The Peak Condition Project - E

Day 92: End Title

2009-11-01T16:33:00.000-08:00

Well, this is it—my final post to this blog, which has been a part of my life for three full months. What can I say—it has been an incredible journey!

I know the question on everyone's mind is: "Did E manage to survive Halloween or was the temptation so great that he succumb to the delectable heavenly sweetness of sugar and carbs to the point where they had to roll him home like the Blueberry Girl from Willy Wonka?"

Actually, it wasn't as bad as I was worried I might be. Yeah, I had some of the bad non-PCP food, but not a lot of it. My body knew when to stop with the junk and dive right into the veggies! I even had a small sip of wine, and that was enough for me.

I managed to take a full couple days off away from the PCP, but I felt very antsy during that time. Amazing how rested and relaxed one can feel after doing exercises!! Yeah, there's not going to be much sitting still for me anymore! Thank goodness!

Okay, okay. I know this is the moment that everyone has been waiting for—the obligatory pants shot! Well, here they are: two of my most favorite pants now rendered obsolete by the shrinking waistline. Gotta love it!

There's still a ways to go before I get into peak condition, but at least the foundation has been laid. Heck, right now I'm happy to be a few sizes smaller than I started. The abs and pecks will come eventually, but I'm up for the challenge!

Unfortunately, it's time for our paths to diverge and this chapter of my journey to close. Oh, I'll still be lurking around here to watch the last 2009 group of PCPers complete this adventure. Hey, I'll probably still make a comment or two (or five), but this will be it for a regular post in this forum. However, you can still get your dose of E on my brand new blog as my story continues Beyond The Peak.

To Anshuman, Mike, and Jessica—we crossed the finish line! It was a privilege to be your friend and part of your team for the past 90 days. Now it feels as though summer camp is over and it's time for us to go home. Keep rockin' the PCP guys!

Of course, I can't totally sign off without giving big kudos to Patrick and Chen for this program. Yeah, at times it was tough and exhausting, and there were moments that I thought Patrick was completely off his rocker with some of those exercises, but it was well worth it. The support and care and—dare I say—love that you have put into this program really shows. It has been an honor and great pleasure working with you!!

So this is it. The last moment to impart some bit of wisdom to all future PCPers. There's no easy way to sum everything up into just a few short words. So my suggestion is that you go and read all the blogs of the past PCP participants. Each person brought their own unique story to this program and bravely bared themselves to the world. Share each worry, each tear, each frustration, each laugh, and each victory. This is a living tapestry that only gets richer with each person who passes this way, and it become all the more beautiful with each tale.

Of course, you know I can't end this without one final song:

That's a wrap! Roll credits!

—E

Day 91: Epilogue

2009-10-30T10:15:00.000-07:00

Today is all wrong. That just seems to be the best way to describe it. No jumps. No strength exercises. No measuring the food. No portion allotments. Nothing.

Although I was loathe to do so, I took a break from the PCP lifestyle due to much encouragement for the contrary. I guess the best way to think of is as another experiment in indulgences.

I hate it.

Last night I didn't pack my PCP lunch and snacks because there was going to be an all you can eat food fest (aka "Halloween Party") at work. That gave me quite a bit of extra time in the evening.

Normally I play with my j-rope in the morning. Not today. I had lots of free time to do—well—nothing. I felt very lost and drifting. I still had my PCP breakfast. I just couldn't take a break from the program for the whole day.

The "buffet table" at work was loaded with cakes, cookies, donuts, creamy-jello something, crab rangoons, full fat cheese, crackers, apple cider, and a tray of finger veggies. Pizza and wings was delivered for lunch.

So, what have I snacked on so far?

—Some swiss and munster cheese (about 7 pieces).
—One cracker.
—Two donut holes (a plain and a powdered).
—One mini-glazed donut.
—Two bites of a sugar donut. (The greasy flavor just got to me.)
—One mini-packet of peanut M&Ms.
—Three Halloween Oreos.
—Two squares of cheese pizza.
—Two cups of apple cider.
—One sliver of chocolate cake.
—A boatload of carrots, celery, and broccoli.

Right now my body is really upset with me. I can feel those non-PCP foods in my chest and my stomach and my arms and everywhere. They feel like sludge in my system. I'm sluggish and sleepy. I can't get the greasy, sugary, cloying feeling out of my mouth. I wish I had my veggies, yogurt, and eggs.

Unfortunately, there's another party to attend tonight. I'm suppose to take a break from the PCP Life for a day or two. I'm not sure that's going to happen. I can feel the PCP Life wanting to reassert itself and I don't know if I'm strong enough to prevent it from happening. I may need to succumb to it's siren song before long. I don't have that much willpower.

I guess this is perfect for Halloween. This is probably the most horrifying thing I've experienced in a long time!

Day 90: What's The Time? Zero Hour!

2009-10-29T17:13:00.000-07:00

Sorry about that. Had to indulge my "superhero" fantasy. Making it all the way to Day 90 really has made me feel like those cartoon idols I worshiped as a kid. I feel so much better than the average person!

Amazingly enough, the next couple of days will be the challenge to my new found super skills—immediately coming off the PCP and being tossed directly into not one, not two, but THREE Halloween parties which will be totally loaded with all the non-PCP friendly foods you could think of. Yeah. This is going to be like the ultimate test.

Stay tuned, for this is not the end!

Day 89: Harder Faster Better Stronger [T-Minus 1]

2009-10-28T18:35:00.000-07:00

I did it! I survived the super-set! Or maybe I should call it the super-duper-set! It's time for some silliness!!

I present to you a couple of videos with what could be a PCP anthem. The lyrics are:

Work it harder, make it better
Do it faster, makes us stronger
More than ever, hour after
Our work is never over.

First up is "Daft Hands":

And because there's always somebody out there who wants to take it to the next level, here's another variation complete with full body workout!

Day 88: It Takes Trust. It Takes Just A Bit More And We're Done. [T-Minus 2]

2009-10-27T18:26:00.000-07:00

The super-sets just whipped my butt tonight—especially the "V-Sit/Plank" combination. On the upside, it takes me a bit longer to reach failure! Plus, there's no worry about me going to bed earlier tonight. I am exhausted!

Every weekday morning I receive a Note from the Universe. It's a nice little spiritual or motivation message that often makes me think and contemplate. It's a nice way to start the day as I'm trying to get geared up for work. But every so often a letter comes through that just seems extraordinarily appropriate.

Today's missive was one of those.

"People who live only for dessert, E, very rarely enjoy the main course. And sometimes a meal is like life. Bon appétit, The Universe."

I take a look around at a number of my friends and I can see it so clearly. They race around looking for instant gratification, not taking a moment to enjoy the world around them. They don't want the journey, they want to be at the destination. They don't want to work hard for something. They prefer that someone give it to them. Their creedo is "Life is short. Eat dessert first!" And when we get together, you can see that motto in full force.

I was like that until about a couple years ago. Then I started slowing my life down. I appreciate the stuff that I have, but I really don't need the newest and best things. If anything, I'm starting to pare down. I don't need to race here and there—this moment is just as special as the moment I arrive at wherever I'm going. Working hard for something is far better than someone giving it to you—you have more appreciation of it because you know exactly what it took to get or create it. And the dessert isn't more spectacular than the meal—the dessert isn't what's going to sustain you, the well-balanced meal is. Plus the dessert usually only has one flavor, sweet, whereas the meal has a multitude depending on the combination of the items.

Journeys are never easy. There may be some moments when things go quite well, but there's always other moments that are a complete struggle. However, the one side compliments the other. Everyone wants to have that "easy road" and they don't want to face the "rough path". Why not? I am quite certain that tougher route is going to give you far more stories to tell and a greater appreciation of what you accomplished than any fast lane to the big time.

A friend of mine complained today about going to the gym. "Why can't it be fun? Why does it always have to be work?" she moaned. I couldn't respond to her. She won't listen. She hasn't heard a word I've said to her all the time I've been on this program.

If it were fun, then everyone would in Peak Condition. But it's not. It's hard work. You have to sweat, and strain, and sacrifice, and sometimes slog through it—but in the end, the results are so worth it. "Fun" is what got you out of shape in the first place. That was the easy road. PCP is the rough path. I felt every one of those damn bumps, but by god I made it. It's an achievement to be proud of. I did it. No one waved their magic wand and made me healthier. I did it. And I've got some great stories. Some I've shared already, others are still on their way.

At the beginning I wasn't sure how I was going to accomplish this goal that I had set before me. There were just some days when it looked totally impossible. As I near the end of this journey, I look back and smile. It was one helluva ride, but damn it was fun!

Alright team—Amy, Anshu, Jess, Mike—I'm racing you to the finish line! I'll see you there!

Day 87: Contact! Let's Make Contact! 3-2-1 Contact! [T-Minus 3]

2009-10-26T19:06:00.000-07:00

One of the questions that I'm often asked tends to be along the lines of "What are you going to do after your diet?" I don't know why, but this bugs me. I get the feeling that they want me to respond with something like, "Well, I'm going to dive head first into the largest ice cream sundae I can find, followed by a gazillion candy bars, and I'll top it all off with every bag of chips I can find."

That's probably why I shake them up a bit when I say, "What makes you think it's going to end?" They absolutely have no comeback for that.

When I began this journey, most of my social circle didn't get it. They hear the word "diet" and their minds immediately jump to those fads where you lose weight in 30 days and that's it—you're back to eating and living the way you were before.

There was one friend who got it. She never referred to PCP as a "diet". She had a better phrase. "How is your life plan going?"

That was exactly it. Peak Condition is a life plan. The program itself may run only 90 days, but it prepares you for a life a wellness long after Patrick and Chen and everything becomes a fond and distant memory.

When's the diet going to end? If you've honestly and truly committed yourself to this new lifestyle, it should never end. It will become part of you. It will be integrated into your life—healthy food and jump ropes and yes, even stupid planks. (Who knows, I may eventually grow to love planks. After all, look what happened with the jump rope!)

Have you been paying attention? Can you apply your knowledge to the situation? You better hope so. The ultimate test is in just a few days—re-entry into the real world!

Day 86: Its Been Six Whole Hours And Five Long Days For All Your Lies To Come Undone [T-Minus 4]

2009-10-25T08:58:00.000-07:00

We interrupt this blog post with this brief announcement.

*Ahem*

OHMYGODREYNOLDS! WHATTHEHELLWEREYOUTHINKING? AREYOUTRYINGTOKILLME?!? NOONEINTHEIRRIGHTMINDSUPER-SETSFREAKIN'PLANKS!! THAT'SJUSTINSANE!!

And now we return you back to the regularly sceduled post.

Where was I? Oh yeah. Gyms.

I spent one year of my and a ton of money at one of those chain gyms. I eventually gave up about a month before I started Peak Condition. I just wasn't seeing any results despite going there religiously three evenings a week during the summer and fall and three mornings a week during the winter and spring. The only result I was seeing was my hard earned cash going down the drain.

During that stint I saw a lot of people there and many different kinds of habits. Here are some of the things I learned:

The only people who go to the gym in the early morning are business men. This is probably because they work every late in the evening. Otherwise, the gym is pretty empty. This was a good time to use the weightlifting machines.

Everyone else in the world goes to the gym right after work, between 5 and 6pm. This is a bad time to go. Wait until 7:00pm. The gym will be empty.

Regardless of the time of day you went, it was almost always difficult to get on a treadmill, a bicycle, or an eliptical machine. These are pretty much occupied by the overweight people. They will occupy the machine for almost an hour. Most will be reading a book or magazine.

The weightlifting section contains mostly the muscle-bound types. Especially the free-weights. This is the part of the gym where you will hear most of the grunting going on. For some reason, the ones that make the most noise are trying to lift weights that are far too heavy for them. These people are ususally there for at least two hours.

If you try to do a full routine involving both the cardio and weight sides, you will be looked upon as an intruder by each group. Never the twain shall meet.

Avoid the “healthful” snack bar at the gym, if there is one. After a workout you’re probably feeling a little peckish, and the gym makes it easy for “healthy food” to be nearby. Power Bars, protein bars, and the ever popular fruit smoothie is just around the corner. Amazingly enough, the calories are never listed and the drink size is large enough that it should be shared with a friend.

Don’t pay for a trainer. They are not worth the money—especially when four sessions with one of them costs more than two or three months of gym membership. You are also not the trainer’s only client. They will try and rush you through so they can have a few minutes to themselves before their next client arrives.

Avoid any special “weight-loss” program or challenge offered. This usually has its own cost on top of the gym membership. They love to take your money but fail on delivering the goods. (I’m still waiting for the t-shirt, party, and commerderie they promised.)

And the last observation is courtesy of a number of friends who also go to a gym.

No matter how much you work out, it all comes to naught if you don’t eat right. There’s a reason why I am looking good and have lost the same amount of weight in three months that it has taken you a year and a half to lose—my meals do not consist of carb loaded platters of fried foods, huge sugary desserts, and two or three large mugs of beer.

Hmmm. Maybe someday I’ll go back when I’m really ripped—so I can torture them! BWA-HA-HA-HA!

Day 85: It's The Final Countdown [T-Minus 5]

2009-10-24T19:30:00.000-07:00

It was a busy, run around day, but I managed to do everything that was on my list!

I tried to get to the sporting goods store and the library before chorus practice. Unfortunately time wasn't on my side, so I had to chose one. The library won out (mainly because it would be closed by the time I got there after rehearsal).

Chorus ran for three hours. I flew from there to the sporting goods store to pick up a new resistance band, and was very surprised at the now limited selection they had. Back in August there was a whole wall of the things, but now only about a couple of racks. Very weird.

Then, on a whim, I went to a clothing store to try on some pants. All the stuff I have is now too big for me, so I wanted to see what size I was now (at least based on a manufacturer's measurements). I was surprised that I was able to fit into the smallest size men's pants there. They were still a little tight, but I'm sure that soon they'd be comfortable. Unfortunately I wasn't able to buy any (this was a non-paycheck week); however, it was just fun to try on stuff!

Afterwards, I went home and unpacked my new resistance band and did the exercises. It was the last day of the regular sets, so I had to enjoy them. Tomorrow starts the super-sets. Not looking forward to that.

The final countdown is on!

Day 84: Ain't Nothing Gonna Break My Stride [T-Minus 6]

2009-10-23T18:03:00.000-07:00

It looks like I'm continuing the PCP tradition. I have officially broken my resistance band. I was on set five rep number 20 of the pull downs when the thing went snap! Luckily I only lost three reps because of it. The only other exercise I had to do that used the bands was the katanas, so I improvised with a dumbbell. Everything else was resistance band free. (Although Friday is usually our jump only day, chorus ran real late on Wednesday, so I did those exercises on Thursday and Thursday's exercises on Friday.)

As soon as I was done, we had to leave and pick up a friend to see the movie Where The Wild Things Are. For the first time ever, I got my partner to pack me my PCP dinner and nighttime snack. (He's always been nervous about doing it—I don't know why. I find it pretty easy to do.)

I had no problems sneaking my lunchbag into the theatre. This was the second or third movie where I've done this and brought my meals to the movies. While everyone else is munching on popcorn and soda, I've got my crunchy veggies and milk. It all works out.

It was an early showing so we were home around 9:30pm. That leaves me plenty of time to read a couple chapters and go to bed on time! (Amazing, huh?) I'll be up and ready to do those jumps tomorrow!

Day 83: Don't Lose Yourself Or Your Hope Cause Life's Like A Jump Rope [T-Minus 7]

2009-10-22T07:08:00.000-07:00

In one of Patrick's emails he kept mentioning about our long jump-roping sessions might seem daunting. The first thought that came to my mind was: Is he nuts?!?

The first day we had timed jumps I was ecstatic. It was seven sets at two minutes each. I added all the minutes together. That was only fourteen minutes. It was a breath of relief for me because 1500 jumps was taking a half-hour or more to complete. This was only fourteen minutes. What wasn't to be excited about?

Without having to concentrate on the number of jumps I was doing, I was able to play a bit and start working on a jump routine:

5x both feet
10x alternating right & left legs
5x both feet
5x right leg only
5x both feet
5x left leg only
5x both feet
1x front cross

There was much tripping and tangling, but it was a lot of fun! Eventually over the days I was able to get to the point where I was able to repeat this routine four times without a single trip.

Even with the lengthening of time and the changing of the sets, I was still enjoying the j-rope. It was never longer that the half-hour plus that it took me to do 1500 jumps.

Then Patrick's email began to make me think. What if he's trying to tell me some sort of secret? What if I've missed something? So I decided to try another experiment. (If you haven't notice by now, I love testing things out!)

So I gave up the routine and just went for the plain ol' boring double-footed jump and kept count in my head. I was suddenly able to do up to 200+ jumps straight without a trip. Whoa! I definitely wasn't able to do that before! Then when my iPhone alarm went off at the end of the timed jumps I had a new number. I had just done 1600+ jumps in half the time that it had taken me to complete 1500 jumps.

Holy freakin' cow! From Day 1 I would have never believed these results! Back then I spent so much time battling the ~~Implement of Torture~~ j-rope, burning lungs, and knees that just wouldn't stop hurting. Now it's taking me less time to do more jumps with nary a knee pain anywhere and so much enthusiasm for the j-rope.

I think I'll have to agree with Jess on this one. Somewhere along the way, Patrick's Buddhist Magic got me—or quite possibly he flew halfway across the world, snuck into my house, and put something into my Kool-Aid. Either way, it all comes down to this:

"Hi. My name is E, and I'm a jump-rope addict. It has been three-hours since my last jump."

I wish I could quit you!

Day 82: And I've Got A Set Of Six Pack Abs That Would Blow Your Mind [T-Minus 8]

2009-10-21T17:30:00.000-07:00

Every time I play the 8-Minute Abs video in my iPhone (because my exercise area is no where near my computer), this video comes up as a "recommendation". Now this guy's abs are insane!

Day 81: Isn't It Strange How We All Get A Little Bit Weird Sometimes [T-minus 9]

2009-10-20T18:06:00.000-07:00

This is the day where I finally lost it.

I started out the day doing great. I was so in the groove during the j-ropes and had an amazing finish with the "8 Minute Abs". I didn't need to rush for breakfast, could do everything at a leisurely pace, and even got to work with plenty of time to spare.

The day went pretty smoothly too. No major hiccups that I couldn't handle, got a couple of projects done, and even had time to surf the net a bit.

I was looking forward to the evening. I had no pressing duties for the night. If I got home relatively early I could do my strength exercises, have supper, pack my lunch for the next day, update my blog, read a book for a while and go to bed at a decent hour.

That didn't happen.

I picked up my partner at work, then there was some funky traffic issues going on which forced us to take a number of detours and added time to get home. Despite that, we arrived at an early enough hour that still allowed me to recover some of the down-time I was looking forward to.

My partner made his own meal—reheated leftovers. I pity the poor guy. There's only one real cook in the house and I'm busy doing PCP. That means my partner has to make his own meals. He's not a bad cook, he just doesn't like to do it.

By the time I was finished with the strength exercises, it was still before 7pm (which is the time my dinner tends to be). I think to myself, Pop in the "8 Minute Abs". You've got time and the energy level is still there. Eight minutes later it's pretty close to 7pm and dinner.

Except dinner wasn't there.

Pre-made veggies were low. Carbs were non-existant. Eggs were enough for this dinner only. There wouldn't be enough for lunch tomorrow. I suddenly had to create meals for both myself and my partner.

That took two friggin' hours. With my relaxing evening a total bust, I started to lose it. So there I am, cursing under my breath as I'm chopping vegetables, slamming doors and drawers, and stomping around like a two-year old.

The timing shouldn't have surprised me. Through-out this entire journey through PCP, it has always taken up most of my day. That's the way my schedule runs. It just seemed as though I was going to have some non-PCP free time tonight.

Then, at the wrong moment, my partner steps foot into the kitchen. That wasn't his most brilliant of moves. Typically I'm a pretty easy going and chill kind of person. I don't get upset, but for some reason I had somehow stepped into The Twilight Zone and became some sort of raving lunatic.

It was at this point I started babbling about how it would be nice if once in a while he could do the cooking instead of me trying to make my meals and food for him to always reheat. I go on about how it isn't difficult for him to make a pot of pasta or chop up some vegetables or something that would really help make my life a little easier since it seems all my hours are booked. I finished off with how he always seems to come home from work and play on his computer while all I'm always slaving away in the kitchen. He quickly backed out of the kitchen and disappeared to his office on the second floor.

Yeah, I had a breakdown. But lunch is all packed for tomorrow, he has food he can reheat, I've had my dinner and my snack, and I'm making my blog post. (It's not exactly the one I had planned. That will have to wait until some other time.) Soon I'll be logging off and taking a few minutes to meditate before apologizing to him and going to bed.

That was just weird.

Day 80: It's Only The Beginning Of The End [T-Minus 10]

2009-10-19T08:37:00.000-07:00

There was an interesting article by Michael O’Shea in the Parade Magazine. The basic premise of the story is that it’s not necessarily the kinds of foods that people eat that will make them overweight, but the influence of the who is eating with them when food is present. Based upon some studies people will tend to eat more when around friends than around strangers, and if the friends are overweight, then there was a higher probability that the person would be overweight too.

One study by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition examined the eating habits of normal-weight and overweight children aged 9 to 15 when paired with friends or strangers. What they found was that the participants who dined with friends ate more than those who were dining with children they didn’t know. They also noticed that overweight friends ate more than leaner friends.

Part of this study can be based on the ideals of etiquette. Of course people would be less likely to eat more when around strangers—it’s just being polite company and common courtesy. When a person is meeting someone for the first time, individuals tend to be on their best behavior. They are mindful of what they are eating and drinking which would make them consume more moderately than normal. They’re trying to make a good first impression to this brand new person they’re meeting for the first time. To gorge oneself in such a social setting would be a definite faux pas, and it would leave the stranger with an unfavorable image. The phrase my mom used all the time on my brother and I comes to mind—“Did you grow up in a barn?”

On the other hand, when a person is hanging out with friends (especially close friends), the rules of etiquette change. People don’t need to be overly conscious of how their actions look to others because of the close social relationship. Plus, the interaction is different too. A person can be more relaxed with friends than they can with a stranger. Unfortunately, that relaxed state can lead to “mindless eating.” Because they’re laughing and having fun, the amount of food that goes into their bodies becomes a very unconscious reaction.

It’s not the people around an individual that makes them fat, it’s their conscious/unconscious reaction to the stimuli that’s around them. A person doesn’t need to ignore their friends if they want to maintain a healthy weight, they just cannot allow the social interaction to override their own well-beling. If one is mindful of the world around them, then one can control what goes into the body and still have a good time.

Day 79: Soup, Soup, Tasty Soup

2009-10-18T07:32:00.000-07:00

We're getting close to the holidays which can mean you will be faced with some terribly tempting and very unhealthy dishes on that dining room table during any number of gatherings. What's a poor PCPer to do?!?

E's at it again with another of seasonal recipe to help turn that potentially disastrous meal into something that your non-PCP guests will want dish onto their plates!

This recipe is a slight variation of one that comes from a French Medieval cookbook. It's very adaptable for a wide range of flavors!

WINTER SQUASH OR PUMPKIN SOUP

5 1/2 pounds winter squash or pumpkin
4 cups milk

I used a Hubbard squash for the soup in the picture but pumpkin, butternut, or acorn squash will work just as well.

Peel the squash and remove the seeds. Cut it into 1-inch (2-cm) chunks and cook in boiling water for about 10-minutes. The squash must remain firm and must not fall apart; you will need to be vigilant, as cooking time will vary with the variety of squash or pumpkin you use.

Place the chunks of squash in a food processor with some of the liquid and puree. (This will definitely be multiple batches.) Place the puree into a saucepan, add the milk, and bring to a boil. Serve.

This simple recipe just calls for spices and experimentation! Try it with less milk or use plain yogurt instead to make it thicker. Boil the squash with some garlic or bay leaves to add some flavor. After pureeing toss in some curry, garlic powder, onion powder, or dry mustard. When serving, top with some steamed vegetables. (I used asparagus in the picture.) You're only limited to your imagination!

Enjoy!

Day 78: You'll Always Be My Cranberry, Forever My Cranberry

2009-10-17T06:47:00.000-07:00

We're getting close to the holidays which can mean you will be faced with some terribly tempting and very unhealthy dishes on that dining room table during any number of gatherings. What's a poor PCPer to do?!?

E's at it again with a new seasonal recipe to help turn that potentially disastrous meal into something that your non-PCP guests will want dish onto their plates! This is a fresh alternative that tackles the holiday stalwart: jellied cranberry in a can. (What do they put in that stuff and why is it in a can?!?)

CRANBERRY ORANGE RELISH

12 ounces fresh cranberries
1 medium orange1/2 cup agave nectar (to taste)

Slice an unpeeled orange into eighths and remove the seeds. Place the cranberries and orange slices in a food processor. Process until the mixture is evenly chopped—do not puree. Transfer into a bowl. (If you have a small food processor, you may need to do it in two or more batches.) Stir in the agave nectar to desired sweetness. (If you use a sweet orange, you'll probably want less agave nectar.) Store in the refrigerator or freezer.

One of my favorite variations is to use the relish as a topping for yogurt. It also goes great with bananas and grapes!

Day 77: No One Mourns The Wicked

2009-10-16T13:13:00.000-07:00

I got a rock. That's exactly what my indulgence felt like—a huge, ginormous boulder sitting in my stomach.

The feeling began about a half-hour after eating my Very Veggie Burger, fries, and dessert. There was something large in my belly and it wasn't very happy being there. Of course, my stomach was in mutual agreement with that sentiment. It wanted the rock out of there, pronto!

And then the rebellion started. The stomach tried pushing the foreign item out, but the rest of my digestive tract wasn't complying with it's request. There were cramps, the definite urge to void, but nothing moving through the system.

Stomach became more vocal, creating some of the most horrific growls I have ever heard. There was pressure beginning to build internally, so the body did what it had to to relieve it. I was now a walking gas chamber and very socially unacceptable.

The rock remained in my stomach all night long. The next morning didn't hold any promise either. I couldn't tell if the other side effect of lethargy I felt was from the food or from the really late hours from the night before in the attempt to re-live my pre-PCP life. Maybe it was a combination of the two. In either case, it became a herculean effort to get up and do the j-rope. Even then I could feel the rock bounding around as I jumped. It wasn't a pleasant combination.

When I tried to eat my breakfast, the stomach voiced it's objection to more food going in because it hadn't finished processing the rock that had appeared from the night before. By mid-morning snack, the stomach threw fits when I tried putting more food in. "Are you nuts or something?!?" it screamed back. "There ain't no room down here! I'm working on getting this boulder outta here!" In fact, it wasn't until near dinner time that I finally felt that the rock had disappeared.

In my pre-PCP life, I could describe that same feeling very easily. It usually occured when I had stuffed myself waaaaayy too full from all the goodies that were usually present at parties or potlucks. Very unusual to have that same feeling after just one burger, a few fries, and a few spoons of ice cream—and definitely not something I would want to repeat. The same went for the late hour and eating a meal so close to bedtime.

At the beginning of PCP, I would have daydreams of what I was going to do after the 90-days were up. I was going to be fit AND be able to eat like I use to. Having a taste of that pre-PCP life now that I'm so close to the end really wasn't so thrilling. I definitely like how my light and energetic body feels now as opposed to the one that use to be lethargic and carrying a lead weight.

Mission accomplished.

Day 76: I'm Here To Tell You Honey That I'm Bad To The Bone

2009-10-15T17:07:00.000-07:00

INDULGENCE DAY!

For my third and final indulgence, I decided to run an experiment. What would happen if I returned to my old ways after completing the Peak Condition Project? It had to occur on a specific night at a specific restaurant with specific people. Tonight all the planets were aligned. It was showtime.

The reason I wanted to run this experiment was because I had been very good with my eating habits while on this program—extremely few slip-ups and absolutely no cheating. Even my past two indulgences weren't even that naughty. So for one night I was going to allow myself to be a rebel and be really bad.

Thursday night is when my medieval group gets together for meetings. Typically, a small group of us will go out to dinner afterwards. Since our meetings run until 9pm, that means that we don't get to a restaurant until 9:15. Our orders are placed by about 9:30pm, and the food usually doesn't arrive until 10pm. That means we're usually not home until after 11pm. This was my life before PCP.

The second component was the company I kept. Not a healthy eater in the bunch and every single one of them a night owl. These are the people I had been mostly avoiding during this whole program. Oh, I'd see them here and there, but I had stopped going out with them.

The third component was to have a typical meal that I enjoyed before taking part of PCP. Here is a picture of my typical Pre-PCP Late Night Thursday meal:

That, my dear readers, is a Zebbs Very Veggie Burger with onions, melted cheddar cheese, bleu cheese, and guacamole with a side of fries.

Now you have to remember that this was eaten late at night. That means that we would typically not have anything to eat in the hours prior. For most of us, that meant our last meal was lunch. That right. By the time I sat down to eat this bad boy, it would have probably been about nine hours since I had something in my stomach.

I wasn't going to go that far in this experiment, but I tried to get as close as possible. That day I had my PCP afternoon snack around 4pm, then went home and did my strength exercises. Immediately afterward I went to the meeting and waited for "dinner time".

First thing that I noticed was that I was extremely hungry by the time we went to the restaurant. Since I never was that hungry prior to PCP, that could mean only one thing—I had been mindlessly snacking beforehand and not even realizing what I was putting in my stomach. Pre-PCP life: Strike One!

The veggie burger tasted about the same as I remembered before—which is to say that I don't remember the flavor whatsoever. At 10pm at night, a person who is ravenously hungry can make that bad boy disappear in the blink of an eye. There was no enjoyment of the flavors, just a blind need to get food into the stomach. This doesn't happen if you supply your body with food throughout the day like we do on PCP. Pre-PCP life: Strike Two!

The fries were a whole other experience. I managed to choke down a few of them before the grease got to me and I had to pawn them off on someone else. I couldn't do it. They were just dripping with oil. A few minutes later I began clearing my throat. Ah yes. I remember that sensation from life before PCP. That cloying feeling in the esophagus that took hours of "ahem-ing" to get rid of, and which usually left my throat feeling raw. Pre-PCP life: Strike Three!

But the best was yet to come! Pre-PCP life always came complete with dessert!

The Chocolate-Mint Mudpie! This picture really does not do it justice. That dessert is friggin' huge!

I had a few spoonfuls of it before I had to call it quits. It was good, but I really could not go beyond the initial flavor burst. So I then proclaimed open season on it. My friends dove right in—and even that feeding frenzy couldn't polish off this dessert. In the end, about a quarter of it was left to be thrown away. Pre-PCP life: YER OUT!

I had some friends who thought I was crazy to spend my indulgence this way. Their ideas of an indulgence tended more towards classier restaurants and meals that were pretty healthy. I didn't want to do that. I have a whole life of healthier meals ahead of me. I wanted to really see how much I had changed (if any) since being on the program. Call it a farewell meal to my previous self. One final night to be truly wicked.

Day 75: I Don't Care What You Say, I'm Not Listening Anyway

2009-10-14T08:46:00.000-07:00

I think the Universe likes balance. For every up there needs to be a down. For every left there needs to be a right. And for every person who gets it there needs to be one who doesn't.

I have a friend who is extremely overweight. I don't know how close she is to being morbidly obese, but I do know that she's at a very unhealthy level. Her body shape and weight are so bad that it is causing other health issues. She is seeing an endocrinologist quite regularly.

I've tried talking to her about PCP and getting healthy but she won't listen. She would watch me eat my PCP dinner and just shake her head saying that there was no way she was going to deprive herself of the foods that she loves to eat.

The endocrinologist has told her that she needs to lose weight and has given her a list of foods she should be eating, but she ignores her doctor. She doesn't want to give up her snacks, she doesn't want to eat at regular time schedules, she doesn't want to cook separate meals for herself and her husband (who's also a bit overweight, but not much more than I was when I started Peak Condition).

She feels that everyone should praise her for the little efforts she has made to get healthy. She joined the YMCA. She takes water aerobics about once a week. She does the treadmill. Now she's starting Zumba classes.

The problem is she's a walking contradiction. She'll sit there and tell you about the exercises she's doing (but usually has to stop multiple times because she's winded, or just gives up) and that she's worried she hasn't lost weight which means the endocrinologist will yell at her—and she'll tell you all of this over her self-proclaimed "fat girl" dinner, which consists of: a dozen chicken tenders, a plate of nachos with extra sour cream and guacamole, large loaded fries with extra "cheese" sauce and bacon, two or three large soft drinks, and a restaurant-sized piece of cheesecake.

If you try to tell her anything that she doesn't want to hear, she gets defensive (with a little bit of anger thrown in), accuses that you "hate her", and then grabs a pint of Ben & Jerry's and downs it.

There's this sort of helpless feeling that I get each time she's around. I can't say anything to help her, I find it hard to say anything to support her the way she wants, and sometimes I get the feeling that she's not going to be around for long. (She's only in her mid-twenties now.)

Of course, my friend could totally surprise me, like my aunt who was so overweight she couldn't walk anymore and became confined to a wheelchair. She'll be turning 79 this year. The good thing, though, is that she's lost most of that weight over the last few years and is looking pretty good.

Maybe one day she'll wake up and realize that she needs to really take better care of her health. Who knows—maybe when she sees how well I'm doing after PCP she might change her mind about the things I talk about. We'll just have to see.

Day 74: When You Help Others, You Can't Help Helping Yourself!

2009-10-13T11:25:00.000-07:00

Many years ago I had a manger who loved to terrorize her employees. She would call a person into her office and close the door. She would calmly sit in her chair and begin the conversation with something innocuous, like: "You have been doing a good job...." You start feeling a bit relax and not dreading the encounter. Once she felt that you had this false sense of security, she would then say, "However...," and the attack would begin. Usually it about something totally stupid and inconsequential, like a wrinkle in your clothing or tossing a piece of paper away, missing the can, and not picking it up. But it was the way she did it that just made all the employees nervous. She would use every fear tactic at her disposal so you would do everything her way. Eventually you learned to fear the call to enter a manger's office—a feeling that has stayed with me for quite some time.

Last Friday my manager called me into her office. With trepidation I entered. "I just wanted to say that you're looking pretty good. Have you been losing weight?" Okay, there was the "compliment". I waited for the terror to occur.

"What have you been doing to get so fit?"

I proceeded to give the generic answer of "diet and exercise". She asked more questions. I began to get into more detail of PCP, still unsure of where the conversation was going and wondering when the attack would occur.

It didn't. In fact, we had a good twenty-minute discussion about PCP, and Food versus "food", and exercises, and much more. By the end, she jotted down the PCP web address and reaffirmed how good I looked. I went back to my desk feeling very elated.

The conversation picked up a few days later, after the long weekend. She came over to my desk and proceeded to tell me how she had gone grocery shopping and, based upon what I told her, began to actually read the packaging of a number of items in the store.

"I spent an hour just reading labels, and I couldn't find a single thing that didn't have salt or sugar or high fructose corn syrup or additives or preservatives. There was nothing that was healthy! You really impress me. I don't think I could do what you're doing."

I pointed out to her about how fresh fruits and vegetables are better than frozen and canned. I gave her a list of canned goods that I knew of which contain 100% fruit or vegetable without all the nasty stuff. I even gave her a couple of recipe ideas to eat a little healthier.

That second conversation had me flying for the rest of the day. Not only was I able to tell someone about PCP, but they got the information, they applied that knowledge, and they're starting to think about what goes into their body. It may not have been a total conversion, but definitely a push in the right direction. All in all, it was a pretty good day!

Day 73: No Time For A Gentle Rain

2009-10-12T12:15:00.000-07:00

Holy crow! The past few days have just seemed like time-crunch central! Usually living PCP takes up a good portion of my day (which isn't necessarily a bad thing), but suddenly it seems as though I'm being dragged all over the place. Go to the farmer's market, rake the yard, put plants away for the winter, decorate for Halloween, hike it to the grocery store, go to chorus practice, attend a play, go to work, exercise, jump, make tomorrow's lunch, make today's dinner, etc. I don't think I've stopped for five seconds! Needless to say, I'm feeling a bit ragged.

Okay, many late night bedtimes haven't helped either. I'm definitely one of those people who really needs more hours in the day. Then again, maybe not. I'd surely fill the extra and then request more time. I think it's soon going to be time for another "Spa Day". Need to slow down for a bit, relax, and read a good book. All I've got to do is just make it through the next few days....

Day 72: At Night I'm A Junk Food Junkie, Good Lord Have Pity On Me

2009-10-11T16:49:00.000-07:00

Who says we can't live a double life?!? (Just kidding, Patrick!)

Day 71: Are These Just The Lies That Feed Our Nations

2009-10-10T16:13:00.000-07:00

About a year or so ago, my partner borrowed a book from the library. It was called Hungry Planet: What the World Eats by Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio. He thought it was something that I would find interesting. Boy was he right! It was so thought-provoking that I had to go out and buy it!

The basic premise of the book is that it "presents a photographic study of families from around the world, revealing what people eat during the course of one week. Each family's profile includes a detailed description of their weekly food purchases; photographs of the family at home, at market, and in their community; and a portrait of the entire family surrounded by a week's worth of groceries."

Just looking at the photos of a couple of typical U.S. families and the amounts of food they buy in a week compared to others around the world was eye-opening. But that wasn't the part that affected me and caused me reassess my food consumption. It was the entry about Okinawa that got me thinking.

The typical life expectancy of a male Okinawan is 77 years. For the average female it's 86 years. However, there are many who live longer than that. In fact, Okinawa ranks number 1 in life expectancy. These facts alone have drawn researchers to study it and figure out why a disproportionately large number of Okinawans live to age 100 or more.

Some scientists say it's because of a unique combination of factors, including healthy eating habits, exercise, and low stress. That may be true as expressed by a phrase used by older Okinawans—Hara hachi bu—"eat only until 80 percent full." Plus, a diet of fresh fruits, vegetables, and seafood seem to be doing them a world of good.

Unfortunately, the Okinawa Prefecture is noticing a disturbing trend. Okinawans under the age of 50 are starting to have higher rates of obesity, and they're seeing a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, liver disease, and premature death.

What has changed from one generation to the next? The answer to that may lie in the fact that Okinawan cities are now filled with McDonald's, KFC, and A&Ws among other chains. The younger generation are no longer eating the same foods that their parents and grandparents dine on. Instead, they're opting for the quick and cheap Western fast food.

I like the quote from Keiko Matsuda, who was part of the Okinawan family that was interviewed for the book. Keiko has never eaten fast food and she's sure she doesn't want to: "I think it isn't very nutritious," she says. In her opinion, Western food consists of "a lot of bread, I think. We only see bread as a dessert of snack—not a main food."

The invasion of U.S. fast food and quickie meals are quite evident in the pages of Hungry Planet In Australia, Aboriginal children tend to prefer food from Mackas (Aussie slang for McDonalds) than food from their own culture. In China, the biggest Western fast food chain is KFC, which has more than 100 outlet in Beijing alone. (There's even a picture of Colonel Sanders wearing a fancy old-style Chinese soldier uniform.) Some very familiar packaging from U.S. companies can be seen in the homes of families in France, Germany, England, Italy, and Kuwait, just to name a few. I mean, why does a family in Greenland need Ritz crackers, Coco Krispies, and bottled water?

It's kind of sad seeing some of these amazing cultures slowly succumbing to the U.S. influence. It's also a bit infuriating realizing that some of these corporations don't give a whit about anyone's health—it's just all about the bottom line.

Day 70: I Won't Make Promises That I Can't Keep

2009-10-09T16:14:00.000-07:00

Today I am keeping a promise. Back during our first week of PCP, Patrick told me to make a promise to myself to go back and look at the posts for Days 7, 8, 9 when I hit Day 70.

It's now Day 70. I remembered.

On Day 7 I was on vacation and we were just about to complete our first week on PCP. As I wrote then:

Today started out with me having a minor heart attack when I realized that the number of jumps really increased from the previous day. Then I had a second minor heart attack trying to complete them.

The ~~Implement of Torture~~ jump rope does not play very well with my body. Right now I can barely do fifty jumps without tripping and then having to take a break so I can stop wheezing. But so far, doing fifty at a time helps. (Then, every time I hit a hundred mark I gave myself the proverbial pat on the back for just surviving!)

Day 8 found me packing camp and on the road, so there wasn't much PCP happening then. Day 9 continued the theme:

This afternoon I managed to do the Day 8 exercises. Yeah, I'm one day behind. Although I did manage to get the ~~Implement of Torture~~ jump rope to cooperate a bit. Two sets of fifty jumps without a single trip (not counting the obligatory wheeze-fest in between the sets). I also discovered that the flat, paved surface of the driveway made it a lot easier than the muddy, grassy uneven hillside I had been using during the week prior.

Then I alternated between the ~~Implement of Torture~~ jump rope and the other exercises. One hundred jumps, sixty-eight squats, one hundred jumps, eighteen incline pull-ups, one hundred jumps, forty-four push-ups, etc. Mixing it up a bit kept it from being dull and repetitious (although my legs still balked at the idea of having to do "only fifty more jumps" during the entire session).

I remember those days so well, and yet at the same time it feels like a lifetime ago. In between so much has changed.

The ~~Implement of Torture~~ my first jumprope met a grisly doom about a day after that post. It was definitely not a good rope. I would highly advise anyone against getting one of those cotton j-ropes—there's too much drag with them. My second j-rope was better, but still kept breaking (and getting repaired) until one day there was no fixing it. J-Rope Mach III (which is a Nike Speed Rope) has served me well for quite some time. It was a little more expensive than the first two, but well worth the price!

It's amazing to see how far I've come since those early days. The jumps felt like killers back then. My lungs would burn, I couldn't catch my breath, and I would be sweating like a pig. Each day I'd wonder how the hell I would survive all 90 days of the program. Sometimes it just required herculean effort to do it, all-the-while praying that I'd get to live for another day.

And here we are at Day 70. I've not only survived, but thrived! The j-rope is no longer the torture device I use to view it. If anything, it's the exercise that I look forward to each day. The wheezing and the lung burning are a thing of the past. I'm in far better shape than I was. What seemed like long arduous months to go are now viewed as having passed in a twinkling of an eye with a sort of sad fondness. Odd how the mind plays games like that.

Day 69: I'm A Bullet Proof Tiger

2009-10-08T19:09:00.000-07:00

Patrick wasn't kidding about big gains after a few really weak workouts! My strength exercises have gone through the roof! I am hitting the target number and then some on the first few sets and still getting damn close on the last few. I actually saw my biceps bulge while doing the curls! (Day-amn! Where did they come from?) Chest and back just chewed up the bands! And planks—OMG! Well, they're not a breeze but definitely less dropping and quivering. The energy level still hasn't gone down. (Still can't do a pull-up, though. Someday.)

This totally made up for "Dessert Day" at work. Yeah, it was a table just loaded with cheesecakes, cookies, brownies, pies, and eclairs. (Did you know that sugar has a smell?!? It so totally does!) Everyone is still amazed that I will not cheat whatsoever and nibble on something. Of course, I have to snicker each time I listen to one of them say things like, "I really should stop eating, but it's so good" or "Oh, I'm so full but I've gotta have another piece."

Bullet-proof, baby!

Day 68: I Bring The Ruckus Straight From The Sideline

2009-10-07T05:52:00.000-07:00

My doctor has sidelined the jumpropes for a couple of days so my heel can, well, heal. This was my fourth follow-up visit to him for some minor work on it. I will be seeing him again in about three weeks.

So in place of jumping, I will be walking for the time being. Well, more like hobbling as I can't put any weight on the heel of my right foot at the moment. Luckily it doesn't prevent me from doing the strength exercises.

But I miss my jumprope. OMG! Did those words just come out of my mouth?!? Right now my morning feels somehow wrong without me jumping to the beat of dance mixes. I don't feel as energized to face the day. The day starts off slow and I'm not sure I like it. That's how my days always began before the PCP. It now feels unnatural.

At least its only for a couple or so days, until I can step on my heel without it hurting like an SOB. Then my day can return back to normal. OMG! You just said that the PCP life was normal! Damn! You have changed!

Amazing, huh?

Day 67: Rise To The Challenge!

2009-10-06T06:05:00.000-07:00

I love autumn and hate it simultaneously. The nights are getting longer and the temperatures are dropping. Unfortunately, this is the time of year where I start my hibernation process.

More hours of darkness means that I'll start feeling tired earlier and will probably want to sleep longer. The cold just ensures that I will want to stay under the warm covers of my bed all that much more. This is the beginning point where it will get a little bit harder to live the PCP life.

It is going to require every mental trick in the book to keep going throughout the whole winter season. I will want to sleep in. I will want to stay under the covers. And it doesn't help that I have a partner who keeps the temperature inside the house at a cool 64 degrees while we're home. (The thermostat is programmed to drop to an even cooler 58 degrees when we're gone.) Plus, we're entering the holiday season. The bad food is going to be plentiful and everywhere.

My 90 days may be coming to close in a few weeks, but the challege is only beginning. It will be the ultimate test of my newfound powers.

Day 66: Each Day I'm Swimming Through Molasses

2009-10-05T06:09:00.000-07:00

If energy were molasses, then today I was swimming in an Olympic-sized pool of it. Everything I did required lots of willpower and double the effort.

I do my jumps first thing in the morning, usually after I get up and do a whole stretch routine to wake up my muscles. Unfortunately everything was very off. I could barely do ten jumps without tangling. It was very frustrating but I persevered and did the entire three sets of five minutes.

At work it didn't get much better. The room would get real warm to the point where I started feeling like I was coming down with something and start feeling sleepy and sluggish, so I'd turn on my little desk fan to cool down. Then I'd get really cold and have to turn it off. Then I'd get really warm and have to turn it on. Lather, rinse, and repeat. The whole freakin' day I just could not get to the right temperature.

Add to that the fact that one of my co-workers is on vacation and I'm having to take over those duties on top of my own. I needed to spent the whole day on that job and pretty much ignore anything that I was suppose to do (because my stuff isn't as time sensitive). The day just dragged and by quitting time I was thoroughly weary and exhausted.

Got home and had to assemble things to donate to a local church for their rummage sale (like nice clothes that are too big for me). This included packing the stuff in the car and persuading my partner to take it to the church.

It was pushing 7pm and I was really beat. Then the little voice in the back of my mind starting in with it's mantra: "You look and feel tired. You should skip today's workout. Just make dinner and relax." Of course, you know when the little voice starts talking you gotta do exactly the opposite.

I changed into my workout clothes and began the strength exercises. It was a total load of FAIL. The muscles so did not want to cooperate what-so-ever. I could barely hit the target number of reps during the first set, and every set after that just got worse. I was struggling like anything to get the muscles to do any sort of respectable showing. By the end, I was this weird mix of totally wiped and totally energized. At least I had the satisfaction of knowing that I didn't succumb to the little voice.

The final bits of the evening were having dinner and evening snack, packing my lunch and two snacks for the next day, putting away the dishes in the dish drainer, doing a load of laundry, and running the dishwasher.

By 10pm, I was done for the day. Although I had intentions of updating the blog, I no longer had the energy or the clarity of mind. Instead, I climbed into bed and called it a day, muttering to myself that I really hate molasses.

Day 65: Grapefruit Diet (Diet!) Throw Out The Pizza And Beer

2009-10-04T16:50:00.000-07:00

Today ended up being another quiet and peaceful day where I could relax and catch-up on my reading. Well, after I did the exercises for the day. Did you know that it's comfortable to lay on the floor and read? It is! Especially since you can't move 'cause you're a quivering ball of jello that's shaking worse than a small yappy dog on caffeine because you'd just completed your plank session. Yeah. Good times.

Well, to liven up your Sunday, here's another fun video from one of my favorite comedians: John Pinette!

Day 64: Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na

2009-10-03T16:47:00.000-07:00

As a kid, my imagination always got the better of me. I would constantly drift off to distant places and far-off worlds where magic was real, or alien races would be met, or men could fly. It was the life of a child brought up in an era where Saturday morning cartoons were fun and comics were a gateway to adventure.

Superheroes were always my favorite. For a child who was always picked on at school, it was these muscle-bound amazing beings who always gave hope that someday you'd grow up to be just like them and nobody would ever go after you again. The only problem with the dream was that you usually had to encounter some sort of freakish accident or experiment to gain the powers or you had to be from another planet. This was true for almost every super-being that graced the pages of the comic books—except one.

As my mom tells the story, when I was a babe and learning to speak there were only two words that I would use consistently. Most kids learn "da-da". Mine were "bish" ('cause I had a goldfish at the time) and "ba-ban" ('cause even at that age I was an avid view of the 1960's Batman TV show).

I wanted to be Batman. He was strong, he was smart, he could fight, he had all those gadgets, and most importantly—he was totally human. There was no accident or experiment to give him his abilities and he wasn't from another planet. He had to work hard to develop his body into the shape it was. Years of practice and training and exercise and studying which made him the superhero he was. He was the only one that was totally reachable. He was the person a kid with a dream could become. (Well, if you ignored the whole "multi-millionaire" thing.)

Almost all superheroes have great physiques, but it seemed that most of them were either born with the perfect body types or their freak accidents/experiments gave it to them. Not Batman. He constantly has to work his tail off to be in peak physical condition. The best part is that they would show that in the comics so you knew how hard he really had to work to be the hero that he is.

Batman has been an inspiration to me for practically all my life, since I was a wee one staring at the glowing picture box. His comics took me on wild journeys that me and my friends would re-live in the woods out behind our houses, all dressed up with our beach towels that substituted for capes. No fancy powers, no alien birth, just some guy who had the drive to make himself more than the average person.

The one superhero that any kid could become.

Day 63: You Don't Have To Do The Crime To Do The Time, It's Just Guilt By Association

2009-10-02T10:32:00.000-07:00

I am finding myself in a bit of a quandry. There is a subject that has been buzzing around in my thoughts for a couple days. I have puzzled it over and I haven't been able to figure out an answer to it, if there is one. So I decided that it would be the subject of today's post.

I love to cook. I love to try new recipes and come up with my own. This program has kind of helped and inspired me make dishes that are totally PCP-friendly. The slight downside is that I really haven't made a big batch of these recipes because usually I'm the only one eating them. (It's tricky when you're focusing on specific grams of ingredients.)

I also love to feed people. If I host a dinner or have a party, people can expect there to be plenty of food. Unfortunately, much of it isn't the most healthy option. Although my friends don't mind a healthy meal, they much prefer the other dishes that are loaded with all the bad stuff. Desserts, snacks, sodas, and anything laded with salt and sugar will most definitely disappear before the vegetables and fruits.

Some of the people I know are overweight with a few hitting the obese side of body type. They make the effort to go to the gym to exercise and get healthier, but refuse to give up the eating habits that they've grown accustomed to. Some are seeing a little progress (very little), but for the most part the money they pay the gym would probably get better results by flushing it down the toilet. I don't mean to be cruel, but sometimes it's frustrating when I hear them talk about healthy living and immediately roll their eyes if I open my mouth. They give the attitude that all one needs to do to gain health is to have a magic wand waved over them and voilá! They're healthy.

I have no problem making my own food when people get together. I've done it for most of this program whenever I've gone to some outting that it's almost second nature. I just run into the issue of making food for them.

I know if I make healthy stuff, they will do the following: take a small portion, nibble it, tell me it's great, throw the rest of it away, and the remainder will eventually end up in my refrigerator. They will want the unhealthy stuff, they will devour the unhealthy stuff, and they know I make great unhealthy stuff.

But thinking about that situation, I begin to feel like a hypocrit. Here I am living in wellness and yet feeding crap to everyone else. If I don't feed them junk, then they don't eat and that's not something a cook wants to experience. Don't even get me started on regulating portion sizes. I've tried. It doesn't work with them!

A year or so back, a number of people wanted to go on a diet and wanted suggestions. I had a dinner party for them with healthy food in proper portion sizes so they could see what a good plate looked like. Not only did they devour everything on their plates and on the table, they were still hungry and ordered take out to be delivered to my house!

I know that there's no way I can change people and their habits, so that means I'm the one who'll need to adjust. I'm just not sure how to rectify the internal conflicting feelings of making others happy by feeding them the unhealthy foods they love all the while living a different healthy lifestyle myself.

How do I not feel like a hypocrit?

Day 62: Finally It Has Happened To Me

2009-10-01T19:11:00.000-07:00

Tonight I went to a meeting for our local branch of the SCA. This is where most of my friends hang out. I haven't seen them much since August, probably two or three times while I've been doing the PCP. It was the moment I had been waiting for.

"Oh my god! You've lost weight!"

"How many pounds have you lost?"

"You've gotten thinner! I can really see it in your face!" (Exactly what John Pinette said would happen.)

There were high fives all around. They were amazed at how I looked. Of course, they really only saw my face 'cause the rest of me was bundled up like an eskimo. It's cold outside!

And thus I realized that this moment could very easily become a treacherous and slippery slope.

It was total validation for all the effort I have been putting in with the exercising and the eating habits, but I still have a while to go before I reach Day 90. Oh yeah, it could be so easy to start cheating or relaxing a bit on the exercises because I've made it, haven't I? People are noticing that I'm thinner!

This is one of insidious traps, just like the craving trap. The positive feedback feels great, but is it enough to entice me to stop now or am I stronger than that and willing to push on?

No question there. I can't let up. I'm not even near Peak Condition yet. If anything, I've got to work harder and be even more diligent. I can't slack off in the slightest. The goal is in sight. Just gotta keep on running towards it and let nothing divert me from the prize. Then we'll see what my friends say.

Day 61: It's The Little Things That Count

2009-09-30T11:31:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-09-29T19:44:00.001-07:00

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

2009-09-28T13:04:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-27T16:19:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-26T19:15:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-25T19:00:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-24T12:48:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-23T07:46:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-22T13:19:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-21T19:41:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-20T19:50:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-19T09:20:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-18T23:00:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-17T18:39:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-16T19:13:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-15T19:39:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-14T15:53:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-13T19:27:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-12T22:00:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-11T13:33:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-10T19:07:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-09T17:28:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-08T19:24:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-07T19:24:00.001-07:00

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

2009-09-06T19:55:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-05T19:03:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-04T18:10:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-03T18:23:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-02T17:52:00.000-07:00

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!

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.

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.

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!

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.

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

2009-09-01T17:16:00.000-07:00

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!

Day 31: One Midnight Gone

2009-08-31T14:23:00.000-07:00

Here we are, one-third of the way through this program. I can't believe how this month has flown by! I really don't have much to say at this point. I just wanted to recognize the passing of time.

Day 30: Don't Leave Everything To Be Crowded Into The Very Last Minute

2009-08-30T12:19:00.000-07:00

Sunday was a slower day. Although people got up at about the same time as the day prior, the pace was pretty relaxed. Breakfast was going to be a light affair before heading off to a restaurant late-morning for a more filling Sunday brunch, followed by the family's departure for home. (I live closer to the cabin than they do, so I could spend a bit more time there.) Light breakfast for them was coffee, danishes, doughnuts, and sugared cereal.

I found out that after I went to bed last night, my nieces wanted dessert. They had pretty healthy appetites at the restaurant last night, but it didn't surprise me that they were suffering a case of the munchies. That was pretty much what I was seeing all weekend.

The next morning they gave me my indulgence—a slice of banana cream pie they saved from last night's snack attack. I managed to take only a sliver of the piece and let one of my nieces finish it off.

Although I never minded banana cream pie before, I just found it to be not thrilling. I think part of my reaction was because I was hoping for something else. Another part was a bit disappointed that I wasn't able to partake in the experience with the rest of the family. A third reason I was bothered because it didn't taste as fabulous as I thought it should have after not having sweets for a whole month. It wasn't rich. It wasn't flavorful. It was blah.

Around 11am we headed off to a restaurant that I knew my family would like. It was a place where you can enjoy an "All You Can Eat Breakfast" for a relatively low price. And they took full advantage of it.

I looked at my plate compared to theirs. Before PCP, I probably would have eaten as much as them. During PCP, I sat there with small portion of scrambled eggs, a bowl of fruit, a triangle of cinnamon raisin french toast (no syrup), a triangle of apple french toast (no syrup), a glass of milk, and a few home-fry potatoes. Granted, it wasn't the best PCP meal, but I didn't think it was too bad. Boy was I wrong! The food sat like a lump in my stomach.

After they were sated, we left the restaurant and said our good-byes. My family headed for their respective homes and my partner and I went back to the camp. When we got there I had to immediately head for the bathroom. The "food" didn't not agree with me at all. It went through my system faster than a bullet train!

It was just starting afternoon and I was tired, so I laid down for a quick nap. When I got up about an hour later, my partner and I went to visit one of his relatives who had a cabin just down the road from ours.

While we were there, they offered us some ice cream. Now this is the indulgence I had been waiting for! I asked that they just give a tiny bit, about half a scoop (since I had already had a sliver of banana cream pie earlier). The flavor was called "Birthday Bash."

This was sweetness overload! I am so glad that I only asked for a little. Any more would have been far too much!

It was a very enlightening weekend. Between watching my family, recognizing the patterns of behavior I use to exhibit, and eating foods which would probably amount to a number of indulgences, I have to admit that I was glad to be home with my simple PCP menu. Yeah, it may be simple but it has a heck of a lot more flavor than some of the non-PCP stuff I sampled.

And I like it that way.

Day 29: Plan Ahead! In Advance. Don't Leave A Thing To Chance

2009-08-29T10:42:00.000-07:00

The cabin started bustling with noise very early in the morning. Luckily, I normally get up every day at 6am so it didn't disturb me too much.

As I assembled my PCP friendly meal I watched the rest of my family gobble down coffee, doughnuts, and sugared cereal. I looked over at the doughnut box and there was one left—a glazed doughnut topped with pink frosting and sprinkles. I still hadn't used my indulgence, so it would have been perfectly acceptable to eat it. I just wasn't sure if I wanted too. What if we went out for ice cream? I'd much rather have ice cream than the doughnut! Heck, there are a number of things that I'd prefer over the doughnut. In the end it stayed in it's box and I ate my breakfast.

Shortly afterwards we all piled into two cars and drove to the nearby town of Ogdensburg for some sight-seeing and shopping. Everyone's spirits were running high even though it was sprinkling on and off. During the trip we found this amazing children's playground which was designed to resemble a medieval castle. The weather let up just enough for us to play in this amazing structure.

It was a quick stop back at the cabin for lunch, which was good for me because I had forgotten to bring along my mid-morning snack. I also discovered that while we were in town my iPhone had located a signal and downloaded my email. I now had my meal plan for the current week. Unfortunately, it didn't download the exercise sheets.

Then we were off again, heading in the opposite direction toward the touristy town of Alexandria Bay. We were going to take a boat tour of the 1000 Island region. It was going to be a two and a half hour trip.

Thankfully I was prepared. I am very susceptible to motion sickness so most moving things are not my friends. Boats and planes are especially bad. But I had put on the patch my doctor had prescribed to me and was ready to test the boat. (I knew it worked when I flew. This was my first time on a boat in a looooong time.)

The upside of the patch: I was able to enjoy the trip and took lots of pictures. The downside of the patch: It makes me extremely sleepy.

By the time we returned to shore it was way past suppertime. I had brought my afternoon snack, but not my dinner. Everyone opted to eat at a restaurant instead of cooking at the cabin. This was going to be my first time at a restaurant while on PCP.

It was about 9:30pm by the time we got to the restaurant. I looked over the menu and decided on some bruschetta and a baby greens salad with fruit, oil and vinegar dressing on the side. I ate only two of the four pieces of bruschetta and all of the salad.

When we arrived back to the cabin, I was exhausted. So I yawned my goodnights and stumbled off to bed while everyone else stayed up for a bit longer.

To Be Continued....

Day 28: Plan Ahead! Plan Ahead! That's What The Wise Man Said

2009-08-28T06:50:00.000-07:00

I think I'm developing a reputation. I am a jump-rope killer.

I took Friday off from work. My parents were going to arrive late morning, about the same time my partner was going to come home from work, and we were going to travel north to spend the weekend at the cabin. That meant I had some time to do the 1300 jumps and recover afterwards before everyone got to the house.

Jump rope, music, thirteen stones, and I was all set to go. I tried some of Patrick's ideas of different jump rope tricks. The "Running Jump" wasn't too bad, though I kept tangling my left foot quite a bit. The "Double Dutch" was different too as it relies on a whole different rhythm because the rope has to swing a bit slower. The "Cross" was fun, but the most I could do would be one or two before getting tangled again.

Then came the "Snap". Over the past few weeks I had broke the rope, but it was usually at the handle. That was easy to fix—pop the end off, string the rope through, reattached. This time the rope broke right in the middle. There was no fixing that! Total number of jumps: 978.

So I limped inside and began resting, elevating, and icing my knees. At least it gave me a little more time to prepare my meals for the weekend. Eventually everything was packed, everyone arrived, and we headed to the cabin. Unfortunately, I didn't have any time to go out and buy a new jump rope. That's okay, I thought to myself, I'll just wing it.

Be careful of what you say or think. Sometimes the 'Verse is listening in and comes up with other plans!

We got to the cabin, unpacked, settled in—and I discovered that there was absolutely no coverage for my iPhone. None. Nada. Zip. I was not going to be able to check the web or receive any emails. That meant I had no idea what my meal plan was going to be nor what exercises we were going to do because I could not get Patrick's Saturday message. Friday night's meals were okay as I had already pre-packed them in their allotted amounts, but since I had not brought any of the paraphernalia from the weeks previous, I was going to be totally on my own and winging the PCP for the rest of the weekend.

Late in the evening, my brother and his family arrived. That was when the weekend at the cabin became very interesting.

To Be Continued....

Day 27: I'm Lost In Dreams of Desserts Like Pumpkin Pies And Boston Creams

2009-08-27T05:15:00.000-07:00

The strength exercises went well. The "Shoulder Fly" wasn't exactly my best as I struggled against the band to get my arms opened all the way back, and the "Double Katana" was an absolute fail. I couldn't get my arms to stretch that stupid band over my head. After a number of tries I just finally gave up and did "Tricep Dips" with the chair. I think I need to invest some money in the 5lb band. Maybe then I'll actually be able to do the exercise and build up the strength to graduate to my 10lb band for some of the exercises.

This weekend we're taking my family up to the cabin. I know they're all looking forward to eating out every day, but I'm prepared for it. I have all my food prepped and ready to go. I will say that Patrick gave a killer idea that has helped greatly. For the past few weeks I've been going to the farmers market and picking up a wide variety of vegetables. When I get home, I chopped them into different little shapes and steam them. Then they go into the refrigerator for the week. I also prepare a big bowl of whole wheat pasta and have a whole carton of hard-boiled eggs. It makes hectic life so much easier as all I have to do is measure out what I need, put it in containers, throw whatever spice I want on them, and out the door I go.

I decided to wait until this weekend to have my indulgence. My family loves treats and there will be a big definish chance that sometime during this weekend we'll get something that is definitely not PCP friendly. What better way to indulge: sharing time with family and eating something naughty!

Day 26: Don't You Know I'm Still Standing Better Than I Ever Did

2009-08-26T19:00:00.000-07:00

I was held hostage this past weekend. I swear it! My knees held me at rope point and threatened to do something nasty to me and my loved ones if I didn't stop forcing them to jump! What could I do? When one is staring down the business end of a jump rope you tend to do crazy things! I had no choice but to acquiesce to their demands.

So there was no jumping on Saturday. Or Sunday. Or Monday. There was plenty of walking—or in my case, waddling. I usually can walk with a long stride at a pretty good clip often to the beat of one of my dance mixes. That wasn't exactly happening either. I was forced to take many more shorter steps than normal due to the foot and the knees not wanting to fully cooperate.

Of course, if my legs thought they were getting the easy way out, they had another thing coming. You see, all around my house is hills. There is no such thing as a flat piece of land around here. Some hills have slight grades and others are very steep slopes. Granted, I wasn't jumping, but the legs still got a pretty good work out—which even included the "1000 Steps". That's this really long stone staircase that goes at a 45 degree angle up the side of a hill.

The amazing thing that occurred as a result of this break was that when Tuesday morning rolled around, the pain in my knees had lessened quite a bit. I could actually do the floor jumps! And I even did them with my arms behind my back! (I was a little nervous about that because ever since the knees gave up, I hadn't been able to kneel on the floor let alone get up from it.)

When I got home from work Tuesday evening, I decided to put everything to the test. Using some new found stretches, I spent five minutes warming up. Then I strapped on the knee braces, grabbed the jump rope and went to the back yard. The most wonderful thing happened! I did all the jumps with nary a break between the hundreds. Although I was breathing hard and sweating profusely, I wasn't the quivering wheezing mass I had been just a week prior. (I'm not even going to try to compare myself to what my condition was during the first week with only 250 jumps!) Yes, I was constantly tripping and tangling and whacking myself in the head, but they were just momentary pauses. I just kept jumping, breaking my goal into littler numbers—just ten numbers at a time. Before I knew it, I hit 100, quickly grabbed a stone, tossed it, and immediately went back to jumping. Before I knew it, all the stones were gone.

I did my cool down stretches for about five or so minutes, then went back into the house. The knee braces came off and the ice pack went on, alternating every 15-20 minutes between each knee. About an hour later I was up and walking about. A little stiff, a little sore, but nothing like I had been experiencing.

This morning's leg torture was the "Creep". My legs had stiffened a bit overnight so I really couldn't get down as close to the floor as Patrick is in the picture. I ended up doing as best as I could and did Thriller. Knees bent as far down as I could go, hands on knees, and start walking. Let me tell you, my legs were tired at the end of the third set!

As for the jump rope this evening—it was as good as yesterday. The time just flew by the time I reached the last stone. Some RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) and dinner later, I was able to walk again with just a little pain. I think my legs are starting to strengthen. They're definitely getting that rock solid feel.

Day 25: Life Isn't All So Simple Though, Tough Choices To Make

2009-08-25T19:24:00.000-07:00

We got the email from Patrick today. It's indulgence time. Quite truthfully, I'm not sure if I'm excited about it or scared.

My head is full of different questions. What should I choose out of the entire list of things that I love? How do I choose the special item? What if it tastes horrid because I choose the wrong item? What if I choose the right item and it starts tempting me? What would be the perfect day for this choice? Will I be able to savor it or will I just wolf it down? It didn't help that one of my co-workers put a candy bar on my desk this afternoon. I looked at that candy bar wondering if I should blow it on that little bit of chocolate or go for something tastier or fancier or some treat I don't get that often. There's just too many decisions!!

I've been so good with my meal plans that I really don't want to screw it up. It's odd, but I like my food. I've had very few moments where something has tempted me. I'm not sure if that means that I have a lot of will power or that I've become numb to the outside stimulus. I'm sure the fact that I'm a vegetarian and all my friends are extreme carnivores that usually eat quite a bit of meat has helped strengthened my resolve against temptation—plus it can't hurt that I really haven't socialized with them in almost two weeks. (When the gang gets together, sometimes it can become a junk food smorgasbord!)

So now I sit here and ponder. I don't know about anyone else, but for me this is going to be a tough decision.

Day 24: Knees Up, Knees Up, Never Let The Breeze Up, Knees Up Mother Brown

2009-08-24T06:23:00.000-07:00

Wow. There seems to be a rash of knee strains and injuries going around. I must be a trend-setter! (Just kidding!)

Here is a great resource from the McKinley Health Center. It is a list of stretching exercises that you can do based upon the type and location of the knee pain you have.

As with any exercise regimen, you should make sure you warm-up and stretch before any activity as well as stretch and cool-down afterwards.

Day 23: Cups and Cakes, Cups and Cakes, I'm So Full My Tummy Aches

2009-08-23T10:38:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I attended a friend's wedding. It was an afternoon/evening affair held outdoors in a beautiful location. Even though there had been a threat of rain, the weather stayed fairly nice throughout the evening. The whole event was just lovely.

Now, I'm a rules-lawyer. Anyone in the gaming community totally knows what I mean by that. When we began Week 2, Patrick sent out meal plans with whole list of items that were allowed and things that weren't. I immediately put that information into my head as rules for the program. Unless he gives us an exception, clarification, or addendum, I will follow the rules to the letter. (Yeah, I'm an annoying rules-lawyer.)

In preparation of the wedding reception, I packed my own PCP friendly meal (dinner plus afternoon and evening snacks). I even prepared myself for the food assault that would be the buffet. It's amazing the spread that some catering companies will lay out for a wedding! To further limit any temptation that I might have felt, I stayed away from the building where the buffet food was placed. If I can't see it, I can't sneak it!

The upside is that the bride and groom know that I'm vegetarian, so there were many vegetables in the buffet. I know it totally messed them up when I brought my own food, but I swear if they hadn't arranged the meal for a vegetarian being in their midst, the buffet would have probably been a lot less healthy. (I've been to enough weddings where much of the food was either fried or swimming in sauces galore, where the vegetables were just an appetizer.)

When everyone came back to the table, I was amazed at the amount of food they had piled on their plates. Just incredible! It was a bit of a sobering thought for me. If it weren't for the PCP, I know I would have been right there with a mountain of food like the rest of them.

I looked at my meal and remembered how I thought it was a lot of food. Then I looked at their dinners. I'm betting there were more calories on each of those plates than what was on my entire day's worth of PCP meals.

Then the incredible happened. They went back for seconds! That was followed by a trip or two to the dessert table! And that was followed by wedding cake! Topping off the whole thing calorie fest was the open bar that stayed that way all night long!!

One of the more amusing topics of dinner conversation was when they started talking about how they were going to the gym and trying to lose weight. I mentioned what I was doing on PCP, but they took one look at my meal compared to theirs and immediately dismissed it.

I use to see that mentality when I worked for a fast food restaurant. People would order the double bacon cheeseburger with everything, loaded fries, ice cream . . . and the diet soft drink because they were “watching their figures.”

Huh?!? I'm sorry, but that diet soft drink has zero calories not negative calories! It's not going to take away any of the calories from the double bacon cheeseburger you just ate! It just doesn’t work that way!

So, off they go to the gym to work out. They’re excited because the machine tells them that they’ve burned off five hundred some calories. I look back to the over 2000 calorie meal they ate just the day prior, and think to myself, “You still have a 1500 calorie defecit that needs to burn off!” But I can’t say that. They don’t want to listen. That’s okay, though. When I start looking good, they’ll have the evidence before their eyes.

Day 22: And I'm Gonna Keep On, Keep On, Up, Up

2009-08-22T14:50:00.000-07:00

Saturday is like a bizarre twisted holiday. That's the day that Patrick sends out our new exercise regimen and meal plan for the week. It's almost like getting a Christmas present from Jack Skellington—you're glad to get the gift, but you're afraid of what's in the box!

Our exercise list is full of UPs: Sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups. As John Pinette says: I don't do ups!

Day 21: Oh No, Not A Wounded Knee

2009-08-21T19:30:00.000-07:00

I managed to do all 1,000 jumps on Friday, of which I did the first 500 without a pause between the hundreds! It wasn't the smoothest by far as much tripping, tangling, and false starting occurred—but it was the longest run I've had so far where I haven't been wheezing and gasping for breath! It also felt great to throw five stones simultaneously.

Of course, that amazing feat did require a bunch of ice and rest afterward for the left knee. The right knee is slowly getting better (emphasis on the slowly). However, after reading everyone else's entries, I get the feeling that my knee is contagious!

Day 20: I Make Spaghetti With Tomato Sauce Because That's All I Can Make

2009-08-20T19:18:00.000-07:00

The challenge was thrown out there to create some PCP-friendly main menu dishes. I have a number of recipes in mind, but they all seemed to require the same ingredient—tomato sauce.

The first thing was to find a recipe to make fresh tomato sauce that was quick, easy, and fit the PCP plan. There are some jar spaghetti sauces out there that can come close to being PCP friendly, but a majority of them out there include salt and/or sugar in their ingredient lists. Definitely not something that we can use!

So, I searched on the web and came across the blog for Chez Pim. One of her entries was a recipe for 15-Minute Tomato Sauce. I took a look at it. With a very slight adjustment to the ingredients, the recipe could be PCP-friendly. But the question was, would it really be tomato sauce in 15 minutes? I decided to give it a shot.

The nice thing about her recipe is that she makes it very easy to follow and includes pictures so you can make sure your tomato sauce is coming out like hers. And it was very quick to make. It probably took me a little over 15 minutes to do, but that was mainly because I was waiting for the water to boil.

CHEZ PIM'S 15-MINUTE TOMATO SAUCE—PCP STYLE

Ingredients:

2 pounds (or almost a kilo) of fresh tomatoes
1-2 cloves of garlic, chopped
just a misting of olive oil
1/2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
black pepper, to taste
red pepper flakes, to taste

(Pim's recipe adds a lot more olive oil and salt, which really isn't necessary. I found that the balsamic vinegar and red pepper flakes give it quite a lot of flavor.)

First fill a pot with water and set it on the stove. Bring it to a boil.

While you are waiting for the water, take a sharp knife and make a cross mark on the bottom of each tomato. The water should be hot enough by the time you're done.

Plunge the tomatoes into the pot of hot water and let them sit for about a minute, until you can see the skin come a little loose at the cross mark. Remove the tomatoes from the hot water and give them a quick rinse in cold water. This will make them easy to peel.

With a small knife, peel the skin from the tomato and discard it. It should come off very easily. With the tip of the knife, cut around each green crown and remove it. Discard that too.

Then take the tomato in your hand and squeeze it until the excess juice and seeds come squirting out of it. (It's fine if a few seeds remain.) Put the tomato pulp (which is what's left in your hand) in a bowl and crush it thoroughly to break it up to small chunks.

Spray some olive oil onto a large saute pan. We use this product called Misto. Just fill it with olive oil, pump the lid, and spray onto your cooking surface. It uses a lot less than if you were to pour the olive oil in the pan. Use a brush to make sure the bottom of your pan is coated.

Toss the chopped garlic into the pan and then the tomato pulp a few seconds later. Let cook for about a minute or two (or five) until you can see the pulp breaking down and releasing the juices. Use a slotted spoon to pick up the pulp and put it in a bowl. Set that bowl to the side. Leave the juices in the pan.

Cook down the watery juice until thick, about another couple of minutes. Add the balsamic vinegar, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Check to see if the sauce is thick enough. You should be able to scrape the bottom of the pan and the sauce will stay to the sides.

Add the tomato pulp you removed back into the pan. Stir to mix well. Check the seasonings again to make sure it's to your liking. Then pour the tomato sauce in a bowl. It will store well in the refrigerator. When I made this recipe, I ended up with 294g of tomato sauce.

Now that you have a PCP friendly base tomato sauce, it should start inspiring some more meal ideas for you. It will definitely bring you pasta back to something that you were use to.

Until next time!

Day 19: You Think You Can't But You Can

2009-08-19T08:06:00.000-07:00

Day nineteen dawned and I got up at my usual time. My knees were very thankful for the rest and I managed to do all the strength exercises will little problem from them. The heel was still a bit tricky, but I managed it.

I went to work and it felt like I had been on my feet all day. My knees and heel were complaining. By afternoon I was dreading going home and having to do 900 jumps. I was tired and sore and just wanted to put my feet up again. By four o'clock that was my plan. I could barely stand on my right foot.

Strangely enough, when I got home from work I had this burst of energy that told me I HAD to attempt the 900 jumps for the day. I knew if I didn't make the effort then the whole thing would spiral out of control. Not jumping today could lead to no jumps the following day, and the day after that—and if I didn't have to jump, then I didn't need to do my strength exercises, and that would totally justify me to start cheating on the diet, and so on.

It wasn't a pleasant thought. I wasn't going to be the first to quit. I wasn't going to disappoint Patrick and my team. I wasn't going to return to the unhealthy life I had been living. I wasn't going to be a loser!

When I'm determined to do something, I can be a stubborn SOB. Just ask my parents.

I hobbled into my bedroom and strapped on the two knee braces. I placed a gel insert into my sneakers to help cushion the right heel. I grabbed my water bottle, tape player, and jump rope. Out the door I went to the backyard. I picked up my nine stones and set them near the tape player. Then I stretched my arms, my wrists, my shoulders, my legs, my knees. I jogged in place. I did a short meditation to sync everything together. I picked up the jump rope, turned the tape player on, and jumped.

The jumps were not the smoothest by any means. There was lots of tripping and tangling going on, but I pushed on. After each 100 jumps, I grabbed one of the nine stones and threw it. Eventually I ran out of stones. I had successfully completed 900 jumps. I finished with a number of cool-down stretches, a walk around the backyard, and a short meditation.

I went back into the house, took off the knee braces, grabbed a pack of ice and foot bath of warm water. As I sat there with my foot soaking and ice on my knees, my partner came in to the room and said to me, "With all that stuff on, you looked just like the bionic man."

"I feel just about as broken as he was."

"Yeah," he responded. "But they made him stronger. And that's what you're doing. Sure, you may need extra equipment to help keep things in place and it may take you a little longer than it would some of the younger people, but you'll eventually get there."

Yes I will.

Day 18: To See If I Still Feel I Focus On The Pain

2009-08-18T17:57:00.000-07:00

And on the eighteenth day, I went to the doctor.

It originally started with the right leg. It had been bothering me since the first week of PCP. The knee was starting to get sore and it hurt to walk on my right foot. Not too much fun when you're camping and have to walk everywhere.

To compensate for the weakness on the right side, my left leg began bearing the weight of everything, especially in the realm of the jump rope. That worked out well for a while. Yeah, my right knee was killing me but at least I had the left leg for support.

Until Monday.

Eventually the left knee began wearing down. By the end of the jump ropes both knees were in agony. Ibuprofen and IcyHot were very much my friends that night. The next morning I called my doctor for an appointment.

For the knees, the doctor recommended using a brace on the left as I had already done for the right. He also showed me a couple of new stretches to use for warming up and cooling down. The final suggestion was putting ice on the knees after I finished jumping to help with any soreness and swelling.

The right foot required a bit more work. The end result was some very minor surgery on the heel. I hobbled out of the doctor's office and went shopping for medication for the foot and another knee brace. By the time I got home, the legs let me know that they had had it for the day. Following the doctor's instructions, I grabbed a good book and put my foot up. There was going to be no jump rope that evening. (Luckily I had done the strength part in the morning.)

Day 17: All I Know For Sure Is I'm Trying. I Will Always Stand My Ground

2009-08-17T17:29:00.000-07:00

I gave the yard a second chance today. It had been begging me to take it back after it had failed me once, so I was very leary of it's enticing offer. You know what they say—once bitten, twice shy.

But the yard came back to me with a new look, a much shorter 'do. No longer was it the long-haired hippie that greeted me when I came back from vacation. It now was sporting a close-cropped sassy look. Very desirable, but I didn't want a repeat from before.

"C'mon, man!" J-Rope said. "Let's give it another chance. The yard has reformed. No more of those wild days. It's ready to be there for you."

I'm a sucker for second chances and sporty new looks. So me and J-Rope went out into the backyard for some one-on-one-on-one time. Janet Jackson was singing in the background as I grabbed nine rocks out of the flower bed and set them in a row nearby.

The jumps began.

I have to hand it to the yard—it played real nice, not ever once being a tease and flirting with J-Rope. We were there to do some serious work. 100 jumps. I took one of the rocks and tossed it back into the flower bed. 200 jumps. Another rock tossed. 300 jumps. 400. 500. Eventually all the way to 850 jumps, and the nine rocks were back in the flower bed.

The yard had done us good. Maybe it had changed it's ways. It was worth a shot. J-Rope and I decided we would give it another try tomorrow. The yard had earned my trust.

And now, more Creative Cooking from E's Kitchen!

Not-So Devilish Eggs

Ingredients:

2 hard-boiled egg whites
low-fat cottage cheese (enough to fill four egg halves - I used approximately 80g)
curry powder to taste
mustard powder to taste
paprika to taste

Take the low-fat cottage cheese and add about a pinch of curry powder and a pinch of mustard powder to it. Mix it together. (If you like more or less curry or mustard, feel free to adjust the spices to your taste.)

Fill the hollow of the egg with the cottage cheese mixture. Sprinkle a little paprika on the top for some extra color. You can add a parsley sprig for a festive touch.

Day 16: You've Got To Learn To Brace Yourself

2009-08-16T19:12:00.000-07:00

I knew that Friday was going to be a hectic day for me, so I decided to do my ropes in the morning instead of my usual late afternoon/evening time. So, I went outside and started jumping. By jump three or four, my right knee totally gave out, sending me sprawling to the ground. After lying there on the driveway for a few minutes, I managed to pick myself up and limp back into the house. My legs had decided there would be no ropes for me that day.

I rested my leg for the remainder of Friday, and most of Saturday. Then I went out and bought a knee stabilizer. (It's like a knee brace, but allows leg movement.) I put it on and went outside to challenge it against the ropes.

800 jumps later, my knees were sore but not the painful mess they had been previously. I still had to take some ibuprofen and rub some IcyHot on it, but a few hours later I was walking just fine, and sometimes better, than I had days before. I was actually able to walk up the stairs, instead of having to take it one step at a time.

My knee stayed pretty happy for most of today—that is until came to be rope time. My partner persuaded me to do my jumps in the house, as the temperature and humidity was really awful outside. I decided I would give it a try.

Big mistake.

Although there is enough room to swing a rope around, there is too much stuff around. I was in constant fear that either I would hit something on the wall or mantle, that the rope would be caught on the couch or the entertainment center, or that I would rip the ceiling fan out of it's socket. That fear influenced my jumping like crazy. I tripped more than I jumped, and the sudden stoppage of movement would twist my knee just enough it would start to ache. I even broke that rope twice, which my partner fixed both times. I got very frustrated, especially since yesterday's jumps had been so good!

Fed up, I finally took my jump rope outdoors and finished my 800 in the driveway with little problem. That seems to be the only place where I can jump rope without major issues. I know that I'll need to create a "rope-safe" space in the house, especially if I want to jump rope in the winter, but for now it'll be the driveway.

Mike's post last week about what to make with the night-time snack got my gears a turning. Here's what I came up with:

BLUEBERRY-BANANA SMOOTHIE

Ingredients:
1/2 of your fruit grams in blueberries
1/2 of your fruit grams in banana
3/4 of your milk grams in plain low-fat yogurt (we make our own here, so there's no sugar in it)
1/4 of your milk grams in low-fat milk
1/2 cup crushed ice

Place all of the ingredients in a blender and mix until smooth. (I used the "grind" setting on my blender in order to really pulverize the ice.) It was a very nice treat on this hot and humid summer day.

Enjoy!

Day 15: Colours Of The World, Spice Up Your Life

2009-08-15T17:59:00.000-07:00

Getting bored with your meals? Do you feel if you eat one more egg you'll crack? Need to add some pep to your bell peppers? Does your fish fillet flounder? What can you do to add a bit more zing to your food?

Well, look no further than your very own spice rack! Yes, spices can bring life back into your food, and the best part of all is that they're 100% free! That's right! Spices add nothing to your meal plan totals!

If you have never used spices in your food, or the only spices you've ever tried are those that come pre-packaged with your hamburger helper, then you are in for a world of adventure!

SPICE 101: For the spicing beginner, there is a very easy and simple method to exploring spices: Just take a bit of food and sprinkle a little bit of spice on it. It will allow you to taste the flavor of the spice and gives you an idea of how well it will mix with that food item. This way you won't spoil your whole plate with a spice that you find utterly revolting!

SPICE 201: Once you get comfortable with those single spice flavors, it's time to mix it up a bit. Try combining two or three spices together! The easiest way to achieve this is to do something I call "Cooking With Color". For the most part, spices that are the same color tend to work well with other spices of the same hue. Here's a sampling of some spices that work well together with others in their color groups:

White spices: garlic powder, onion powder. (Stay away from garlic salt and onion salt. They're not PCP-friendly.)
Red spices: cayenne pepper, paprika, chili powder.
Yellow spices: mustard powder, curry powder.
Green spices: parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil, dill weed.
Brown spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice.

Just a little dash of this and a little dash of that from the same color group will help perk up your meals! From there you can advance to the spice blends!

SPICE 301: Spice blends are really great to add pizzazz to any food. Just mix the blend ahead of time and store it in an air-tight container. Usually a spice blend recipe uses enough ingredients to last you a while. Just be careful! Some spice blend recipes include salt! The nice thing is that you can just leave out the salt from the recipe—it won't hurt the flavor a bit!

Here are some of my favorite spice blends that take minimal effort:

SWEET SPICE BLEND

Mix together:
2 rounded tablespoons ground ginger
2 rounded tablespoons ground cinnamon
2 heaping tablespoons powdered bay leaves (Just use a spice grinder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground clovers

STRONG BLACK SPICE BLEND

Mix together:
1/4 cup fresh ground black pepper
1/4 cup ground long pepper (If you can't find long pepper, use additional black pepper)
3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 whole nutmeg, grated

CHINESE FIVE SPICE BLEND

Mix together:
1 1/2 tablespoons ground star anise
2 1/2 teaspoons ground fennel seeds
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cassia or cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground Szechwan pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

(Optional: 1/2 teaspoon white pepper and/or 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger. Both will give added bite and depth of flavor)

CREOLE SEASONING BLEND

Mix together:
2 tablespoons PLUS 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon black pepper

And there you have it! Just sprinkle a little of these spice blends on your food and make the flavor sing!

Until next time,

Bon Appétit!

Day 14: I'm Your Ice Cream Man, Stop Me When I'm Passin' By

2009-08-14T10:38:00.000-07:00

Today is the first big test of willpower—me versus the workplace.

Last week (our first week on PCP) I was asked how I was handling the hunger, since we were only eating half portions of our normal meals. That part was easy for me due to a number of factors: I was on vacation and camping, it was hot outside, I was drinking quite a bit of water, and I was constantly on the move keeping myself busy by doing something every moment.

Camping meant that I was not around a lot of food to draw my attention. Hot weather tends to reduce my appetite anyways. Lots of water keeps my stomach feeling full. And since I was so busy, my mind was actively thinking of other things than food.

That was one of the reasons why I dreaded going back to work. There's usually lots of food around me because many of the people here either order out for lunch or they're bringing in food to share (and the table they use is next to my cubicle). I'm sitting in air-conditioning so my appetite is at normal capacity. Because I'm cooler, I often don't drink as much water as I should. And I'm just sitting here at a desk, staring at a computer, so I'm not really physically active.

Today is ordering out day, and I'm being bombarded with the scent of pizza, barbeque sauce, burgers, fries, chicken wings, and more. Someone brought in birthday cake and now they've announced that the company is providing free ice cream for everyone.

That's one of my worst food triggers—free. When food is free, my body goes into this frenzy to eat as much of it as I possibly can, like I'm starving or something. It doesn't matter that I'm not hungry at all, or that I'm stuffed to the gills; if you tell me it's free food, I'll be grazing right along with the rest of them!

There were times I could be pretty good about not ordering out. All I had to do was think of how much money I had. If there wasn't any available money, then I couldn't order out. There was a cost associated with eating. But with free, there is no cost!

Or is there?

I can look at myself in the mirror and see the cost. My body is very out of shape. It has been pushed to the limits from many days of getting up early AND staying up late. (I have been known to exist on 3-5 hours of sleep.) I associate with people who eat out all the time and think fried foods are a healthy alternative because the restaurants use vegetable oil. And exercise was something I only did when I had a free moment—and of course I never found the free moments.

Over the past couple of years I have been experiencing a change in myself, in my thoughts, in my being, in my perception of my life and how it really should be. I really can't afford to be the person I was.

So, I look out the window and watch the ice cream truck drive off with one extra ice cream bar that has my name on it still sitting in it's freezer. The battle of wills has been won this time. It's still early in the game and my determination is strong.

However, it doesn't mean my inner child isn't banging on that window, screaming for the ice cream truck to come back.

Day 13: Here It Goes Again

2009-08-13T15:19:00.000-07:00

I've been experiencing the oddest sensations lately. I'm actually starting to get hungry just before each main meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner).

When the meal plan began (and I call it a meal plan, because the word "diet" still has too many negative connotations), I couldn't believe all the food we were going to eat. Like a good little trooper, I would finish every bite that was required—but man, was I ever slowing down! There were times those three big meals required a lot more time to eat. The good thing about slowing down meant I actually tasted the food.

But now I'm getting hungry usually about 30 minutes before my scheduled times. It's not a ravenous hunger, but my stomach is letting me know it's almost time to eat. I wasn't expecting this. Is this happening to anyone else?

For some light-hearted fun, here is one of my favorite exercise videos. Okay, it really isn't exercise, but if it were it would totally rock! (This is a side-by-side comparison of the original video by Ok Go and a group of high school students who decided to tackle the maneuvers.)

Day 12: But It's My Destiny To Be The King Of Pain

2009-08-12T19:59:00.000-07:00

I think I need to buy some stock in IcyHot and companies the produce ibuprofen. Although I am starting to get into the swing of the jump rope (all 700 baby, and even one that was a perfect 100 in a row), my legs are a painful mess afterward. I stretch them before I jump, I stretch them between sets of 100, and I stretch them afterward. It doesn't seem to make a difference so far. When I'm finished I can barely crawl up the steps into the house and then crawl up the stairs to take a shower. (Actually, I take the stairs one step at a time, relying quite heavily on the banister to keep up upright.) My legs are just screaming at me. The shin splints and the twisted knee are the worst of the bunch. The calves complain, but that's just because I can feel the muscles actually getting stronger there.

Yes, there was a moment today where I absolutely could no longer stand the pain, as I waited for the ibuprofen and IcyHot to kick in. That was the moment I so wanted to cry. The other exercises are great. They don't cause me pain like the jump rope. (I still love my new jump rope, though. It works so well with me!) I've even split the exercises up so all of those curls and push-ups and sit-ups are completed in the morning before I go to work. I save the jump rope for when I get home, because afterward I find it very hard to walk. (Unfortunately, I can't not walk at work.)

Once the meds begin to work, most of the pain subsides and I can somewhat do things that give me the semblance of a normal life. It's not easy to go up and down stairs, or even stand for that matter, but I sure as dickens know that I'll be doing all of this over again tomorrow.

Why? Because I'm a masochist. Naw, not really. It's because there is a goal that I have in mind, a goal that I'm going to reach by the end of these 90 days. I am going to be healthier and stronger, and hopefully leaner.

Pain is a challenge. It is also a confirmation. My body hasn't exercised like this in who knows how many years. I am getting a far better workout, and a lot more sweat, than I ever had. Yes, my legs are rebelling, but they're not use to all this jumping around.

Is the agony I go through worth it? Darn tootin' it is! I know that tomorrow morning I will get up out of bed with my legs complaining all the way, and enthusiastically dive right in to those sit-ups, and push-ups, and curls. And I know that tomorrow evening, I will be outside jumping my little heart out.

I have seen many people with conditions that are worse than my aching knees, and yet they forge on with grace and a "can do" spirit which pushes them on to accomplish some amazing things. Should I allow myself to do less than them? No.

So bring on the IcyHot! Bring on the ibuprofen. I've got more jumps to do!

Day 11: Don't Lose Yourself Or Your Hope 'Cause Life's Like A Jump Rope

2009-08-11T19:08:00.000-07:00

I love my new jump rope. Yes, you read that correctly. I absolutely love it! And I think it likes me too.

After the demise of the ~~Implement of Torture~~ previous jump rope as I barely thwarted it's attempt to seriously maim me, I had to quickly go out and buy a new one. I walked into the sporting goods store and looked at all of the different kinds of jump rope they sold. It's absolutely amazing the prices they charge for some of them!

The ~~Implement of Torture~~ previous jump rope was one of those old-style models that were often found in grade school gym class: cotton rope which was attached to two wooden handles by means of a metal connector. The kind of device that many boys used as numchuks much to many a girl's dismay. Yeah, it was old school.

The new jump rope is all black and very sleek. Although I attempted to use it yesterday, the ~~Implement of Torture~~ previous jump rope made sure I was in no condition to really try the new one out. So today was really the first day I was able to take the new jump rope out for a spin.

After my previous experience, I was dreading what evil plot it had in store for me. With trepidation, I swung the rope. The grips helped guide my hands to the proper position, and with just a flick of the wrist the rope went around effortlessly. It gave a gentle tap the ground, emitting a soft "tic" sound to let me know that I had to jump over it. "Tic", hop, "tic", hop. Eventually, it stopped the "tic" sound. Swoosh, jump, swoosh, jump, swoosh, jump. It was like a dream! I didn't have to jump very high in order to clear it. My knee was thankful for that little mercy!

Before I knew it, I had completed 100 jumps before having to stop and catch my breath. Oh, they weren't smooth jump in the least as I stumbled a few times, but the new jump rope was there with it's encouragement. "See how easy 100 jumps can be?" it prompted enthusiastically. "The next 100 can be just as easy."

The time flew by for me and the new jump rope. 650 jumps completed, and by the end I wasn't even sounding like a walrus during mating season. It was the best session I ever had! Although I wish we could have played more, we both knew that I had to stop for the day. We'll get together again tomorrow to tackle the 700 jumps.

Day 10: Strictly Butter Baby, Strictly Butter

2009-08-10T17:14:00.000-07:00

Okay, now I know that the ~~Implement of Torture~~ jump rope hates me. Since the first day I laid hands on it, it has consistently tried to take my life—or at least maim me. On the very first day it tripped me up while trying to jump on the uneven ground, giving my knee a little twist. That made jumping a bit of a challenge, but I refused to let the rope win.

Then came the knuckle smashing. Yeah, I had picked up one of those old fashion type ropes, made of cotton with wooden handles and metal connectors. Sometimes when it tried to trip me it would hit my knuckles with those metal pieces, and now they're black & blue.

After a couple of good sets, it decided I needed to trip again—but there was a fatal flaw in it's plan. Just as I was hitting jump #434, I stepped on it as it swung around. The rope snapped. The ~~Implement of Torture~~ jump rope is no more! BWA-HA-HA-HA! Unfortunately, it also twisted my knee enough that it too decided to give.

I immediately went out to buy another jump rope of a totally different style. It cost a little more, but there were no metal pieces that would threaten my knuckles. When I came home, I attempted to finish the remaining jumps. After about a hundred more, my knee gave out. The rest of the afternoon was spent nursing the knee. (Luckily, I had completed all of the other exercises before attempting to use the ~~Implement of Torture~~ jump rope.)

So today was a partial victory. Only 116 jumps more and it would have been a total win. Oh well, there's always tomorrow.

For those of you who don't know, I love to cook. I like to make foods from other cuisines, or try recreating a medieval recipe, or even experimenting and whipping something up. This morning I was reading a book on Indian cooking (The Turmeric Trail by Raghavan Iyer). In a side-note comment for his Ghee recipe, he says:

"As I always warn my students, you cannot hurry perfection. You may be tempted to turn up the heat to expedite the process of melting butter and skimming the milk solids. Fall into that trap and watch your butter burn."

It made me think about what we're doing with this program. We're trying to get into peak condition—a kind of perfection for our well-being. Although we may wish for it to occur overnight, we know it can't be hurried. Some people ramp up their exercises trying to get to the end-goal faster, but that would be like turning up the heat on the butter. They'd burn out before they got there.

Perfection cannot be hurried. We're slowly building up our exercises. We're changing our tastes and adjusting the way we eat. We're learning new things so we can live in wellness for the rest of our lives. It takes time.

The goal is not the destination, but the journey we take to get there.

Day 9: I Am Changing, Trying Every Way I Can

2009-08-09T14:33:00.000-07:00

Vacation is almost over. Le sigh. I am actually home now, but I still have one more day off. Two weeks of medieval camping means that a person needs some time to re-acclimate to modern world.

Today began with a lot of improvisation. Since I was gone for two weeks, I really didn't have much in the house to eat that met PCP meal approval. I managed to get pretty close to my breakfast plan, so I think I did okay.

Then I quickly ran out to the store to pick up the other things that I needed: a bar for chin-ups, push-up bars, and that elastic cord thingy for curls and stuff. Once again, my time is all out of whack. I miss my morning snack break, so I had that for lunch, which meant lunch was pushed to the afternoon snack time, which moved that to dinner, which is moving that for a bit later this evening. It was the classic domino effect.

This afternoon I managed to do the Day 8 exercises. Yeah, I'm one day behind. Although I did manage to get the ~~Implement of Torture~~ jump rope to cooperate a bit. Two sets of fifty jumps without a single trip (not counting the obligatory wheeze-fest in between the sets). I also discovered that the flat, paved surface of the driveway made it a lot easier than the muddy, grassy uneven hillside I had been using during the week prior.

Then I alternated between the ~~Implement of Torture~~ jump rope and the other exercises. One hundred jumps, sixty-eight squats, one hundred jumps, eighteen incline pull-ups, one hundred jumps, forty-four push-ups, etc. Mixing it up a bit kept it from being dull and repetitious (although my legs still balked at the idea of having to do "only fifty more jumps" during the entire session).

At least I am home now. I can now easily update this blog, and cook my own meals, and read my emails, and so forth. The first week was a little bit of a challenge, but I managed it. And no, you will not find photos of me in a Renaissance outfit trying to jump a rope. That would just be silly.

Day 8: They Are Fading With Exhaustion

2009-08-08T23:10:00.000-07:00

This morning found me packing up the camp. There were many things that needed to be counted, packed, transported, and placed in the storage unit. Once our camp stuff was put away, it was time to pack my tent and things. That was followed by many hours of driving with a couple of stops along the way for food. I didn't get home until after 10pm and it wasn't until after 11pm that I had unpacked the car. So I'll be dropping into bed, thoroughly exhausted.

Needless to say, the first day of my assigned meal plan and Day 8 exercises were a total bust. I mainly stuck to salads and vegetables for food (as there really was no easy way for me to measure out everything, let alone cook).

Tomorrow I'll do better.

Day 7: A Heart Attack, You're Givin' Me A Heart Attack!

2009-08-07T16:57:00.000-07:00

Today started out with me having a minor heart attack when I realized that the number of jumps really increased from the previous day. Then I had a second minor heart attack trying to complete them.

The ~~Implement of Torture~~ jump rope does not play very well with my body. Right now I can barely do fifty jumps without tripping and then having to take a break so I can stop wheezing. But so far, doing fifty at a time helps. (Then, every time I hit a hundred mark I gave myself the proverbial pat on the back for just surviving!)

I did have one moment where I discovered "zen jumping". It was so hot and I was plain tired that I closed my eyes, swung the rope and jumped, surrendering myself to that moment. Amazingly enough, I managed to do fifty jumps non-stop. I couldn't believe it! Of course, I couldn't recreate it either. But hey, you gotta take the little victories whenever you can.

Day 6: A Lost Weekend in Shangri-La

2009-08-06T11:24:00.000-07:00

My legs have decided to rebel. Feet are sore, knees are sore, shins are sore. They say they're not use to jumping rope. They demand that I cease all jumping immediately or else.

I counter their argument. I tell them that this is going to be good for my health and well-being. I tell them that their load will be lighter when there is less of me to haul around. I tell them that there will be more energy for them to share.

They don't like my answers. They want to know what's in it for them right now.

I tell them that I'm going to give them an afternoon of decadence. The exercises are done for today, and I will let them have some rest. I am going to treat my feet to a spa in the camp. Bath salts, peppermint foot lotion, scrubs, warm water, roses, the works.

My legs rejoice. The rest of my body starts grumbling. What about it?

Don't worry, I reassure it comfortingly. There will be someone there to give massages. Everyone will be taken care of.

My body leaps for joy! It has worked real hard this week and loves the idea of being pampered for a few hours. It's happy. I'm happy. And it is an indulgence that has nothing to do with food. (Shhhh. Don't tell my stomach. It's still excited about the massage.)

Day 5: Laugh 'Cause The Music Is Funny

2009-08-05T17:31:00.000-07:00

Day 4: I Love The (K)night Life, I Want To Boogie

2009-08-04T11:53:00.000-07:00

So, what is your idea of camping?

For me it looks a little like this:

I'm part of a group called the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA). It's an international organization that recreates the Middle Ages. Around this time of year, many of us head towards Pennsylvania for the largest gathering of SCAdians for a two week and event, known as the Pennsic War. Usually there will be about 10,000 - 14,000 people in attendance.

In many ways it's a bit more rustic than you're use to -- in other ways it's more modern than you'd think. One of the great things about it is that we try to go back to a simpler time where the best way to travel is by foot and food doesn't come prepackaged. That doesn't mean everyone follows that regimen.

With so many people in attendance, you can see a wide array of body types. Unfortunately there are many who are a bit on the heavy side. It's a helpful reminder for me to push on with a healthier lifestyle. These people can't walk more than a few steps without stopping. They eat many unhealthy options (which there is plenty), drink enormous quantities of alcohol, can barely survive the weather, and have many MANY medical problems.

I don't want to be like that. I want to be able to enjoy life for quite some time.

Yes, this first week has been a little tough with the jump rope. The other exercises have been fine, it's just that damnable piece of rope that loves to threaten my feet.

My legs are sore and really wish I'd stop. I think even my body wants to rebel against me. There have been moments when the passing thought is to quit torturing myself. Then I look at the people around me. That is more than enough incentive to keep pushing onward.

Time for more jumps!

Day 3: I'm A Tangled Up Puppet, Spinning Round In Knots

2009-08-03T14:16:00.000-07:00

Day 2: And The Rain Falls Down

2009-08-02T15:58:00.000-07:00

When you're camping, anything that you do is totally at the will of nature. It's great when you have days full of sunshine, but when it rains things get a little more difficult—and difficult is a far cry from impossible. It's just a challenge to test your will and resolve.

The rain began a few days ago. For the most part it has been just steady, with periodic sprinkles; however, there have been many moments when a torrential downpour has had everyone scrambling to save their tents in an desperate attempt to keep things dry. Some succeed, others do not.

This was the challenge set before me by the 'Verse: attempt the PCP exercises in the most unique situations possible. Well, I'm a long-time camper who has a bit of MacGyver in him. Rain wasn't going to stop me!

My tent provided enough room to handle everything except the jump rope. That was were everything was going to get interesting! The weather did take pity on me and it stopped raining long enough to complete the jumps. It was probably the funniest thing for everyone else to see, though. Jump, squish, jump, squish, jump, squish, jump, SPLASH! Yeah, I invariably found the puddle.

So there I am, in the middle of a mud puddle. What's a person to do? That's an easy answer. Laugh!! After a minute or so of breathless laughter, I crawled out of the puddle, got dry shoes, and continued with the rest of the jumps. The puddle decided to leave me alone for the rest of the exercise.

And the 'Verse smiled.

Day 1: Might As Well Jump. Jump!

2009-08-01T13:45:00.000-07:00

When I read the "Day One" email from Patrick, I thought to myself, "This will be a piece of cake. I can jump rope. I use to do it all the time as a kid. Then I attempted to jump rope. I barely could make it to 25 without tripping or having to stop to catch my breath. Yeah, I had no problems jumping rope as a kid -- but there's a lot more of me now than there was then. But somehow I managed to accomplish the full number of jumps. The other exercises were easy, as I have been doing them on and off for the past year.

The part that I'm going to find hard right now will be trying to eat only half of what I normally eat. The reason this is going to be tricky is that I am currently on vacation and I'm camping. When I'm in the outdoors, I don't eat as much as I usually do. Everything is rationed out and when it's gone, it's gone. There's no cupboard or refrigerator to run to whenever the munchies attack.

So, I'm having to resort to thinking about how much I would usually eat if I were home and then trying to half that. I know there are times when I'll just chow down two veggie burgers, just because I don't want to waste the food since it's cooked -- so for this week, I need to only eat one. Along with that, I'm going to restrain myself to only one helping of side dishes and not go for seconds, as well as eyeballing my portion sizes. (I've done many diets and such over the years, so I remember things like: 4 oz of meat is the size of your palm, butter is the size of a die, and so forth.)

The easy thing for me to get rid of will be the salt. I have an adverse reaction to it, so I tend to not add it to my food. The hardest thing will be sugar. Yes, I have a pretty big sweet tooth. But the time has come for me to start thinking about my health and let go of some of those things that do not enhance my health. That is the journey worth traveling.

Day 0 - Main Title

2009-07-27T16:42:00.001-07:00

Wellness. The Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the PCP'er E. His mission: to explore healthful new foods, to seek out new life and new realizations; to boldly go where he has not gone before.

Yeah. I'm a total geek.

Welcome to my journey to a healthier new life! It's going to be an adventure!