Day90 Final Post

So here we are at Day-90.  Most of my friends and certainly even myself never thought I would have stuck it out 90 days. It definitely says something about the PCP program that I have lasted.  Patrick has this thing nailed.  Firstly the pics and stats.I have lost 11.3Kg and 7% body fat.  Despite the kids saying I have become skinny that is certainly not the appropriate word to use.  I am definitely feeling fitter, healthier and happier than I was 90 days ago.  It has been a fun ride.  

 I wouldn't say it has been an smooth ride, with plenty of ups and downs.  The first 2 months were pretty fascinating as we changed our diets increased the exercise.  Seeing how the body responds to these changes was interesting - from being starving in the first week, to complaining about not being able to eat all that was assigned the next.  It was uncanny how accurate the timing of Patrick's emails describing what we might be experiencing.  This helped a lot with my confidence that he knew what he was doing.  It was after all a leap of blind faith in the beginning to put 3 months of my life into his hands (the 3 best beer drinking months of the year to boot)  Also confidence building was the realisation that there were no smoke and mirrors, or magic bullet to a healthy lifestyle, merely common sense. So simple most people overlook it.  His rules were not hard and fast - simply that the more you bend the rules the further you move from your desired outcome. I was not perfect in my attempt and had some deviations on both the diet and exercise.  The good news is I have more confidence now that I know how to control my body and know what I should eat and what exercise I should do to achieve certain results, be it maintaining levels, or losing more body fat.
The real test begins now.  Just as most friends were sure I wouldn't complete the program, the same people have the firm opinion that even if I made it I would immediately rebound (so whats the point)  I don't feel like I am finished yet and will work on decreasing my body fat level.  I will whole heartedly recommend this program to anybody that is interested, but it will be a rather hollow recommendation if I am back over 92Kg when I give it.
Thanks to Patrick and Chen.  I would like to say this was a life changing 90 days, but I will reserve that for a year and see if I am still living the PCP. Thanks also to the bloggers. Without  reading the daily blogs of people slogging it out along side me I am sure my friends would have been proven right.
Thanks also to my supportive wife Tae and the kids Sena, Josh and Connor.  

Day 85

At the start of the PCP I had thoughts about what it would be like to make it to day-90.  As we approach the end the ideas I had at the beginning are completely different to what I am experiencing now.  I had envisioned a weeks worth of reservations at my favourite restaurants and a 24/7 eating and drinking binge.  It feels like I should be having celebratory dinner somewhere but at this point nothing springs to mind.  When I try to think about it I find myself only considering places I know have good salad and vege options.  VERY strange for me.  The truth is love the breakfast and lunches.  The simplicity of a vege based dinner and not going to bed with a full churning stomach are also compelling.  I guess I am probably at the extreme end of things for me at this stage of the PCP and post PCP I might drift back toward something more normal for me.  I do think I will continue to be far more conscious of salad and veges, and probably eat no where near the amount of fried food I used to eat.  I would hate to think I never found food or a new restaurant exciting again.  Its all about balance and maintenance from here... oh, after getting through the next few days of gruelling exercises that is.  

Scales

Now back in Tokyo after a couple of weeks out and raring to go for the last week of PCP.  I was quite anxious stepping on the home scales as vacations normally see at least a 3kg increase, but this time it was unchanged - very happy but confusing.  I am still struggling to free my mind of the numbers on the scales.  Recently I have noticed visual changes in my shoulders and waste, not as obvious as some of the changes I see in other PCPers, but pleasing to me.  Also today coming back to work I found my belt needing to be moved another notch in.  All good news, but the unchanged numbers on the scales still leave me slightly dissatisfied. Hoping to see some more changes at the end of this week of hard training.

its been a while..

It has been some time since my last post but I have been batteling on. Just at the end of a 2 week vacation to Perth and Phuket. The diet has been a little wonky from time to time but no where near as bad as expected. The workouts whilst here in Phuket have been fun with an extra evening run. I think the extra energy comes from getting some sun and eating a ton of veges for breakfast and lunch. Trying to go all out for these last few days. Feeling some extra muscle in my shoulders and back recently - perhaps a little muscle growth spurt occuring in these last few days. Back to normal in tokyo on Sunday.

Day 65

For some reason Monday/Tuesday this week seemed like the darkest PCP days so far for me... real motivation problems.  The previous week I had been feeling strong and noticing progress.  Everything seemed to go stale and flatten out, then the prospect of just grinding through the motions for the last 4 weeks started to play on my mind. Yesterday I seemed to snap out of it and followed the wise words of Chopper Reid - HTFU!!  Actually Tuesday night instead of skipping I went for a 30minute run.  It was refreshing to mix in a different cardio and nice to have a good run rather than the normal wheezing, coughing and wobbling my way around the course - progress.

Day 61

I knew it was going to be a rough weekend, and had this "exception" planned from the start of the PCP.  It was Fuji Rock weekend in Japan.  I only went for 1 day/night but that was plenty of time to do damage.  The diet was pretty much all liquid based and of the beer variety.  In the back of my mind I tried to partially justify it by telling myself the amount of walking and standing in mud was a good workout. Not too sure if it was because I didnt snack on a lot of bad food, but felt fine the next day and managed to get all of my exercises done for the weekend.  Another personal discovery was that following a boozey night I would normally crave foods in the Top-5 Thou-Shall-Never-Eat category.  This time though I felt kind of unclean, and craved fruit and raw Veges to somehow remedy the problem.  I would like to think this could continue in post PCP life.

Day 55

Despite grand plans I didn't do any of the PCP exercises on Saturday.  I was wakeboarding for the day and planned to do the exercises in the evening.  I am pretty sure my back, legs, shoulders and arms got a pretty good workout though.  Sunday was mostly spent on the sofa watching movies (and the workout in the evening)  This normally would mean going back and forth to the fridge and snacking all day, but I managed to keep the snacks to tomatoes and carrots.  I would like to think it was through great discipline, but the reality is there is nothing else in the fridge.

Day 52

For this weeks indulgence I thought I should probably skip it as I did already indulge a little last weekend in Singapore, but then decided to take Patrick's advice I had seen before that if you messed up in the past, don't worry, just get back to the program... so there it is.. I have another indulgence. Nice!   I went to a steak restaurant and had a fillet steak, steamed veges and a couple of glasses of wine.  I guess it might have been a little over the allowance but well worth it.  At first I thought I wouldn't be satisfied with the meal as my normal choices would have been large Ribeye steak, cream spinach, chips etc etc.  Surprisingly I was more than happy.  Even happier when I woke up after a good nights sleep, rather than a sleepless night of indigestion.  The restaurant btw for people in Tokyo is called Wakanui.  A new steak restaurant that imports from New Zealand. Great meat and good kiwi wines, and very reasonable prices.  It is in Azabu-Juban.

Day 48

Just spent the (Japanese) long weekend in Singapore.  Its fair to say the diet and exercise plans didn't go quite according to plan. Not a disaster but not a great feeling when you know you have slipped a little.  Now we are in the second half of the program I feel a slight sense of urgency and these slips seem to carry a greater weight than just a couple of weeks ago.  I don't want to run out of time to get the results I am looking for.  Also looming is a 2 week vacation in August back to Perth and to Phuket.  My typical trips to Perth revolve around ticking off a long list of junk foods that i "miss".  I just need to put my head down and go hard for the next 3 weeks and be on a roll going into the vacation that will hopefully carry through.   One change I am still happy for is improved menu navigation.  What can I order to fill most of the plate with good veges and salad, then tackle the protein selection.  Its fun to see whole sections of the menu that I previously never knew existed.

Day 43

Try as I might, the morning skipping is just not happening.  I seem to be having very deep sleeps recently and wake up naturally at 5:30-6:00, but the body is just not ready to spring out of bed into a skipping session.  Generally it takes 15mins of hobling around working through some stiffness from the previous day.  For the time being I will do the exercises and 8MA in the morning then skip in the evening.  Otherwise all is well.  Getting VERY hungry in the evening though.  "Dinner" just doesnt cut it.  The upside to that I guess is another notch down in weight which is satisfying.

day41

Hot weekend in Tokyo! Did well on the diet and work out, but did treat myself to a beer on Saturday night.  On top of the workouts I spent a couple of hours weed whacking in the garden in sweltering heat so figured a cheeky beer wouldn't send me too far off track.  Attempted to do my skipping before work this morning but there was no way it was happening.  In the beginning of PCP I was flying out of bed and charging the workout in the morning.  Then I had a couple of absolutely terrible morning skipping sessions and realised it was easier in the evening, I guess with a warm body.  The goal for the rest of this week if to get back to the morning sessions, at least for the skipping.  Updated my photos over the weekend.  Subtle differences, but happy things are headed in the right direction.

day-36

Decided to multitask last night by doing the skipping whilst watching Patrick's videos.  Felt like being watched by Big Brother and half expected his head to pop out of the screen shouting "JUMP JUMP you lazy dog!!!!!"    Turns out it was my smoothest sessions so far... fear is a powerful force.

day35. Energy

I am recently finding my energy levels all over the place.  Now that the family is out of town I am sleeping twice as much as I was, but often seem to be even more tired.  Workouts are also hit and miss from labouring through or charging it and wanting more.  I guess my body is still working and adjusting - at some point I presume it will find a balance.  On a positive note I am still seeing subtle changes in my body.  Only obvious to my trained eye, but changes none the less.  It might be all imagination, but if you stand in front of the mirror long enough at numerous angles you will find something you think is different and improved. For me thats just enough motivation to have another f..king apple and banana for dinner.

day30

I noticed last night my food cravings are waning.  I went out with some friends to a Mexican restaurant and despite free flowing nachos, tacos, margaritas etc I didn't have any strong urge to get involved.  Also the initial few minutes of ridicule for ordering Perrier soon faded and my buddies just accepted the fact that I was on a different program.  I did have to leave a little early though as there came a point where I just couldn't understand what they were saying - sure looked like they were having a good time though!!
The other encouraging point from the last couple of days is sudden bout of weight loss.  Despite Patricks advice, I still jump on the scale each morning and after being stuck at 88.5kg for the last 2 weeks (from 91kg) I have moved down to 86kg.  

what happened to dinner???

The new week begins.  The exercises look fun, but the dinner diet seems as far from fun as you can get!  Starting to see more changes in my body recently so that should be enough motivation to push on.  I realised yesterday some non physical benefits over the last month.  I haven't had a hangover for 29days!  Consequently the long lasting mild  headaches have also disappeared.  Most exciting though is not waking up in the middle of the night with indigestion - this was normally a 2-3 time a week occurrence.  I actually often suspected it was partly due to a salt heavy diet... juicy well salted steaks, fried chicken etc etc.  It is probably a combination of booze, oil, salt and general overeating, but I am looking forward to Patrick revealing his secrets behind salt... the suspense is building.

back to normal

Got back from Singapore yesterday and feel like I can be back in 100% control again now.  The last couple of days in Sing were a challenge on both the exercise and diet front.  The new moves are providing a good challenge though think I have some work to do on my form. It is clear I will never quite be in my comfort zone with the PCP ratcheting up a notch each week.  The biggest challenge at the moment is saying no to invites for drinks and dinner from people that know the wife and kids are out of town for a few days.  I don't want to be a hermit so my current strategy is to eat at home early before joining friends

its all in the wrist

After struggling a bit with the skipping I have finally seemed to have found a rythym in the last couple of days.  I found if I focus on my wrists rotating properly, then I  trip far less.  Pretty obvious but it is working.  The diet has been ok for breakfast and lunch - also plenty of good fruit easily available here in Singapore.  Dinner has been more of a challenge as we are eating out.  My habits are changing though as now when I look at a menu I go straight to salads and vegetable section rather than steak/grill/meat section.  Passing up a lot of great food at the moment though.  Have to keep reminding myself of the final goal, and remember that I will have another chance to indulge, though probably at a more moderate pace than in the past.  Few more days to go here in Singapore then leave the family here and head back to Tokyo.  It will be easier to be 100% back on track being by myself for a little while.

Singapore

Arrived in Singapore with the family and have managed to stay pretty much on track with diet and exercise.  Have to remind myself to drink enough water with all the sweat from exercising in this humidity.  The couple of slight discretions on the food front have been a bite of a couple of things to taste the food the family is trying.  Not compliant, but happy with myself as at this stage on a normal trip I would probably be several thousand calories in already after a just a couple of days - so a couple of small bite to taste feels like a victory.

test passed

Survived a decent test last night.  We had a few friends over for a Thai dinner.  Managed to stick to mineral water despite the others getting stuck into the wine and beer.  The food was probably more of a challenge to not eat the coconut based curries etc.  Couple of Satay chicken sticks with no peanut sauce, my tiny portion of rice (which seemed to provide huge entertainment for our guests due to the miniscule portion) and a bunch of fresh salads.  We are off to Singapore from tonight for a week.  Have my rope and rubber packed.  I suspect the next week will be a major challenge on the diet front.

day15

Last night my wifes Homeopath (I think that is what he describes himself as) came by the house to give her a massage.  I decided to also have a session to try to sort out my legs.  I have been to him before and forgotten how good it was.  After 20mins of strange stretches and contortions I felt much better from my shoulders through to my calf muscles.  A decent nights sleep and my morning exercises were much more enjoyable.  I am thinking a regular session with this guy might help my body through this program.  New diet for the week looks interesting from the carb perspective... down to 50-60g at breakfast and dinner. That seems like 1 mouthful or rice or pasta.  The kids were already asking why daddy has less rice than me... "its not fair... I dont want to finish my rice"

hungry

Managed to get through my skips this morning, but still struggling with pain in the calf muscles.  Every 10 jumps or so it feels like the muscle is about to go into a cramp spasm - fortunately it didnt happen.  Somebody once told me that drinking pickle water immediately cures a cramp.  I am not quite at the stage of having a glass of this on hand for an emergency, but hoping I can work through this and get back to enjoying the morning skips.  On the diet front I seem to have gone from struggling to eat everything last week, to now being hungry and looking forward to the next meal despite no change in the quantities I am eating.  Perhaps my metabolism is slowly starting to awaken??

leg failure

Skipping was out of the realms of possibility this morning.  My legs just said No.  At the end of my skipping yesterday I cramped in my calf muscle, and can still feel a twinge there today.  I guess I will try again tonight, and worst case I will have to pass for today but will add extra reps to my exercises to make me at least feel less guilty.  Spent last night making a big load of gazpacho.  It was very theraputic stuffing vegetable after vegetable into the blender.  Tasted great when I added a little hot sauce.  That will last through todays meals.  

Weekends are tough

The daily schedule gets blown away on the weekends.  Fitting the food and exercise in around the family and various commitments is going to be tough I can see.  Managed to stay reasonably on course at a friends birthday party.  20 glasses of oolong tea, and 2 beers (forced!) is a pretty good result for me.
Managed to take some day-12 pics.  Not much to show for my efforts yet, but definitely feeling better than 12 days ago.  My wife also says I am snoring less.... coincidence perhaps?

full

Already these breakfasts are a challenge.  I have always been a light eater at breakfast so getting in all this food in is difficult.  I have heard the advice many times to eat like a king for breakfast, a prince for lunch and a pauper for dinner - feels a little like that at the moment.  Sitting here at my desk with a full stomach wondering if Patrick has a warped sense of humour... "haha you're all fat now!!".  Guess nobody every got fat from eating too many vegetables though.
Wondering if my skipping will ever get to this level? He seems to be having more fun than me..

new week

My initial panic after seeing the new dietry requirements has now subsided, and I have a few basic ideas for the next couple of days. Those ideas will get old fast though, so need to put the thinking cap on for ways to inspire vegetables without drowing them in olive oil and cheese.  Enjoyed the new workout regime this morning, though felt pretty light headed and had a strong urge to go back to bed for a nap afterwards.  The kids are still enjoying my program.  They thought it was particularly funny grabbing the rubber bands and trying to snap it back at daddy half way through his curls.  oh.. treated myself to a last beer with dinner.  Found myself drinking it like a rare, expensive french wine... very small, thoughtfull sips.  

alarm

No need for an alarm these days - my 2yo boy, Josh, happily comes bouncing into the bed ready to play at 5:30am every morning.  Every day I envy their energy!  Great time to get up and try to get the exercises done for the day.  It is so much better to get it done in the morning rather than have it hanging over my head all day.  The kids also seem to be enjoying it with all sorts of advice and tips on my form. "why is your face so red daddy... are you ok? Mommy... daddys lying on the floor breathing funny..."

correction

My earlier comments that I was somehow feeling satisfied with the 1/2 meals is clrarly not working today. I am now starving and chewing gum and drinking coffee like a mad man...

Day-6 and I can finally feel less pain in my calve muscles.  Whilst really enjoying the skipping, the first few days left me with very painful calf muscles, and the walking style of a 90 year old.  Hopefully I have pushed through that now?  Time will tell, but I guess the next weeks exercises will throw up some challenges again.  The 1/2 portion diet has been ok.  Trying to be very strict about it.  I was concerned the last couple of days as the smaller meals have left me feeling full despite the small quantities - this caused a bit of panic as I thought I was eating too much and not the 1/2 size.  Perhaps my stomach capacity has shrunk?  I am also on the cusp of a small personal milestone... 1 week without booze.  I cant remember a time I havent had at least a beer or 2 at the end of each day.  This will probably be the greatest challenge over the summer months ahead

Glad my mum wasnt standing behind me when I tossed 1/2 my lunch

So far so good. Looking forward to doing the exercises this evening.

Its all about to begin...

A couple of days to go now until I start this project... hope I make it through.