Day 61: It's The Little Things That Count

I’m use to expecting the big changes that are occuring to me during this program, like lost weight and new clothing sizes, that sometimes the teeny little ones sneak up and surprise me. It’s not that the big ones are any better than the little ones, as both have equal merit—it’s just that the big ones are many times more noticeable than the little ones.

Observation: The weather is progressing to a more autumn feel. That means longer nights and cooler temperatures. For the past couple of days, my feet and hands have been absolutely freezing. The last time I experienced this was way back many years ago when I was a lot thinner. On one hand, it’s nice to be reminded that I am getting slimmer. On the other hand, my hands and feet are ice cold! I guess I’ll need to start digging out my mittens for Halloween.

Observation: I have a boney backside. 'Nuff said.

Observation: For many years I was drinking soy milk because my body was having issues with cow’s milk. Some people say I’m lactose intolerant; I would say I was lactose confused. Not all dairy products bothered me. Cow’s milk was bad. Yogurt was good. Melted cheddar cheese was bad. Hard cheddar cheese was good. Breyer’s all-natural ice cream was bad. Generic ice cream loaded with all sorts of multi-syllable chemical names was good. However, that seems to be changing now. I can drink 2% cow’s milk with no problems whatsoever, which I think is just amazing after years of not being able to have it. I know my grocery budget is happy about it. (No need to have two different kinds of milk in the house!)

Observation: I haven’t felt the familiar pull to devour candy, cookies, or other snack foods for quite some time. In fact, last night I made a batch of chocolate chip cookies for my partner, using three bars of organic gourmet free-trade chocolate in place of the chips. Not once was I tempted to sample the batter, lick my fingers, or test “just one” cookie. He had a treat to take in to work and I got the chocolate bars out of the house. Amazingly enough, I placed those bars in the cabinet a few weeks before I started PCP just in case I “needed” something to snack on. I realized that I never really needed them at all.

Observation: Today I when looked in the mirror, I just realized that those annoying “love handles” are missing. Oh, there’s a miniscule bulge there but it’s nothing like the great mounds of flesh that use to wave “good morning” at me. I don’t know why I hadn’t noticed it before, but let me tell you it put a little extra spring in my step as I walked out the door on my way to work.

Yeah, big changes are the things that will get noticed by the world, but sometimes it’s those little things that mean the most.

Day 60: Two Midnights Gone!

Here we are at Day 60—two-thirds of the way through this program. You know what this means? We should all start quaking in fear and dread because the program is going to get a lot harder!

Strangely enough, that's exactly what I thought way back at the beginning of this whole journey. Heck, I actually think that every Friday night in uneasy anticipation of the Saturday morning email which is when Patrick doles out the punishments. And yet I still push myself through those exercises every day regardless of the little voice in my head that keeps trying to convince me that I really could skip a day or two. Luckily, each day that voice gets quieter and quieter as it realizes that I'm not really listening to it anymore.

Back when I was having severe knee pain after doing the jump ropes, that little voice was pretty strong. There were days I so wanted to stop putting myself through that pain and that voice had much influential power back then. But I didn't stop. I couldn't stop. I had made some big promises that I meant to keep, which gave me the strength to keep going.

Bit by bit, that voice lost the power. Bit by bit my knees got better. Bit by bit my body got stronger. That's the way the whole thing works. Bit by bit.

When I use to go to the gym, I saw this one guy try to do the impossible. Now he was a big guy both in the tall and wide departments. He would go up to one of the machines, put as much weight as he could on it, and then try to lift it all the while screaming at the top of his lungs as though he were being crushed in a trash compactor. After he made one or two reps, he would drop the weights with a tremendous CLANG! sound and he'd go to the next machine and repeat the whole process. Now I'm not an experienced gym rat, but even I could tell that he was doing all the wrong things. He wanted results now and he was bound to kill himself to get them.

Yeah, not me. I'm not killing myself like that guy. I can't say it's totally painless as the muscles get sore every day I work them, but it's not the excruciating kind. It tells me that I'm doing good, that I'm getting healthier, that I'm on the road to wellness. Bit by bit. One step at a time.

Day 59: Weaving A Web Of Lies And Deceit

Last night I saw this commercial on television:

What the huh?!?

It looks as though the food industry has now found a way to once again trick people into thinking that sugary cereals are now good for them because they contain fiber.

Yeah, the label says it has three grams of fiber, but it also has twelve grams of sugar and that's just for one 1 cup serving. Give me a break! How many kids do you know only eat 1 cup of cereal?

According to the New York Times, "there is a new food-labeling campaign called Smart Choices, backed by most of the nation's largest food manufacturers" which is "designed to help shoppers easily identify smarter food and beverage choices."

Froot Loops isn't the only product that will receive the Smart Choices green checkmark. Apple Jacks got it. Coco Krispies also got one. So did Fudgesicle. And Hellman's mayonaise. And Skippy peanut butter.

Holy crow! This is what the food industry deems as "nutritious"?!?

And I love the quote from Celeste A. Clark who is the senior vice president of global nutrition for Kellogg's: "Froot Loops is an excellent source of many essential vitamins and minerals and it is also a good source of fiber with only 12 grams of sugar. You cannot judge the nutritional merits of a food product based on one ingredient."

Lady, have you looked at the list of ingredients?!? There is very little in it that is nutritional! As noted on the Food Politics website, Froot Loops cereal contains:

1. No fruit.

2. Sugar as the first ingredient (meaning the highest in weight - 41%)

3. Sugar as 44% of the calories.

4. Partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (aka trans-fat), though with less than half a gram so the label can read zero.

I'm sure you can find cookies, chips, and other junk foods that are healthier than this box of cereal. Or maybe it is a healthy product and us PCPers are just a bunch of crazy eating whole foods, exercising, and blindly following this nut-case named Patrick to an alien spaceship to take us to our true home in another galaxy.

Nope. I just checked the mirror and stepped on the scale. I've definitely lost weight and I'm looking pretty good. Definitely no crazy here.

Day 58: Now I'm A Seasick Sailor On A Ship Of Noise

Well, the mystery of yesterday's nausea was discovered. I figured it out today when I got nauseous again after eating my breakfast. It was the peppers. Yes, the ones I just praised the other day were the same ones that made me queasy. I must have hit the point where they were just going a little off, but not smelling like they were bad.

However, despite the nausea I managed to accomplish my exercises for the day. I must say that I like doing the strength exercises in the early afternoon. The muscles are warmed up, the energy level is still pretty good, and I dare say that I feel a bit stronger. Well, anything would probably feel stronger if it wasn't being done after putting in a full day at work where the energy level is dragging a bit.

The rest of today was pretty quiet, which is nice to have once in a while on a Sunday. Now all I got to do is make sure I go to bed on time.

Day 57: It's No One Else's Fault When You're A Day Late Or A Dollar Short

Today wasn't a very good PCP day. I've been cruising along pretty good for a while there, so you know eventually something would have to happen to upset the cart.

The morning was no problem. I got all my jumps in and learned a new move. I've been able to hop on one leg five times, then regular jump five times, then hop on the other leg five times. I've almost got it to the point where I can to that twice without tripping. So today I tried to do an alternating hop on each leg. Kind of like running only in place. I'm also starting to get that rope a-spinning at a pretty good click. That's the only way to do some of those tricks.

But I'm derailing the train of thought here....

Breakfast was fine. Walked to our neighborhood all-natural organic co-op store and back. Had my mid-morning snack. Then it started going downhill. Shortly after the snack I started feeling nauseous. That lasted for a couple hours. I even tried to rest for a bit and that helped a little.

Unfortunately, by the time I felt better I had to race off to chorus practice. There was very little time to pack a proper PCP meal, so I kind of had to wing it. My lunch is suppose to consist of 100g carbs, 180g veg, 2 egg whites, 30g low-fat cheese, and 80ml yogurt. The eggs was the easiest part. I grabbed to hard-boiled eggs and threw them into a lunch bag. The shells and the yolk could be discarded later. The second easiest was the carbs, which ended up being a couple of slices of bread that my partner made. The rest I had to make a guess-timation.

A couple days ago I made a medieval recipe called "Armored Turnips". Basically it consists of turnips, cheese, and spices. I used what I had on hand: turnips, low-fat mozzarella cheese, whole-milk cheddar cheese, and spices. Close, but not totally PCP friendly. (The whole-milk cheddar cheese killed it. Then again, I wasn't exactly making it for me.) So I grabbed a piece of it, which weighed 180g. That fits the veg numbers, right? Well, not exactly. Although the turnips contributed to the weight, the cheese added some too. I was in a rush and wasn't exactly going to figure it out, so I called it even for the veg. I knew that there was more than 30g of low-fat cheese it (because of the cheddar), so I didn't pack a yogurt, hoping that the it would balance out the extra cheese, some of which wasn't low-fat.

I raced off to chorus rehearsal and spent the afternoon there. Then as rehearsal finished (around 5pm) I got a text from my partner that he and a friend were at the mall and asked if I could meet them there. I made a detour to the mall and found out that they didn't want me to pick them up (as they had taken the bus there), but instead wanted to take me to a movie. Not wanting to screw up the day further, I told them I needed to go home so I have my afternoon snack, pack my dinner and evening snack, and do the strength exercises. They were fine with that and we agreed I should come back to the mall around 7pm.

Great plan, in theory. There's road construction on the major highway here, so traffic was all backed up. I managed to take an alternate route. Then as I got near my house, traffic was all back-up again—this time for a football game at the large university just a couple blocks from the house. A trip that usually only takes about ten minutes ended up consuming forty-five. It was 6pm and I had no time to do any strength exercises. I quickly assembled and packed my meals (which were easier, 'cause they mainly contain fruit and eggs), dashed out the door, fought with traffic again, and made it back to the mall by 7pm. (Yes, I snuck my PCP food into the movie theatre.)

After the movie, my partner decided he wanted some gelato. Off we went through the mall to the gelato place. He got some berry flavor and our friend got a custard. They wanted me to sample their respective gelatos, but I didn't want to mess up my day any worse than it already was. So we reached a sort of compromise. I stuck out my pinky and they would place an itty-bitty teeny-weeny glob of gelato on it—basically enough to sample the flavor on my tastebuds.

When it comes to the holiday season, my all-time most favorite thing is eggnog. Yeah, it's a deathtrap in a carton, but I grew up on the stuff and it has always been part of my life during the months of November and December. My partner said that the custard gelato tasted just like eggnog, so I eagerly anticipated sampling the teeny glob on my finger.

It was definitely the flavor of eggnog, only smothered in who knows what. It was like a thick coating in my mouth and not at all any semblance of the pleasant childhood memories I had of eggnog. The berry wasn't much better—not as thick texture but definite overtones of sugar. Let's correct that. It was like being kick in the head with a bag of sugar. I didn't need any more than those tiny little samples. I so wanted a bunch of grapes to clear those flavors out of my mouth.

Eventually we made it home, with just a little bit of time for me to do this quick post before heading off to bed. I've had far too many late nights, and every one of them involve playing silly online computer games. Those things are the bane of a PCP lifestyle!

Day 56: Because, Well Well, Just Because

A friend of mine wrote to me to let me know that today is International Hug A Vegetarian Day. Who knew there was even such a thing? So for my vegetarian PCP family out there, here's a big virtual hug to you all!

This is only my second year of being vegetarian. My family still freaks out about it, my co-workers think I'm nuts, and some of my friends view it as an opportunity to try out new vegetable recipes. For the most part everyone is cool with it, but there are moments when it gets awkward. I think the most problematic for me is when people ask, "Why did you go vegetarian?"

People always seem to anxiously await my answer. Sometimes it feels like that somehow my words will guide them to enlightenment. Other times I feel like I'm on the verge of a confrontation. Unfortunately my answer almost always disappoint.

I wish I could say it was because of animals rights, or the meat industry, or ecological reasons, but I can't because I didn't learn most of that until after I went veggie. I would love to honestly say it was because I wanted to be healthier and take care of my body, but I can't 'cause you've seen my day one photo. I couldn't even say that it was because of personal conviction or religious reasons. So what's my answer when I'm asked, "Why did you go vegetarian?"

"Just because." Two words. Sounds lame, doesn't it. I became a vegetarian just because. Literally just like that. I woke up the morning of December 31st two years ago and said to myself, "I should go vegetarian." When midnight struck on New Year's Eve, I began the year 2008 totally meatless.

There were probably tons of influencing factors in the decision, observations I had been quietly making in my subconscious until one day it all coalesced into one thought that pushed me in a certain direction. All I know was that this was the path my journey in this life was taking. No other reason.

And my adventure continues.

Day 55: Raw Power Will Surely Come Running To You

I think I'm getting decidedly lazy on the PCP. Well, it's either that or it may be that my taste buds are changing.

At the beginning of PCP, each weekend I would diligently steam a ginormous batch of vegetables to be used the following week. Between the chopping and the steaming, the whole process would take a couple or so hours, but by the time I was done I would have a huge Tupperware That's-A-Bowl full of steamed veggies.

Nowadays, not so much. Now I'm crazy into raw veggies, especially for lunch. I have been enjoying the crisp crunch of green, red, orange, yellow, and banana peppers over the past week and so far I haven't gotten enough of them. I'm weird that way. If I really enjoy something, I'll eat it for days on end. It'll take a while before I'll get tired of it.

It just boggles my mind. Before this program you could barely get me to eat a raw veggie. A cheese-covered veggie—sure! A cream-sauce covered veggie—absolutely! A deep-fried veggie—most assuredly. A raw veggie? Take that thing away and don't come back with it until it's thoroughly cooked and covered in goop!

Strangely enough, I'm enjoying a lot of things without any doctoring. I love my spices, don't get me wrong, but right now just give it to me plain. The natural flavors of the food is really exciting me. Give it to me raw!

Day 54: Clothes Aren't What They Use To Be

Did you know that clothing lies? I'm not talking about the clothing industry, which keeps changing its sizes to help overweight American to feel better about their waistlines, but the clothing itself.

In another spurt of house cleaning, I decided to clean out my closet and start putting away my clothing that has now gotten way too big, like my size 36 pants. Luckily I still kept some of my old size 32 and size 34 items. They were one of those things that I kept "just in case" hoping that one day I would I return to those sizes again. For the longest time it always seemed to be a pipe dream that would never happen, so it put a smile on my face to see the actual realization of that day!

That was when I discovered that clothing lies.

I was grabbing a pair of my favorite cargo jeans, wistfully sighing that they had to go away because they were now way too big. Before putting them into the "going away" pile, I took one last look at the tag which listed it's size. It was a 34. I paused. Wait a moment, I thought to myself, I still fit a size 34. 34's may be a little baggy, but not as bad as a size 36. What is going on here?

I had bought the cargo jeans when I was a size 34 and wore them all the time even as my waist increased in size. Who knew that jeans could stretch? Denim is suppose to extremely rugged stuff and able to survive some of the roughest conditions, and yet my waistline had stretched them out. Amazing!

Well, the clothing has been sorted and soon the stuff that's too big will be going away. No, I am not going to pack it up and store it. I do not want to keep that clothing "just in case" because I do not even want to contemplate the "just in case". I am working too hard on my body, mind, and habits to even leave room for "just in case".

So for now I have a set of clothing that I can fit for the interim. The holidays and my birthday will be coming up in just a couple of months. I think I already know what I want to put on my wish list. I'm gonna be stylin'!

Day 53: And Anyone Who's Young And Healthy Knows That That's The Way The Traffic Flows

Day 52: Flash! A-ah! King Of The Impossible!

Gotta say, I'm still lovin' the ropes! This morning I attempted a Double-Cross (which starts out like a Front Cross, only you jump the rope while you're arms are still crossed) and managed to do two jumps through with that move. I am so stoked! There's still a lot more practice to do in order to get them perfect. Someday that will occur—right along with being able to jump without getting tangled in the rope.

Tonight I finally tried to do a "big boy" pull-up instead of the inclined. Nope. There's still no "up" there. A lot of swinging though. I ended up sort of standing on the points of my toes (like a ballerina) and hauling my carcass up to the damn bar. I couldn't get my face anywhere near it, but there was some upward motion. The best part was that my arms were doing most of the work. The toes really afforded more stability than anything (since it's hard to push yourself up when you're standing on point.)

The Kung-Fu sit-ups were also a bit of a challenge. I swear I must have the longest freakin' arms in the history of mankind. I hang from the bar and my knees aren't that far from the floor, and I've got it secured almost at the top of the door jam. So it means that I really can't hang from the bar like the picture shows and lift my legs—not a very far distance for my legs to get off the ground. Instead, I kept my knees bent and lifted my legs that way.

Today was also the second day I've encountered this strange burst of energy. After the strength exercises I was making dinner, packing tomorrow's lunch, boiling eggs, taking out the trash and recycling, washing dishes, etc., and it almost felt like I was doing it all simultaneously! Like I was the Flash or something! I think I'll enjoy the energy while it's around.

Day 51: But If You're Smart You'll Learn Your Lessons Well

Today I was very off-kilter and out-of-sorts, and yet there was a lesson (or two) to be learned.

The day began with me weighing myself. I don't know why, but I always do that on Sunday. Over the past few weeks I had been pleased seeing three pounds dropping off almost consistently. That was until this morning. Only one pound. I got off the scale and got back on. Still only one pound. Just because the first two times didn't get me the result I wanted, I tried for a third. Still only one pound.

That set the tone for the day. I was not a happy camper. Mentally I knew that there could be many reasons why it was only one pound, like gaining muscle mass or hitting a plateau. Plus I have experienced the moments where my clothes are looser and I'm actually seeing that my chest is not wobbling anymore. But nothing could sway the funk that I had put my mind in.

I immediately did my jump ropes right after that revelation. It was as much of a blast today as it was yesterday—maybe even better. I was able to hop on each foot separately for at least ten jumps, managed to do more front crosses, and even did a whole routine (5x jumps, 5x right, 5x jumps, 5x left, 5x jumps, 1 front cross, 5x jumps) with nary a trip!

Then my day went wonky. I had breakfast, read the paper, then immediately went into housekeeping mode. Did I have energy? Oh hells yeah! Talk about multi-tasking! I went through this whole house, from doing laundry in the basement, to cleaning the kitchen, living room and dining room on the first floor, to making the beds on the second floor, to putting things away in the attic on the third floor. I was a cleaning fool.

Unfortunately for me, when I get in the zone like that, I lose all track of time. It was almost 2pm before I had realized I missed both my 10am snack and my 1pm lunch. A quick pause for the snack, then clean some more. Lunch didn't occur until around 4pm. Afternoon snack happened around 6pm.

By that time I had to walk to the store to pick up more food. When I got back, I immediately turned my attention to washing the dishes, which pushed my strength exercises even later (8:30pm), then dinner (9:15pm), packing my lunch for tomorrow, and evening snack (10pm).

The lessons I learned:

(1) Only you can choose your mental state. Even though I remembered all the things Patrick had said about the project, specifically the part about not paying attention to the numbers on the scale, I allowed myself to be disappointed by the one thing I was not suppose to focus on, which in turn made for a crummy morning.

(2) Don't mess up your damn meal schedule. One of the reasons for jumping rope in the morning is so that your body can be very efficient at using the fuel that it's given, especially from morning to lunch. If you push your meal schedule off to where everything is in the afternoon, then you've just lost all that excellent burning power and eventually will be cramming the food in when the body is starting to slow down for the night in preparation for sleep.

(3) Get lots of sleep, optimally eight hours. Which breaks down to the fact that I really need to stop writing and crawl into bed so I can be ready for more jump rope fun in the morning.

So, I'm going to now heed lesson number three and sign off.

Day 50: Well There's Nothing To Lose And Nothing To Prove I'll Be Dancing With Myself

I am so liking timed jumps! No more having to count each and every jump until I get to some astronomical number—although the accomplished feat would impress my friends. "You did how many jumps?!?"

Okay, even though I was looking forward it, on the first day I wasn't so thrilled with the timed thing. When you read it on paper, two minutes doesn't seem like a long time—that is until you start jumping. Then it can feel like forever.

So today I started to play around with it a bit and try out some new jump rope moves. These are things I could never do during the previous weeks because I had been concentrating quite hard on remembering the jump number I was on. ("Was this jump number eighty-five or eighty-six?") When it's timed, you don't need to concentrate on the number of jumps you're doing—you just gotta jump!

I tried to double jump (where you put in an extra hop just before jumping the rope), and hopping on just the right foot, then hopping on the left foot, hopping side to side, hopping in a circle (unsuccessfully, though I did make a quarter turn), and even trying a front cross.

(A word to the wise: make sure you're away from anything breakable when doing the front cross. When you cross your arms, the rope is a little bit longer than you think. I wiped out my counting stones that I had set on the mantle when I tried it the first time. Sent them flying all over the room. Who knew that you could get shrapnel from jumping rope?!?)

Playing around with different jump moves really made the time fly! Before I knew it, two minutes was up and I couldn't wait to start on the next set of two minutes so I could play again! (I'm not sure how long a break there is suppose to be between the two minute sets. I usually began the next one in about 30 seconds after the last one.)

That was a lot of fun and I can't wait to do it again! In the meantime, here are a couple of guys with mad jump rope skills.

Day 49: What A Splendid Pie, Pizza-Pizza Pie

The email said that it was time for indulgence number two. I didn't need to wait and figure out what I wanted to have this time around. I knew immediately. Actually, I've known what I wanted for about a couple weeks now.

The tasty little morsel that you see before you is one slice of the best "chicken wing" pizza and Oreo Cookies & Cream shakes that I have ever had from my favorite vegan restaurant, Stong Hearts Cafe. (I felt like having something spicy and something sweet.)

I discovered Strong Hearts about a year ago and instantly fell in love with it. The food is phenominal, the atmosphere is so comfortable and welcoming, and you just can't beat the hours! Socially and environmentally conscientious dinning! Gotta love it!

Their main menu is available all the time, except on Friday nights—that's when it becomes only pizza all night long. Granted, the cost of a pizza is a little pricier than what you can get from Dominoes or Papa Johns or Pizza Hut, which means it's one of those rare treats. (Last time I had a pizza from them was about six months ago.) However, it is far far better than any of those other pizza places could dream of.

The "chicken wing" pizza has hot sauce baked right into the crust with soy "bleu cheese" and soy "chicken" strips, which have been marinated in hot sauce, on top. The Oreo Cookies & Cream shake is made with soy milk cream and, well, Oreos.

Needless to say, the experience was divine! I ate the pizza first and considered taking another slice ('cause I had a whole 12-inch pizza there), but decided not to because I still had the shake to consume. The Oreo Cookies & Cream shake was tasty, but the thrill of it was wearing off by the time I got to the bottom of the cup.

The surprising thing was that I felt full after just those two items. I wasn't stuffed, I was satisfied. That was a big change from before, when I could easily polish off 4 of the 6 slices of pizza and still drink a whole shake. Yeah, I could stuff myself like a Thanksgiving turkey and still cram in more even though my stomach was signalling that it was overfull. Mainly that was because in most of those cases everyone brought tons of food, so it was there and it was free and it was easily accessible (i.e. I didn't have to take the time to prepare it, or measure it out, and everyone wants to take home an empty dish). It's different to actually think about how much you're eating, why you're eating it, considering whether or not you really want to eat it, and questioning if you should really eat more.

The nice part was that the "full" feeling lasted for the whole evening so I really didn't have the inclination or desire to eat anything else. The not-so-nice part was that I think some of the "full" feeling was gas, 'cause I was gassy the rest of the night. Then around 11pm I got real sleepy and went to bed while my partner and a friend of ours, who was over to visit, stayed up for a bit longer. (They made sure to polish off the rest of the pizza so there wasn't anything sitting in fridge to tempt me.)

Alas, "chicken wing" pizza—'twill be a while 'ere I may enjoy thee again!

Day 48: The Secret Of My Success Is I'm Living 25 Hours A Day

Planks. I absolutely hate them. Probably more than I hate the Implement of Torture first jump rope I had. Every day I see them on the workout sheet I cringe with fear and dread—and yet I still do them. Why? Because they are there.

The best part is always afterwards when I lay on the mat in a quivering mass and I think to myself, I nailed it! I did four sets of these SOBs at one minute each and I lived to tell the tale!

There are still some exercises I wish I could accomplish to their fullest extent, but no matter how hard I want to or how hard I try, I can't. It's the tough moments like those when I have to lift my spirits and say to myself, Hey, you did great! Sure you may not have done all the reps, but you did at least one more than you did last time! That's still a success!

Success doesn't always have to be big. Little steps can be just as important. A penny doesn't look like much on its own, but you add it to a jar full of pennies and it looks like a lot! Take it one day at a time.

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts." —Sir Winston Churchill

Day 47: Listen To The Doctor Just Like You Ought To

I went to see my doctor today. It was just a follow-up visit and no biggie, plus they gave me a regular flu shot, so hopefully that will help prevent some of the illnesses out there. (The flu season earlier this year was pretty nasty as it wiped out half of the staff in our building all at once!)

Actually, I pretty confident that my health will be relatively good in the coming months. Eating whole foods and getting rid of most of the additives and preservatives should help to boost my immune system so it can fight off most of those nasty bugs out there.

Every time I go to the doctor's office, they take my blood pressure. I'm not sure how it is at other places, but my doctor always lets me know what the reading is. For years my blood pressure was a pretty regular 120/70; however back it March it had jumped up to a not so good level. (130/?—unfortunately, I can't remember what the other number was, but I know he was a little concerned. Of course, such factors as it was during the most stressful time of the year for my job and the fact that I had just driven through a snow storm to get there could have added some more factors into it.)

My last visit to the doctor before PCP, my blood pressure had dropped some but not to my usual 120/70. Better, but not ideal. Today, my blood pressure was 112/71, which is almost a normal average! Those are numbers I like to hear!

While on the PCP, I also had a PSA done, which is a blood test to help try and detect early stages of prostate cancer. A range of 0.01 - 4.00 is considered normal, and my result was a 1.28—well within the normal range!

Soon to come is a full physical. Yeah, I'm getting up there in age so I'm sure my doctor will be requesting them more and more. But I'm not too worried. I am feeling the best I have in years and I plan on it staying that way!

Day 46: Entr'acte

Sometimes there it seems every single moment is booked with one activity or another. It's these type of days that can threaten a PCP meal because you just don't have the time to prepare it. Here's a couple of products that may help in your quest to stay on PCP and not spend a lot of time in preparation.

Muir Glen is a company that focus's on organic food, specifically tomatoes. Unfortunately, many of their tomato products can contain non-PCP friendly ingredients, like salt and sugar. However, their canned Diced Tomatoes No Salt Added seems to be a perfect fit for a PCP world. The only ingredients it contains are "organically grown and processed tomatoes and tomato juice, naturally derived citric acid and calcium chloride." So, if you're in a pinch for tomatoes for your meal, this could be a good help.

Peter Rabbit Organics produces a handy-dandy little pouch of fruit which is perfect for someone on the go! The pouch contains 100g of fruit and I know that for some of us this is the perfect PCP portion size. The best part is that there are no additives, no preservatives, no added salt, and no added sugar. The only ingredient is 100% fruit! (And they list exactly what percentage of each type of fruit the pouches contain.) They come in three flavors: Apple and Grape, Strawberry and Banana, and Mango, Banana, and Orange. The last one is my favorite!

Granted, it is pureed fruit so it looks like baby food—and it doesn't help that it can be found in the baby food section of the store, but this is a handy little package that can be thrown in a lunch bag, back pack, or purse and it doesn't need refrigeration until it is opened. You can enjoy it right out of the pouch or mix it in with your plain yogurt, which is my favorite way.

There you have it. A couple of ideas to help you fix your PCP meals a little quicker when you're on the go!

Day 45: Intermission

I can't believe we're at the halfway point. It seemed so far away when Day 1 began, almost like a dream—and yet here we are!

It seems to be a good point to look back and reflect upon what I've learned so far. Yes, there are still many days to go until that Day 90 goal, but it's always good to stop once in a while and take stock of everything that's occurred up to that point.

I will have to say that the meal plan was probably the easiest part so far. Simple foods and simple ways to measure the amounts. I like simple things! It has also been a huge eye-opener to the world around me. The things that people eat. The amounts that people eat! Sometimes it feels like a decade ago that I was once like them. Then there are those moments when my body just can't wait for Day 90 so it can gorge itself on all the foods that it has been force to look at and not taste. The urges aren't bad, but they are still there. I am hoping they totally go away by the end of the program.

The strength exercises aren't that bad, for the most part. There are some that I really would love to see disappear, but I don't think that will be happening anytime soon. Almost every diet I have ever been on always included the strength exercises, so I'm pretty use to them.

Now the jump rope is a whole different story! I've had this whole love/hate relationship going on with them. I absolutely hated the first Implement of Torture jump rope I had and I'm pretty sure it had its own designs to do me in. The second and third jump ropes were far better. My knees also didn't like jumping the rope for the longest time. It's taken me this long to actually be able to jump without pain. For a while there, I didn't think I was going to make it. I am getting to the point where I don't mind jumping rope so much, although I can't wait for Friday! I'm getting a little tired of the "see how many jumps you can do" bit and in just a few days it's going to be something different—timed jumps!

There is a pretty good sized time commitment required. Sometimes there just isn't time to see friends or do something other than cook, exercise, and blog. It hasn't been too horrible because it also means that you need step away from the hustle and bustle of the world to take moments and concentrate on life. Many times there are points during the exercises that I feel like I'm doing a form of meditation, especially during the sit-ups. It's kind of refreshing.

Rest is a huge part of the program. If I don't get enough sleep from the night before, it makes the whole day drag. And when the day drags, I really don't want to exercise. Sometimes I'm able to get lots of rest, and other days no so much. This is one area that I'll definitely need to work on.

PCP is not always the most thrilling thing in my life. There are some days that I really want to work out and I'll get miserable if anything dares interrupt my plan! Then there are the other days where I just want to just trash the whole thing and do something fun. Those days are the hardest because you just have to put your head down, shoulder to the grindstone, and just exercise. Nobody promised it was going to be fun. I had all the fun before which got me to the point where I was at when the program began. Now comes the hard work to undo all the damage that was done.

So yeah, it's not fun, but it is totally worth it. I know where I want to be at the end of the ninety days, and I can see and feel the little changes that are happening every week. I am amazed at what I've been able to do so far. Can't wait to see what happens next!

Day 44: We Are A Family Like A Giant Tree Branching Out Towards The Sky

My parents came into town today so we could go to a "family reunion" picnic. The odd thing about the picnic is that it's not our immediate family, but a huge multi-generational multi-family event. The only thing that we have in common is my great-great-great-great grandfather.

This long distant relative is on my mother's side of the family. During his late teens, he left his family in Germany and traveled across the water to come to this country during the time of the Revolutionary War. He wanted to go to college in New York City. While he was a student there, he heard General Washington speak and decided to help the colonies fight for their independence from Britain. So he left college and became a soldier.

After the war, he was awarded a parcel of land in New York State and he decided settled there. (Many soldiers sold their awarded properties to get the cash.) He had nine children and lived a very long life.

About a couple of years ago, some of his descendants decided to try and gather as many people together who came from the same family and start piecing the genealogy together. I happened to come across the information in our local newspaper and immediately contacted my mother because she's interested in family history. It was a huge gathering and we met many distant relatives!

This year was a bit smaller, but still is interesting seeing the older generation getting together and telling their stories. It's amazing to see exactly how many branches of this family sprang from just one man!

That is one of my goals—to be around years from now in my best health to tell stories about my family to the younger generations. I have some long-lived relatives, and I want to be one of them. This is one of the reasons why wellness is important to me.

Day 43: Fifteenth Floor I'm Ready To Drag, I Get To The Top And I'm Too Tired To Rock

Dragging is the word for the day, closely followed by off-schedule. That's how it's going.

The drive-in was fun last night, but there is a terrible price to pay and it's not the admission fee. We stayed to watch two of the three movies offered and left before the third started. Unfortunately, that meant we didn't get home until one in the morning. Which also meant that I didn't get up until 9am, thus throwing my meal schedule off.

Shortly after breakfast, I had to pack my snacks and lunch and dash off to chorus rehearsal, which lasted all afternoon. This was followed by a run to the grocery store to pick up more food and then finally home. Exercises occurred in the evening and I just wasn't up to par. Really, really dragging.

Afterwards I had my dinner, my snack, and then it will be shortly off to bed as I am thoroughly exhausted. I'm so glad I don't go to the drive-in every Friday night!

Day 42: So Long And Thanks For All The Fish

Forty-two. It is the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything. Now if only we knew what the question was! (Sorry. Geek moment there.)

It's the end of another PCP week. I completed the 1500 jumps first thing this morning in pretty good form. Yeah, I'm still tripping over it, but at least I'm getting more consistent at the number of jumps without a stumble. Legs are still doing great, so I'll call it a win in my book.

I find that even though I'm on the same meal plan for the whole week, by Friday I always hit the point where I'm hungry at lunch. I have no problem all week, just on Fridays. That just seems weird to me. On Saturday we'll get new amounts (which are usually less) and my stomach will be just happy and content—that is until the following Friday.

Tomorrow starts the new PCP week. I wonder what surprises/horrors Patrick will unleash on us next. (Please don't say more Planks. Please don't say more Planks. Please don't say more Planks.)

Everyone have a great weekend and keep up to good work!

Day 41: As We Dance To The Masochism Tango

I swear I must be a masochist. I always seem to be either finding myself in or putting myself into situations that will test my resolve to stay on the PCP. So far there has been: camping, free ice cream day, a wedding, a weekend in a cabin, and the state fair. Tomorrow, two more will be added to the list.

Tonight I have just finished making a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting to bring to a baby shower tomorrow at work. Food days at work are always a dangerous thing and my desk is next to the table they use to put all the food! Sometimes I wish they could move my desk to another location. Unfortunately, there is no other location so I'll have to rely on willpower.

Tomorrow evening a gang of us are going to a drive-in to see a couple movies. Drive-in food is just slightly a step above state fair food and a step below fast food. However, the smell is in the air and you can't always escape from it.

At least I know how to handle a portion of the food out there. When I became a vegetarian I had to face a number of months where the smell of cooked meat still enticed me. Heck, it's been almost two years and there are moments when barbecue something or other still triggers a response from my tastebuds.

Being on the PCP isn't so much a different process than becoming a vegetarian. In many ways they're the same—learning how to live in a whole new way and overcoming some pre-conceived notions that have been drilled into us.

When I went veggie, I face much opposition and questioning from people. In almost all cases, the viewpoint was that I would get deathly ill because I wasn't eating meat. I got the same type of response when I came out. Being gay meant that I was going to get sick and die. People seem to have the same reaction with this program, as Melanie experienced. Heaven forbid someone venture out of the public conscientiousness "comfort zone"!

So off I'll go with my little bag packed with PCP-friendly foods, regardless of what anyone else thinks. Some may think that I am a masochist by placing myself in situations that will "torture" me. I view myself more of an explorer, traveling to places others won't dare and making myself a stronger individual because of it.

Day 40: The Coincidence Of Chance

This is the day that I mix everything around!

For the past few weeks I had been breaking my exercises into two groups. The strength exercises I did first thing in the morning when I got up and the jump rope after I got home from work. I was doing it this way for two reasons: (1) because I'm just use to doing exercises in the morning when I get up and (2) because the jump rope always killed my knees and each session was usually followed by an hour or so of elevating and putting ice on them. (Not a very practical practice when trying to get to work in the morning.)

It seems I had the right idea, just the wrong direction. To lose the fat, the jump rope should be in the morning and to gain muscle the strength exercises should be in the evening. Who knew?

Today I switched the exercises around. It is a little difficult jumping rope shortly after getting up, so the first couple hundred weren't the smoothest. Well, none of my jumps are really all that smooth, but this was rougher than normal. Once I got into the groove of it, it wasn't all too bad. (Oh, and for those of you who have been keeping track, I did it all without any knee braces and there was no pain! What joy!)

The strength exercises were done in the evening, and I don't know why but they seemed to move faster than usual. When I looked at the clock after I finished, it still took me the same amount of time—it just seemed quicker.

So I had the right track, just the wrong train!

Another seeming bizarre coincidence came about after our email. On Sunday I went out grocery shopping for more food, 'cause I seem to be doing that a lot lately. (I'm almost up to a carton of eggs a day!) Well, I wanted to find a new grain to try out, beyond the typical pasta and rice, and I came across this beauty:

Multi-colored couscous! (Tomato & Spinach provide the extra colors.) It cooks up quite beautifully:

And it just seems funny that our email just happens to mention how wonderful couscous is. That was just too bizarre.

Day 39: Unction Of The Adipose

As Patrick mentioned in one of his emails, we're now at the point of trying to get rid of the "sticky fat" that is hanging around our mid-sections—the adipose tissue.

In the British television series, Doctor Who, a company called Adipose Industries promised to get rid of the fat in just three weeks. Of course, there is always a hidden agenda...

Yup. I guess a healthy diet and exercise is still the only way to get rid of the stuff.

Day 38: Take Me Through The Gates Of Hell And You Can See I Will Survive

Today we went to the State Fair on it's closing day. This is an annual ritual for us. If you've never been to one, here are some photos so you can see what a gastronomic nightmare a place like this can be!

This is one of the first sights you see upon arrival. I thought it was just fitting that the demonic clown face sat between the ice cream cone and the fried dough stand.

Practically every row at the State Fair looks just like this one. It's just rows and rows of places serving every bit of unhealthy food imaginable. And don't think people haven't imagined it!

If it can be deep fried, they'll do it! Oreos, Snicker's bars, apple pie, pizza, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches...

...even cheesecake. (I was thinking of you, Jess, when I saw this one. Imagine the reaction if your indulgence had been this!)

And if you run out of cash—no worry! Our friendly fast food vendors even offer ATM service right at their stands!

There are so many tempting choices, and they'll sell it to you real cheap! Heck, they'll even throw in a free sample to get you hooked! Is it any wonder that people in this country are getting overweight?

I was one of those people who would enter the fair grounds with cash in my pockets and I'd eat my way through it, literally. By the end of the day when it was time to go home I didn't even need to bother with eating dinner, let alone lunch. I was usually pretty stuffed when I left.

Not this year. I packed my PCP meal (two snacks and lunch) and carried it with me throughout the fair. Did the food look tempting? Sometimes, until I thought about all that greasiness running rampant through my body. Besides, I like having my yogurt and grapes or blueberries. Much better than any deep fried crap any day!

Now some may be asking, "Why did you go to the fair? Was it only to torture yourself with the things you can't have?" Why no. If you make it outside the realm of the food vendors (and they do take up a good portion of the fair) there are other attractions there! Games, rides, shows, exhibits, animals, and so on. A person can have an absolutely wonderful time without increasing the size of their gut!

I have walked through the gates of hell and I'm better person for it.

Day 37: I Don't Care What You Say Anymore, This Is My Life

It seems it's been quite a while since the last time I hung out with friends. Oh yeah, it has—back during Week 1!

These past few weeks have just been absolutely busy. Every weekend has been booked solid and every weekday is filled with work or something having to do with PCP (like jumping rope, or preparing the next day's lunch, or updating this blog). So things like friends and socialization have fallen a bit on the wayside.

Yesterday I managed to see my friends and sit around a campfire doing nothing. It's the first time I've seen most of them in about five weeks. I walked into the camp, they all greeted me, and we sat and talked and laughed for the rest of the time I was there.

Five weeks. I have lost about thirteen pounds. My clothes are quite a bit baggier on me (I'm starting to fit pants that are two sizes smaller). And nobody said a damn thing about how I looked. Nothing. About the only comment I received that even had some connection to the PCP was the disapproving aside about my meals compared to what they were eating. (I had measured and packed everything so I could be there and still follow my PCP meal plan.) Now the food they were eating wasn't all bad, but my meal definitely looked meager to the copious amounts they were consuming.

I didn't let that ruin my day, but I can't say I wasn't a little disappointed. I still had a good time with them, I guess I was just hoping for someone to say, "Hey, you're looking good!" especially since I hadn't seen them in so long. Guess I'm the only one who's seeing the changes. That's okay—I'm the only one who counts.

Day 36: Work It, Make It, Do It, Makes Us Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

Some of the new exercises this week are absolutely brutal! The "Bicycle" was a killer. I'd start out just fine, then the legs would drop further and further until I couldn't keep them up and going anymore. Forty seconds? Ha! I could barely make it to twenty without my legs dying on me. I unsuccessfully struggled like anything to keep them up in the air and pedaling.

Following that up with the "Plank" and you've got a recipe for a quivering, blubbery mass. The picture looks so easy, what with Patrick's hands just straight out like that. Not me! My hands are balled up into fists like I'm holding on to two spikes driven into the ground for dear life. Each time I barely made it to forty seconds, but I can't say there wasn't a lot of grunting and cursing going on.

Like the "Double Katana", I couldn't do the "Shoulder Press" standing up. I'm not sure if it's because of how long the band is or if it's just me. However, sitting down with the band under the chair worked quite well. I could actually perform the exercise without sacrificing the resistance.

I get the feeling I'll never perform a "Pull-Up". I loved the Monkey Bars at the playground when I was a kid, but I could never manage a pull-up. "Hang-And-Flail-Your-Feet" was more like what I could accomplish. Even today I can still do that move quite well. I can't do a pull-up no matter how I try.

I'm still doing the "Incline Pull-Up"—or as I like to call it, the "Dangle and Drop." Today I almost got to my chin to the bar twice, with "almost" being the operative word. Actually I got closer than I had ever been since we started the "Incline Pull-Ups." The rest of the time was used by having me struggle to lift my body off the floor.

After hearing about the horrors of the "Pistol Squat", I was a little nervous about starting them. Today was the first day we got to do the exercise. It was incredibly easy, which I knew meant that I was doing something wrong. I'm not sure what it is. I look at the picture and I'm sure I'm following Patrick's positioning exactly, but it was still seemed too easy. I finished the sets without figuring out what I was doing wrong. Tomorrow with be another round of "Pistol Squats" so I'll have another chance to figure out what I'm messing up.

Day 35: Money, Money, Money, It's Always Sunny, In A Rich Man's World

I was surprised to open my wallet today and discover that there are eight one dollar bills in there. As I puzzled over where it came from, I realized that those eight bills have been there for almost three or four weeks now. Although it may seem to be unremarkable to anyone else, it means all the world to me.

I usually don't carry cash around with me, and I haven't for years. I tend to use my debit card for everything. If I ever did find money in my pockets, it was never a lengthy visitor. Sometimes I would join my co-workers and order lunch from some local eatery. (Some of them order out every day!) However, my vice of choice was often the vending machines in the lunch room. There's nothing healthy in those things—they're loaded with sodas and chips and candy bars. But that didn't stop me. If I had the dough, I would spend it on some junk snack like an addict getting a quick fix.

Which is why I was surprised to find eight dollars in my wallet. I wasn't use to it still being there. This is one of the many positive benefits of PCP—I'm not sinking money into that boxy black hole of illness. I am eight dollars richer than I thought I was and my body is a million times better for it!

Day 34: We Have To Deal With This Frustration To Feel Free

Today I am having a major attack of frustration. Strangely enough, the frustration isn't towards PCP—it's directed at life and a couple of curve balls that were thrown at me.

Unfortunately, this week I had a deadline and my solution was to stay up late a number of nights to finish it. I know it would be easy to say that the situation caused me to have the late nights—but that's not the way it works. There were things I could have done to prevent the last minute push but I chose to focus my attention on something else. Needless to say, the end result was that I have been feeling sluggish both physically and mentally over the past few days.

There's a meeting tonight that I normally would attend, but since it's usually not vital for me to be there, I was going to skip it. The plan for tonight was to do my jumps, have dinner, rest a bit, eat my snack and go to bed at a reasonable time so I could get a full eight hours of sleep.

The thing about plans is that they often change.

Although I didn't need to be at the meeting, my project did. I had already made arrangements for someone else to bring the stuff to it so I could stay home and exercise. At the last minute, that person cancelled.

This meant I had to go. In the few minutes I had to spare, I quickly whipped up my PCP dinner. (Thankfully I already have all the fixin's premade and sitting in my fridge. All I have to do is measure and assemble.) Then it was out the door and race to the meeting.

Two and a half hours later, I just got back home. There's barely enough time for me to eat my snack and climb into bed at a reasonable time so I can get some real sleep. Well, that and to quickly vent my frustration at not being able to jump rope.

That's just weird. I actually want to jump rope? Who'da thunk it?!

Day 33: R. E. S. C. U. E. Me, Only You Can Rescue Me

It's Culinary Rescue Time! Here are some more ideas to help your PCP meals. (Thanks Amy, for getting the creative ideas flowing!)

Bored with plain milk? Add it to tea! Celestial Seasonings offers a wide variety of Chai Spice teas. Just make a cup of tea, add some milk to it, and a little bit of honey. It makes a very refreshing beverage!

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Yogurt and fruit are just naturals together, but what to you do when you're given vegetables to go with your plain yogurt? That's easy. Make a veggie dip! Mix some of your favorite spices into the plain yogurt and serve it with a bunch of raw veggies. Here's a recipe to get you started:

1 cup yogurt
1/2 Tbsp minced dry onion
1/2 Tbsp parsley
1/2 Tbsp dill weed
1/8 tsp minced garlic

Blend all ingredients together. Keep refrigerated until ready to use.

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Plain hard boiled egg whites can be pretty bland. Liven your lunch a bit by making some pseudo-egg salad sandwiches! Just take your hard-boiled eggs whites and chop them into small pieces. (An egg slicer does this quite well.) Take a bit of mustard and mix it all together. Spread the mixture between two slices of bread.

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If you don't like wasting food by throwing away all of those egg yolks, here is a product that could be helpful: Egg Beaters 100% Whites. Just 3 tablespoons equals the egg white from 1 large egg. The best part of all: it only has one ingredient—egg whites! No chemicals, no additives, no preservatives, no nothing! Just pour into a skillet, cook, and enjoy!

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Marinades and rubs are great to turn plain chicken and fish into something exotic. The trick is that you will want to make these yourself in order to keep them on level with PCP.

Marinade:

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic, crushed
3 tablespoons fresh or dried rosemary leaves
Ground pepper to taste

Mix all the ingredients together. Add meat and marinate for several hours or overnight.

Rub:

1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp onion powder
1 Tbsp thyme
1 Tbsp rosemary
1 Tbsp grated lemon or orange peel
1 Tbsp black pepper

Mix together. This makes a great seasoning for fish or chicken. For a little more zing, rub a thin layer or Dijon mustard on the meat before sprinkling the seasoning on and rubbing in.

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That's about it for now. As always, play around with the ingredients until you find something that tickles your palate. Remember: Spices are your PCP friends!

Day 32: It's A Miracle, A True Blue Spectacle, A Miracle Come True

I can't believe it! I truly can not believe it! I managed to do 1,350 jumps—not perfectly, but smoother than I have ever done before. That's not the amazing part, though. This is: I was able to walk with very little knee pain. I mean, so little that I didn't have to put ice on them or anything! Hell, yeah! I was jumping around the backyard, screaming at the top of my lungs,

"I'm the King of the World!"

I am now working with J-Rope Mark 3 which I picked up last night. I think the combination of my legs getting a bit of jumping rest this past weekend, starting off with a rope fitted for me, and changing the way I jump based upon the suggestions that Patrick gave in his email made this miracle occur.

I was finally managing to hit at least 50 jumps in a row consistently. My legs weren't feeling as tired as they had previously. The jumps didn't seem to require as much effort as before. I swear I feel like I could've continued past 1,350. It was a beautiful thing!

However, I'm not ready to give up the "Bionic Knees". Not just yet. Maybe after a few more wonderful days like this I will, but not now. For the time being, I'll still wear the braces.

This was so cool!