Day 28- Four Petit Fours

This is a pre-emptive blog! I have been quiet for the last few days because as I think I mentioned before I usually find it harder to find time to blog on the weekends with all the running around (and attempts to hang in there socially) however after seeing Patrick's email this morning I panicked. I also felt like a 5 years old in trouble bigtime, plus with Gilles blogging daily I feel like I am up against the class pet.  Back seat rebel!!!

Saturday was a great day. I got up early to do my exercises then went to do a really great yoga class which was fantastic for stretching out my stiff limbs. Then I met up with a friend and went for a massage and sauna at Sunny Paradise. The masseuses there walk on your back and though we were both pretty taken aback when we realised what was going on we emerged glowing and as relaxed as putty. Definitely a great way to spend a few hours. In my last blog, I mentioned that I was a bit stressed about how I was going to dodge all the food and alcohol on Saturday night. I was celebrating a friend's birthday as we ended up going to Tango, an Argentinian steakhouse right on Wyndhan street that was perfect for sober Sevens spotting. PCP-wise it was a pretty good choice and as we ended up sharing so I was able to nibble on a few slices of amazing beef and load up on grilled veggies (footnote: I also indulged in a glass of wine and a glass of champagne which didn’t make me feel nauseous but did give me more of a buzz than it would have a month ago. It also appears I still love champagne so looks like PCP hasn't flicked that switch to off just yet).

The exercises are going well and I am feeling really good with the skips. I have taken to doing them at the gym when I can and on Sunday once again had a whole studio to myself. With the concentration and the sprung floor I felt unstoppable and ended up skipping for 11 mins straight which took me just shy of my 1200 jumps. The day before I managed to do them in two sets but generally I am now quite comfortable doing 5-6mins straight and fitting in 600-700 jumps in that time. What has made all the difference is mixing up my jumps. I'll do a couple of hundred of the straight jumps then jump on alternate feet or hop on one foot. It seems to be a question of tricking my brain into concentrating on the foot combinations so that it doesn’t switch off and get bored. Hopefully this will last. I think my body is still treating all this as a novelty - something new to get used to.

Now for the INDULGENCE!!! Gilles and I were planning to head into central to find the best cheesecake in town but in the end, went to Zoe and got a selection of small cakes - yes we got 4 because they were tiny. Just on the larger side of petit fours alright? You see there's a knife there for perspective…it's a tiny knife by the way…

I dove straight into the chocolate mud cake which was divine (in fact I started hallucinating just by inhaling the heady aroma) then had to pull back when I realised I was at risk of peaking too early so I stopped to sample the rest of the cakes which was worth it because the banana banoffe pie was incredible!!! By the time I was back on the chocolate I felt pretty ill and couldn’t finish the tiny slice. I probably would have been happy with a few mouthfuls so that was interesting to observe as before I would have just pressed on without thinking. Seems like I have a much greater awareness of when my cravings are satisfied. Still, I was annoyed at leaving half a piece of cake on my plate!

I have posted my week 4 pics which I'm a bit disappointed by. I'm not really seeing much change in my body though I can't tell if I am changing and my perception is distorted. Some days I feel thinner and more toned and other days it's like I am going backwards. Weight-wise I seem to be back up half a kilo. Also I think I was ripped off! I didn't get my breakthrough motivational comment last week. In fact, no one has commented that I look any different at all (apart from the face fat observation at work) so I am wondering when the results will start to show. I can notice the changes in my fitness level as I can do more but the whole point is for it to show right? Grrrrr. Guess I need to hang in there...

Day 25 - Who's the Killjoy?

Looking at Patrick's email this morning it was like he had read me like a book. Feelin run down? Check. Having the impression the world is taunting you with fine food? Check. Being an emotional b1tch from hell? Well that's a very subjective question... In short, I am feeling a bit all over the shop. Let's hope these textbook symptoms also turn into textbook results.

I am filled with moderate self-loathing as I write this since I missed my skipping this morning. Of course my plan is to do them straight after work but having them hanging over my head for the whole day is absolute torture. This morning, however, was awful. I couldn't move. Gilles rolled in late after a work event last night and was probably suffering more than me but still I couldn't face the rope....Ironically I arrived at work later than I normally do when I have done all my exercises. Next week's goal is to hit 6am 5 days in a row. Really feel like I am fighting against my DNA here...

As I mentioned on my last blog I had a work dinner last night which I was sure was going to kick me off the wagon. It wasn't PCP perfect but I think I made the most out of the situation. Of course I had to avoid all the deep fried parcels of delectable goodies but there was plenty of other stuff to get excited about like prawns, chicken and steamed beef (sounds gross but wow this one was great. It was like a giant steamed beef patty with ginger, garlic etc in some (very likely) heavily salted soy sauce) and this may sound insane but hands down the best broccoli I have ever tasted (probably doused in uber salted chicken stock). I'm sure there was also some pork featuring amongst all that somewhere but I stuck to my quantities, avoided the carbs and ate what I could without inconveniencing anyone else too much (I hope!!!). I guess I'll have to be extra careful with the salt for the next few days, starting with my lunch today which is bordering on offensive. I was short on time when I got home last night so steamed some chicken and vegetables and chucked it in with some brown rice and lemon (an optimistic gesture in the hope of taste). Bleurch...I may as well go raid the stationery closet and chow down on a pile of manila folders. Eat your medicine...eat your medicine....

I have been immersed in PCP land to such an extent I didn't even realise the Sevens are happening this weekend and I'll be out on Saturday night! Oh man... I might have to cash in my indulgence chip tomorrow night.

Apologies for the crabby post but guess this process is equally about venting.  Let's hope tomorrow brings a better mood!

Happy weekend to all!!

Day 22 - Non-carbonated

Like flat cola. Diet of course. That's how I felt when I got our new menu plans. I too was shocked and appalled when I spyed the sans carbs requirement in the evening.

Goodbye my friends....

BUT looking at things positively I guess it's not so bad considering I was already down to 50 grams up until yesterday. So in some ways it's easier to have no carbs than have a pitiful spoonful of moreishness staring right back at me from my plate. I also see that my servings for breakfast and lunch are almost unchanged so - yay! However tricky situations are on the horizon. Not quite sure how I am going to handle my work dinner on Thursday night and the b'day dinner I have planned for Saturday. The work dinner is a triple whammy of (i) mandatory attendance (ii) a set menu and (iii) tranidtional Cantonese cuisine. Surely that has to be three strikes?? PCP diet going down in flames right there. I'll report back on that one. Whereas for the b'day dinner I am taking out a good friend for an overdue celebration. It has been planned for a while and I can’t really offer to take my friend out and then scale back the invite with a PCP compliant caveat i.e. let's celebrate!!!! (although I'm only going to watch you eat and not drink). Gah!!!! What to do?

I was pretty grumpy this morning when I got up to do my exercises. I'm suffering from pretty terrible cramps today. Surprisingly the skipping helped though by the time I got through my last set of squats I was balled up on the ground and needed to take a break so I plan to finish the rest of my exercises at home tonight. Gilles also bought me a more flexible band (pink!) so let's see how I face off with the dreaded da vinci's.

I thought I would post this pretty pic of last night's dinner courtesy of my personal chef (thanks Gilles). A vertiable kaleidoscope of goodness. Bon Appetit!

Hard to believe we are already on Day 22. Almost one third of the way there guys!

Day 21 - Puberty Blues

Why is it that I find it harder to find time over the weekend to blog than during the week? Anyway, back on the blog after a short absence. Had a great weekend and didn’t struggle as much as I thought with 'The One Thousand' this morning. I did my exercises at the gym on Saturday and Sunday in one of the empty studios and tried to mix it up with a few different steps to keep it interesting. Appropriately I have been in my comfort zone doing the "girly jump". Ironic considering in these last few weeks we have all discovered there ain't nothing remotely pink and frilly about skipping. It will kick your ass (and calves, and shins and thighs etc. etc.). However, having branched out I am now trying to switch it up with a few of this guy's moves. Btw, bear with it. It's not a horror flick, though yes he is a bearded man out skipping in the bush wielding a rope like a pair of nanchucks. All the elements of a budget slasher film are there…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIIIXLhK8vw

When I read Patrick's email about breakouts on Saturday it was as if he read my mind. All last week there was a non-stop neighbourhood pimple party on my face of epic proportions. I'm talking Ibiza without all the beautiful people the likes of which has not been seen since I was very much on the wrong side of 16. I mean between my eyebrows? What kind of cruel game are we playing at here? I was completely demoralised and irate thinking that I definitely had not signed up for this!! Thankfully…things seem to have calmed down in the last few days and hopefully will stay that way. I also went and got a lymphatic massage and facial so hopefully that helped things along as well. I've also been experiencing some digestion problems and feeling a bit bloated from the change in diet. Hopefully that's just an adolsecent phase as well….

Saturday night Gilles and I finally went to see the King's Speech (brilliant) and then went to a friend's b'day party. I'm proud to say I resisted the chocolate cake which was flying around but had a glass of wine….I don’t have a problem stopping after a glass but I am finding it hard to be out and not indulge in one glass. I'm a bit worried about the next couple of weeks as there are a few birthdays and farewells coming up. I hope I can remain strong and boring :(  By the way, is anyone having trouble NOT talking about PCP? It's natural for it to come up particularly as it has taken over my life and often I have to explain why I am not drinking when I go out BUT at the same time it also needs to find its place in my life so I can restore the balance! Is anyone else finding this? 

We are definitely eating more fish at home which I am really enjoying but yesterday and today was craving some comfort food so whipped up a batch of "PCP spaghetti and meatballs". I had to make some modifications but it was tasty!!

Finally some PCP observations at the close of week 3:

1. Overall I am feeling less stressed at work

2. My colleagues have commented that my face looks "less fat" - those exact words!

3. Climbing the stairs to my flat is easier

4. I am able to fit into a skirt which 2 months ago was on the "no go" list. Next up I am planning to break the glass and try out a pair of jeans I have not been able to fit into since I was in Japan. Gilles - I think it's better if you aren't home for this. There could be tears…a lot of tears.

5. Looking forward to my "breakthrough" moment as promised by Patrick….

One more week to go and it will be the 1 month mark! Happy Monday all!

Day 16 - Lunge-a-thon

This morning was a complete blur. Starting my workout at 7am I was waaaay behind and didn’t manage to get into work until 9:15. Yes, I am slow in the morning and need lots of time. Not because I am one those women who lays out all her clothes and takes forever to pack on makeup but because overall I move like a sloth before 9am. This mean morning workouts are ultimately against my nature. Why resist? Because I like the smug feeling of knowing it's done and out of the way. Plus these days I spend most evenings prepping for the next day's meals. I feel like a hamster in a wheel. This is completely bananas…

Today my chest and arms are sore. I made a mistake and did 4 sets of push ups instead of three!! This morning it was lunges. Boooo. Thighs were a little shakey and I find this one a bit of a battle because it is so damn long and boring. How does everyone else get through this? Also are you alternating legs in each set and doing 4 x 30 reps (15 per leg) or just doing 15 on the same leg then switching over? Bring back the squats!! As the local park only opens at 7am I have given up my bouncy astro turf on weekdays and yielded to skipping on the roof. This morning it felt like my feet were made of lead and I got cramps in my calves. I seem to be hitting the wall at 400 and just can't break through. I had to finish the jumps in 3 sets. Starting to worry how I'll cope when we start to time ourselves. On average it's taking around 7mins to get through 800 (I'm pausing for breaks). I can't even imagine skipping for 7mins straight. I'm seeing a lot of tears in my immediate future.

Now to the fun distracting food stuff. Wholemeal pita bread I love you. With a bit of roasted eggplant spread, chicken, avocado and peppers you make my day. Yesterday I got a bit creative and road tested "green sushi". 

Ok, so I need to work on the name but in short it was rolled lettuce leaves stuffed with steamed choy sum leaves, peppers and tomato. Looked posh but it's a lot of green to get down. Not sure I'll be trying that one again. 

Today's lunch was a Vietnamese chicken noodle salad full of lots of fresh veggies and herbs. Unfortunately it was missing one key ingredient - FLAVOUR!! Next time I need to load up on the lime, chilli and mint for zing…Gilles has vetoed coriander in our house. Thumbs down to that.

Well that's another evening gone. Food prep, eat dinner, more food prep, conference call, blog and now - BED. Just as well I don't have to do it all again tomorrow...oh wait a minute...

Sweet skipping dreams all!

Day 10, 11, 12, 13 - To market, to market....

Ok so I have been a bit slack with my posts over the last few days.  As I mentioned my mum has been visiting and I guess I have been engrossed in other forms of media like everyone who has been gripped by what happened in Japan over the weekend. Very thankful my fellow PCPers are safe and well together with all my friends and family in Japan but am definitely thinking of those not so fortunate as I am sure everyone is.

Today was a real challenge. Gilles and  were invited to a friend's b'day bbq this afternoon and it was our first real social 'test' since starting the program. I thought it would be a LOT easier but everywhere I turned there were tempting food traps. OK so I'm not proud to admit I fell off the wagon in week 1 but as Patrick said it's better to eat than skip a meal so I ate what looked the most 'compliant' and had half a glass of wine. Do I hate myself for it? Not really. It was an afternoon with friends I haven't seen for a long time and I was happy to be part of it. Besides we're talking about a couple of legs of chicken in sauce and a couple of sausages so it's not like I dived into a  pit of fries and ribs plus I haven't skipped a day of exercise. BUT I'll really try not to do it again.

Thanks to Akiko, Ricky and Kristi to the brekkie vegatable suggestions. I took mum down to the market a couple of days last week and loaded up of vegetables and armloads of other goodies. Then I came home and roasted up a storm. Unfortunately I completely underestimated how much I would need to get through a week so 2 days later I was at it again. Not that I mind, the house smells great and it's great to get my hands on all different kinds of veg. So far I've tried peppers, onions, tomatoes, leeks (good tip Akiko - delish!), pumpkin, squash, zucchini, beetroot, garlic and more in all combinations.

Weekday breakfasts have been pretty basic so I've decided to treat myself on the weekends. This morning I made a kind of shoukshouka (braised tomato, capsicum and onion with chilli and paprika and eggs cracked into the middle of it) for Gilles and I with grilled wholemeal pita. Easy but sooooo tasty.

I've also started experimenting with dips and spreads and made a white bean (sorry Patrick...but this was before the no bean rule!), garlic and thyme spread which  is great for sandwiches and toast.






I'm really happy that I am managing to inch up the skips each day. Today I got up to 400 but then had to do the rest in 2 sets because I felt like someone had attacked my calves. Serious burn. The arm exercises are also starting to hurt. I think I am going to suffer this week...

Enjoy your weekend all. Good luck with the 800 tomorrow.....

Day 9 - The Human Slingshot

I woke up feeling pretty hungry after the highly dissatisfying meal we had last night. I was craving juice, bacon and pan cakes. Of course! It was irritating to realise that none of my cravings were going to be satisfied. Not in the next 3 months anyway. Before going to bed I grilled up a stash of chicken which I plan to throw into various concoctions over the next few days. The first of which being this - today's lunch. Char-grilled chicken, veggie and cous cous salad with pepper, olive oil (just a drop serious) and lemon. It was missing all the tasty herbs which I'll add next time (and nuts if they are allowed) but it was colourful, fresh, had some crunch and was enough to get me mildly excited to eat it. Success.

Vegetables for breakfast…I am hitting the wall on this one and am really hoping Patrick doesn’t tell me that tomato is a fruit. Does anyone have vegetable suggestions for breakfast that are quick and tasty? If so, please send them my way. This weekend I am going to try and make a frittata and loading that up with veg. Though how I am going to weigh out Gilles and my individual protein / veg portions I don’t know.

This morning's exercises were something else. It was raining pretty heavily and while pre-PCP me would have curled up under the doona and hit the snooze button, the 2 week old PCP me dragged herself out of bed and headed straight to the roof. What's a bit of rain anyway? I managed to find a spot between the puddles and started skipping away in the pouring rain. It was at that point the soundtrack in my head kicked in and my life suddenly transformed into a training montage with all the added splashing from the jumps it felt like I was living an 80s music clip / flashdance sequence. I had to hold back from breaking into a spot sprint though I think I threw in a few head flicks. She's a maniac alright....

I still need to break my skipping up into sets but they are increasing and I'm up to around 150 - 200 jumps a set not counting the tripping. Doing 600 skips in a row isn't a remote possibility right now so I'll just stick to what I have going. By the time I was done with the skips I was totally drenched so had to do a quick costume change before getting onto the exercises. Lunges - ugh, not too bad but this exercise takes forever!!! Leg raises - waaaaay better on my hip with the modified position suggested by Patrick which means bending my legs. Standing Ovation…..seriously. Had there been an audience I would have gotten one for how farcical the spectacle of me battling the band must have seemed. Is anyone else struggling with this one? I am definitely getting a softer band. This morning's experience was like wrestling against a human slingshot and I lost.