PCP Day 60

Well Day 60 is upon us and we are now officially two thirds through the program. My weight and and body shape have changed a lot over the past 2 months. I have lost around 12 kgs so far and am very happy with it. Hoping to lose a little more to maybe get under the ton for the first time in nearly 20 years but will not be too disappointed if the weight doesn't reduce too dramatically - I am more interested in the muscle building and making sure my body is in its peak state.

My thoughts on food at this stage have changed a lot especially around snacking. My old habits when hungry would have been to eat some chips or chocolate but i am now thinking more about fruit and vegetables as snacks and as the biggest thing on my plate(rather than the huge piece of meat)

Am starting to get very tired and realize that I need to make sure I get my sleep. Currently having 6.5 to 7.5 hours a night but think I need to make sure that this goes up to 8 hours a day. Is a little hard with juggling work and looking after the little one then trying to squeeze the exercises in before having a late dinner. The wife is extremely busy at work at the moment as well which adds my time needed with Finn.

By the way, I have a new hero to look up to. He is a superhero and like to play Aussie Rules.

Out.

PCP Day 55

Did one full pull-up tonight. Enough said.

Out.

PCP Day 53

Today we celebrate our Indulgence Day.

So, we have organised a babysitter and my wife is as excited as I am about going to dinner and having a 'normal' meal. We are heading to The Oak Door Restaurant in the Grand Hyatt in Tokyo. Is very close to our place and the cinema is just next door so a movie is in the plan as well.

I had a steak with mashed potatoes and spinach as sides(shared with the wife) with a salad and soup as starters - see below. Didn't put extra salt on the steak and restrained from ordering the fries as a side.

The meal came as a set so there was a dessert as well which I had some of. Overall, I think I went a bit over the goal calories but was a lot better than what I would normally do. Also had a bit of popcorn which I am sure is off the list - couldn't help it though.

Feeling a bit bloated and heavy now and looking forward to the workout tomorrow.

Out.

PCP Day 50

Very busy today as on a course for the next 2 days with work. Have to make sure everything will run smoothly while I am gone.

Did the skipping in the Typhoon this evening. Was very interesting with the wind actually blowing the skipping rope around. Was making some interesting noises as well. I have switched jump ropes as the counter is no longer needed. Finding it a lot easier with this one as it is a bit heavier but the 5 minute sets are quite difficult.

Very tough workout today. Will feel tomorrow for sure.

No pics for today.

PCP Day 47 - over half way

Am in Singapore for the Japan long weekend so have been a little bad on the diet. Struggling to contain myself at the breakfast buffet but think I have maintained a balanced meal of fruit, veggies and eggs without weighing everything.

The exercises have been the getting done around all the sightseeing and shopping. We are staying at The Fullerton Bay Hotel in the Marina and view is awesome. Here is a pic from where I was doing the jump rope this morning -

Heading back to Tokyo tomorrow so will be able to get back on track with the eating. Very proud to say that I still haven't had a drink.

Out.

PCP Day 44

Had my Health check today. In Japan all companies provide a free health check for employees to make sure you are fit and well so that you will be able to do your job for life. It sort of reminds me of the war movies where the new recruits walk from station to station getting everything checked out before they are sent away to fight. You get your own set of comfortable clothes and slippers and you get checked out by numerous doctors and nurses.

The tests include, blood tests, blood pressure, chest xrays, height, weight, vision, hearing, ECG, Barium xray(for gastro intestinal tract check). I am sure there were more but I was walking around in a daze. The Barium Swallow test was by far the worst - see below if you want to read more about it

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barium_swallow

I'll have to ask Patrick in this week's questions about the properties of this drink and if I have blown my calories/grams for the day.

The good news from the health check is that my weight is now 106.8kgs. This is 10 kgs lighter than last years health check and actually 10 kgs lighter than the start of the PCP.

A big shout out to the guys who finished today. Especially Tony, Pat M and Brendon who have been a great support to me and answered a lot of the questions I had both during and at the start of the PCP. Looking forward to tomorrow as we will officially be at half way.

Out.

PCP Day 41

Been very slack on the posts. Bought a new car on the weekend so spent a crazy amount of time at the car dealership. Everything takes soooo long in Japan and they still give you 10 different forms to fill in - all in Japanese of course so it takes another few hours to fill those in(with the help of my wife). Will pick up in a few weeks and really looking forward to having a bit more room.

Did the skipping early morning Sunday but it was so hot I had to postpone the rest of the workout  for the afternoon/evening. Unfortunately, the wife had dinner plans which meant I was looking after the little one and could not go downstairs to finish the workout. This is the first workout I have missed in the 40 days so far and was a little disappointed. Will push Sundays workout to Monday and do Mondays on Tuesday which is normally the skipping only day.

Getting a bit sick of the Apple and Egg Whites for dinner. More so that it doesn't let you have dinner together with anyone. Heading to Singapore this weekend for 3 days and not sure how I will go in the hotel. Will give it a try.

Out.

PCP Day 34

Indulgence - Have been thinking about this for a while. We have been allowed to go off-piste and eat a menu item that is not on the PCP diet. I think i thought about this for so long that i thought I would just skip it. I was googling calorie counts for all sorts of things but still couldn't decide.

1/3 a box of BBQ Shapes is around 350
1 Choux Creme(read Custard Profiterole outside of Japan) is about 375
80gms of Cadbury Chocolate is around 400

In the end, I chose one of my favourite restaurants in Tokyo, Beacon, for lunch. They are mostly known for their steaks which I miss terribly but also have a great brunch menu and serve some pretty decent sandwiches. This is Finn at around 1 and a half weeks and me at about 117kgs.

I ordered the grilled chicken sandwich on wheat bread with no mayo/sauce (no indulgence there) and a virgin mary. Their Bloody Mary's are the best - very spicy with the rim coated in a salt and pepper mix which was my first bit of "added" salt to anything I have eaten for a month. I can't believe how good it was. I almost licked the salt and pepper straight off the glass but managed to ration it until the end of the drink.

When the sandwich came I was shocked to see that it came with heaps of golden, delicious looking french fries. I managed to push most of them off the plate to give to the hungry kids down the table but kept a few - i think around 15, to eat. They were awesome however I now realise that i can't eat mountains of chips/fries and expect to be healthy and fit. I have always been one for exchanging salads and vegetables sides of meals to french fries/chips/any other type of fried potato but I think this may be a thing of the past.

I did count them as part of my veggies for the meal though.

Out

PCP Day 31

Well one month down now and things are going reasonably well. Been a bit slack on the blog this week. The new diet is a bit weird - it consists of an apple, a banana, 250 mls of milk and 3 egg whites for dinner and 200 gms vegetables for the evening snack. Trying to work out recipes for this combination and feels a bit like TV's Ready Steady Cook!

Going to miss the meat at night. This lamb salad was for dinner a few days ago

Compared to this last night

Finally feeling like my skipping is getting better - can do around 1300 in around 12 minutes depending on my coordination skills and the time of night i can get around to my exercises. My wife has been getting home from work late which means I have babysitting duties until she gets home.

Will be trying to not go out this weekend. I reckon I still managed to get a bit of a hangover last week if only from all the smoke in the bars. Can't believe how backwards Japan is that they still allow smoking in Restaurants and Bars yet some of the city councils ban it on the streets.

Out!