Day # 90 mumble "UNFINISHED BUSINESS"

Some of you may have noticed that I was pretty fucked off with myself for the way I ended PCP.  Well I was,  and still am,  but,  with a few days to mellow I've come to realise that day 90 is just a number.  It's what's beyond that is important,  Actually last Friday I told myself this so I had an excuse to blow up,  but now I do believe it.  And also Patrick has told me that unless I do a proper "final blog" I can't have my maintenance pack (the real reason)!

So firstly the stats...  Done on day #92 but don't hold that against me.

                                           30th May      30th June   27th July  31st Aug

weight                                   82.2               75.9        71.2           71.1      (done in similar clothes)
body fat mass  kg                  23.8               17.3        11.5            9.7
body fat %age                       29                  22.8        16.1           13.6
Visceral fat                           129                102.8       77.9           41.7
skeletal muscle mass  kg      32.9               33           33.4           34.4


I needed to see these results,  yes I already knew my weight was off it's low and unchanged from the month before but it was more muscle/less fat which is encouraging.  I really wanted to see 10% on the body fat %age and I think had I not been on holiday etc etc it would have happened, but 13.6 is OK and pretty much the best I was hoping for under the circumstance.  I am very happy with the visceral fat number though, not as good as Mandy's as she keeps reminding me but I win elsewhere, honours even.


I think back to where I was in 2000. I was 92kg and I think it's fair to say with less muscle that I have now,  but assuming all things even that would have been 30kg of pure fat I was carrying around, I believe that's quite a lot.  So 82 eventually became the new 92 and I hovered around that and maintained it there (yes,  round of applause for me!) so I see no reason why I can't now hover around 72 and make that the new norm.


So how did I do it? 


By doing this

and achieving this...

I've decided that me and month 3 have some unfinished business and I'm going to do it again.  I made the mistake after holiday of focusing on losing the Bali fat and it was to the detriment of the program as a whole.  Weight loss was always my goal and motivator from day 1,  muscle growth was very much secondary,  welcome, but secondary. But actually, I wants me some abs,  and I look at Allan C's and Richard B's results from following the course to the letter and well,  I'm in awe, well done lads.  And starting from this point has got to be a positive,  egg white anyone?  Oh and mushroom,  I made it a personal side goal to eat and somehow like mushrooms by the end of all this,  they're in EVERYTHING and to not like them is a total bummer and incredibly restrictive when you're reading through a restaurant menu. Job done on that at least,  I love them, just took the 41 years then!


I think that pretty much wraps it up,  to the class of summer 2011,  I will continue to check my google reader and GMail going forward,  so if you continue to blog,  I at least, will read it and be interested to see how you progress. And assuming I don't end up like I was in 2000, I will blog too!

So,  some real photos,  I've binned all my fat pants so can't do "that" shot,  but I can do this....

It's not the best quality photo and not sure if you can read the captions but there are buckle dents in every one of these holes.  I'm quite expandable!


And so to......  (PCP minus 1 week)

to this (1 week before the finish)

And this.. (1 week past)

Yeah I'm tensing as best I can, vs relaxed at the beginning,  but at the beginning I only knew how to relax,  where as now I walk around in perpetual peck tense, hoo haa.


That's it!  Patrick, give me my maintenance pack,  Seriously dude,  thank you.  It's been emotional............

Day # 90 and 89..and 88 Well.... That'll be that then... tripped at the line

PCP finished on day 87 for me. I could sit here and make excuses blah blah,  but I think the one thing that is obvious to me is I need routine, and not to break it.  It's been all important that I know when I'm exercising and what I'm doing when. This past couple of weeks, work commitments have meant that I've been doing them at all different times and it just doesn't wash with me.  I also need the routine of the gym.  I know Patrick is really rather anti gyms,  but I find the process of going, getting changed and being there a motivation, I get that JFD attitude and want to just get it over with. What's the point in going there if you're not going to work out.  It also allows me to go during lunch on occasion, which isn't wasting my personal time.  Working out at home doesn't work for me,  Weekends were always the hardest.  I also think Patrick is unduly hard on gym goers,  I actually see a lot of fit people at the gym I go too,  maybe it's the early morning brigade being more motivated, and doing as much as possible before the office but I don't see too much standing around doing nothing. I do however question people using their personal trainers 2-3 times a week.  That seems like wasted money to me when they could be doing it by themselves.

This weekend, trying to unpack our old home into our new one took up our time and I soon just thought,  exercise can wait till later.....  like never.  We ate lunch out Saturday as had nothing in,  I ordered baked baramundi on veg (PCP fine) but several beers, the remains of the kids pizza, and a slice of banoffi pie.  oops.   This followed on from Friday evening Mandy and I grabbed a quiet bite whilst the kids were out,  carbon copy of the Saturday lunch really, but the tone was set,  it became comical what I ate Sat night,  biscuits, crisps,  raisins coated on yoghurt, hot cross buns, loads of gin,  Sunday lunch again,  chicken fajitas and cheesecake... oh and beer.  Sunday evening, Mandy wasn't hungry, said wasn't cooking,  so I went fishing, and came back with biscuits, ritz crackers and gin.  I did however keep it slightly PCP compliant by having a banana and low fat yoghurt,  yea for me! It almost became a comical 2 fingers to the whole PCP programme,  but probably more of a self destruct button and I'm rather annoyed with myself now. My whole plan was to take my pictures yesterday morning,  after my workout, before my breakfast when I was at my best,  Then open a decent bottle of wine this evening I've had for years waiting for a significant occasion.  I can't be bothered with that now as it  doesn't seem appropriate, nor indeed shall I with the final pics, I've managed to put on 2.8kg since last Wednesday and I've missed my window for them. I'm still happy with my general results,  just not where I should have been. What I'm really not happy with is how easily I seem to be able to slip back into old habits.

Going forward,  I don't think I'm going to buy any clothes just yet.  Probably wise to see where I am in a month or so.  I hope this was just a blip that I had to get out of my system,  but I'm not sure, and I don't trust myself. I'm not sure I can booze in moderation,  nor give it up entirely so that leaves me in a bit of a pickle.  I also know that I hate weight training and I like cardio, be it running, biking or skipping,  but I also know that this alone isn't sufficient to maintain what I've achieved,  which leaves me in a bit of a pickle.

Generally though I've quite enjoyed the experience,  I've been to some hellish places and questioned my sanity  but it's been OK.  I've enjoyed the whole blogging thing which I was convinced at the beginning I wouldn't,  in fact I was determined not too.  The fellow PCP'ers that I've got to know in some virtual way have been a constant source of inspiration,  no more so than Connie and Tracey.  your JFD attitude really has got me through a few sessions I wouldn't necessarily have completed.

My fellow team Pucks,  respect to you all,  Richard and Bruce,  amazing results fella's.  And Richard n Kim,  have a lovely wedding.  Even Noel, I've enjoyed our exchanges immensely and look forward to seeing you on Friday. If I have offended anyone along the way I apologise,  it was probably meant to be humorous that fell flat, unless of course it was aimed at Noel in which case it was heart felt.  And finally Mandy,  you have amazed me with your commitment to the programme and even with your persistent shoulder injury, and all the hassles of the past few weeks, you have pressed on where I fully expected you to stop. Total respect,  I love having my new svelte wife, and don't worry,  I'm not putting all my weight back on,  far too galling to have to re-buy all my fat clothes I've given away. It's not a health choice,  it's a financial one.

To current PCP'ers,  trust Patrick to answer all your questions within your daily emails he sends.  You get ALL the answers you need, you might not have them on the days you ask,  but you WILL get them at some point, and you won't be left high n dry.  And somewhere at the beginning,  he tells you he wants you to figure stuff out for yourself.  Do that,  it ain't rocket science, as much as some people seem to want to see it that way.  It's just healthy living, which I'm not sure if I'm qualified to comment on having read my mea culpa above, or maybe it makes me more so, but I know (more-so now than 90 days ago) what food is healthy, and how to eat healthily.  It still needs to be a conscious choice to eat that way,  but I think I'll find it easier to make the right decisions, or at least better decisions, most of the time.

I guess final shout out goes to Patrick.  Good programme man,  maybe 4 days too long but nothing is perfect! It does well in luring you into a false sense of security until it's too late by which time you're hooked and want to get to the end,  well almost,  christ I'm such a bonehead for this lost weekend, ho hum. But anyway,  nothing revolutionary you're doing, just good old fashioned sweat n veg.  I wish you every success going forward.

Bye

Day 88 The Crawl

I think this clip pretty much sums up my PCP finish

I didn't mean too, it just kinda happened.  Yesterday evening I pretty much tipped the fridge into my gob.

Day # 87 Temptation is EVERYWHERE!

I'm really finding it tough to resist some bad food.  guys here got a Tony Romas delivery for lunch,  I had a couple of onion rings,  oh the shame.  I keep stuffing myself with veggies just to try and fill me up, yesterday I had about 1.5kg of veg.  AMAYW.  Actually I don't want ANY anymore, but its helping to get biscuits out of my head.  Honestly, I'm a bit concerned about next week when I technically won't have the PCP guilt hanging over me that I'm going to be like a man released from prison after a long stretch.  You'll find me in Wanchai........dancing......... on a bar...........naked!

By yesterday evening the removal men had taken pretty much everything to the new flat but we had last night still at home.  Thankfully Mandy saved a bottle of Tanqueray and some tonics...  phew.  No sofa, no TV, no Internet,  so we just sat in the kitchen, chatted and got royally pissed. Thinking about it,  maybe I was hungover,  hmm, something to do with the cravings? It was actually a nice evening and last on the boat.  I think there was a lot of stress needed releasing on her part. She's be amazing organising everything,  2 kids both starting new schools this week, sorting packing etc etc,  of course I've done pretty much feck all but did you expect any different? PCP has suffered for her sadly this week which she's gutted about but really not much could be done about it, life does get in the way sometimes doesn't it!

I am properly bored of the gym now, looking forward to a small break from it,  not physically,  but mentally, I just find it so numbing.  3 more days people, 3 more dayssssss

Day # 86 Once more unto the breach dear friends......

Translates roughly to JFD.   Actually the thought of the supersets today was far worse than the actual action, and doing 2 together and counting off the sets..  boom,  2 exercises completed, almost done.  I know, I know,  but my mind is easily tricked.  The V-Sits and planks to failure were fun today.  There was a girl next to me practicing her yoga poses and was really very graceful.  The contrast between her and me grunting and squealing like 2 future bacon sarnies was stark!

So close now I can almost taste it....  the burger that is,  and the curry, and the pizza, and the beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer

Day # 85 Oh FFS!

Oh FFS #1/ So I set my alarm for 4:55 to get up skip, then get ferry to gym, do work out and get it out of the way before work,  only to be texted to say Japan downgraded during my shoulder flys,  so figured I better get on my toes to the office, and it's deathly dull,  nothings changed.  so v-sits/side crunches under the desk once I've finished my coffee, not ideal but it is what it is.

Oh FFS # 2 Gave myself a congratulatory pat on the thighs this morning after those pesky floor jumps,  thinking that'll be that then...  I've just been perusing the days ahead,  and tho n behold,  day 87,  creeps AND floor jumps. Oh,  and some more on day 89 just for good measure. Patrick,  you wanker!  I can't wait to see what day 90 has in store for us.

Last of my weekly Wednesday weigh ins this morning as well.  68.4kg (12.7kg total).  I think that's job done.  Got a very nice email from my brother last night saying I'm looking great,  apart from the hair,  am I really the only person on the face of this planet that likes my hair?

Day # 84 The haters are hatin'

I received an email from my mum last night saying, Mandy looks great,  but I don't,  I have to stop. Apparently some people are supposed to be skinny, and some people are not!!!  Without being too blunt,  yes I know you're reading mum,  but we as a family are overweight and pretty much always have been  and they've for the most part have only known me fat (certainly the past 15~20 years).  There is a huge difference between saying I'm to thin and just different to what they're used to me looking like.  I didn't expect the haters to come from within my inner circle.  So anyway I thought about it and what I've achieved and googled what 12kg of fat would look like (I've only lost fat, nothing else according to my stats).

This picture (if accurate) shows what 5lb looks like,  (and I've done 5 of these!).  I think that this is a model (I found it on Amazon but this being held gives some perspective as to it's size).  Even if I am a little thin of face, and bum at the moment,  I'd rather that than carrying the above around with me.  I'm fitter now than I've ever been in my life,  no question, and don't ever plan on going back there. I really don't need to be doing another PCP any time soon, it's all about the maintenance now.

Oh,  and also Mandy tells me she doesn't like my biceps either, apparently they're weird!  FFS,  I can't win.

Day # 83 The Lost Weekend...

I think I've been overdoing it,  Last week I was really struggling and I think I've been overcooking the skipping.  Have been doing 1hr a day in 2 sessions,  but the net result has been me crashing in the pm, with far from restful sleep, I think this is maybe because I'm having to do the weights after work and it makes me a bit wired and then I can't sleep waiting for the alarm at 5:10am.  I've been hell bent on losing the Bali fat and getting back to what I was losing pre the holiday,  possibly misguided.

Anyway,  Saturday got up did my skipping and leg work and then when it came to the bands I just had nothing.  About 3 sets into the DaVinci's I just though no,  it half hearted,  what's the point,  I've got a day of packing boxes ahead of me,  I'm already feeling pants,  I can't do it. Half pretended that I'd do it in the evening, but I already knew that was a fib.  Then yesterday,  after having a power cut in the night and having to mess around on  the dock getting power on at 3:30am (yes we live on  a boat) I woke up feeling equally pants and decided to just not sweat it and have a day off.  I never really see the kids during the week as they're in bed when I leave and get home, I needed a day with them,  some things are more important than a six pack.  I'll make up Sundays session tomorrow.

Did my skips this morning and felt like the spring was back in my step,  hopefully I can maintain it for the whole week,  we'll see but really don't want to limp over the finish line.  Anyway I officially don't care to lose any more weight.  A couple of people have told me I look gaunt which is fine,  they've not seen me in a while,  I prob just look a bit weird to them,  but..gasp,  Mandy said the same AND told me I have an old mans bum, all saggy skin and bone,  and actually if I sit on  a hard surface,  there is no padding left,  it's uncomfortable. The midriff still has a bit of sag,  is it skin or fat? I'm not sure,  if it is skin,  I hope it shrinks but clearly this area needs more attention and that's going to be more of a focus going forward.

I shall leave you with a lovely picture of our marina this weekend.  We had something called red tide with is an algae bloom and trust me it stinks as bad as it looks.  Really quite hideous and not the ideal final memory to have of the place but sums up how I felt this weekend,  bobbing around in a sea of shit!

Day # 80 I'd rather walk it than do it.

I have absolutely have no idea how I manage to do 5 x 90 sec planks.  People were staring at me in the gym last night. I'm not exactly sure what noises I was making as I had my headphones on,  but I think it's fair to say it wasn't manly.

Went to the pub after and saw some mates I haven't seen since before day 1.  Got some very encouraging and gushing comments,  you know, like "You used to be such a fat cunt,  and now you're not fat!"  Why thank you,  I think....

Day # 79 Pondering the Indulgence

Both Mandy and I are rightly swerving this one on account of having had it + interest in Bali,  but reading what everyone else was thinking made me think what I was missing.  Richard was going to the big burger,  that would have been my choice 2+ months ago too,  but would I choose it now knowing its just a one off meal?  I don't think I would,  I've not missed them, although I'm sure I'd still like one.  And I realised I haven't overly missed anything in particular, probably chocolate if I had to say one thing and on occasion an ice cold beer would have been very welcome.  Really, I've just missed the social side of things,  date night with Mandy,  beers with my mates, and a decent nights sleep.

Looking forward to getting my life back.

Day # 78 Weekly weigh in

I've not done one of these for a couple of weeks, what with vacation an all.  Jumped on the scales this morning and boy were they being kind,  69.4kg,  11.7kg total,  but amusingly that's 2.9kg from last Wednesday the morning after I got back from my hols.  I know planes bloat you out etc,  but even so.  And I've not had a 'movement' since the 3 Amigos dropped by at the weekend.  Maybe because I've had to switch my exercise to the evening at the moment,  it's giving me a false positive the morning after, but whatever,  I'll take it.

I have been incredibly hungry and weak these past 2 days,  I guess it's the step up in reps/sets,  but I've been shockingly tired,  hoping the increase in carbs from today will rectify that, although quite ironically being the one who was very vocal in my consternation for my loss of carbs back in the day,  now they're coming back,  I don't really want to have them.  I am difficult to please.

Taking my suit/shirts I had made for me in April back to the tailors today to see what can be done.  I hope they're salvageable as only been worn once and it looks like my son wearing my clothes when I put them on. Annoying if they cant but if that's the price to pay, then so be it.

Day # 77 fast forward to day 90........

The bottle of wine I have ready to open to celebrate.  Am I allowed to open it on the evening of day 90,  after workout done, and PCP food eaten,  or do I have to wait until day 91?  Is it a bit like opening christmas presents on Christmas eve?

Not that I want this to be over or anything.

Day# 76 Holiday fat has all but gone

Most of it in the shape of the most gigantanormous cable you've ever seen in your life,  It was like 3 massive cubans laying side my side,  (and I'm talking the people,  not the cigars!) I made Mandy come and have a look,  she was muttering as she's walking down the stairs about how some of hers are massive and would done the same but then it saw it and said,  "oh, maybe not,  how the fuck are they going down the hole? So from last wednesday morning to post yesterdays poo, I've lost 2.5kg,  told you holiday fat was easier to lose.

Really looking forward to Tuesdays skip only day.  Finding the bands to be tiresome now,  and with markets the way they are I need to get into work a bit earlier,  so beep beep beep at 5:10 and thats just to skip,  no chance of getting to gym at lunch for the next 2 weeks as colleagues away so bands in the evening only,  and I hate having that cloud hanging over me all day, I need to get it out of the way ASAP.  Started packing up up stuff yesterday for the move next Fri and was looking through my old pics of my time in Tokyo.  Jeeeez,  I was a porker,  I'll scan a couple of them and put on here,  but I touched 92kg back then.  I do seem to remember quite enjoying myself though,  well actually I don't remember,  so I must have!

Not going to bother with this last indulgence, I think I had it and have blogged about it.  14 days.. c'monnnnn

Day 74 Virtual gym buddies VS family

So I had an email from my Mum entitled Blog,  so you're moving then?

Errrm,  yeah sorry I meant to say....  ooops.  Sorry Mum.

Suppose I'd better get round to telling Mandy about the divorce at some point!

Day# 73 Is it me or are the workouts getting harder, like properly harder?

I'm aching and leaving the gym a wobbly wreck which hasn't overly been happening the past month.  Have I just been going through the motions?  Was I slacking off on holiday without realising it?

I hate floor jumps, planks and bicycles in that order.  I do get some sort of perverse satisfaction from the latter 2 once completed but floor jumps can go feck themselves as far as I'm concerned.  And I've had to concede defeat of the kung fu's for the time being,  it's just too painful on an old dislocated shoulder.

I forgot to say in my post holiday blog,  I've "inspired" someone to start skipping.  Hotel manager said he'd seen me and grabbed the ropes in the gym to try himself and was asking advice.  I kinda wanted to at least get one person on PCP from seeing my results,  but as we have to be all zen like these days I didn't actually tell him about it,  so Patrick,  you and your zen like attitude has done you out of a potential customer.

Moving house in 2 weeks,  furniture shopping tomorrow..  yippeeeeeeeeee

Have a nice weekend all.

Day # 71 OOOOPS!

If you're going to crash, you may as well do it at speed!  I never realised how much I liked muffins and danish pastries from brekkie quite so much!  Daily I was reminded of the breakfast fails essay from Patrick,  but just thought,  ahh,  I'm on holiday.  But I started well,  Daily would have sautéed peppers with my alloted eggs and 1 slice of toast,  with low fat yoghurt etc.  but then the muffins crept in,  so to counter this,  I cut out the slice of bread,  a touch of genius I think you'll agree,  then the fruit coulis crept onto the top of the yoghurt,  then the odd crepe,  with whipped cream and choc sauce.  But I did still have my peppers and eggs... so thats OK then!

Lunches started well,  seafood salads daily, ended up being an apple and the kids leftovers as so stuffed from increased breakfasts.  Dinner,  actually mainly carb free and seafood every night,  although there were sauces,  and desserts so I'm not under any illusions,  and beer..  oh and gin whilst I'm fessing up.  I think the highlight has to be the seafood buffet at hotel,  the dessert station,  I had 2 crepes and an assortment of their other desserts,  6-7-8,  who know,  by that point I really wasn't counting, tough nights sleep following that lot I can tell you.  Funny thing though,  pre PCP I would never have bothered with any of them.  Probably because I would be full from the carbs I'd have picked during the meal,  but I was the proverbial kid in the sweetshop.  It took me a fair few attempts to give up smoking,  before I realised that the only way to do it is to NEVER have a fag again,  not even one tiny puff when you're down the pub,  so thats what I did.  I'm thinking food is the same, boo hoo.

I've also realised Patrick is right about restaurants and salt etc.  Just getting 1 egg and 1 egg white mixed into my sautéed peppers with no salt and little oil was a challenge,  it was the same bloke every day,  eventually he got it but it took a week, you could see his face just not being able to compute the request. I'd also wake several times every night with the most parched mouth,  I've not had that for a while, I thought I'd been out licking the beach.  And skipping whilst hungover is a challenge,  especially before a coffee.   I did get all the workouts done at least,  I meant to make friends with 8 min guy a bit more which didn't really happen but hey hoo,  he's far to genki for my liking anyway.

So as for weight,  I was 69.6 on  the morning of my holiday,  and 72.3 this morning,  I'm not happy but it felt like it could have been worse,  and we all know holiday fat is easier to lose than real fat,  so here we go again.  get below 70,  yawn!

Anyway here's a pic of Mandy and I in our hotel room yesterday.  The skin will tan as much as it needs to to protect itself,  PCPtastic skin!

Day # 63 Already Failed

And haven't gone for dinner yet.

I am at least getting my exercise done so if if food is 80% of PCP then 20% not too bad I suppose.

Day # 62 EPIC PCP fail

I did really well until I saw the Dessert counter...

Day #61 Guess what, PCP Fail

I feel like Charity,  just with no lesbians or soft drugs!

Day # 60 PCP Fail!

Oooooops

Day #59 PCP FAIL!

But it's OK because I saved my indulgence for this very eventuality!  Phew!

Day 58 A photo finish

It took a dump and a work out....


on other news spotted this morning,  Mandy singing to here self,  i'm going on holiday skinneeeee,  I love PCPeeeeeeeeee

day # 57 Weigh in day

And down another 1.4kg to 70.7.  (10.4kg and counting).  So holiday tomorrow and I really wanted to see a 6 handle on the scales before I jumped on the plane.  There's always tomorrow and true to form,  the intestines are not letting go so if I can unleash the beast within there's still hope.  I will at this stage accept slightly fudged numbers and take a post workout reading,  so I'm setting the alarm beeping early (geddit?)  so get everything done pre flight. Anyway I have consulted with Arthur Anderson accountants and apparently this is perfectly legal. This actually seems like a good move anyway because bugger having to do it when I get to hotel late arvo. .  I just wanna see a 6 Patrick.. OK, as I know you keep telling us,  NUMBERS ARE EVERYTHING.  Which moves me swiftly along to monthly stats.

                                           30th May      30th June   27th July

weight                                   82.2               75.9        71.2                (done in clothes)
body fat mass  kg                  23.8               17.3        11.5
body fat %age                       29                  22.8        16.1
Visceral fat                           129                102.8       77.9
skeletal muscle mass  kg      32.9               33           33.4


I'm stoked about these,  especially the body fat.   Muscle mass doesn't seem like its moving for the effort put in but it is what it is, it looks like more in the mirror at least.  But if you'd told me 57 days ago I could lose 10k+ I'd have laughed at you,  in fact Bill Wiswell,  ex PCPer extraordinaire  DID tell me I'd lose this much.... and I laughed at him.  To put it in perspective I ran a marathon in 05 and weighing myself right after the run I was 75.5kg,  and I used to go running for hours and hours and hours every week,  Fuck I wasted my time!


So holiday time,  57 days ago I fully intended to ditch PCP today and just go enjoy myself, but now I'm not so sure,  Bill and Jasper also told me this would happen, and I was adamant that it wouldn't, oh how naive I was.  I'm sure we wont be complete saints, as it's our holiday,  but still so much to do,  a happy balance I guess is key. Oh lord, what have I become??


BTW someone had kindly left their gym kit and towel inside the shower cubicle for me today,  but you know what I don't care,  I'm going on holiday and I'm 16.1% body fat bitches!


Finally a word about floor jumps, these things are quite possibly the hardest exercise known to man,  and we get a 15 second rest between sets????  Does anyone really only rest for 15 secs?  Having completed mine this morning and then to be in the gym at lunchtime just skipping watching Andrew Hyams bouncing around in obvious pain brought a rye smile to my face.  Sorry dude,  I felt your pain,  and laughed.

Day # 56

Conversation in the office today with an ex PCP'er

G'day Pete,  how's it going?
Not bad mate
How's your plan going,  how many days you got left?
34
Geez,  that's gone quick eh!
NO!

Day # 55 I've got a new pet hate

It's been brewing for a while but today was the straw that broke my back.  Peasants in the gym that leave their used gym kit and towels on the floor and don't put them in the wash bins.  Today I came back to my locker to find a pair of shorts where I would stand laying where they dropped, inside out with huge skids,  actually, not so much skids as anal discharge on them, FFS people where is your common sense of decency, or self respect or respect for others?  I fucking hate people and am going to live in the Outer Hebrides.

So already in a mood, I left the gym to face 3 people walking 3 abreast in the opposite direction on the path,  I moved to the side at least but 4 into 3 doesn't go and when the cunt didn't move he got it,  I'm not saying I punched him,  It was a perfectly legal move.......... in ice hockey..

Step aside people,  coops is at the end of his tether.  Bali on Thursday,  can't come soon enough!

Now Mandy,  I realise that I am leaving myself wide open to comments about the fact that I do the very same thing at home,  I apologise and will try to be tidier in future.  I do think it's a little different though as I wouldn't have a problem picking up a pair of your old cacks from the floor.

Day 54 EEEK, it's 2:15 pm and Mandy's gone..........

Shopping,  and left me charge of the kids......ON MY OWN!  May be she thinks i'm looking like a superhero or summink,  but I am still a bloke!

Day 53 Broke thru 10kg today.

But my neck is still still a big as the day I started.  It's not so much a neck as a slab to connect my head to my shoulders,  Maybe one too many times over the handle bars of my Moto-X bike back in the day?

So I've resigned myself to always being Wilfred from the Bash St Kids.

MMM, Dinner!

Day # 52 Try as she might Mandy still couldn't fit into her slim jeans

No particular Mandy,  just some Mandy from the t'internet of course!

Day # 51 I know you're desperate to know

But last night my 3 days worth of carb/protein/veg decided to make an appearance and referencing Noel's most informative chart of yesterday, which actually is however incomplete,  where is the pebble dash?  I did a #4.  and I was 0.8kg lighter this morning from yesterdays official weigh in.  It's a bit like the amazing race this, breaking 70 before the hols, bring it on!

I bumped into Andrew Hyams at the gym yesterday,  we were both there skipping and squatting and floor jumpin.  I took some video of us http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDsLZmGBdt8  starts at 3:30 and basically 4:56 is how I felt at the end!

Day # 50 A millstone or a milestone?

It's also weigh in day,  and yet again,  my body decides to play it's funny trick on me and not let me poo since Sunday,  So as much as I've dropped some good weight this week  1.4kg to 72.1 (9kg in total) if I'd dropped what's stuck inside me it would have been more.  So....2.1kg to break the magic number in one week before we go on holiday.  Next tuesday I shall be incorporating laxative into my daily diet.  So much for the food in poo out theory.

Now onto my diet, I think I'm being singled out by Patrick, unfairly I might add.  I can only comment within my own group but my food is WAY lower than everybody else's and I can't understand the logic.  I'm 38% lower on carb from breakfast on the other guys in the group,  which is fine if I'm 38% lower than them weight wise,  but I'm also 18% lower carb than the women and thats where this theory breaks down,  Mandy is feeling sorry for me even,  and trust me,  after yesterdays blog (before she removed it) that is amazing.  So what am I doing wrong?  Is is posting pictures of naked women on my blog you think?  Is there anyone out there on less than 50g carb for breakfast?  I've been happily having a pita bread stuffed with peppers with ground pepper for weeks,  which I think is the reason we're not allowed to drink because there's no way I could say that pissed.  But now 1 pita bread is tooooooooo much.  harumph.

Day49 Redux Due to technical issues my previous post has disappeared!

Any similarity between that image and any person alive or otherwise is purely coincidental. No one would ever eat that much corn on the cob!

Day 47 Did anyone happen to watch MotoGP this evening?

That is racing!

Does anyone happen to know if there's been a more boring blog on the PCP website?

Day # 46 Valentino Rossi day

I'm not as skinny or as fast as him but my farts do sound a bit like a Ducati!

Day # 45 A few of us are struggling with the eggs in our diet........

So I got in touch with an old friend at the egg marketing board and he rustled up this promotional video for y'all to get your teeth into.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNndX9qua1o

I love you eggs!

Day # 44 Does my ear canal look big in these?

I seem to have lost weight in my left ear as my headphone keeps falling out,  where it used to be tight.

Who'd have thunk it!

Day # 43 Weekly weigh in.

Targets, targets, targets. Almost at day 45,  which now I'm in the 40's doesn't really seem like too much of a milestone to me,  I think 50 is more relevant,  60 will be awesome. That then is the begging on the home straight in my opinion.  As for weight, 73.5kg this morning,  down 7.6kg,  only 900g this week. Seems ridiculous to say but I feel like I'm having a fat day today though,  think I'm a bit backed up if you know what I mean. Even so,  the weight is not moving fast enough to get through 70kg before I go on holiday on the 28th,  so lets make it a 10kg loss, 71.1kg before I go on holiday,  still not a given but more doable.  If I could skip more I think I would have a chance, but friggin achilles still troubling me,  tried yesterday for first time since Thursday and still not ready to go back...  fack fack fack.  Still I am enjoying my bike rides so not all bad I suppose.

So we get AS MUCH AS YOU WANT veggies for lunch.  Is this to test our resolve?  Not sure I really need the extra,  but knowing that I can, is it going to make me weak?  I am hoping we've now seen the end of the reduced weekly diet though,  I don't think I could go much lower,  mind you've I've been saying that since day  1 so who knows.

On a positive note, Mandy bought a bikini for our hols yesterday and she looks smoking in it.  On a negative note her brother has just sent us these through the post.

What a total fucker!  Ostensibly they are for Alex's birthday present,  but even so, they're in the house and as we ration the kids access to chocolate, they're going to be around for a bleedin' long time!

Day #42 I really have nothing to say today

So I'm just going to post a picture of Homer I found on the www

Doh!

Day # 41 The real reason to do PCP

There's a guy in my office that for several years (well forever really) has weighed less than me,  the spread was once about 7kg, it's been as wide as 13kg and when I started PCP it was about 10kg.  Just once,  just once in my life I've wanted to weigh less than him,  it's been an ongoing joke and bone of contention.  Well today my friends we jumped on the scales and we weighed.....drum roll..............  exactly the same.  So not quite there,  but that is just a matter of time.  He had a fat weekend apparently so it might not be tomorrow,  but it will happen.

Then I shall call him a fat ****

day 40 "Forgive me father for I have sinned"

We found ourselves in Pizza Express with the kids today.  Now I have NEVER been in or ordered from Pizza Express and not had an American Hot, it's just the law.  sooooooooooooooooo

I had a friggin salad,  it did have goats cheese in it which isn't strictly PCP but hey hoo,  not like I've done it before.  But then came the kids desserts that came with their meal.  Sam had nutella with dough balls,  Alex vanilla Ice cream.  I though it might be nice for Alex to have some nutella in his ice cream,  he disagreed so I scooped it out on a tea spoon,  Didn't really have anywhere to put it and whilst Mandy was looking for a tissue it sort of fell,  ney jumped into my mouth, clean spoon, problem solved.  I should have been an engineer.  Then my coffee turned up with a piece of biscotti on the side,  well apparently this was the long lost brother of the nutella and ice cream teaspoon,  they had to reunited, as did the last dough ball on Sam's plate.  They say these sins come in threes.

Day 39 Yesterday I had another case of the Fridays!

Day 38 was officially Pissy Condition Project

That's the 2nd Friday on the bounce I've felt like shite, waddupwiddat? I was knackered, hungry, my muscles ached, at work for no obvious reason my extremities were freezing cold, I now know what its like to be an old person, nothing I could do would get my fingers or toes warm. I took to holding a boiling kettle ffs, thought I was in a Japanese game show. I'm nursing an achilles twinge, which if truth be told is probably self Inflicted through overskipping. That is getting slowly worse so I have to ease off that for a few days and go do something less boring instead....sitting at home watch tv?

The only good thing was Mandy was struggling too, is that a good thing? But misery loves company as they say. After much procrastination we finally did our exercises last night together.  Really happy I did now as the fog lifted a bit,  no skips or floor jumps though. I went out on my mountain bike this morning which is the first time since PCP and actually it was great, made a nice change. And after a brief watch of the tour de France and seeing what those guys have to get out of bed every day to do, well this ain't too bad eh.? eh? EH?

Mentally something has switched in my head as well,  I've gone from,  wow look how much weight I've lost to,  Christ,  I've lost 7kg and I've still got a shit load more to go,  How the hell did I let myself get to that point in the first place?


All in all a very strange day,  I was so genki on Thursday too,  so here's hoping that was a low point not to be revisited.



On another point,  I just split a packet of Lays crisps into bowls for the kids.  How friggin greasy are they?????  I had no idea, I had to wash my hands.  Mandy and I could polish off one of the biiiiig packets of those between us of an evening.  Makes you think!

Day # 38 Going Dutch

So for our evening snack it would appear I'm being served up a pair of Mandy's clogs to munch on.

Well I suppose wood is a vegetable after all!

Day #37 Team Puck Post PCP celebratory meal!

day #36 scales playing silly buggers today

I know they're a bit temperamental but today each time I stood on them they decided to give me a different reading.  Seemed to make a difference if I was facing north or not,  maybe it's my natural magnetism?

Anyway I settled on 74.4 which is down 900g on the week which is 6.7kg total,  but I could be misreading it and I'm actually fatter,  who knows...

Tried the abs video this morning,  for the time being I'm going to call it the 3 minute abs!

Day # 35 How to make time stand still!

At the equator, the time zones are a little over 1,000 miles apart, so to cross one every hour, you could fly a plane west at a little over 1,000 miles per hour

If you started flying at 12:00 noon, at 1:00 p.m. (according to your watch) you would cross a time zone, making it 12:00 noon again. This process would continue for as long as your plane could stay in the air: As soon as your watch passed 12:59, you'd have to turn it back to 12:00 again. For your entire westward trip around the Earth, the time would be between 12:00 noon and 1:00 p.m.

Alternatively you could do a plank!

Day # 34 The return of the smug c**t!

Firstly,  a little clarification on the skipping "liberation".  I was getting so hung up on the counting...  it was all about getting to 100...200...300 that I'd trip at 102 or 203 etc.  And as I would get to the century turns I'd start questioning myself....  was that coming up to 400 or have I already done 400 and that's actually 500???  Umm, not sure better make it 400 to be sure eh....trip....  like patting your head and rubbing your belly at the same time,  all far too taxing.  Hence my suggestion,  and I've found now I'm listening to music, skipping is very much like dancing,  and back in the day when I used to go raving I could dance for 10 hrs straight,  and I was skinny,  so fuck skipping,  just go to Ibiza for 2 weeks!  I am still tripping btw, a lot,  just not in the raving sense of the word.

Some other snippets of smugcuntyness

1/ Mandy made the kids a banana split last night for dessert, and not only did she lick the ice cream spoon...  she ate a freaking chocolate coin too!  I didn't.

2/ I did my first proper full pull up today!

3/ I tinned a load of jeans last night that don't fit and nor do I ever intend them too again!

4/  #2 is a lie,   I did 3!

Noel,  no hard feelings,  I think it's just the woman inside me.  Pre PCP I had beer and tits,  Now I don't have beer and PMT!

Day 32 Love Kylie

I have to say, my whole Psyche since day 1 of PCP has been so geared to breaking that first month milestone that I'm now struggling to get re motivated for the next-two-long-months.   But we went to see Kylie in concert last night (4th row) and it was brilliant.  Backing singer Roxy was beautiful,  had to keep reminding myself it was Kylie we went to see (oh what could have been if I'd done PCP years ago!).  But anyway the dancers had all clearly been doing PCP and finished with honours,  Just thought, WOW,  that's the target, best get a couple of extra push-ups done tomorrow.

For some reason, the mainly male audience surrounding us seemed to whoop n holler more the less clothes the male dancers wore, confusing!

day 31 I found footage of Noel trying to skip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TkCpFCkFnE

Day #30 The Stats from the gym!

                                               30th May                          30th June

weight                                       82.2                                   75.9    (done in same clothes)
body fat mass  kg                      23.8                                   17.3
body fat %age                           29                                      22.8
Visceral fat                                129                                    102.8
skeletal muscle mass  kg             32.9                                   33    WFT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was all looking splendid up to that last one.  Dont worry about weight people he says,  muscle weighs more that fat he says, well not on me it doesn't!  1 months of friggin weights and I've managed to build a whole 100grams.  whoopdefuckingdo.


On another note people,  If an old sage can offer a bit of advice,  stop counting the skips.  Work out how long it takes to do say 500,  multiply as required and add a bit for good measure.  It's liberating I can assure you.  Not only does the time pass quicker,  it seems less tiring and it lets you concentrate on form and tricks.  sooo much easier!

Day # 29 Another week, another Kilo!

Well,  1.4kg to be precise,  that's 5.8 in total.  Seemed to accelerate 2 days ago,  Not sure why but up to that point I didn't seem to be making any progress on the week.  I bought some shorts from Zara yesterday,  31" waist which even allowing for Zara's flattering sizing is unheard of,  I'm usually a 34!  7 days ago, I said if I didn't lose 3kg this week I'd eat my arm to make up the difference,  seems a shame for 1.6kg but a mans gotta chew what a mans gotta chew!  I'm keeping the wanking hand before anyone asks!

Yesterday for some reason I was super famished all day, I've been OK all week,  just not sure what was different.  lying in bed last night with my stomach shouting at me for food I was getting more wound up.  looking at the clock thinking, fkking alarms going off at 5:20,  sleep damn you, sleep!  So I had 2 choices,  raid the fridge or the medicine cabinet,  and figured there was less calories in a sleeping pill.  So to sleep at midnight and I was still awake before the alarm. No Patrick,  it's not good to go to bed hungry and wake up hungry.

Sadly I think it's time to split skipping and exercise.  Its now taking too long before I have to get to work,  so skipping in the evenings as I don't mind that and get all the shit stuff out of the way early me thinks. I know everyone has a pet hate exercise,  and after today set I know what mine is.  It's called PCP!

day # 28 The mind wanders

Is anyone else wondering who they may have ended up with if they'd have done PCP in their youth and got all fit and gorgeous?

Or is that just me?

Day # 27 Spring cleaning

Had a mess around in the wardrobe last night,  seems I've lost a suit and gained a pair of trousers.  Apart from the obvious cost difference this is bad for 2 reasons.

1/  The suit was tailor made in April for a wedding on April 30th

2/  The trousers were bought in March 2005 and not exactly of a style I'd now want to wear.

PCP, you have  a lot to answer for.

Day 26 The Morning after

Nothing like telling a reforming alcoholic it's OK to have a drink. We had a bottle of cloudy bay in the wine fridge that was begging to be drunk, and I wasn't about to open it and only have 2 glasses, mind you between us a bottle is only 2 large glasses each if we really needed to stick to the letter of the law. Anyone that says they didn't like their booze is lying!

http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=HK#/watch?v=k7SuY3T_U6c Frank the Tank, my hero

No streaking but a second bottle probably would have pushed me over the edge.

UPDATE:  640 trip feee skips this morning,  I should drink more often!

Day 25 Indulgence Day

I fancy a beer,  and this one has my name all over it!

Cheers everybody!

Day # 24 I table a motion

Te rename the squat the Fonz. On your next set, as you squat down and your hands go out in front, point your thumbs up in the air, tilt your head just ever so slightly to the side and say heeeeeey!

Betchawill!

Planks were a little more testing than I anticipated this morning!

Day # 23 Help from the ladies please?

Mandy's in the kitchen last night. shouts down

what do you want for lunch tomorrow?
Oh, I don't mind, whatever's easiest.
you can have salad or roasted veggies.
Really, whatever's easiest.
They're both easy.
what have you got most of, or what do you need to use up?
Oh, for christ sake,  make a decision will you.
OK, I'll have salad for lunch.
Well, the only problem with salad for lunch is you'll then have roasted veggies for dinner and it might look quite small with no carbs.
OK,  I'll have roasted veggie then.
I F**KING TELL YOU WHAT, WHY DON'T YOU JUST MAKE YOUR OWN F**KING LUNCH, I'VE HAD ENOUGH!  Exit stage left.

Can someone pleeeeeease explain what happened here?

Day # 22 Another week bites the dust!

So,  3 weeks down,  official weigh in this morning down 4.4kg to 76.7kg.  Slightly disappointed by this and annoyed as the lying bastard scales I use at home during the week suggested I was 75!  I'm waiting until the 30th to get another set of proper stats done at the gym to see where I'm at body fat %age wise etc,  but interested to see the results.

So a new diet, and my worst fears have come to pass, NO carbs for dinner!  Guess I'll be having another 2 or 3 nights of troubled sleep, waking up hungry as I get used to that,  deep joy!  But I figured that at least I'd have more carbs to eat during the day to compensate so it would be alright,  but no wait,  they're unch'd,  I guess I should be thankful for small mercies! Gym stats on day 1 said I needed to lose 13.5kg to ideal weight,  so best I get a freakin' move on. On this weeks allowance, if I don't drop 3kg,  I'll eat my arm...  (to make sure I lose it).  Desperate times and measures and all that!

Day # 21 I want to look like Nigella so....

Got up 5:30, Did exercise. Don't have any plants.

For Breakfast

For Lunch

For Dinner

For Evening Snack

Man I iz looking sweet!

Day # 20 Bootylicious

There has been much talk this past week of both diet and bathroom habits. Linking these two topics nicely is this following article from our friends in Japan.  63% Protein and 23% Carb.  Patrick,  maybe you could advise how best to incorporate this into our daily allowances?

http://www.digitaltrends.com/international/japanese-scientists-creates-meat-out-of-feces/

The thing I probably find most disturbing about the whole piece is,  if you watch the video, you'll notice the hand/finger pointing device thingy the scientist has got, someone has gone to the effort of painting the fingernails red.

That'll be Japan for you!

Day # 19 Mutiny

Whilst thinking of subject matter for this blog, I've stumbled upon a thought of
a whole new website. I'm thinking of calling it Pete Coopers Project
(PCP). I'm still not sure about the initials yet but it's a work in
progress. Anyway my thinking is it's an antithesis to other websites out
there that promise that nirvana of full mind and body wellness through
diet and exercise. DO NOT get suckered in people, they are a scam and
most probably their servers run through Nigeria. But for those
Unfortunates that have fallen pray to these consters they can find
refuge in my site,  for a nominal fee of oh, I dunno, say JPY 50,000
you'll have a community of like minded souls searching for what has been
missing in their lives, chocolate, red wine and even breakfast cereals
as an example. I haven't thought of the real meat of the site yet but
rest assured it will involve plenty of TV. The only lunges you'll find
there is for that last beer in the fridge.

Interested?

day 18

So Patrick told me that I can have my evening carbs back when he can see my abs.  I added an extra couple of sit-ups to my sets this past couple of days,  it really seems to have made a difference.

Here's looking forward to a nice big bowl of spag bol on day 22!

Day # 17. A lighthearted end to the week.

So, yesterday was a low point, I've got a feeling the first couple of days of the new diet each week might be a bit like that.  It didn't help that it was my colleagues birthday yesterday and he bought a dozen jam doughnuts for us all. Bastard!

Anyway,  I got an email from my bro telling me that my blog was becoming depressing to read, so here are a few carb related jokes to end the working week,  if not the PCP week.

My wife just left me because of my obsession with touching pasta.                                          
I have to be honest, I'm feeling canneloni right now.

Al-Qaeda have hidden bombs in tins of Alphabet Spaghetti

If they go off,  they could spell disaster.

My wife bet me I couldn't build a car out of spaghetti.

You should have seen her face when I drove pasta!

I'm training to be a pasta chef.

It's going really well apart from a fussily mistakes.

So I think I'm getting sacked from my pasta chef's job.

Think my boss is just waiting for the penne to drop.

I did 226 trip free jumps/skips this morning.  That is a record broken by a merry mile!

Day # 16 Rage Against The Machine

So,  the Cooper stock has taken a battering today.  Am I full of rage?  I don't think so,  but I am hungry!  Yes the portions have been pretty huge during the 2nd week,  but don't you find that you struggle to get though them and 30 mins later you're starving again? I've had moments where I've got all light headed and dizzy and by dinner times my legs are all wobbly and all I can think of is food. I'm on the same carb amount as my wife and she's 25 kg lighter than me! I don't overly miss the stuffed feeling after a burger n chips that can last from lunch for so long you don't need to eat dinner, and I do feel quite virtuous eating all this healthy food. But on the flip side,  I'm constantly reminded that I could do with a bit more to eat,  and when it wakes you up in the night to tell you you're hungry, and won't let you go back to sleep again,  well that sucks too!  As I'm writing this I've just finished breakfast,  and I'm still hungry, so, yet another coffee to try and fill the gap.  My boss is in town from London today and my desk is going out for dinner tonight somewhere swanky.  I'm declining because, well,  the whole thought of it is just too depressing to contemplate.  So no, I don't think I'm full of rage,  but I do know I'm not full of food.

Now for the good bit,  I'm using a new notch in my belt today,  so the plan is working, onwards and thinwards and looking forward to my stomach shrinking so it doesn't need as much grub.

Day # 15

So,  2 weeks down,  10 to go..  10 weeks doesn't sound too bad does it!  Does it?

Weight loss wise only lost 0.5kg this week,  disappointing yes,  but my expectations were managed so not too bothered,  and seems it's the same for most of us so I'm runnign with the heard.  In spite of the plateau,  using my tried, tested and patented wobble test, I think I feel thinner, I think!, and Mandy is certainly looking trimmer,  so pleased not to be seeing such a biffer wafting around the house.

Now to those of you that have spent the last week complaining about how much food you've had to eat,  thanks a friggin bunch!  I'm holding you all personally responsible for my evening carb quota being slashed in half.  I'm already waking in the night hungry, and this ain't gonna help.   Be careful what you wish for people!

Finally, exercise,  Still generally struggling with the jumprope, but there is a noticeable difference between doing them at 5:30am when the household is asleep and the weekend when they're awake.  Whether it's because I'm tired or because I'm trying to be quiet I still don't know, but I trip a LOT more on the early starts.  I have adhered to the program 100% and my only slip was yesterday,  1 biscuit with my son whilst in his class for a fathers day thing.  we had to share a snack with each other, as did all the other dads,  what was I going to say?  Oh no son,  I couldn't possibly,  I'm on a diet!

                  
                                                        
                                                      

Day # 14

Probably my biggest pet hate about living in Hong Kong is Central at lunchtime.  Walking out into the street is to encounter 86bn people all wandering around without purpose, no idea of where they want to go or why they’re even there. Their faces are either buried in their blackberry or hidden under an umbrella, regardless of whether it’s raining or not, and all at a snails pace! 

Now me, I can’t meander, I walk with purpose, I like to get from A to B using the path of least resistance. I spend these lunchtimes muttering expletives under my breath and slowing winding myself up to the point of having a heart attack.  With PCP going as it is and awakening muscles that have remained dormant or in reality probably never even used,  I am looking forward to facing these crowds with my head held high,  and without fear of reprisal or retribution, smashing them in their face.

Day 13

  

Action shot of me doing a da vinci's 

I bet you can't wait for a pic of the leg raises now!