April 30, 2012 9:02 AM HKT

FINAL - part two

Its been almost a
month since PCP ended and, to be honest, I’ve been completely off track during
this time. I’ve been eating all the foods I used to eat before PCP – fast foods,
processed foods, desserts and all. I’ve not been exercising regularly, and have
done maybe 3 skip rope sessions in total. I’ve also been drinking a lot of
alcohol every weekend.

Looking in the mirror, I don’t look very different. I am
a bit skinnier and less firm but I’ve also been eating less regularly. In terms
of food, I’ve been eating all the things I used to like but avoided during PCP,
but am very disappointed at the level of satisfaction I’m getting from these
foods. Everything just seems too salty and oily. I’m also eating a lot less –
only 2-3 meals a day. I have a couple observations in this regard: the food
industry uses salt and other seasoning to compensate for the lack of natural
flavors in their foods due to the low quality of raw materials used in their
dishes. In our PCP diet, a good piece of steak or fish fillet can be full of
flavors without the use of salt, its all about how you cook it. Secondly,
eating less doesn’t mean I become less fat. In fact, I think my body is in
reservation mode now and stores up most of the carbs and sugars I’m eating.

Now onto how I am
feeling. Overall, I must say I’m feeling quite awful. Partly due to alcohol, I
guess, I’m having large swings in mood, but I also blame the lack of
exercise for this. On top of this, I’m less alert during the day. My level of
focus has decreased and I am no longer feeling 100%. I’m sleeping more because I now
have more time but I’m feeling more tired than before. The difference in how I’m
feeling greatly outweighs how my appearance has changed; the effects for me
from PCP are more than skin deep.

To summarize, PCP
is a life changing program for me. In 90 days, I’ve encountered a whole new
level of fitness, physically and mentally. And 90days is a great length as it’s a
long enough time to show physical results and to establish some good habits, but
its not too long to intimidate the participate (its “only” three months). I’ve
taken away a lot from this program and will return to some of the habits I’ve
developed during the 90 days. I’m done a good amount of damage to my peak
condition self during the last 3 weeks and will crawl back into shape slowly.

April 21, 2012 12:44 PM HKT

final part 1

I'm done. this blog is abit rushed and i promise i'll go into details later.  I've be v busy lately. All in all, thanks Patrick, Sarah and the team for the program. It's be life changing and I'm in the best shape ever. 

April 2, 2012 3:56 PM HKT

Indulgence

I must confess that I’ve over indulged. I had a couple of birthday events to attend last Friday and although i was able to keep my diet during the meals, I could resist and had a couple slices of cakes. On Saturday, I brought on the real stuff – mcdonald’s double quarter pounder meal. The exercise turned out to be quite worthwhile. The food tasted good which was definitely a surprise as I was expecting the cakes to be too sweet and the burger and fries to be too salty, but I enjoyed both with a smile and felt this was a much needed break from my pcp diet routine. I also felt thirsty after the mcd’s meal, which must be from the extra salt intake, and was shocked that I was starving the next morning. It was quite a big burger and I felt really full after the meal so I was not expecting to be waken by hunger then next morning. Another observation is that I feel my body is reacting a lot quicker to changes in food intake. As mentioned, I was dehydrated, but also, I generally did not feel the strength I would’ve had with ‘pcp food’ during my workout the next day. I might be over thinking it but I also seem to have gained some fat after my indulgence. Muscle tone is no longer as obvious, even post workout, and the soft layer around the belly area felt thicker – but this might be just me over thinking it. I’m guessing my body can react quickly once again to flash the ‘bad foods’ out of the system and I seem to be back on track on Monday morning.
The new exercise schedule has really intensified. In hinge sight, I could have never come close to completing one of today’s workouts. Although I’m still struggling with completion, mostly by taking longer than the prescribed resting times, I must say that I’ve made some progress overall. Much of this progress, however, is not so obvious externally, and if it wasn’t because of the fact that I can personally experience the additional strength, I would still be thinking that that my body is same as it was 5 weeks ago (my week 5 picture is very similar to my week 11). Finally, at near peak condition, I’m weighting in at around 155lbs. obviously, the composition of my body mass has changed, but is this the weight I’m likely to be stuck at and I cannot go any lower?

March 26, 2012 11:34 AM HKT

almost there

Final month of PCP, more food, much harder workouts. I find myself cursing during the last few sets of exercises and I guess its a good thing because I'm near failure during my workouts. My diet has not been 100% because I haven't been cooking much and my portions haven't been exact but I do my best to be near. Eating out means there's definitely more salt and oil, amongst other things, in my food and I find my body quite sensitive to these changes. Without staying 100% on the diet schedule, I find myself more thirsty and feeling less full after each meal. I will try to make a push for the last couple weeks and get back onto cooking. 

The new da vinci has 'failure' as reps. The exact number of reps is different for me. I was able to do 25 reps on the first set but at 5 sets with 15secs rest in between, my fifth set fails at 18 reps. Should I lower the reps of my first set and do all my sets with the same reps? 

March 14, 2012 1:36 PM HKT

update

The exercises are really getting tough but my body strength is adapting to the increased load. I find the planks, lunges, and shoulder exercises especially difficult. I can really feel the burn during my 2 final sets and sometimes have to step down to a lower strength resistance band to complete these final sets in good form. I’m trying to focus on the quality of each rep and I find that I need to stretch the resistant band further as a starting point to make sure I have a full range of resisted motion. On a positive note, I’m definitely stronger in every aspect. The skipping rope is giving me a good daily sweat legs and I can now complete all sets within the 15/20 sec resting intervals, both of which was impossible for me until this week.

Indulgence meal was wasted on a bad Italian restaurant and haagan dazs ice cream so I redid it at Yoshinoya over the weekend. Its one of my favorite fast food joints in town and I always order the same thing – large beef bowl with extra beef. I had my usual but was largely disappointed. I found the beef way too salty and there was too much rice, and I didn’t even get extra sauce this time. I think my eating preferences have changed after PCP and have a new found appreciation for the ‘real’ taste of food. Next up, Mcdonald’s

I’m getting really frustrated on the progression front, which is pretty much nonexistent in terms of body shape in the recent weeks. I’ve been stuck in roughly the same shape, plus or minus 2-3 lbs, 1-2% body fat, for the last 3 weeks. I’m getting used to the diet and exercises and have been sticking quite closely to the program. Is another shock required in order for me to take it to the next level? or will further changes eventually show but its just a matter of time?

March 5, 2012 7:05 AM HKT

Moving Backwards?

Another week gone
and it seems I'm no longer making much progress. I think this is partly
because of the crash diet I did last week before the fight. My body fat level
is back up to 14% this week and weight is back up above 150lbs. I’m not eating much
more but I think my body is in storage mode for some reason. I must admit that I've been eating out more lately but have done my best in my selection of food.

Exercises have
definitely been taken up another notch and I’m having trouble with the pull
ups, and most shoulder exercises. All legs exercises burn by the second set, but
overall, I feel myself getting stronger. My first sets are starting to feel ‘easy’;
the difficulty of the exercises is no longer coming from the resistance/weight I
have to push/pull but from the repetition in sets. I guess after building strength,
its time to build stamina.

February 26, 2012 3:11 AM HKT

Day 42

Been a while since my last post, so here's the latest. Up until this point, Ive been fortunate enough to cook almost all of my meals myself and i know exactly what goes into every dish and have been very much pcp complinent. Its been hectic lately and i have been eating out quite frequently. I find that salt is in almost every dish I order, and Japanese food is the easiest cuisine that allows me to stay on track. With Chinese food, i'd pretty much have to order a separate dish of boiled veg and steamed fish without any soya sauce. Without causing too much fuzz and altering everyone else's apetite, I had 'normal' dishes but took the skin off all proteins and stuck to approximately my pcp portions. I find that if Im careful with my selection, i can still be on track while eating out; it's more oily but it ain't the end of the world, and results show. Im making decent progress in my body shape and hv continued losing some body fat. I also have family in town and it's my mom's 60th bday today (happy bday mom). Today is the day where I've been way off on my portions, had a lot of meat and fish and even some cake. I'll be doing a few more skips on the rope to clean that up.

Work out wise, I've managed to add the eight minute abs onto my routine for almost a week now. It burns and hurts like a *^\* but it works. Also been doing some extra training my my fight tomorrow and I needed to make weight today (had to cut at least 5kgs off 69kgs since last wednesday) but I found that by sticking to the pcp diet (less the carbs) I was able to make some great progress in my weight. So I passed on the sweat suit jogging/skip ropes and starvation. I did, however, skip all meals execpt egg whites until 5 pm today for the weigh in. I barely made it, weighing in at 64 kgs, but still a couple more than my opponent. I'll just b wearing heavier gloves. Wish me luck. 

February 16, 2012 3:03 PM HKT

Getting back on track

Indulgence days
were great but ended up paying for it. Felt like I’ve moved backwards in my
progress and felt the folds on my stomach again. Numbers do not lie; I weighted
myself last Sunday, after 4 days of indulgence, and I’m back one week on my
progress – 155lbs, 16% body fat. Its amazing how fast my body reacts to
everything I do. This week, I’m 100% back on the diet and exercises but still
lacking on the sleep. I must say, the exercises are getting tougher but I can
feel my body changing to accommodate the extra work. Eg, on the da vinci, I’m
able to complete all sets on the upper range of repetition without going out of
form this week, something I was not able to do last week. Skipping rope is now
a second nature but squats/lunges/creeps/floor jumps right after is still a
huge pain.

In terms of body
shape, I’m still not seeing any 3D abs but I can feel larger muscles under a
layer of fat, which I’m still working on losing. Got a small muay thai fight
next Sunday but haven’t done any hard training yet. Endurance definitely
better, next few days will be some pad work and sparring.

February 9, 2012 12:04 PM HKT

Confessions of a bad week

Completed the half
marathon on Sunday, all good. Even without any training (I did not do any of
the training runs I had planned because it was cold and I was lazy…), I was
able to finish the run in good form. Time wasn’t great but was better than the
last time I ran – 2.10 vs 2.24, 14mins better! All the credit goes to PCP as
that’s the only thing I’m doing differently this time around (other than the ‘non-training’).
All the skipping rope and lunges is paying off, good stuff.

I was on top of my
little world and so I went for dim sum after the run. Not exactly PCP compliant
food but I was starving so I ate anyway, on the grounds that I just ran 21km. Even
though I went straight back on the PCP diet and exercises, I kept feeling that I
was behind in my progress, that I actually gained some fat. I was determined to
go back on track but Day 25 came and all hell broke loose again. It was a work
dinner and we went to a steak house. Although I stuck with the right portions
of protein for the steak, I had
plenty of extras – onion soup, fries, creamy spinach to fill my veg grams,
slices of garlic bread for my carbs, and apple crumble with ice cream and some
cheese to fill my….. I also didn’t get home until 12 so I couldn’t skip rope without
my neighbors calling the cops on me so I did 1150 ‘rope-less skips’. It was
different and easier, but I couldn’t let myself sleep without giving the exercises
my best effort. And finally, I haven’t been getting enough sleep, hence my
muscles have not had a chance to fully repair.

feel free to kick some azz

February 3, 2012 4:19 PM HKT

Routine

Cooking and exercising
daily have become routines; I’m really enjoying the healthy cooking/eating and
daily exercises but time is still a major constraint. I’ve also been training
boxing every other day and I’ve kept up with my PCP exercises as well. But after
cooking dinner, breakfast, and lunch (all at the same time), I’m already well
into the night and end up not getting enough sleep (average 4-5hrs per night). I’m
going to try to bulk prep some of the foods this weekend to save time during
the week.

I’m feeling
changes in every aspect of my body – leaner, more defined body shape; lighter, I’ve
lost 2kgs and I think this is also due to stronger leg muscles; mentally, I’m definitely
more alert and clear minded. It is a huge surprise to me that it only took 20
days to achieve these results. In comparison, I have had a period of training that
was relatively more intensive last year and I did not get to a similar level
until 1.5 months into the routine. The fact that I don’t need to be exercising ‘to
the max’ every day is a key driver for me not to avoid the workouts. THIS IS
ALSO THE TIME WHEN I USUALLY GIVE UP. Sorry, needed the caps lock to give
myself a punch. After seeing some results, I usually ‘reward’ myself and take a
huge step backwards. But this time is different; this time, I’m going for my
Peak Condition and its time to stay focused, eye on the prize.

I will be running
a half marathon this Sunday but have not really been training for it. I will be
eating a bit more carbs that day to compensate. Hopefully, I make it to the
finish line, wish me luck.

January 26, 2012 3:48 PM HKT

Day 11

Feeling great and getting used to the new diet. After a few days of larger portions, I’ve actually lost weight compared to last week, currently weighing in at 153 lbs. I’m also enjoying the more intensive workout. I’m slowly building strength on my legs and can feel the difference, especially when jumping rope. Can’t believe I’m saying this, but sleep is the toughest part of my training. Its hard for me to get 8hrs during the week and adding food preparation to my schedule really doesn’t help. Its taking me 1+ hrs to prep the food, which I enjoy very much but it is also eating into my sleeping hours. I’m going to try and prepare meals in bulk and reheat portions as necessary.

I’ve learned a bit about food this week. Did NOT know that beans/soy protein is hard to breakdown – I used to drink lots of soy milk post workout, thinking that I’m assisting the rebuild process. I’m also second guessing a lot of ingredients: cod fish and salmon are some of my fav., but I thought that its meat is quite fatty; seafood like lobster and prawns are counted as a protein source, which I also thought would be quite fattening. Finally, I now know how beef and chicken actually taste. Without salt, msg and processed foods, its very hard to make ‘good’ food so I’m now playing with difference spices in hopes to find a good pcp compliant substitute, suggestions welcome…

January 23, 2012 7:16 AM HKT

Day 8

Enjoying the new menu and new exercises introduced. Loving the larger portions of food and have been googling for good receipes to keep the food interesting. No more muscle pains and no longer hungry all the time. Actually, am starting to wonder if I'm measuring the food correctly because the portions are HUGE.
I still haven't seen any changes in weight, still stuck at 155lbs. Since I'm eating so more starting Day 8, I'm worried that I might start to put a few pounds on!

Photos

January 18, 2012 5:23 PM HKT

Day 4

Almost finished on Day 4. Still hungry but I think I'm getting used to it now. My stomach asking me for food, making all sorts of noises, but its mind over matter! I'm trying to use water to replace the food but water has never tasted so bad before. Chewing gum doesn't really help either. My plan is now to eat more fibers for my half a meal in hopes that I will stay full for longer, will see how that goes for the next day.

After reading the latest training tip, I think my boxing exercise is too intense and is not helping me burn fat. Further, I think I'm not eating enough carbs to fuel my workouts. I'm feeling physically weaker but I try to adhere to the diet and hopefully my body utilizes body fat to push me through the routines. The strange thing is that I still weigh exactly the same as I did last week but I have eaten so much less! 

January 16, 2012 10:46 PM HKT

Day 2

I AM HUNGRY! 

I slept in on day 1 so it was easy; two meals, half of everything of course. It was also easy because I was doing the program with my girlfriend, sharing food and venting our frustration at each other was definitely helping, at least during this early stage. 

Day 2 started at 5 am, and I was starving and alone! Breakfast was half a ham and cheese sandwich, which helped but I was still hungry. After what seemed like 10hrs, lunch time was finally here - half a chicken fried rice, which kept me full for 30mins and I was thinking about food again. Chewing gum became my best friend. Boxing training starts today so I needed to eat beforehand. I enjoyed every precious bite of my half-a-rice at 530 and survived on water for the rest of the day. 

I now have a new found appreciation for food. I'm usually a very fast eater, but now I find that I'm taking more time to eat and have been chewing 'properly' before I swallow.

I departed from the PCP exercise program and started my boxing training today. I tried to incorporate most of the PCP program into my training - 5mins of skipping, 3 sets of squads 10 reps each, 60 push ups, 120 sit ups, 3 reps of pull ups 10 reps each. I also did three rounds of pad work and some light sparring to end the day. 

I'm now sore, tired, and have a feeling that I'm going to be very hungry tomorrow morning. I'm find myself trying to think of a type of food that will keep me full for longer to help my day 3....

January 3, 2012 9:59 PM HKT

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