Half the man I used to be

Seriously. Literally. Physically. TOTALLY!

90 days. It FLEW by, and now here I am typing my last blog as a PCP participant, and my first moments as a PCP graduate. Honestly? Its a little anti-climactic. Honestly? I am scared of tomorrow. Without the pressure to get to day 90, I dont know if the intensity will remain.

But I digress.

Thank you to the Three Jasons: Jason D in Seattle for calling me FAT. J-Blo in Tokyo for calling me 'Chubby' and to Fish for showing me that its possible.

Patrick, you are the man. The PCP will be Big. Let me know how I can help!

Now, lets look at the stats!

Starting on Sept 15, 2010 I weighed 92 KG or 202 Lbs. WAY too big.

Over 90 Days I have tracked my exercise and diet on the Tap and Track app for the iPhone. Very handy. I have been (pretty) honest about the diet and the exercises. My goal was to lose 30 lbs, and get some muscle definition. In order to do this, my goal was to limit calories to about 1,800 per day.

Limit fat, salt and sugar. Watch the carbs and hit the protein hard. Lots and LOTS of veggies.

45 - 60 minutes of training per day.

Here are the numbers: Total Weight Loss: 14.7 KG or 30.2 Lbs

To This in 90 Days! 

From This 

• Average Daily Calorie Consumption: 1,455
• Average Carb Portion of Diet: 52% (high side)
• Average Fat Portion of Diet: 19% (below target) 
• Average Protein Portion of Diet: 29% (right on target)
• Total Calories Saved Against 1,800 Target: 53,906
• Average Daily Calories Burned: 678
• Total Calories Burned over 90 Days: 61,020
• Pounds of Fat Burned: 17.4 Lbs (3,500 calories burned = 1 lb of fat) 

I know I should not focus on numbers, but they speak for themselves. 

What does it all mean???

It all means that physically, I am half the man I used to be, but mentally and emotionally I am in the best shape of my life. 

Some pics attached. Last PCP Pics and my suit that I bought a month before I started PCP.

A Perfect Fit! 

This is my last post, and as I sit here, I am totally blank. I am at peace. No, I am at PCPeace....

Be good y'all! 

DAMN YOU CHINESE SCALES!!!

So after a very intense workout this morning, I got back to the room and got on the scale to check the weight and it read 77.6! Checked it three times! First time I have been in the 77 KG range, and right at the goal!

I danced around the room with a little chiggy dance, and decided to go look at it again just for fun.

80.1!

WTF?

Again? 78.3

Huh?

One more time? 79.6....

DAMN YOU CHINESE SCALES!!!!.......

Last trip of the year

So I am at the lounge headed to Shanghai for my last Biz Trip of the year. Not looking forward to the food in the back of the bus, but I had some soba noodles and a yoghurt in the lounge which is a little closer to healthy than the tin foil mush they call dinner.

Might get some fruit when I get to the hotel I hope.

I am paying the price for missing my leg workout over the weekend, because DAMN are my legs sore today. Have not felt this way in a long time. Hurts to touch, let alone massage. Guess I really hit that muscle group the right way.....but did not stretch properly afterwards.

First full super set today which was awesome.....I have been doing sets of 10 push ups between regular exercises for the last couple of weeks, so the superset has not come as too horrible of a surprise.

The number of reps on the chest dips has greatly increased in the last couple of weeks, but I still cant get 10 full pull ups. But considering I could barely muster one at the start, I am not complaining.

I have been up early this last week and some glorious AM workouts in the cold. I very much like the cold, it reminds me of my days training in college in Seattle out on the soccer pitch. Feels really good, and I was laughing at my self as I sat doing rows with a huge cloud of steam rolling off my body.  I am sure it would have been a killer picture!

I have not yet been to a gym yet, but I honestly dont think I will. I quit my gym when I started the PCP. I was one of those guys that we were sent to look and laugh at. I would stretch for 5 minutes, run at some crazy pace for 15 - 20 minutes, do one or two sets of sit ups and then hit the sauna. I would swim for 15 minutes sometimes, but it really was a joke.

I get enough exposure to the non-competent exercisers at the hotel gyms I stay at, and its funny, the park I work out in now gets a few strange ones as well. Their methods are questionable, but I do have to give them credit for at least lacing up the sneaks and getting out of the house in the cold. Thats more than 95% of us lazy Americans ever do.

I ate out for lunch and dinner yesterday, and kept is close to the PCP plan, and BOY if Patrick aint right again, my scale at home stayed right where I hoped it would. I was so scared to see it go up a KG or so, but it sat there at 78.6 almost as if to say I DARE YOU TO LOSE THOSE 600 GRAMS.....

5 more days to get to at least 77.9 KG.

I THINK I CAN.....I THINK I CAN.....

Missed my first workout!

Played golf yesterday out in Hakone, about 100 km from Tokyo. Up at 5, left at 5 30 and straight onto the links. The course is cut into the side of a mountain, and is over 7000 yards in total length with probably 150 - 200 feet of vertical climb. Considering that I cant keep the ball on the fairways, I walked for 6 hours straight (no carts allowed!).

I got home about 9, and planned to jump after reading my son to sleep, but ended up reading us both to sleep! Woke up at midnight. Slept til 7, and was more sore today than I have been in weeks! I feel like I got a massive leg work out with the hills, stairs and climbing in and out of sand traps....

Sadly, I missed my first workout of the the program. I have missed two jump days over the course of the last 85 days, but this was my first full work out, and I feel a little guilty.

Made it up today with a solid 1 hr and 15 min work out. I was able to squeeze in a few leg sets between regular exercises. Dips today were fabulous, I was able to get through 5 full sets, and then only 5 on the last set. Elevated push ups burned, but I feel much stronger.

Plank is still a killer and I find myself counting regularly for the first 45 or so seconds, and then do a kind of 1234...10. I know I am cheating on the planks, but man do they hurt.....

Scale today said 78.4 KG. Puts me on target to hit my target of 77 KG. Down 13.6 KG or 29.5 KG from the start of the program, and with in inches of my 30 Lbs Goal.

Tried on my first pair of new Post-PCP pants today. Waist 32. YES I SAID 32. Still have room to breathe in them too...! I have not worn a 32 since High School....

Ran into Steve today at the park with our boys, and we were like 'you look great, no YOU look great, NO YOU LOOK GREAT'  Its strange, because I have not seen him since we started, and he looks younger. I am looking at myself in the mirror everyday, and have become used to what my face looks like now.

Looking forward to my company kick off in January!

Starting to think about life after Patrick. One week to go just seems surreal considering that just 85 days ago I was so naive about how easy this is....

Indulgence

Before I get to my wonderful meal, I need to blog out about a conversation I had today.

I spoke in detail about my 75 days of PCP and that it has been a life changing event which has allowed me to curb my desires for many things that are in no way shape or form good for me. The most important thing that I feel I have overcome is the need to drink. Lets be honest, I was drinking way too much.

The decisions that come after the 4th glass of wine can only be described as irresponsible. Not only was I eating more when I drank, but it only led to MORE drinking after dinner. Then home for a nice microwave burrito, and a coke. I would then be too tired to make a good breakfast, and I would lumber through the day just hoping for the time where I could 'get some grease' to cure my hang over. Off to McDonalds......

My weekends would be lost to 'catching up on my sleep', and I would be the grumpy guy with the family when they would ask to go out and have some fun.

Not to mention the fact that I would get ZERO exercise in the mean time. A jog here and there, but it really had no impact.

Now lets look at me who is now up at 5 45 and skipping rope on the deck. Running in the rain to do my pull ups at 11 PM. Hitting the AM/PM looking for HB Eggs and Yoghurt. Feeling strong. Focused. Clear headed and full of energy.

After describing how I feel on PCP, the guy waved his hand, brushed me off, and called it a PLACEBO!

WTF....it just wound me up so tightly ALL DAY. I needed to blog it out.

A PLACEBO?? Unreal....

Now to the Indulgence. LOVELY!

Probably went slightly over the 1000 Calorie target, but had a wonderful dinner at Zippangu in Akasaka. Started with a glass of Pinot Noir, and has sushi, a  Caesar Salad, Tofu, and then dove into the Kani Cream Croquette, Pizza and tempura. Total of 3 glasses of wine, and I am quite buzzed.....on 3 glasses of wine over 4 hours!

Hence the long blog!

Decided to walk half way home, cause I know I ate too much......

Weighed in at 81 KG tonight, which is a FULL KG heavier than this morning. Assume its all the food I ate. We will see in the morning how the body deals with all the extra food.....

Nite nite.  

Counting other people's calories....

So I have a co-worker in town from the US this week.

We had breakfast today at the hotel. I had a nice PCP breakfast right in the Zone.

He had bacon, sausage, noodles, three croissants that he dipped in his coffee, and shook the salt shaker over his meal for like 5 full seconds.

Lunch was a huge bowl of Ramen, some greasy veggies on rice. He poured Rai Yu sauce ALL over it, and if you dont know what that is, its like pouring spicy vegetable oil on rice. Wow.

He drank 2 cokes during our one hour meeting today.

I sat there and broke down every calorie, and what his body would do with each molecule of non-PCP foods that hit his mouth. Amazing what I have learned over the last three months. I would have never done that before. Needless to say, this person is not in shape.

Boy am I sore today....this last week has been a tough one. I still need to do my jumps today.

Feeling totally bloated lately, and by that I mean full. I have not been hungry, and the indulgence just does not sound appealing. I have been sitting wondering what I am going to eat for the indulgence, and I am blank......

The weight loss continues to slow down. 79.4 was the reading today, but 79 - 80 has been the reading for the last week or so. Feeling stronger though, thats for sure.

After my workout last night, I decided to run around the long way home, and on the last stretch of 150 yards or so I got into a full out sprint. Have not done that in a while, and boy did it feel good. My legs felt strong, and I felt FAST! I think I may insert some wind sprints once a week into the program!

until the next post.

Call to arms

This is my jump rope. 
There are many like it but this one is mine.
My jump rope is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. 
Without me, my jump rope is useless. Without my jump rope I am useless. 
I must skip my jump rope true. I must jump faster than my enemy the calorie, who is trying to kill me. 
I must burn  him before he burns me. 
I will. 


Before God I swear this creed: my jump rope and myself are defenders of my fitness, we are the masters of our enemy, we are the saviors of my life. 


So be it, until there is no enemy, but PCP for all. 


Amen.


(name that movie....new pics are up!)