April 15, 2012 5:04 PM IST

PCP 90 Day Program Complete

It's done. I have been taking it easy the past couple days. Thanks for all the support guys, Teo, Sarah, Patrick for creating the whole thing. Good job with the effort of improving the health and well being of all these people in the program. I think it was great, and as long as you keep going like this and striving to improve the program like you have even through the course of my 90 day program, then you will help a lot of people unlearn the bad habits they have gathered over the past few decades brought onto us by the advancement of modern luxuries and modern fast food and learn what it means to eat actual food while staying physically active. Thanks to the group Auriga for being there and the fun blogs together. I did read every blog you wrote especially after day 50 or so, on those Saturdays when the new workouts had just come in and all I could think was what a nightmare the week ahead would be. Thanks to the other bloggers out there as well in Adamite and Beyond! I don't think I would have completed it without your help, and as it has been said before, it is only the beginning of your healthier living. Now we can all live our normal lives for a few days, then go into PCP maintenance mode maybe keep that up and experiment with other forms of workout while maintaining the good eating habits and being aware of the dangers of things like Krispe Kreme doughnuts (which are great by the way) and beer in large quantities. Also cheese is very very good. I can finally say that because I am under no particular dietary constraints at the moment. Haha.

I digress.

Done right, 90 days of straight PCP is kind of like running a marathon with a team. I think the same kind of advice applies for both. There are times when you get very tired, but the others still going strong will carry you through those times. Sometimes your teammates might be getting weaker, but you find you can carry the team with your energy. If you are about to embark upon this journey or are doing it right now, just think like a marathon runner training in the high altitudes of the mountains. Aim high to get yourself ready for the show. When it gets hard, unless it is an injury, you just keep on going. Carry the team sometimes, and sometimes look upon the others for support but give it your best.

A final special thanks to my wife for bearing with my crazy workout schedule and constant eating of fruits, yogurt and eggs.

Photos

April 12, 2012 8:45 PM IST

Day 89

Phew. Let me just say that was a tough workout. I don't know how long I'll take to recover from it.

Ok. If you haven't done day 89 yet, imagine the toughest PCP workout ever. That was pretty much it.

I just don't know how it can be made tougher... I guess if it doubled. but even then it would probably feel similar...

Need a short break soon... soon.

April 11, 2012 9:28 PM IST

Day 88

Just exhausted. Added a bit of 6 to 8 minute something unique to my workout today:
http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/sequence_builder/print_sequence/?action=custom&yj=sequence_print&id=14444

based on a web site recommendation from Teo, and just one of many variations of the sun salutations that I was able to find free on that site. sun salutation is like a kind of beginning starter sequence I guess for yoga newbies. PCP was good for everything, but now I am gonna try to fit this in, get a little flexibility going while I get rested up after day 90 especially.

Measurements
Day 1:
62.6 kg
abs pinch test: eh, not great

Day 15:
60.9 kg
BMI 21
17.1% Bodyfat

Day 22:
60.7 kg
BMI 21
14.6% Bodyfat

Day 29:
60.9 kg
BMI 21.1
14.9% Bodyfat

Day 36:
60.8 kg
BMI 21.0
14.9% Bodyfat
abs pinch test: getting better

Day 37 to Day 87 -stopped measuring weight and such or doing much of anything aside from training and food program...

Day 88:
60.8 kg
BMI 21.0
13.3% Bodyfat
abs pinch test: getting better++

April 8, 2012 8:42 PM IST

D D Day 85 Easter with no Easter Eggs...

Getting late finishing the workout... In the spirit of the holidays, and sakura festivities here in Tokyo was generous with the honey on my yogurt after the workout.. (honey's ok right?) oops... ok ok ... race to the finish from here. haha

Sprinting = doing your best.

April 5, 2012 9:09 PM IST

Great Workout today.

I had an outing that went late last night, had to keep workout to just cardio, which was back to jump ropes for a session since I have been substituting with other (longer) cardio sessions. Today I was like fully rested man, and went through the sets like there was no tomorrow, encountering form failure here and there which is alright by me. The abs workout was extra hard as I had put in an 8 minutes of abs session (not the 8 minute abs) on an exercise ball to change things up as recommended. Sadly I could not bear to do the whole 1:45 of planks with my abs already in a weakened state. But anyway I went through all 4 sets and inserted some variations of situps with raised legs in there.

Eating went well today, ran out of eggs, then restocked like a crazy guy now there are nearly thirty eggs in the fridge ripe for boiling and consumption at some point in the next 1 week...

PCP gym observation assignment. I actually just looked inside through the glass window of my old gym (I cancelled the membership at the start of PCP). When I was a member there I enjoyed it sometimes, but for some reason it never became a centerpiece to my workout haha (what?)... Well I didn't really know anyone else with a membership at that gym and always had it in my mind to go there at times that were convenient, fitting it in. There are a bunch of trainers, but I never really wanted to get into the trainer route. Definitely not now that I am PCP ready with my at home travel ready workout set. Strange thing about this particular gym is the emphasis on trainers... and yet not many going there are in their 'peak condition' why is that? I would say it was probably the insane cost of having a trainer in addition to gym membership costs. Most people don't have that much combination of willpower and monthly fitness expense account to do something like a 90 day trainer-dietitian-mentored 6 day a week of gym weight training/ cardio and 1 day of gym cardio training session with 7 days a week of no nonsense training-based eating while depositing cash all the time to the gym even if they miss sessions. Well PCP wins in trainer efficiency and cost and in combining diet and exercise into one program so expensive gym memberships are probably not on the horizon anymore once I finish this program.

Observation two. Fitness training in a group is good, in the absence of PCP and the blogging ecosystem, it is probably a good idea to make your fitness program a social activity. Bring your workout partner, talk about good healthy recipes, join a regular team or club. Heck post shirtless muscle posing pictures of yourself all over the internet until the department of Homeland Security starts to ask you questions about them, and about those creeping motions you are doing outside. What is that? Creeping? Yeah we creep.

April 1, 2012 7:51 PM IST

Day Seventy Eight!

So I noticed a lot of people blogging about how tired they are recently, week 11 week 10. Let me just commiserate along the same lines... I have never been so tired in my life. It is total PCP craziness. Cardio, sets of five up to twenty reps of whatevers on each muscle group or if you are lucky, maybe increase resistance and just sets to muscle or form failure ooh lucky me merely form failure. Every night as soon as I put my head on a pillow I am out.

I am eating food like a beast of the wilderness. Today I had my indulgence, which was basically ramen with everything on top, a gyoza and a rice followed by a chocolate fondue ice cream dessert. That was really good. Haven't eaten regular "manly" unhealthy foods in a while, but no problem for my iron stomach. Actually I attribute my improved digestion strength to the average one tub of yogurt per day I am consuming (plus or minus, depending on how much milk I drank). I used to think I was slightly lactose intolerant. Not anymore. With the help of yogurt I am basically a lactose loving person now.

Originally I went into PCP as a New Year's resolution of sorts. Then after about 9 or 10 weeks I was kind of low on motivation having already met my workout and fitness goals for 2012. In order to muster up the will to go at the same pace I had to seriously retarget myself to higher goals around week 10. That has since evolved into feeling constantly overworked with little rest. But it is a good overworked. Just stick to 8 hours of sleep from here on, continue to eat healthy all day long, and should be good recovery for another workout the next day of this long week ahead.

Good luck everyone!

Photos

March 26, 2012 8:08 PM IST

Day Seventy Two is it? Oh yes.

So warning, this really hurts.
Oh yeah I completely copied this from Corey G from another group.
You see planks on the list? Get ready to do planks.
Set your timer for 90 seconds. And start planking.
Lie to yourself that you will absolutely fail after 60 seconds. Maybe your shoulder or arms will start to hurt. Ignore that (assuming it's not actually that bad haha).
When you get there to 60 seconds, lie to yourself again and say that you're just gonna do another ten seconds. (That's like nothing at this point.)
Then do it again since there's only a mere 20 seconds left, might as well do another ten. What's another final penultimate ten seconds?
Then split up the last ten seconds into 5 seconds and no more.
Then finally 5 seconds for real and no more cuz you can't leave the final five seconds like that come on. And that's it.

Repeat 4 times.
I tricked myself. Now my shoulder is sore... from doing abs work how did that happen?? Thanks Corey. Thanks a lot.

March 25, 2012 3:43 PM IST

Day Seventy One!

Today was a great day to work out. I tried skipping again, skill is still there just foot still hurts I think will stick with the bicycle for a week. Reading people's blogs I was fortunate not to be affected by the freak PCP outage last week cuz I happened to have done my workout in the morning that day. If I had not, I would have been going nuts trying to log in like many a PCPer.

I did my floor jumps going up the stairs today for a little variety. A bit more fun than usual, though I kept my hands on the rail to keep from tripping all over the place. By the way I don't recommend this very much to the others. I reckon 1/50 chance of injury if you are doing this one up the stairs. What is it about the V Situps? I thought I had them down, then add an extra two reps per set and I can't do em anymore... Hmmm....

Food part was good today, made a huge chicken salad for lunch/ dinner. I think that is one aspect of the training you do better when you blog on a regular schedule. When you blog about your cooking you tend to make better food, like something that looks appetizing on a blog picture. If I had been just doing it myself I probably would have made the most boring and fastest possible food to prepare every day. Without the blog it would be a world of raw eggs, white bread, plain boiled chicken, carrots eaten in the style of bugs bunny, and uncut lettuce. It is a sad, cartoony world.

This is the best rabbit eating carrot picture I could find.

March 24, 2012 1:12 PM IST

Day 70: The final stretch

Hi guys, has been a while since I blogged. Here as usual though, workouts on schedule. A couple of bicycle days instead of jump skipping due to a slight arch pain on my feet, I guess it shouldn't be a problem but anyway I did the substitution to make sure I wouldn't miss a day, let that foot rest. That said, I am getting relatively good at rope skipping. Some of the new challenges I have been up to were shuffle jumps of various sorts, one foot jumps, thinking of problems to solve in the world while jumping (18 minutes to think about how I can contribute to helping out to stop global warming haha), and jumping with my eyes closed.

Food is basically on schedule had a couple days where I didn't have a chance to eat my fruit snack but that's alright, and two days when my huge new breakfast was not fully met because I didn't have time to get the materials ready beforehad, but that's alright it was close say 92.5% there on the food this week? haha. Overall I think one of the tough parts in this last stretch is that the program has worked tooo well haha... I feel like I have already met my fitness goals pretty much, perhaps even overshot them, so I guess that may be part of the reason why my blogging frequency has gone down... Well let's see, I guess the main things I could accomplish from now would be a decent show on the pullups which I still have not been able to master, and bicycle kicks which are hard for all humans maybe haha, and kung fu situp kick things. After that, maybe time to think about what I will do after this program ends since we are almost there! Maybe a swimming challenge of some sort? What is everyone else putting on their workout schedule after PCP?

Alright alright, was lazy on the blogging, but in truth I have found blogging helps me to have better weeks on the PCP program, so will maintain the blog better from here on (and keep the PCP robot from getting angry at me!).

Peace out.

Photos

March 14, 2012 8:38 PM IST

Busy Week, so can only go up from there!

Hi guys, still on task here. Had one not so good day on Monday when I had no time to prepare the food and basically went the first half of the day not following the diet so much. I mean I didn't go crazy or anything but basically was just pressed for time all the time ended up grabbing what I could for food rather than my wholesome usual meals. At one point on Monday I had to wait around at Starbucks, and ended up buying a cookie (to support their business while I used their sitting space to wait around?), which is definitely not a meat, vegetable, fruit, or carb that is PCP friendly haha. Not sure what went through my mind, but it was the fastest thing I could order... Anyway definitely some ATM-ing going this week from the weekend, as in treating the body like an ATM from the article we all got, but anyway I vow not to let the ATM-ing business get out of hand for the following 30 days. Also at some point in the last week I actually calculated all the nutrients from the food on my diet and discovered calorie wise it is basically exactly the amount of food that one would need with an active athletic life style... as such, I recommend to everyone giving those workouts their best never miss a PCP meal if possible even those little fruit snacks or else you may find yourself running low on energy and building material seeing as we have tons of creeping and super jump things to do.

So keeping it positive, what is the opposite of ATM-ing?
The human body is all these cycles, maybe it's like the circle of life like in the Lion King. Alright, busy weekend and messy Monday out of the way, let's say we do it like the circle of life from this day on.

(great song)

(Chorus)

It's the Circle of Life
And it moves us all
Through despair and hope
Through faith and love
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the Circle
The Circle of Life

-Elton John & Tim Rice

March 7, 2012 7:18 PM IST

Bicycle Kick, also known as the reclined penny farthing monocycle

I found something it will be useful for :) One day you'll be in a bind, and a pedal version of this thing is going to be the only thing you can ride. Luckily you have the stamina to pedal at that angle for periods of almost 40 or 50 seconds at a time.

Caught a bit of a cold that has been going around the office, but did the complete entire workout, and ate some raw peppers for my after dinner snack mmm... raw bell peppers. Also note to self wait for some time after eating a decent amount of food before going to the jump ropes.

Out cold in a sec.

March 4, 2012 7:33 PM IST

End of Week 7, the second half of the game has begun.

So many possibilities. Workout and food went quite well in the past week. It seems there is more freedom in the diet plans on my end, with more "As Much As You Want" options. I hope I can choose the correct amount of vegetables, carbs, to eat for that part. Still constantly trying to improve the efficiency of my food preparation by doing things all at once if possible, and becoming quite an expert at egg eating. Have recently eaten eggs in every possibly configuration pretty much.

Except I never made deviled eggs which I guess is my favorite variety, perhaps will try to make a PCP friendly version of this dish... I do believe mustard is ok... and one egg yolk per day... Gotta enjoy what we have, eh? Oh yeah, and I am very much looking forward to the 50 day indulgence haha..

Good luck guys!
It's been tough and getting tougher, so two mottoes from my group:
"Slow and steady."
and

“What would you do if you knew you could not fail?” Robert H. Schuller

March 3, 2012 1:09 PM IST

Ropes complete

Ropes complete, the easiest (or close to) and smoothest jumping I have done in the program? What was different? Well the weather was certainly better, no wind, and easier to focus.

Since we are doing kung fu situps in the workouts, I thought I would do a little experiment after my jumping was complete, tried some extra credit blind folded jump ropes like a real wushu action movie star... Turns out they are easy to do 5 at a time, but after about 30-40 you do start to get dizzy haha. You must first attack the enemy you cannot see.

March 2, 2012 7:59 PM IST

My Secret TIme Saving Weapon: Yes Raw Vegetables

I am not going to put this in the food log because there is no cooking and almost no preparation. But, for those times when you gotta eat your snack or those times you made some meal that doesn't have enough grams of veggies in it but you also have to go to get some rest ASAP to get your 8 hours of sleep. My list of "emergency vegetables" OK to eat raw after washing:

Soft Leafy greens, almost all, wash very well and separate out leaves (not cabbage).
Tomatoes.
Big Peppers (take out the seeds) - the guy takes a bite of one in the intro to Iron Chef.
Broccoli (I guess)
Chopped onions (part of a salad obviously).
Soft baby veggies like baby corn baby carrots.
Avocado.
Carrots (if chopped super small unless you got teeth of steel)
cucumbers
Radishes.
Celery

have been eating those when in a bind...

Let me know if you guys think of any more... raw vegetables are amazing for saving time hehe...

Workout went well this week, feel like I am improving greatly, except for those darn pull-ups, bicycle kicks. Kung fu sit-ups are kind of like leg raises I used to do long ago, but from a hanging position making it basically impossible haha... I took advice from the Thomas on the QA and just raised my knees up to begin with, was a little easier I guess.

Not much chance to sit down and measure that darn resting heart rate and blood pressure this week (only one recent resting heart rate measurement actually but I wrote it down somewhere.. where'd that thing go), but I did measure my workout heart rates and consistently recovered at a better rate than before / might also have to do with my more skillful jump roping tricks to make sure it is really my max workout heart rate. Can I reach 40+ bpm/m recovery rate?)

Cardio Data
Day 19:
Resting Heart Rate: 80 bpm (measured from Day 17)
Maximum Heart Rate: 156 bpm
Recovery Rate (Standing): 24 bpm/m

Day 26:
Resting Heart Rate: 78 bpm
Maximum Heart Rate: 154 bpm
Recovery Rate (Standing): 23 bpm/m

Day 30:
Resting Heart Rate: 71 bpm
Resting Blood Pressure: 102/64 mmHg (the best I've ever measured, last time I measured it a year ago I was 125/70 around)
Maximum Heart Rate: 160 bpm
Recovery Rate (Sitting): 32 bpm/m

Day 33:
Resting Heart Rate: 68 bpm
Resting Blood Pressure: 107/64 mmHg
Maximum Heart Rate: 152 bpm
Recovery Rate (Sitting): 26 bpm/m

Day 36:
Maximum Heart Rate: 168 bpm
Recovery Rate (Sitting): 32 bpm/m
Feeling energetic every day. Except right after bicycle kicks and planks.

Day 37:
Resting Heart Rate: 62 bpm
Resting Blood Pressure: 112/66 mmHg
Maximum Heart Rate: 160 bpm
Recovery Rate (Sitting): 30 bpm/m

Day 39:
Resting Heart Rate: 75 bpm
Resting Blood Pressure: 110/64 mmHg
Maximum Heart Rate: 160 bpm
Recovery Rate (Sitting): 32 bpm/m

Day 41:
Resting Heart Rate: 67 bpm
Resting Blood Pressure: 109/65 mmHg
Maximum Heart Rate: 164 bpm
Recovery Rate (Sitting): 30 bpm/m
Enjoying the cardio workout. Getting better at ropes skill wise too, mini goal do 1000 straight like some other PCP'ers
did in a row.

Day 43:
Maximum Heart Rate: 172 bpm
Recovery Rate (Sitting): 34 bpm/m

Day 44:
Maximum Heart Rate: 168 bpm
Recovery Rate (Sitting): 34 bpm/m

Day 45:
Maximum Heart Rate: 168 bpm
Recovery Rate (Sitting): 34 bpm/m

February 26, 2012 4:24 PM IST

Day 43 Complete.

Eggcited for week 7. Eggcellent day to have a workout. There was this article about not measuring weight for a while at this point in the program where weight alone should not be something we obsess about, so I guess I will follow that PCP advice and come back with those measurements in about a month while we go on... Feeling stronger for sure, but these workouts are pretty long man, gotta rack my brain and rethink how to most efficiently get it all done, eat all the right food, and maximize sleep.

1. Bigger Big Steams..
2. Jump rope in the morning instead of at night...
3. Shop for all the food at once if possible... 4 to 5 dozen eggs at a time (1 week supply)
4. Boiling tons of eggs at once, or eating them raw every time like Rocky Balboa.

You guys got some time saving PCP ideas? Doesn't seem to be compatible for typing on the android phone, but I wish I could blog on my android smart phone, then I could do that on the train occasionally to use my time effectively.

February 24, 2012 10:11 PM IST

Yes. Week Finally Over, Looking fwd to only 1500 rope skips in the AM

This week was pretty tough. For some reason it seemed to take forever to do the workouts. I even really focused on the jump rope to try to get them over with without breaks pretty much... but somehow it just seemed to take a long time, I guess it must just be taking longer with all the four set exercises now...

Egg whites- eating a lot. A good song that comes to mind for working out would be I am the Walrus, there's this part of the chorus that goes "I am the Egg Man" which is really appropriate right about now.

V Sits -- oh yeah, pretty much got em down. Although maybe taking too long a break before the fourth set.
Plank -- almost there, had a couple good days, though had a tough one yesterday.
Pullups -- Still need a lot of work. First set is almost perfect, gotta get that right, then work on the second set...
bicycle kicks -- Um... I never really got the hang of it, but the time went from 30 seconds of sets I couldn't finish to 40 seconds of sets I couldn't finish. we will conquer you bicycle kicks!...
8 Minute Abs addon-- I watched the video from beginning to end, just watching... haha too tough to do on a regular basis for me right now, but did my own "8 minutes of abs in slightly different angles on a bouncy ball" version one time, nice back stretch as well, and try to do "3 minute abs" after the usual workout...

Cardio Data

Day 19:

Resting Heart Rate: 80 bpm (measured from Day 17)

Maximum Heart Rate: 156 bpm

Recovery Rate (Standing): 24 bpm/m

Day 26:

Resting Heart Rate: 78 bpm

Maximum Heart Rate: 154 bpm

Recovery Rate (Standing): 23 bpm/m

Day 30:

Resting Heart Rate: 71 bpm

Resting Blood Pressure: 102/64 mmHg (the best I've ever measured, last time I measured it a year ago I was 125/70 around)

Maximum Heart Rate: 160 bpm

Recovery Rate (Sitting): 32 bpm/m

Day 33:

Resting Heart Rate: 68 bpm

Resting Blood Pressure: 107/64 mmHg

Maximum Heart Rate: 152 bpm

Recovery Rate (Sitting): 26 bpm/m

Day 36:

Maximum Heart Rate: 168 bpm

Recovery Rate (Sitting): 32 bpm/m

Feeling energetic every day. Except right after bicycle kicks and planks.

Day 37:

Resting Heart Rate: 62 bpm

Resting Blood Pressure: 112/66 mmHg

Maximum Heart Rate: 160 bpm

Recovery Rate (Sitting): 30 bpm/m

Day 39:

Resting Heart Rate: 75 bpm

Resting Blood Pressure: 110/64 mmHg

Maximum Heart Rate: 160 bpm

Recovery Rate (Sitting): 32 bpm/m

Day 41:

Resting Heart Rate: 67 bpm

Resting Blood Pressure: 109/65 mmHg

Maximum Heart Rate: 164 bpm

Recovery Rate (Sitting): 30 bpm/m

Enjoying the cardio workout. Getting better at ropes skill wise too, mini goal do 1000 straight like some other PCP'ers

are blogging about having accomplished without skips sometime soon!

February 19, 2012 3:20 PM IST

Bicycle Kicks are like the new V Sit, although old V Sit is still there.

Today's training section was right on seems like this thing is getting tougher, the biggest hurdle being following the food plan and that moment when you see the new week's workout and it is harder than the previous already more difficult week. Progress on the pullups, can do the whole four sets if I tap the ground a bit on the way up (much better than only doing one set and a couple pullups at a time on the next sets). Now this week's diet has a bunch of eggs. I have never eaten so many egg whites in my life, we'll see how it goes!

Good luck everyone, let's see everyone do bicycle kicks this week hehe. Just when you start to get the hang of 30 second planks, and start to get the hang of 40 second planks, bicycle kicks await. Knock on wood, no recent injuries. Making sure to do stretches after every workout if time allows, and here and there throughout my day.

Weekly Measurements
Day 1:
62.6 kg
abs pinch test: eh, not great

Day 15:
60.9 kg
BMI 21
17.1% Bodyfat

Day 22:
60.7 kg
BMI 21
14.6% Bodyfat

Day 29:
60.9 kg
BMI 21.1
14.9% Bodyfat

Day 36:
60.8 kg
BMI 21.0
14.9% Bodyfat
abs pinch test: getting better
--------
Cardio Data
Day 19:
Resting Heart Rate: 80 bpm (measured from Day 17)
Maximum Heart Rate: 156 bpm
Recovery Rate (Standing): 24 bpm/m

Day 26:
Resting Heart Rate: 78 bpm
Maximum Heart Rate: 154 bpm
Recovery Rate (Standing): 23 bpm/m

Day 33:
Resting Heart Rate: 68 bpm
Resting Blood Pressure: 107/64 mmHg
Maximum Heart Rate: 152 bpm
Recovery Rate (Sitting): 26 bpm/m

Day 36:
Maximum Heart Rate: 168 bpm
Recovery Rate (Sitting): 32 bpm/m
Feeling energetic every day. Except right after bicycle kicks and planks.

February 14, 2012 9:05 AM IST

Wow... Valentine's Day/ and my heart is in great shape.

Happy V - Day (V stands for Veggies). So I did some reading after checking my blood pressure yesterday just for the heck of it, it seems my blood pressure is now at "optimal" levels, which I haven't been at probably since the old days training for the Boston Marathon (amateur/non registered level) in college. A small victory for the human heart at no extra cost: low sodium/ no processed foods, rope skips in the park.

Cardio Data

Day 19:
Resting Heart Rate: 80 bpm (measured from Day 17)
Maximum Heart Rate: 156 bpm
Recovery Rate (Standing): 24 bpm/m

Day 26:
Resting Heart Rate: 78 bpm
Maximum Heart Rate: 154 bpm
Recovery Rate (Standing): 23 bpm/m

February 12, 2012 2:00 PM IST

V Situps: the only thing worse than pullups and planks

OK after getting myself to start today's workout, I can say the training has officially gotten tough.
Jump ropes increased. The thing keeps going every day.
There are more varieties of exercises that are difficult to do.

Fresh meat n vegetables don't cook themselves.

But I did discover it is quite a motivation lifter to just browse through people's latest blogs (special thanks to everyone making those engaging and energetic blogs on a frequent schedule; I have found it is not that simple to do especially when you are so busy PCP-ing every day, so the effort is commendable.)

(mini goals this coming week or two: Leg lifts, V Situps, pullups, and plank, to be able to do them with good form like we were taught, full sets, also more frequent cardio tracking to get rid of the data noise)

Day 1:
62.6 kg

Day 15:
60.9 kg
BMI 21
17.1% Bodyfat

Day 19:
Resting Heart Rate: 80 bpm (measured from Day 17)
Maximum Heart Rate: 156 bpm
Recovery Rate: 24 bpm/m

Day 22:
60.7 kg
BMI 21
14.6% Bodyfat

Day 26:
Resting Heart Rate: 78 bpm
Maximum Heart Rate: 154 bpm
Recovery Rate: 23 bpm/m
Day 29:
60.9 kg
BMI 21.1
14.9% Bodyfat

Photos

February 9, 2012 7:40 PM IST

With great power comes great responsibility

I first discovered Kirspy Kreme doughnuts when I was in college, in fact, it was probably the only real reason you would ever go to the Prudential Center in Boston forget all the restaurants and shopping. Krispe Kreme doughnuts are quite possibly the greatest food ever invented. But it is dangerous, and powerful. With great power comes great responsibility. I only had one, and a tiny bite of my coworker's authentic southern chili totaling one indulgence in my eyes at least because that bite was so small.

Cardio Data:
Day 19:
Resting Heart Rate: 80 bpm (measured from Day 17)
Maximum Heart Rate: 156 bpm
Recovery Rate: 24 bpm/m

Day 26:
Resting Heart Rate: 78 bpm
Maximum Heart Rate: 154 bpm
Recovery Rate: 23 bpm/m (umm got worse, never measured this before but I am assuming this is something that is very difficult to improve/ can only be done with extensive cardio training)

Photos

February 5, 2012 8:16 PM IST

Day 22

Week three is all set, I think things are going well to get on the boat with week 4. Like a few others I am getting slightly colder and wear a bit more winter wear now shedding that unnecessary body fat percentage hehe... a reminder to self to measure heart rate during cardio this week see how that goes; my old resting heart rate was working way too hard as well, hope to see that improve :)...

Day 1:
62.6 kg

Day 15:
60.9 kg
BMI 21
17.1% Bodyfat

Day 19:
Resting Heart Rate: 80 bpm (measured from Day 17)
Maximum Heart Rate: 156 bpm
Recovery Rate: 24 bpm/m

Day 22:
60.7 kg
BMI 21
14.6% Bodyfat

February 3, 2012 7:59 PM IST

Day 20

Workout done, and getting better at rope skipping. 900 jumps went well, could have done many more but leaving it for now to keep things consistent and steady for tomorrow and the next day, and the next day... aiming to complete it with less and less tripping each session although there are those off days.

February 2, 2012 8:03 PM IST

Day 19

Did a big steam and came out of it with a huge plate of vegetables to eat over the next couple days. Workout went well although it was getting a bit chilly had to wear a coat through most of the jumping.

A friend recommended taking down some cardio info & see how that changes through the program as well... so I'll try to get that in every week.

Week 3 Cardio.
Day 19
Resting Heart Rate: 80 bpm (measured from Day 17)
Maximum Heart Rate: 156 bpm
Recovery Rate: 24 bpm

February 1, 2012 8:46 PM IST

Day 18

Dinner with some friends today, and was proud of myself doing salad, only sticking to roughly my grammage of meat which was lamb, and eating 1 nice piece of bread which was about my allocation of carbs for the night while sticking with water. Man that deep fried fish and chips looked appetizing, but luckily I was able to distance myself far enough :)

Workout went well!

Goodnight and see you tomorrow jump rope and elastic set.

January 29, 2012 1:01 PM IST

Day 15

Had a nice workout today, trying to work in that extra set till I can't go anymore on some of the workouts, although by now I have pretty much worked out which resistances on the elastic bands will get me to that point right at the last rep anyway. Miho made some really good veggies last night but I find myself chomping down vegetables to get my grams so they quickly go. Maybe time for a big steam?

To do list:
1. big steam.
2. resupply my carbs in the pantry.
3. buy more fruits.
4. get some apple vinegar or similar.... to make some salsa.

Salsa recipe I will use:
Tomatoes chop em up small.
Onions chop em up just as small.
jalepenos chop em up (not too many for me)
garlic, lots of it, chopped up.
Mix em together and add a bit of vinegar.

Should go well on fajitas and the like, which are fast and easy to make and require the use of less stuff to wash in the kitchen! Let's see if the theory holds.

And I noticed some others were posting statistics... My bathroom scale is actually high tech I discovered, and remembers me haha... Let's see if I can measure this weekly too starting now (not sure how accurate these things are either except the mass of course is probably an accurate figure!)..
Day 1:
62.6 kg

Day 15:
60.9 kg
BMI 21
17.1% Bodyfat

January 28, 2012 6:33 PM IST

Day Fourteen

Taking it easy with just jump ropes on the schedule today. Last night I was eating with friends and ordering my veggies when I discovered that I really like cabbages. Seeing as I never really ate vegetables in this ratio or quantity before, I never really got to know that I actually like various vegetables and look forward to trying them out. I don't really have a favorite vegetable but I like all the different kinds of fresh stuff I am eating every day to get my nutrition instead of various junk foods and factory produced processed foods.

Looking forward to the upcoming week!

January 26, 2012 7:23 PM IST

Days 11 & 12

So here are a couple things I made..

Stirfried Veggies, Eggs, Meat n Rice.
Ingredients: cabbage, onions, mushrooms, garlic, meat, eggs, rice

1. Put some rice in the rice cooker.
2. Chop up cabbage, onions, and mushrooms, and a clove of garlic or two.
3. Throw veggies in a pan with minimal oil, and put in the garlic.
4. Beat some eggs or egg whites.
5. Add the meat into the pan
6. Stir for a while.
7. Throw the eggs in there.
8. Put the rice in the mix.
9. Stir for a while until finished, add a bit of spice as necessary.

Steamed Veggies n Eggs n Meat
Ingredients: cabbage, onions, potatoes, eggs, meat.

1. Chop up cabbages, onions, potatoes, and steam them one by one while chopping the next thing.
2. Boil a couple eggs.
3. Steam some meat until cooked.
4. Add em all together.

Portion out your allocation and put the rest away fast because it is that good.

Photos

January 24, 2012 6:30 PM IST

Day 10

650 jumps... check (was not snowing today!)
legs, back (went with rowing today instead to rest my back a bit from golf instead of incline pull up), chest, biceps, shoulder, abs workout check.

January 23, 2012 8:14 PM IST

Day 9

Completed workout 9. & So much snow!

Still a bit of an ache from the golf range this weekend. Not a flexible guy, so here were some nice and slow stretching exercises suggested by my friend so as not to hinder my workout efforts for the rest of the 3 months... ( I guess I really need to do back stretches basically and picked out those from the bunch).

January 22, 2012 10:58 AM IST

Day 8

Saw the diet plan, looks like I need to work on getting some recipes going to hold me over for 3 months (not much talent in the kitchen)!

Starting with the basics, boiled chicken breast with black peppers can be put into a salad or sandwich, wrap, etc...

Haven't done the workout yet, but need to add some stretching to my exercise plan I think, back was bothering me during golf practice today a bit.

January 21, 2012 2:53 PM IST

Day 7

220 in a row without tripping... Then took minute or so breaks along the way to complete the 500 jumps, hope to improve that for the next one.

found this on amazon by recommendation from my boss Rob Simpson who did PCP last rotation... since it has a variety of resistances you can choose from for different angles and workouts etc...

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Mountain-Products-Resistance-Exercise/dp/7245456313/ref=sr_1_1?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1327137277&sr=1-1

January 20, 2012 9:12 PM IST

Day 6

Good workout, Day 6 completed was getting late at night and thought it might be too hard to complete everything before bed, but finished it anyway (maybe try a morning workout tomorrow?)

Food was ok, tried the fruits strategy instead of my usual meal snack mid day, with a small lunch n breakfast, n halfish dinner with no dessert. I always had dessert with dinner normally if possible (old me).

January 19, 2012 8:48 AM IST

Day 5

Day 5 Workout completed during lunch, noticed the sets and reps upticked today. Half lunch is actually kind of fulfilling, good that we have a fridge at work to put away the rest of it.

January 18, 2012 5:41 PM IST

Day 4

Eating half check.
Jump rope check, got better plus didn't lose count this time heh...
Legs, Chest, Abs work, check.

Looked at the playground next to my place, there seems to be a monkey bar, but not sure if it's tall enough to do pullups for when they come up in the workout... The bars are only just above neck high, but maybe if I bend at the knees it would work.

Also anyone know if they sell the correct elastics at Don Quixote? I guess they probably do (I guess I need those for upcoming weeks).

January 17, 2012 5:30 PM IST

Day 3

Completed the Day 3 workout. After watching the jump rope technique, tried out a few of the more advanced jump roping to help cope with the upcoming huge set, not there yet, but hope to be soon.

January 16, 2012 11:38 AM IST

Day 2

Completed my day two workout. jump rope skill improved from yesterday. I went to a good friend's wedding today and did ask for half portions during dinner (although it was good in slightly small portions too) then skipped dessert hehe. It's ok, go PCP!

January 15, 2012 8:21 PM IST

Day 1

9 am in Philadelphia, got the workout schedule and got out to the sidewalk to do 50 x 3 jump ropes by the hotel before doing ... the rest of the workout at the gym.

The high today is 32F... Was surprisingly hard to do 50 in a row; looked at day 7 and noticed there is one set of 500 in there which seems impossible actually to do in a row but hope to work up to it.

Will lose a day this week from travelling to Tokyo, so I plan on sticking in the Day 2 workout tonight before going to sleep.

No skipping :)

Weekly Photo

Week 12

Food Log

Mushroom Chicken Salad

by Jay C.

Ingredients: Chicken, Lettuce, Mushrooms, Garlic, Tomatoes. Put some chicken in an oiled pan with some garlic. Add some mushrooms to the mix. Squeeze a bit of lemon into it for some flavor, and generously pepper it up. Stir it a bit until it is all cooked. While cooking the chicken prepare a lettuce tomato salad. Add the cooked mushroom chicken to the salad and mix it.

What is the Peak Condition Project?

This is a 90 day program challenging trainees to get in the best shape of their lives. Using the simplest of materials, adherence to diet, intelligent exercise and the power of social networks, PCPers safely and sustainably make it to the highest levels of fitness.