Day 90- DONE!!!

Feeling a bit sentimental about the end...!  the daily emails, the pain of supersets, the mid-project starvation phase, the egg whites, the sweat, the tears, fellow comrades, my good ol’ food scale, milk fat percentage debates, weekly photos shoots (no wait…I derailed on this one)…….

But anyway It’s over, and YEY WE DID IT!! 

Too much to say…. But will try and keep it short.

Day 90:

 ※some more on Flickr

Achievements:

1. Stats:  minus 6.2Kgs,   Minus 6 % body fat.

Wow….Patricks predictions were dead on. Impressive!

(oh that reminds me… for the unofficial record I decided to lose a kilo before having to declare my stats for this program, so I could say it was a 7Kg or so loss in 13 weeks.… cr*p,,,,,,isn’t that like the size of a medium sized dog?)

2. Body happiness!: Before PCP I’d say I was in a state of ‘body agreement’ (as in ‘there are good days and bad days, some imperfections here and there but this’ll do’ sort of mentality. ) but it’s a nice feeling now to look in to the mirror and think every morning: ‘hey, today is a ‘good day’.  So was yesterday and the day before that too!’

3.Noticeable improvement in physical strength. Ability to carry more luggage, sprint further and faster in heels, have higher energy levels during long days etc.

4. Sense of accomplishment and knowing that ‘yes it can be done’.  Just because a) I think I can! And b)The system works!

5. I now have a body that is trustworthy enough to listen to! The ‘Just listen to the body’ idea doesnt work when the body is tone deaf/confused/ needs a slap!…..during the first few weeks of PCP it was telling me that it didn’t want to do the workouts and it was craving sugar all the time.  im glad that Im now at the point now of being able to lend an ear to what it has to say.

6.Change in palate. At the beginning of the program I had an entire list of things I planned on indulging on once this was over, but now. I can honestly say that there is nothing I’d proactively do differently in terms of food.  Go veggies!

 

Take home points:

1. It's not magic, basically ‘you get out what you invest in your body’

2. When getting in shape….approach diet & exercise simultaneously. I feel a bit silly looking back but I have only ever focused on one of these at a time.

3. Going forwards, exercise, every day.  Choose some days out of those to do more.

4. food:  not too much carbs.  consume good protein. Lots of veg.  stay away from things grandma wouldn’t know.   Eat in small doses through out the day.  Don’t over do it at night.   consume it only if you intend to burn it off.

5.. Learnt to not to let social norms dictate my personal objectives. Eg/ just because everyone else thinks having a pile of veggies on top of a spoonful of carbs is weird….at the end of the day, who’s healthier? Same goes for the ‘it’s a Friday so we must drink’ mentality,  and also…..The African famine is tragic, but me stuffing my self with food which I would rather leave on my plate is not going to help them at the slightest.  Etc.

Oops……..so much for the short blog post!

Could go on forever but will wrap it up.  Would like to finish by saying thanks you’s!

Patrick-  thank you for everything you did to enable this!!…… & I also appreciate your patience for putting up with things like my ‘chicken legs paranoia’ and annoying philosophical questions I keep asking on the thread challenging the fundamentals etc!  

 Team MM, its been great training with you all!  Im really sorry that my PC environment didn’t let me post comments as often as I would have liked to, but have been following your blogs and its truly been an inspiration/wake up call/ comforting/ encouraging/ motivational.  Same goes for the rest of the ‘mid summers night dream’ crew also, its reading your blogs, comments left on mine reassuring im on the right track, all those discussions threads that kept the momentum going!  And Marcus… From introducing the idea to me, to helping me through workouts, to supporting me emotionally (near, far, wherever you are!) Thank you!!  and by the way you look totally great and I cant wait to see you this week so I can………. (ok, lets take this off line shall we.)

Will probably post once more around mid sept when I figure out where I want to go with this next and hopefully to report that life has not fallen apart since PCP ended and that I am still in control of everything….

But in the mean time, YEEY  congratulations & Happy PC to us all :-D!!!

Day 73....& counting down!

Oops..been really quiet with the blogging lately..........here's the status update>>

progress:

weight loss is stagnant. im drifting around the -5 ~ -6Kg range depending on the day, nothing more and nothing less. im pretty happy with the achievement so far, and im not actively dissatistisfied with any part of my body currently  (which is like a new era)  but numerically speaking i would like to squeeze out another kilo or so before we finish up,,, and further ab definition couldnt hurt either,

so continue I shall. (I've come to terms of the fact that the minus 10Kg fantasy will not quite happen.  ....its not the end of the world...)

work outs:

the number of reps is unreal.  its been a constant cycle of death-resurrection this week. im quite liking the extended planking though -no movement involved, so good time to read magazines!

food: -absolutly loving being able to eat food for dinner which actually resembles a proper meal as of this week.

-im appreciating 'naughty' food more.  had a slight deviation on one day and had small slice of quiche. wow.....butter has never tasted more heavenly!

on the subject of heaven,

-about my indulgence (that quiche was too small to count!)

while marcus was in Japan (btw.... oh he looks good)  we went for an onsen break :-D my belated and much anticipated indulgence was this:

after apples & egg white dinners this felt exceedingly extravagant to say the least.  but told my self i deserved it, and also justified it thinking 'this technically isnt an 'unhealthy meal'....it's just a healthy meal which is really big...! '

also had sake.   loved it all! 
& i am happy and partially disappointed to say that none of this made me sick the next day like it was supposed to....

Other:
-maybe its the enhanced core strength......but i find my self not losing balance on high heels on crowded trains these days.

-My improved biceps seem to enable me to carry around increasing & vast amounts of luggage and groceries each day.  (the other day I weighed my luggage and it was 5.5Kgs.

 I'm thinking 'wow......i carried around this for the whole day- which is the same amount of weight I lost off my body, on my arms!')

-I was previously worried about my obsessive tendancies on this project  (ie/'oh my god i missed a workout yesterday. I am such a failure' or 'if i go near 3m radius of cake, it will reverse all the progress to date and god will send me to hell') but i am happy to say that phase has passed and i am more chilled about the whole initiative.

i think i am more confident about self management knowing a)that I know what I want/need and how much of it  b)regardless of what happens after a mess up.. it is physically possible to shed 5-6kgs in 2 months.

will try not to go the other way and be over chilled/lenient with my self....but mentally speaking its a nice place to be.

-I notice I attract more weirdos (men) on the streets these days..

-I'm dying to go shopping!!!

Day 62: back with the zest

Ｔhank you all so much for supportive comments!   Its been really reassuring, because although im aware im making progress numerically, i've just not had much of a life (if any) recently because of work/pcp/study/more work/other and have not had any opportunity to appreciate the results, and have been adopting a very clinical approach to this. 

Its mostly been like 'hmm. 200 gram decrease. cool'  as opposed to 'heey check me out in my improved butt!'   

But as of today I have taken time off work for the sake of chilling out, so I can finally breathe and get sleep amongst many other things…!

Looking forward to being in a mental state to actually enjoy doing the work outs (not crying to squeeze it in at 10pm), having enough time to eat (…discovered that the most effective way to not over eat…or even eat the amount you’re supposed to… is to not have enough time to do so)….….and more importantly spending time with Marcus darling who will be back in town-   yeey:-D!

※ Today is a happy day!!
-My bathroom scales 'defrosted' a couple of days ago and have managed to break through that once considered impossible to break through statistical wall, and I’m at minus 6Kgs J  hallelujah!

Day 56: mood shift/pic/assessment

OK… getting back to my semi-abandoned blog…

Have manage to hush up the little voices these days that had been predominating me especially week 5-6 ie/  'how can something so painful possibly be good for me??' 'I'm supposed to be listening to my body.......but what if its crying and telling me its need rest for 3 consecutive days??'

Took a mental shift to.... 'Beauty is pain'   (....im sure partick mentioned something about health benefits as well..... what were those agian? ) 'No pain no gain' 'Keep going if body is just crying.  If it dies on me and wont/cant move, then stop.' 'JFD'

Still reluctant to do bikini shots (maybe for the finale pic..) but currently looking something like this.

-Shrinkage in breast area appears to have plateaued.  ....underwear shopping?

-Some work left to do in inner thigh area.

-Got over 'chicken legs paranoia'

-Improvement in ab area…. More definition would be good.

Scales appear to have frozen over........but let’s not freak out. @ -4.9KG, -3.something % body fat.

Day 46 : The week's summary

This week's downs:

-Had a super intense week at work.....….. Wednesday was a particularly bad day and I went on a bit of a fruit binge.  On hindsight & thinking about the bigger picture I actually think it’s sort of cute, considering the nasty food groups I would’ve turned to pre-PCP life..... but at the time I felt SO guilty…. Never again!  (Contrary to expectations though, for some unkown reason the scales showed quite a drop the following day.. which I took was a sign from god that he’s giving me another chance.......)

-Amidst work chaos missed one too many egg whites in the morning.

-I think I’ve been fiddling around too much with the diets without confirming the validity of my choices, out of reluctance to add further complications to life.  Eg/ having ‘0 fat yogurt’ and ‘regular milk’, if that’s all that’s available during the day.

…..maybe I should check.

-Discovered the technicality issue that I will never be able to post comments on other peoples blogs via my own/office pc, ever.   ………sigh.         

This week's ups:

-Successfully worked my way around a social event!   I made modifications to the other meals prior to the event by cutting down portions, but had told people in advance about my initiative and they were all very supportive, making sure I got fed salad with the least amount of dressing on, and got the privilege of picking off all the veggie toppings on the pasta etc.  –I’m sure no one had any issues about eating my portion of pizza/ dessert…..

In terms of cost in VS food out,  it makes no sense whatsoever especially with the all-you-can-drink arrangement, but nevertheless it was nice to be partaking in regular social human activity for a change! 

-Statistics:   In order to set realistic expectations, before I enrolled in PCP I told Patrick my stats and asked how much weight I can expect to shift in 3 months if I bust my ass off..  He said 5-7Kgs.  So I decided to aim for –8Kgs, just to out do his predictions. But to ensure that actually happened I set my personal goals to -10Kgs. (I’m an ‘aim for the moon and land in the stars’ kinda gal)  

Day 46, I am -4.7Kgs :-D  I’m on track! (well… technically depends on where I perceive the actual goal to be I guess… but anyway). 

I know that numbers are not the universe…. But what the hell.    For now, yey, Go quantifiability!

Pics will follow soon.

************************************************************************** 

Re:comments

Tracey:  no doubt I would have troughed it down and out a long time ago if it weren’t for everyone else doing this..!  horaay for team spirit & SNS!

Helen:  Arigato!   Thinking white sand…blue sea…. pinacoladas….

Brent:  Thank you!:-D  I think I’m becoming a bit of a coffee addict as well…  I would ask Patrick how much coffee is too much… but why complicate life further?

Mini:  chicken legs on the beach, that’s’ the plan…!;-)  

Kos:   passing the half way mark really feels like an achievement doesn’t it?  Counting the days til freedom!!  (….and a life long obsession worrying about the calorie content of any food after all this educational brain washing, with the continual & ever lasting rigorous work outs to ensure the 3months of effort are not reversed..? oh well we shall see…)

Day 39: Emotional crash & recovery.

Mental state Monday-Friday 6pm:

Exhausted, in pain, over worked, over worked out, depressed, teary, philosophical. Ie/’what is the meaning of happiness?’ ’isn’t peak condition a relative term?’

Mental state Friday 7pm~now :

Marcus tells me we are going on a beach holiday once PCP is over,,,

Okey, motivation and energy levels back on track!!  

Meg… Just f-ing do it.

Post-depressive/philosophical & re-energized me on day 39.5>

Day 31 to 37: The Ups & The Downs

The Ups:

-Visited Hong Kong to see Marcus on the weekend!  :-D
Met up with some of the team mighty mouse crew (so........is this our official team name then?)          
From the right: Me, justin, terri, fergie, marcus.

Was great meeting you all.........  hope to see the rest of you guys in the near future too!

-Figured out what some of the workouts are actually supposed to look like. 
※Memo to self....: if everyone is complaining that something is excruciatingly painful but I'm not feeling it.... its most defiantly because I am doing it wrong.
Floor jumps are not cute, little & piddly-  they're long and high and make you want to kill your self.

-Didn't have one big indulgence, but had several moderate indulgences through out the 3 days I was in HK which was lovely,  eg/ more salad,  an odd dim sung here and there, a glass of wine etc.  (Well... the wine was lovely when I had it.  defiantly not so the next morning.  I don't know whether this counts as an 'up' or a 'down')


The Downs:

-Crazy work week...... complete lack of sleep. missed one work out and felt like such a loser afterwards.  Still trying to get over the self loathing

-I'm turning in to a PCP-centric bitch. 
When I first started out, I somehow thought I would be hating PCP by now, but what I am really hating is not the program itself but the circumstances/people that try to impede it.  I'm thinking things like........
'Welcoming party??..... why the hell did you have to join the organization now of all times??'
or
'Seriously,,,dont you f*->%+ dare talk to me when im jumping around between conference calls and I only have 4mins to consume my 150grams of fruit......cant you see the criticality of this apple?!'

-Forget the man arms I've been openly expressing my concerns for on the question thread..... what's the deal with my calves??  I am seriously starting to freak out.
I did not sign up to get chicken legs!!

-Weight went down on the weekend to -3.8kgs, but then came back up to -3.3kgs.
Weird.  Either gravity being different in HK, Marcus's scale being nice to me, me building more muscle or alternatively maybe I'm just somehow genuinely getting fatter on less food and more exercise..  I wonder which?  
Decided not to add more stress to life by thinking too much about it.

Shall flickr later.
Another week is upon us.... with one more egg white and one less banana for me!


Re: Comments
Justin:  Will probably post some paranoid chronicle w/pic about my enhanced calves soon....watch this space!
Kos:  Yeah... one of my challenges right now is not to get too caught & tied up with the micro-prespectives.  I MUST NOT TURN IN TO A BEAN COUNTER....,
Tracey: Thank you for the support!
Terri:  Voila-  enjoy the pic!  great meeting you guys, hope to see you again soon& thanks for the yoghurt info!
Patrick: There is 'toned' and then there is just plain 'butch'.  I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and see how it goes....
Helen:  thank you!  aah so they do come back? thats nice.  But do I dare ask...does anything else come back??            My curiosity keeps growing for life post day 90.....