Day 77

Ok, I'm pretty much sold on the afternoon/evening workouts now. Way less stressful, as I don't feel the need to rush in the morning. I'm really past the point of needing that early morning fat burn too.

Patrick... I think I got it! Review:

Day 76

DoH! Stayed up all night (til midnight). Gonna go jump rope, then do my workout after work today.

There we go. Workout complete. Today I actually really enjoyed the afternoon workout. On the sit-ups to failure, I went with my gut. Even with my legs raised as Patrick suggested, I didn't have much of a problem. One wonders with my results if I should be asking this but... am I doing them right? I curl my body as far as I can, and my shoulders are off the floor. I was stopping at 50 because of Patrick's earlier email saying don't go past that. It went 50-40-30-30-50. Legs crossed in the air. Maybe I should lift my legs higher next time.

Anyway, good times. I still fail out of the tricep dips and do half sets about halfway through, same with the pull-ups.

My abs feel like a rock when I flex them. I feel my abs and I think they're my ribs.

Day 75 - Indulgence #3

I decided I really need to mentally let loose today. The other item that I've really been craving is a bag of skittles. So I bought a single serving bag from a grocery store before work. I'm hyped up on sugar right now. It was good though. I was pleased to find they don't have HFCS in them. The package was about equivalent to a can of soda sugar wise. 250 calories. Sheesh, that's a lot.

Update: I had my angus burger with sweet potato fries and a burly irish ale last night. All of it was delicious. Despite the fact that I think I ate too much, it didn't hurt my stomach! Also, when it comes down to it, I realized from the first bite I had that my home burgers I make taste almost twice as good.

Day 75

Another half-ass workout day. Why? Because I just worked out 12 hours ago. My body is still sore. My back is achy. I couldn't finish the planks because my lower back was hurting, no matter how much focus I put into my abs. Pro tip: Don't do an evening workout followed by a morning workout.

Indulgence day! So.... I actually skipped the last indulgence. I told myself, make a burger just like the one you're envisioning, you don't need the fries, you'll be happy with this.

But somehow, this angus burger with sweet potato fries has been stuck in my head since then, and has been driving me insane. I spoke with my housemate Will for half an hour last night discussing it, and I determined I was making a big deal out of nothing. I wanted to avoid it, because of the HFCS in the ketchup and honey mustard sauce, and the oil in the fries. I don't really want to imbibe alcohol either, but I'll give myself half a beer. The thing is, I want to make healthy choices, even if it's on an indulgence. But what it comes down to is-- this is an indulgence. My body's not perfect, and thus an imperfect diet won't completely destroy my progress, and will do wonders for my mentality in the coming weeks. So, burger, fries and beer here I come!

Day 74

Update's gonna be a bit late today, I'm going to try an evening workout and see how it goes.

Update: Afternoon workout was rough. Retail legs were not meant for jump roping and pistol squats. Although it's probably the other way around, my legs weren't meant for retail. Soreness in my left shoulder and back limited my shoulder flys and v-sits, something I've never experienced in the morning. So, I think I'll stick with mornings for the time being. Perhaps after the PCP I'll do my workouts in the evening, after I'm not forced to keep a rhythm.

Day 73 - Peanut Butter

There's something you guys should know... I. Love. Peanut Butter.

So this morning I thought I'd spice up my after workout shake with half a spoonful of peanut butter and a dash of chocolate, just to see what would happen.

Suprisingly, it didn't really improve it at all.

But! Afterward, in the shower, I had a taste in my mouth. I realized it was peanut butter, something I haven't had in over 3 months. It occurred to me that I'm going to have a hard time staying away from it. But, I suppose I'll have to.

Doubled the resistance on the lawnmower and pull-down, as well as tricep extension. Went from 5lb to 10lb. I had to take a 15 second rest in the middle of the lawnmower each time, but I think it's worth it to double the resistance. I'm trying to figure out which other exercises I can manage 10lb in.

Day 72

I missed something. Like 2.5 hours of awake time. Rushing through the morning after sleeping 10 hours, my legs couldn't figure out how to jump until partway through set 2. Moving on, I set my workout timer for the "point of no return", where I needed to stop to still have time to cook and get to work. Had to sacrifice sets 1.5-4 of the planks, almost made it in 35 minutes! Barely had time to take pictures and pack my stuff. Okay, so tonight I might go for a quick run and do planks afterward. I've been considering an evening workout, but my legs would be too tired I think, after a full day of retail.

If I keep my curtains open, it's hard getting to sleep. If I leave them closed, it's hard waking up. Maybe I should just keep one open, and one closed? Aghghghhh!

Day 71 - Pose 2

Here you go Patrick... not sure, but I think after about 10 tries I got better. Lighting sucks now though, it's too late at night.

Also... today the jerks who own the parking lot for the school across the street put a fence around it. Now I need to search YET AGAIN for a place to jump rope. OMFG.

Day 71

My direct attempts to change my motivation have caused some good, and some bad. I'm going to continue on my present course for the time being, as trying to step back causes me to focus on it being almost over rather than on what needs to get done.

Apparently my sitting around yesterday made my abs lazy. V-sits are usually cake for me, but today I struggled to get through even 3 sets of them.

I'm very pleased with my progress, and I'm at the point where people are constantly asking me diet and workout recommendations. I go easy most of the time, and suggest taking up jumping rope, and cutting bad things from the diet.

I bought new board shorts to jump in, but they're not as comfortable as my Kirra shorts, so I'm trying to find these old shorts used online, in the right size. Pictured are my new ones. I do like the black and white.

A couple days ago at the grocery I encountered the infamous "it's free, so I should eat it" impulse when offered a sampling of chocolate. I held onto the feeling, and strangled it in its place.

At Dick's Sporting Goods, I bought a heavier resistance band, and my eyes spotted a "power tower", basically standalone pull-up and swing-away mid-bars (for things like kung-fu situp style leg-ups and chest dips). I think I'm going to buy it. I want it, it would make life soooooo much easier pull-up wise.

Update: Just had another PCP burger for lunch. I absolutely love them in moderation. I figure eating beef once every 3 weeks has to be pretty okay. The bread on this one started falling apart, luckily I was allowed more carbs this week! More bread to patch the hole! May have gone 10-15g over on the beef though.

Day 70 - Laziness

It's official. I've spent all day at my computers with the curtains closed ignoring the outside world. Why? I wanted to let my muscles relax and heal.

What became of it? I feel like a lazy slob.

Going to see Toy Story 3 tonight, should be fun. I'll try to get some stretching done in-between.

Day 70

Patrick, what have you done to me!? I used to be the guy who could sit at his desk playing World of Warcraft for 12+ hours straight, now I can't sit down and do actual work for more than an hour without feeling the effects of being stationary!

This was a good morning. I like good mornings. Making chicken and salmon for breakfast, with some hot cereal and milk. Mmmmm... and a big tomato.

Day 69, Baby!

I'm not the kind to make 69 jokes, but today I think we all deserve it.

I love thrift stores, because it eliminates the need to spend more money. I found a gorgeous Revereware saucepan for $2. The kicker? It's copper-bottomed. About 5 minutes with my industrial-strength PCP elbow grease and steel wool, and the thing looks amazing. I can't wait to cook with it. A similar modern pan new would probably cost a good $30-50. (And yes, there are plenty of bad $30-50's)

It was finally time yesterday to buy new board shorts for jumping rope. The old ones had outgrown their usefulness. At size 32, they were fitting a bit large. Went to PacSun and found some new ones on sale. I managed to actually try on a 28!! It made my body look ferocious, but was sorely the wrong size. Settled on a size 30 Billabong.

I'm going to actually pickup reading food books, rather than exercise books for a short while. I strongly prefer non-fiction over fiction for my reading. I picked up The Omnivore's Dilemma from the library, just need to finish this Dawkin's and I'll jump right into it.

Wasn't that cool? A whole blog with no workout information!

Day 68 - Insomnia Part II

Second night of insomnia on the project, the first was about a month-month and a half ago. I'm still laying in bed, motivating myself. I'll go workout shortly, but I'm starving and my joints still feel like absolute crap.

So.... I can't wait! 22 more days! When this is over, I think I will join in the Kung Fu Body. I can't stop. I'm addicted.

Update: So glad I picked up my workout. About to start on the abs. I know, I know. I shouldn't be on the MacBook between exercises, and I rarely do this, but I was about to pass out from the curls and needed to rest. On a side note, not only did I complete everything but the pushups fully-through, but I also switched from the 5lb band to the 15lb band on the Standing Ovations. Turns out the 5lb is too weak now, and results in me stretching it to the other side of the room. So on quite possibly the weakest morning I've had since starting, I've not only made progress, but "doubled my efforts" as Todd put it. That said, I had to miss work to get enough rest to get this far.

Update #2: 120 Leg-ups!? 4 90-second planks!? Man. I was leaking sweat all over. At the end of the planks as I started to sag, I had to keep shouting to myself in my head "you're stronger than this!" to keep it up.

...

Not irrelevantly, people always ask what I'm doing or why, and many of them ask "P90X?". So frustrating. I see this ad all the time too on anything fitness related, and in my PCP gmail, and I laugh every time:

Day 67

Coffee's good, usually black. Some maple and skim milk in it today though. A little maple syrup doesn't hurt to make things less bland once in a while. Just make sure it's real stuff :) I still feel guilty over little things, like the fact that I've had two spoonfuls of it today. (one in breakfast, one in coffee)

Workouts were good, tiresome. I feel as if I'll never complete the shoulder exercises anymore.

Happy to be home in my own kitchen with my own food. I've been feeling weak pretty often, and Patrick told me to make full use of the AMAYW on the veggies, so I'm going to see if that makes me feel as if my body is rebuilding quicker.

Update: I said screw the guilt and had another black coffee later with a little honey in it. I need to break free from some of this concern. Sunday is now coffee day.

Day 66 - Part 2

So during the graduation, we were stuck on metal bleachers. These things were terrible. Since my ass is so flat now, there was no cushion to relax on. My back was slouching, I was a mess. I then remembered! 'Hey, I skipped planks today. Why don't I focus my ab muscles on keeping my upper body inline during this and keep my posture correct?' So that's what I did, it worked out well. My butt still hurt.

During idle times, I put effort into focusing on different muscle groups, trying to feel them, and trying to flex them and distinguish them from every other group. It's a very fun exercise, and with my abs and back in particular, I think it's helped me isolate them better.

A couple things I wanted to share:

First, I stumbled on this fitness blog of this cross-trainer who does long-distance running (aka 100 miles). Impressed, I continued reading. It was only after reading quite a few blog entries that I realized she's in her mid-40's! http://trailgirl.blogspot.com/

I've also been reading Bruce Lee & John Little's (really, it's written by John Little, it was made after Bruce died) "The Art Of Expressing The Human Body". I think it's a fantastic book on Bruce's training regiment, and so far some of it is becoming integrated into my plans for once the PCP is finished. Particularly Bruce's "Sequence Training Routine (For Total Fitness)".

Day 66

Still in Brattleboro. Annoying my family by spending more time working out and cooking than visiting. Ah well. Went out to a restaurant twice last night, each time conversation frustratingly focused on my diet rather than anything else, as I sat and drank tea. Stupid restaurant "ran out" of coffee. I don't see how they do that, unless they just have one type of coffee.

Anyhow. Going to construct a pull-up bar in the living room, after building a rack for it. Tired of these weak shoulder and back muscles.

Cheers.

Day 65

Skipped my planks this morning. I feel so guilty for it, as if I accidentally killed someone's dog with my car. After yesterday's extreme workout and carrying so much weight in SCUBA gear, I was absolutely exhausted last night. What's more, I only got 5-ish hours of sleep. Finishing my leg-ups I felt sick to my stomach. I actually failed out of the chest dips and push-ups pretty quickly too. Soooooooo sleep deprived.

Turns out, due to a communications error causing me to miss the original checkout dives, I now have to dive with the current class twice a week until the class is over (about a month). I've made the difficult choice to scrap the SCUBA plan. The reason for this being that I need to focus my energies on the PCP and working my body, rather than playing in the water with expensive gear. I'll be jeopardizing my personal fitness goals at this point if I was to put about 8 hours a week into diving. It sucks, but it's a choice I've made. I have far more emotionally/physically invested in getting to "peak condition" than I do money invested in SCUBA diving.

I have high hopes for the coming month! Go Team Running Rats! Go Patrick! Get to the peak!

On a side note: I see my sister's graduation today. I can't wait for my family to see me!

Day 64. Rock on.

Holy crap. My shoulders are weak. I need to do davincis on off-hours to catch up. I'm exhausted after halfway through the second set, and I go down to doing half-sets for the remainder.

Crazy day today! My checkout dives for my NAUI Basic SCUBA certification are today at 5-6PM, then I've gotta go to bed, so I can wake at 5, do my workout, and catch the bus to catch a train to head down to my sister's high school graduation. Then a train back up the next day. Aghghhhh! Of course I'll have my daypack with all my PCP essentials.

Also... it is time. I decided I need to be applying this amazing body to something. I signed up for a Kung Fu class.

Day 62

Whew!
While it doesn't get any easier, it does however always stay relatively the same. Which is always quite a workout!

Last night I took a crack at a full body push-up, to kind of gauge just how out of shape my body is. I could do about 1. I may work on this on my off days, to improve my balance and strengthen my upper body. It's fun actually being able to support my body weight upside-down. Also- bald headstands are uncomfortable.

With each passing day I feel leaner, and it's particularly noticeable in my thighs/butt, as I lose more and more fat. I like it, and it drives my motivation to get outside and jump in the morning.

Patrick- Quick note. Today's workout did not seem to have the correct instructions for sit-ups. I just said screw it and did 120 sit-ups straight through, no breaks.

Day 61

Last night after work I ran about 1.5 miles. My knees and legs were tired, but afterward I felt better! I proceeded to do 4 sets of 15 v-sits later on. It really feels motivating to do extra workouts just for your own well-being, rather than the PCP.

I think I understand what the valley is now. At least what it was for me, and what it meant to go in and out of it. I went into it just following a program to get my body into awesome shape, and now coming out of the valley I have new-found inspiration, new goals, and a changed mindset.

I have a new understanding of the Peak Condition Project, being that it is rebuilding my body to be in the shape I need it to start working toward the "Peak Condition", but rather the "Peak" Condition is never an actual point I can arrive at, I can only strive for the best I have on a given day, and my body can always improve.

Day 60

April 15th - June 13th = 60 Days

It doesn't feel like it's been that long.

2/3 of the way! That's it for today!

Day 59

Hasn't been a great week for the legs. My right knee acts arthritis-ey when it's cold or rainy sometimes, and on some winter days makes me incapable of running. This morning it was pretty painful, and after about 40 minutes of nursing it I dragged my ass out of the house and jumped. Mid-way through jumping I stopped noticing it, but it came back later (I can feel it right now). Sucky.

It looks like I should be doing my SCUBA checkout dives this Thursday. It may prove to be a minor physical challenge to do the workout the next morning before I have to catch the bus at 7:45AM. But what's life without challenges?

I've started watching Bruce Lee movies. I saw the documentary "A Warrior's Journey" last night and it was excellent. Patrick, I understand why he is your role-model, I've never found someone as inspiring, as hard-working, and as independent of a learner. As my legs got tired this morning, I thought about the scene from the unfinished film with him so light on his feet, and it just made me push further.

On a related note: I want a jumpsuit.

Day 58

Oh. My. My legs. They are done.

Yesterday I couldn't finish my shoulder lifts because my legs were shaking. Today I couldn't handle jumping rope without tripping constantly. Dammit legs! You have a very basic job, do it!

I made a wrap today with chicken, lettuce, tomato and onion. I look forward to it. It's not wrapped very well, I'm not a pro.

Day 57

Wow... I've lost... 21 lbs since the start of this project.

For my build, I think that's pretty impressive. Of course, what excites me more is the amount I've gained in muscle.

I've started making sandwiches again. Always delicious.

Day 56 - Indulgence #2.... NOT!

This was almost going to be an indulgence today. It started out as a PCP friendly meal, and ended that way too. Grass Fed VT Beef, Organic Tomatoes, Onion, Lettuce, Mustard (cost the meal a bit less than 200mg sodium though), and Organic Whole Wheat Bread (not sliced, round!).

A couple spices in the meat and some onion chopped into it, and it was grilled on cast iron. First red meat I've had in over 60 days, and believe me when I say, this was the best tasting sandwich I ever remember eating.

It was a task constantly weighing everything throughout the process, but wasn't too bad. Ended up 10-15grams over on the meat and bread I think.

Day 56 - Long Post!

Day 56! Quite a lot of progress!

I had a bit of a slump, but I'm feeling pretty good about everything now. I'm starting to get to the point where I'm wondering how I'm going to keep this up once it's over.

Here's a comparison from when I thought I was making progress, to the progress I've made in 41 days since.

Day 14 (What I think is flexing, hard to tell!!!):

Day 55 (Last night):

Everyone's looking a lot better than when we started this crazy journey. It's amazing to see the progression. I get asked about it more and more every day now. Some people are honestly interested in it, some people think it's too hard to give up all that corn, salt and sugar (you know, the entire American diet?). That's okay. As Seabass was telling me today, it's not for everyone and people have to make choices on their own regarding how far they're going to go with their health.



Okay, this is a fun story from today. Before reading this, please keep in mind I'm not a violent person, and have not been in a physical conflict since middle school (over a decade).

This morning I get up on time for the first time ever on my days off. I have my iPod mini's 16 minute playlist all setup, and put on my new sneakers.

I jump rope on the sidewalk in front of the house. Yes, I sometimes get in people's way. But only for 15 minutes a day, which is how I justify my right to take up space on it. I face in one direction, otherwise rope gets caught in the grass on either side.

Part-way through the first song (probably 2 or 3 minutes) I have this 30-ish, completely out of shape man walk around me looking very upset and talking to me. He has one of those taller builds that looks like the fat's given up sticking and is slowly trying to escape downward. I pause the iPod and pull an earbud out, stopping my jumping. He's complaining that I'm in the way, and he said 'excuse me', but I can't hear him because of the earbuds. I apologized for not hearing, he's still mad. I replied that there's plenty of room to walk around (you know, the grass, 2 sidewalks, and road in between).

He tells me "we can settle this right here". I'm trying to tell whether or not he's comprehending the situation. I explained calmly that this is the place that's best for my jumping. He asked why I couldn't jump in the driveway, and I explained it isn't flat. NOW he asks me why I can't jump on the sidewalk across the street. (Umm.... I could, but what if you were walking there? Again, he doesn't comprehend the situation, but selfishly thinking I'm in his way, not others'.) He asks why I can't turn around at least once every five minutes, and I try my best, honestly, to explain to him why I may still be facing the wrong way when he walks up next time and I may not see him.

Through this whole conversation, he's right in my face, standing above me a little bit height wise. I don't want a confrontation, and was edging around it best I could.

So he tells me if I can't stop for him next time, whether or not I can hear him, he'll smash my f!@#in' head in.

Whoa, wait a minute. Hitting someone from behind because they're doing no harm but jumping rope?

He walks away down the street. The whole thing definitely was teetering on the fence between argument and fight.

I live across from a public school. The crossing guard woman tells me he's just looking for a fight, and not to mind him. She's a very friendly older woman. He turns around, saying "excuse me!?" and raving about how good his hearing is. Now they're shouting back and forth at eachother, while I change my shoes because these new ones aren't so comfy to jump in. He threatens to call her boss when he gets back.

I don't know how they left the conversation, but I went back to jumping and I was so angry at people being violent and stupid, that I did 500 extra jumps added to my 16 minutes.

So, that's the wonderful story about the dangers of jumping rope. Beware!

I need to find a new location to jump in now. Sigh.

Day 55

Hey guys!

Royce asked me how I avoid cooking. Pretty easy, really.

• All veggies and fruit are eaten raw, no exceptions. They taste so delicious raw!
• Eggs are eaten raw and blended with milk (I often add cinnamon), except when location/diet forbids a blender and/or milk. Then I eat hard-boiled eggs I made a while ago, which are refrigerated.
• Chicken is cooked on a 3-4 day basis, baked in the oven. Then refrigerated. (Took me a while to figure out how to pack it in the fridge without it getting gross. It involves packing it in an air-tight container with paper towel.)
• Grain is cooked on just about a weekly basis, I make about 2 cups dry. Last week I used red wheat berries, plain oats and some other grain I don't remember. Boiled about an hour at 3-1 ratio to water, then tossed in a Rubbermaid air-tight container.

Also - I only use locking containers. The ones without locking lids are just accidents waiting to happen.

Oh - and I switch things up on Wednesdays (my day off, and the jump-rope only day). I often make fish, this week I'm thinking of making a burger with grass fed beef (from VT = awesome), whole grain bread and tomatoes and lettuce.

Day 54

Today I made an omelet with 1 egg, onion and tomato. Used way too much veggie for the egg, and ended up with a semi-pile. This was my first warm meal in probably a month's time. It was nice, but not particularly extravagant.

I was much better at push-ups today, but still not there yet.

My triceps still look flabby sometimes, and I need to focus on those next time I do the triceps workouts. I don't know if that's fairly normal though.

I can't wait for my new converse to arrive tomorrow, I hope they'll be comfy to jump rope in. Or run. I'll be happy to have a very basic shoe again, as all I have right now are running shoes and boots, and Vibram FiveFingers, which are slightly too small, and thus uncomfortable to do sportsy stuff with.

Update: My stomach seems unhappy about having eaten heated food, odd. Feels uncomfortable, I'm not sure I want to do that again.

Day 53

Hooray! I completed my full workout immediately after waking up, made breakfast on time, and enjoyed it all! I love the shoulder workouts by the way, they have a really nice burn.

I think I was getting too much sleep too, which has been remedied by staying up late playing a couple computer games.

So anyway, feeling a lot better about it all! Keep going going going!

Day 52

I had a whole long whining blog post written about how I skipped part of my workout today and was all unmotivated this morning and slept too much, but I'm gonna replace it with this and just say:

I now completely understand the "PCP Valley".

Day 51

I'm really getting tempted to start doing these in the evenings instead. At this point I'm waking up at 6AM and laying around for an hour or so before starting. I think my motivation is starting to get to an all-time low, and any suggestions for lifting it would be appreciated. :)

Update: Thanks everyone! I did make it through. I like my new resistance band, it's different from the old one. Changing things up feels good. My jump rope's soon to break too, it's wearing pretty damn thin. Still can't complete push ups. I go back to the kiddie ones after I collapse, as the chest dips wear me out (and I actually collapsed on the last set of those today too!)

I did the straight 15 minute jumping again. Without 10-20 second breaks in between sets, I sort of feel like I may not be hurting things. I will however pick up a timer, once I can afford one. (Read: VERY BROKE)

Day 50!

I like even numbers! Woot!

Thanks Osamu! It's great to hear your support! I'm too happy to be a part of this!




I'm hungry, breakfast time...

Day 49

Almost to 50! It'll be sort-of a sigh of relief. Even being pumped for the halfway point, this week has gotten me down. It'll be nice to be "more than halfway".

I need to get a better timing device for my jumps. Like a big clock to bring outside with me.

Also- today while cleaning I pulled my Joe Rocket motorcycle jacket from when I was 19 out of the closet and tried it on. Amazingly, it fit perfectly, unlike earlier this year, when I had to suck in my gut a little to zip it (it's a really tight fit). Happy about this. Maybe it's almost time to get another bike. :P

Rest!

Ok, I'm resting for about 13 hours. Starting now. Cheers.

Day 48

So Patrick, in the kung-fu's do we just go as high as we can with the legs straight, or bend them to go higher?

Woke up this morning the least motivated I've felt yet, my lower back is sore too. It's taking all I can to get out and jump. It's downpouring out. Going to see if I can do the swing-the-rope-by-my-side indoors style and not make too much noise.

Ugh, need to leave for work in an hour and a half and haven't started yet. Forcing myself outside now, wish me luck!

Update: Dragged myself through all of it, telling myself I could stop any time. Seems to be good reverse psychology. Very happy for the off-day tomorrow, after walking to work the last two days, walking home once, and all the workouts, my legs are ready to collapse and my body's tired. Jumping in the downpour was actually quite nice, once I was in the middle of it.