuff in this country, my shoulders vs mid riff ratio doesn't work if stuff is cut straight down now, the shoulders fit and then it looks ridiculous around my stomach area, two sizes too big.   Looks like a post PCP shopping spree is in order, but will probably wait till early 2011 just to see how my PCP body holds up in the end.

After tomorrow, less than 2 1/2 weeks to go.   

Worst Week Yet.

It took about 64 days before things really broke down, but last week in HK on business things fell off a cliff, hard...splat!  First off the diet was a nightmare, I couldn't carry the 27 eggs a day that we are eating now around in my suit pocket, and with nowhere to buy them on the fly, I did what I could, but was only eating about 1/2-2/3 of the required number.  Then the AM protein, hotel had sausage, bacon, some other sort of processed meat product or Fish, none of which I was gonna touch, so AM protein got subbed out in lieu of egg whites which I guess helped my overall egg count, but I fell short on dead carcass quotient.   Then every other meal, HK doesn't have low fat milk at almost every restaurant, just non fat or regular, so I tried to alternate, and I couldn't find a low fat yogurt that wasn't sweetened with some fruity crap or other.   In general the dinners at the hotel were PCP approved, but lunches were a crap shoot, too much oil in most things, and the plane ride home, running late to make the flight, I just had to go with the dogshit they try to pass off as food on ANA.   I also broke down once and had a gin and tonic at a friends wedding on Saturday, which might have been the worst of the days, though with the plane ride Sunday it was a toss up.  The W hotel in HK doesn't have JACK SQUAT on the menu for PCP lunch or dinner really, they did manage some steamed veg and grilled chicken, but at lunch only white bread for carbs, and dinner the only chicken was grilled in some tandoori marinate, which definitely had salt.  So from Wed-Sun food was a complete clusterfuck.   Getting back to Japan I am still having issues with the snacks, I forget them, like today, forgot the carbs pre workout, and can't find a boiled egg post workout.   It's all going pear shaped, and fast.  

Workouts weren't much better, I could barely find the time to do them, I was running back to the hotel room between meetings to try and jumprope, which in the actually hotel room, barefoot on the carpet wasn't easy and started to become painful, but I managed to get the sets in and for the strength stuff I did as much as time allowed but honestly I don't think I had one complete workout while I was away.  I wonder if the lack of protein coupled with the difficulty level of the workouts now is the reason I struggled or if it was just being in a rush, always watching the clock and not being able to focus on the task at hand.

Anyway, was hands down as bad a week as I have had since starting PCP, and with 21 days to go, I need to get back on track.  I still don't have the abs I am after, speaking of which...90sec of the plank..times FOUR...are you kidding me!?   I was able to do 90sec once, then started breaking down in the 2nd set, by the fourth I think I made it 30sec before falling flat on my face.   Maybe that is why I can't see the abs yet? 

It's go time people, Fuck you PCP, 21 days left, I'm gonna make you my b-tch.  Bring it! (but no more god damn eggs!)

Hey abs!!...come out come out wherever you are, damn you!

All right, crunch time people, just finished today's workout...day 62, that means less than 4wks to go.  I am seeing the results all over, which is great...but I am waiting for that washboard stomach to come out, that six pack of abs, the kind you can slide a finger in between each muscular square.  I still have a bit of visceral fat I think, and I can feel the abs under it, I just can't see them as I would like.    

Shockingly I don't have much to say today, just that the workouts are hard to finish all sets and reps, though today I did 3 sets of 8 pull ups, a set of 7 and a set of 5 which is a personal best.  I busted my jumprope the other day and have been relegated to a crappy don quijote one which is too short and is really frustrating the hell out me, I keep tripping up, but still manage to get thru the rope and strength work in under an hour.   Need to find a better rope though.  

Diet going fine, though I am off to HK on biz from Wed-Sun including a wedding on Sat.  Not sure how well I am going to do with the diet, but will try my best. 

4 weeks to go, gotta find those abs...

Day 57

I had a lunch the other day with a client, went ot Nobu where they do a good PCP approved meal, grilled chicken, grilled veg and brown rice, no salt, no sauce, all fresh.   My buddy got all fired up when I ordered telling me I have lost enough weight, come on already.   Really ticked me off, it was the first time I think that someone was actually UN-supportive, some have been indifferent, some joke, most try to understand and support, but this was a real attempt to get me to stray, seriously WTF, it's like a buddy trying to get you to do another shot after you say you've had enough, am I still in college?!   People really need to respect others attempts to better themselves even if they don't want to do anything similar.

Today was a headache at the gym, the area where I usually jump rope was taken with some sort of board meeting, and there isn't space elsewhere, so I went for the bike instead, the lack of space meant floor jumps were tough so I did what I could and added  a bit to the pistol squats.   The shoulder work continues to be an area where I struggle to get thru all the sets, I was flat out panting by the end, on the positive side my back is slowly recovering and I was able to get thru all the V-sits with not too much discomfort. 

Workouts really do seem to ebb and flow, some days I walk in and it flies by, I barely get winded, other days I can't catch my breath, feel like it takes forever, and have a lot of trouble getting all the reps done, but have learned that those are the days where you can really build some muscle, so I push through and generally feel a good sense of accomplishment once done. 

Got our new diets today, have ANOTHER egg in mine now, asked Patrick if I could sub some meat for one of the eggs, or have eggs at breakfast and 50g of protein later in the day.  He said that was fine which is good because I just don't love boiled eggs.  Have actually been bringing egg white seasoned and cooked in a pan to work and eating them cold as my snack.  It's tolerable, but that is about it.   I completely forgot to have my milk last night w/ my night time snack...on that subject, are other people doing yogurt and milk?  I tend to be drinking low fat milk wherever it says yogurt because I can not find low fat yogurt near my office.  Pretty sure that is ok, but wondering if I should really be having yogurt when that is the prescribed snack? 

My funky scale has me gaining weight this week, I am up to 71.7kg, but my body fat % was down to 17.1%, body age down to 29...I guess that is a good sign, though I am still waiting for those defined abs to come out, and there is definitely a bit more visceral fat that needs to come off, I can still "pinch and inch" around my midriff and especially in parts of my lower back as well as the sides of my mid back...will it ever go away?  I can feel the abs developing under the fat, just want to see the results of my hard work a bit more.  

Still, day 58 awaits, not even 5 weeks left!   Would never say it has been easy and know there is still time to go, but I feel good and am recommending all my friends to get involved...Patrick, what kind of kick back I get for the intros?

Day 53- 55 Indulgence and back pain...

Right so indulgence...I didn't really have a strong craving for anything, what I find I am really missing is the flexibility that comes from being able to eat out, or get take out.  It's really less about the food, which I don't mind, even the shake dinners aren't terrible, but it is the hassle of prepping it all, and the rigidity, in particular when I am tired.   I want to grab take out on the way home after a long day at the office, I don't want to prep my meals for the next 3~4 days.  That is the real headache for me, not the lack of a certain food, as I said, not really craving much, but craving a bit more time to just relax, and it'd be nice to have a dinner out, or even Indian take out on a night when I have no energy to cook.   All that said, I can see striking a balance between the two once this is done, probably maintaining a 50/50 split between eating as I am now and mixing in some brunch/lunch and dinners out.  Certainly keep up the snacks (speaking of which am choking down the AM egg...not pleasant but getting the protein). 
In the end my indulgence was a bit uneventful...I went with my old standby boneless wings and fries, and then I topped the day off with a few pints of beer amongst friends.  As I was making the meal (which I had for lunch) I noticed that it really wasn't terrible.  It's chicken coated with PCP approved spice, lightly pan fried in a tiny bit of olive oil, the sauce is probably not great as it has Tabasco and sesame oil in it, but total amount is probably 1/8 cup.  Fries are handmade and not deep fried, I also use canola oil and don't salt them, so while it isn't great, I am not sure it's awful on occasion.  I used a bit of blue cheese and low fat yogurt (canned the sour cream) as a dip...also realized the meal had no carbs (well, potatoes, but that is veg here).  So maybe I could have gone a bit more crazy with the food side of things, but frankly was what I wanted, and tasted GOOD.   The beer, oh frosty the adult libation, my GOD I have missed you!   Went to the Harajuku Taproom, home to Bairdbeer.com (check it out people), only a 3x gold medal winner at the 2010 world beer championships.   Had some fall seasonals on tap...I think I may have cried a little into my final half pint.  Surprisingly felt just a bit buzzed, not at all drunk, and felt fine the next morning...got up and skipped rope first thing.

Workouts are going along all right, my back still a huge pain...literally.   Am really struggling with anything ab related, but particularly with the leg lifts, v-sits and kung fu sit ups, I think that I damaged the lower back doing the leg lifts last week, really not great, but I am managing to get thru the workouts and other than the aforementioned ab related exercises, the back isn't an issue.  I really gotta stretch out more. 

Hmmm, think that is it for now.

35 days to go...doesn't sound like much at all.

Day....actually I am not sure

I just finished today's workout...I think it was day 51, but actually I am not even sure, I have given up counting the days, I am just trucking along.   New diets are proving a bit tough for one specific reason, the egg at the AM snack.  I hate boiled eggs, and with no milk to chase it, I am not bringing a raw egg to the office and downing it.  So far I have done a pan fried egg white in the morning with just about every spice that is PCP approved and eat that along with the fruit in the morning.  It isn't what you would call "good" it is more in the "not so tasty" camp, but I can get it down.   Hmmm, I've read a few other blogs where people talk about their cravings gone, never coming back, totally reprogrammed, and while that sounds great, I don't expect to ever get there, I LOVE good food, all types, some probably very good for me, others maybe not.  Never been much of a sweets guy but I can't see giving up french fries, chicken wings, nachos, cheese when all is said and done.  I can however see balancing my habits a bit more, eating better carbs, having the veggie snack before bed.  The egg snack though...that's not gonna be a staple in my diet when this is over. 

Workouts are tough, speaking to a couple people, seems like very few are getting thru every rep and every set.  Tripling up now on trgt muscles, I am going for the least reps per set and trying to make it thru, but still really tough.  The resistance bands I have at home are different from the ones at the gym, gym ones have a lot more resistance and make it even more difficult to complete all the reps.   Jumping rope has become interesting, I find that it is harder at the beginning to get going, but by the time I am on the last set I am thinking, "wow, done already?"   Had a little set back yesterday, my lower back, this time the lower right hand side starting bugging last night.  Was about 6 hrs after I finished the workout, no really sure what caused it, was doing some chores around the house and just started acting up.  Is hurting a lot today, feels better when I stretch my hamstring, but kept me from jumping today...did bike work instead, and was very painful when trying to do the kung-fu sit-ups.  I think I may have pushed it a bit y'day with the leg lifts, remember feeling the strain a bit on the last set. 

Starting to see the result a bit now around the mid riff, but according to my high tech scale, which to be fair, I really do not know how to use properly, I am 71kg (up 0.25kg in about 1 week) with 17.8% body fat,  and a body age of 32.  Said something about my muscle mass and visceral fat too I think but I can't read the Kanji for that stuff.  Odd that my body age was 31 about 5 weeks ago when I got the scale.  Maybe my back issues are proof this is aging me?   Body fat was a bit disappointing, I started around 20-21% I think, would have thought that losing nearly 6.5% of my body weight so far would have meant a bigger decline in body fat.   Are these scales accurate anyway? 

So day 51 or 52 is done...30 some odd to go...piece of cake.  Hmmmmm, cake. 

Indulgence tomorrow...

Day 49, bring back my dinner dammit!

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