Day 76 :: Thinking, Thinking, Thinking

Thanksgiving celebrations have left me somewhat introspective. Well, the holiday and, judging from the blogs of participants past and present, peeking behind the door that PCP seems to crack open. It reminds me of when I first started exploring yoga and a teacher told me,"go carefully, this practice will change your life." Funny, where some paths lead you.

In the last few days I've witnessed family members stuff themselves silly, stumbled upon the Sundance documentary "The World According to Monsanto" (that one will break your heart) and started reading Michael Pollan's "In Defense of Food". All of which have me feeling sad for the food choices that most people seem to make, fearful for my country's nutritional future and, as has been said before in the PCP blogs, a little lonely as I climb closer to this peak.

Family warmth aside, Thankgiving dinner was another double barrel reminder of how the majority of America eats. While I'm politely asked about the details of my diet and the foods that I've brought with me, I count far too few vegetables on the main table, enriched breads, and not a whole grain in sight.

For dessert? There were diabetics having not one but two slices of cake, the overweight debating the obese over which ice cream store has the best offering when they both hand mix the candy of your choice into the serving dish. (The winner? Why the store that offered the largest serving at the lowest price, of course.) I won't even get into all the processed foods and, UGH!, non-dairy creamer with "Eggnog" or "Island Rum" flavoring. You choose!

I hope you will understand that this mini-rant comes from a place of concern and not superiority. It's just frustrating that these are my family members and I can't say anything to them that will impact their choices. They will only change if and when they're good and ready, and probably only after a health scare of some kind. At a certain point, it's just hard to watch.

Day 72 :: Zzzzzzzzzzzzz

Or, how I woke up this morning.

In a pile of blankets, with one snoring dog to my side, the other lazily warming my feet, and someone shaking the bed...

D: Hey babe, what's wrong?!

Me: Wha... Huh... I didn't hear anything...

D: No, what's wrong with you? It's light out and you're still in bed.

Are you feeling OK?

--

I slept in late this morning (7:30a.m.!!!), and I guess D was surprised to find me still snoozing when he got out of the shower. This is the first day in many weeks that I haven't gotten up before the butt crack of dawn to grab a snack and start my workout.

Why today? 1) Because I can! A busy work load has quieted due to the upcoming holiday. I've got no meetings, no deadlines, and except for a small errand, I don't have to be anywhere at a specific time. And, 2) my body is still craving extra rest.

As I was lounging in the covers, I wondered about life post-PCP. Many people have asked me about what happens after this whole thing is wrapped. Are you still going to work out with such intensity? Be as stringent about the diet? Truthfully, I don't know.

I really don't miss the added sugar, salt and fat, so those will probably stay gone. And much like Emily, I've been pondering all the non-PCP foodstuffs that I'm craving -- raw nuts, bananas, beans, restaurant fare, a big pile of linguine with white clam sauce, and WINE. I think all of those will return to my post-PCP diet, but with greater moderation.

I've also been thinking about what life will be like when I don't feel like I have to work out every day. While I enjoy exercise and I joined this program with the aim of developing a strength training plan that I can do at home, jumping and strength training every day of the week is really hard to keep up! Plus, I miss having time for yoga. I think it will come down to a goal of resuming my regular yoga practice and balancing that with 3-4 PCP-type workouts a week.

--

What about you all? Have you thought much about life after PCP?

Day 70 :: Can You Believe It?!

Holy cow, ladies -- where has the time gone? The final PCP group of 2009 has only 20 days left!

For the last few days, it's definitely been a challenge for me to drum up the motivation to keep going. I mean, we've been at this for 70 days

IN A ROW -- I'm sure I'm not the only one with tired muscles and a nagging feeling that the whole routine (workout, shop, prep, eat, clean up, sleep) has become a bit... well... routine.

But, I'm sensing the hint of an upswing. Thanks to some extra hours of rest this weekend and a jump-only Monday, I'm all in and ready for our new plans for week 11!

Starting tomorrow, I'll be chanting this mantra when the burn comes on. I hope you'll be saying it with me:

Finish strong!!

Only 19 more days to go!!

Day 68 :: Feeling a Little Whooped!

For the last couple of days, I've been dragging a bit. My energy has been lower and it seems all the little muscles -- the middle of my back, obliques, forearms, around my elbows, knees and ankles -- are pooped.

It's not a sharp soreness that hurts when I lift something, more like a constant, soft hum of weariness that moves with me like a shadow.

I feel like maybe I haven't gotten enough sleep, or maybe I need another hour on the pillow. Which I probably do given that the workouts have gotten tougher this week. It's either that, or whoever is hiding that stash of Kryptonite near my house, would you kindly move it elsewhere?

No problem hitting muscle fatigue, though -- it seems my muscles are already tired at the start of my workouts, and are all shaking by the end. I had considered grabbing a yoga class today, but after this morning's workout I'm skipping that thought for maybe a nap instead.

Have I mentioned that I'm whooped?

Day 66 :: What Big Arms You Have

As I gave him a hug while prepping dinner last night...

D: Squeeze please, it feels good on my back.

So, I do...

D: Ughn!!

I'm still squeezing...

Me: What's wrong?

Now he's somewhat fussy...

D: Mmpph!! You never squeezed that hard before. You're so strong now... maybe too strong!

--

There you have it. Reason to sign up for the PCP, number 1,258: improve your bear hugs!

Day 64 :: Start Your Engines

With my group of PCPers, Tuesday is actually the start of our training week. This seems to work well and I'm most thankful for jump-only Mondays, but sometimes I find it hard to get the routine rolling on a Tuesday.

How true this morning as I lingered in bed, calculating the bazillion things that need to get done today and this tenth week of the PCP -- one of which being, I needed to get my butt up and workout!

So I hoist myself out of bed and sit down to make a task list prioritizing today's to-do's, along with an outline of the rest of the week. Ugh, this one's going to be a bear, and my initial reaction to an overwhelming work/life week is to feverishly wish that I didn't have to deal with it.

In moments like these, when the list is making me want to run and I just can't seem to find the motivation to start the day, I turn to a little visualization exercise. I imagine myself as one of the amazing ladies of the US Women's Softball Team at the plate during batting drills. Balls are being lobbed at me fairly quickly, and I'm just knocking them out, (thwak!) line drive, after (THWAK!) line drive!

Not sure exactly how I hit upon this visualization (too much Wii Sports perhaps?), I don't play softball, but I do love to watch these ladies do their stuff! I so admire the players for their mental fortitude and incredible athleticism, and I think the image reminds me to stand up, get a handle on the situation, take one thing at a time, and just keep on swinging!

It seemed to do the trick this morning, and by the time I was half-way through my workout, I was feeling pretty pumped. Two words for you gals -- DOUBLE JUMPS. Hooyah!

How about you all? What are your tricks for staying motivated?

Day 61 :: To Do List

What to do with a rainy weekend?

Make yourself a nice cup of tea. My current favorite (now that my beloved English Toffee is discontinued) is Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride. All natural, herbal, caffeine free, guilt free and tastes just like hot sugar cookies!

There's also that PCP workout. We've got 29 days to go, so make 'em count -- pump up the music and blast those biceps! Next to abs, the arm exercises are the most rewarding for me. I'm just sad that it's getting too chilly to show off the new guns!

Lastly, RUN don't walk to the grocery store and pick up the fixin's for Emily's PCP Lasagna! We made it last night, and it was deeeeeelish. D threw in some hot peppers for a little kick, a nice touch. Going to have some leftovers with my eggs this morning. Thanks, Emily -- that one's going in the recipe drawer!

Day 60 :: Senior Moments

As I wandered into the kitchen last night...

Me: Gah! I can't remember why I came in here.

From the living room, not looking up from iPhone Solitaire...

D: I'm going to bet it was to eat a hard boiled egg white.

Me: Oh yeah, that was it.

--

Such is the life of this PCPer 2/3 of the way through the program. Every couple of hours I should be eating something, and chances are it's a hard boiled egg white. I don't even fuss with the mustard these days, I just pop those suckers in plain. I'm only up to 6 eggs a day (former PCPer, Mike, had to deal with 10!), so I guess I shouldn't complain.

Meanwhile -- Holy Hand Grenades, gang!! We're less than 2 weeks from Thanksgiving (for those in the US) and have 3o days left on our PCP plans. Where did the time go?!?

Happy 60 days to Emily, Naomi, Jonti, and Denise!

Day 59 :: Ohhhhhhh, Now I Get It!

When I read our PCP email last night, I felt a little shamed. My workouts have always taken me well over an hour to complete. Even worse, I remember seeing a similar email from Patrick early on in the program. Did I slack off somewhere? What the heck have I been doing wrong this whole time?

In resistance training, I tend to focus on slow, controlled movements -- that's certainly been adding time. Have I always kept to the exact rest time between sets? Probably not. And, my habit has been to add a few more reps, or another set if I hadn't quite hit the burn. Hmm. Are all these tactics just adding unnecessary minutes to my routine?

So this morning, I wanted to test the theory and play a game with myself. How quickly can I get through my whole workout, keeping proper form and achieving muscle failure?

With burning muscles and at a heart pumping pace, I made it in just over an hour. It only took me near 60 days to get it right, but I think I've finally hit the true PCP groove and learned the lesson. When aiming for muscle failure, I need to amp up the pace before I start adding reps/sets!

Thanks for the reminder, Patrick -- it's going to make a huge difference these last 30 days!

Day 56 :: This Indulgence is Making Me Thirsty!

On Saturday evening, D and I hit our favorite Indian restaurant to celebrate my second PCP indulgence. It's such a lovely spot -- candlelight, fireplaces, incredible food, excellent service, and a proprietor that greets everyone with a genuine warmth. We haven't been in a while and were quite excited about the experience.

Since I could easily order a PCP friendly dinner from the menu (grilled shrimp, rice and baked vegetables, hold the sauces), I decided to splurge on two glasses of wine and several bites from a mixed appetizer plate. AH-MAH-GAH! It was nothing short of a mind blowing, flavor EXTRAVAGANZA!!

What's crazy to me is how sensitive your palate becomes when you cut the use of extra salts, sugar and the intake of alcohol. Everything was so rich, so decadent, so absolutely luscious -- I mean, I cannot accurately express the level of yummmmm! The wine was perfection, the eggplant was out of this world, and pappadam -- so much love for that spicy lentil delight!

I was actually fine throughout the evening. I anticipated some sort of gastric objection to the wine, salt and oils, but no nasty after effects, no rock in the belly, not even the hint of gas. Huh. I was pleasantly surprised by how smoothly my body was dealing with the indulgence, and even thinking, 'oh life after PCP is going to be a breeze!'

That was, until about 3am, when I woke up in a sweat, with a dull hammering in my head and mouth made of ceiling insulation. Damn. It took a huge glass of water and another hour to get back to sleep (if you could call it that). Really, I think I flip-flopped until the alarm went off at 7am.

Needless to say, Sunday's workout was less than stellar -- I made it through, but I wasn't loving it. My strength was sapped and my stomach wasn't digging all the bouncing. I had planned on grabbing a yoga class, but skipped the idea as a foggy head and upset tummy plagued me for much of the morning. The dogs and I settled in for a couch nap in the afternoon, and I felt a little better after that.

The moral? Less is more. I think I would have been fine with the wine OR the fatty appetizers, but not both. It was too much for my now sensitive system, and SOOOO not worth the missed sleep and day-long general blahs that followed. Again, less is more.

Thankfully, a good night's sleep and some clean eating has me feeling much better this Monday, and ready to start rocking week 9!

Week 9 -- can you believe it?

Day 54 :: Heart vs. The Big X

So, Naomi's great post today got me thinking about which PCP exercises I like and don't like, and wondering about the rest of you.

I'm reminded of a yoga teacher that asks a similar question before her classes -- which is your most favorite pose, and which do you like the least? Of course, she works both into that session, but I always find the varying class responses most interesting.

I'd say my yoga favorites are full stretches where I feel like I'm opening up front/back/sides completely, like seated forward bend, upward bow/wheel (which PCP has greatly improved, TY!), triangle, and plow.

I also love the balancing postures like tree, half moon, shoulder stand, and dancer.

My least favorites are anything that asks my inner thighs/hips to stretch more than they really want to, as in yogic squats, frog, monkey god, wide angle forward bends, and reverse triangle. UGH! Of course, I know I've got to work on those the most.

My teacher's theory is that in yoga, the least favorite postures are usually the more challenging ones, the ones that get uncomfortable, or those that people feel they just can't do. Which is all the more reason to work through them. Actually, learning to work with "can do" and "can't do" has been an interesting practice for me. As in yoga, so in life.

For the PCP, I really had to scratch my head over which exercises I love or loathe, and I'm intensely curious about your likes and dislikes. I think my least fave has to be the pull-ups -- they continue to defeat me and I can't do them unassisted (see, there's the whole "can/can't do" struggle). My most favorite is probably the davincis -- gotta love that sweet deltoid definition!

So my PCPeeps, which of our daily exercises do you:

a) enjoy
b) hate with the passion of a thousand white hot suns, and
c) why?

Day 52 :: Slightly Blue, How 'Bout You?

Ever have one of those days where you feel like you've got to haul yourself, hand over tightly clenched fist, the whole way through it?

Not that anything particularly difficult is going on, it's just the doing of what needs to get done. Since yesterday, I've had a seriously fierce case of the "DON'T WANNA'S!" -- which I'm sure is somewhat tied to the phase of the moon, me being a woman and all. I've actually had to force myself to sit down to work, walk dogs, go grocery shopping, and even do my workout. Sheesh!

It's interesting how these cycles build and ebb. I think it has a lot to do with the routine nature of the PCP -- the food prep, cooking, working out, and trying to think of blog topics -- OY! For the first time in this project, I actually found myself wishing that I didn't have to deal with all of that these last two days. Routine tends to make me feel confined after a while, and I think my system starts seeking ways to rebel at a certain point of saturation. This girl is feeling the need for a break, what about you gals?

I guess that's why Patrick has sprinkled in these indulgences, and it couldn't have come at a better time! So tomorrow evening D and I are planning to hit happy hour at a nice little Indian restaurant for a cocktail and yummy light snacks.

Given the past couple of days, I'm looking forward to it with a mix of trepidation (what will the food do to my digestive system?) and a dose of "I DON'T CARE! I'VE WORKED HARD AND HAVE EARNED A LITTLE TREAT!"

Should be interesting, so more on that this weekend.

Day 50 :: Random Observations from Week Seven

Timed jumps may have improved my relationship with the old jumpity rope. We fight less, and the kinks seem more ironed out. Life is indeed about balance.

Move over peppercorns, salt-free mustard has just been elected the King of Condiments! Fat-free, almost no calorie, almost no anything! Good dabbed on hard boiled egg whites, nice as a light glaze on fish, or mixed with a little rice vinegar as a tasty dressing for veggies. Now if only I could find a salt-free hot sauce...

Naomi wrote about this last week, but I have to second the motion. Frozen fruit blended with greek yogurt is total, healthy, sin-free, protein-rich decadence!

Per Patrick's recent post on habits (Which was great! Thanks Patrick!!), this diet is ingrained now and I'm having a hard time committing to an indulgence. It's going to involve dinner out, but it's going to be a challenge. Hmmm.

Really seeing signs of change now -- I mean, four sets of 60 second planks! 'Nuff said.

Day 49 :: It's a Mad, Mad, Mad Ad World

This weekend was a little harried, so as a treat I caught up on some episodes of "Mad Men." I don't watch a great deal of network TV, so I missed out on this gem of a series. Sure, you have to get past the raging chauvinism (which still runs rampant in the ad world), but it's really quite brilliant, this peek into the lives and egos of 1960's ad execs.

What I especially love is how the writers lift the veil on the world of advertisers, showing their hand in writing the prescription of the American dream, but poke holes in it at the same time. And, while some of the mediums and methodologies have changed, advertising science was pioneered by these guys and really hasn't shifted that much some 50 years later.

Some of the monologues are so telling -- about the world at that time and the fundamentals of human behavior. Take this for example, from one of the earlier episodes where the lead character, Don Draper, is struggling with home issues and how to sell Lucky cigarettes (this, after a government statement detailing known health issues associated with smoking):

Advertising is based on one thing:

Happiness. And you know what happiness is?

Happiness is the smell of a new car.

It’s freedom from fear.

It’s a billboard on the side of the road

that screams with reassurance that whatever you’re doing is okay.

Wow. So true.

D's been watching the World Series and the commercials are a constant source of commentary in our house. You see these ads that show some dumpy shlub of a guy with his super hot, model-perfect wife pitching whatever. Right. Take apart the demographics behind that concept, and you understand it's being marketed to Mr. Couch potato who wants to be told that he's just like everyone else, the ladies looooove him and he can keep on drinking his low-carb beer.

Or, it's Fall now so let's all get on that hay wagon, skip the apple picking (ew, apples!) and head on over to Dunkin' Donuts. Everybody does it, and look how happy these folks are. It's so sad, it's almost funny.

But not quite. I firmly believe that advertising has played a big hand in the staggering obesity rates we see in America today. And, what's even more frightful than pushing low cost junk food at the public as a money saving strategy in tough economic times, is the selling of the unfit, unhealthy "average guy" as acceptable.

The most annoying thing about commercials is that they are so transparent, and I do think a great many people have the ability to see through them. But they don't want to. They don't want to accept that what they're eating is killing them slowly. They don't want to think about how by making the "smart" financial decision to buy fast food from the dollar menu today, may lead them into severe health care debt in the future.

So my PCPeeps, I say we need to launch our own ad campaigns.

We need to be the mini-billboards in our own worlds! No need to scream, we need to be the quiet resistance to the status quo. We need to take our blossoming PCP strength and tear it up with motorsport, rock it in capoeira, walk like a champion, and shine on the yoga mat! We need to be the high-energy, full-on radiant examples of better living through healthy choices.

There's five PCPers left for 2009 and five weeks to go -- let's give it all we've got! We've all made such great gains already, I can't wait to see where we net out in December!