Day 71 -I dream of chocolate

I've been a bit slack on the blog this last week. After my emotional day 65 post I noticed that day 68 was eerily familiar but that I handled it much better. Quite amazing how quickly the body can adapt. Having said that my workout today was pretty mediocre. I just couldn't get it together, I felt clumsy and uncoordinated and felt like I was dragging my body through each exercise. I did my strength first thing in the morning and did my cardio later in the morning since we had a public holiday today. The plan was to go for a hike but it was so damn hot and I didn't want a repeat shutdown incident like last time sooooooo when a friend called up and suggested we have a long lunch (5 hrs to be exact) on a sunny terrace I was pretty quick to accept and given the crappy mood I was in after my disastrous workout, it was just what I needed.

I know we are supposed to be feeling a renewed push that the end is in sight but some days it is still remarkably hard to find the motivation to exercise. My body is crying out for a day off but on the flipside I am starting to become impossible if anything threatens to eat into my exercise time.

Recently I have found I am becoming increasingly restless in the evenings and my mind won't stop racing when I am supposed to be sleeping which means I am not getting as much sleep as I should. I have also been craving desserts which is very uncharacteristic - specifically chocolate - chocolate cake, chocolate tart, chocolate ice cream, chocolate fondant, a good old block of cadbury - you get the message. Where is this coming from? I have never had these cravings before. I would be more likely to demolish a pack of Doritos than gorge on chocolate so this is very bizarre.

Hoping I can turn this around tomorrow!

Day 65 - Lunge around the world in 90 days?

65 days later and I still hate lunges. Yesterday's leg sets were crazy bananas. I set the timer and started to lunge...10mins later I am STILL lunging. If I lined up all the lunges I have done since starting PCP I wonder where I would be - surely somewhere high on the Tibetan Plateau with the symptomatic nausea and lightheadeness to match. It took me twenty minutes to get through all of my leg reps and I swear I was not dawdling around in between. By the end my legs were a shaking mess and then of course straight after it was the shoulders. It was honestly a relief to get to the abs and I even managed to squeeze in a video date with our 8mins ab friend as well so that felt like an achievement.

I'll admit, on some off days I haven't managed to get through my entire sets - biceps and chest may have been abbreviated here and there but I have promised myself to never cut the legs or abs because they are the areas I need to work on the most. So far I've managed to hit all of the sets but was slightly terrified by Patrick's email of today telling us to keep going until failure....I am not looking forward to this. Legs are awful enough, I can't imaging lunging till failure. Maybe I should just forgo the bus and start lunging into work in the mornings? The horror...

Today was a major PCP diet fail of rather epic proportions. My old boss invited me out for lunch and since he was pressed for time we went to the Chinese restaurant downstairs for dim sum. I'm not sure how it happened but we inadvertently ordered almost everything fried on the menu. My digestive system is now in full scale revolt but it tasted oh so fine. I'm giving myself a pat on the back regardless for being pretty good up until this point but I guess I'll just have to be extra careful from now. I call it sub-conscious sympathetic indulgence - I hope you feel better now Gilles...

I still have tonight's workout to do when I get home and it looks like another killer. Are we seriously up to 90 second planks???

Update 8:45pm 4/5/2011: I would strongly suggest you not read this is you are yet to do your Day 65 work out!    
OK so I have just managed to scrape myself off the floor and wipe away the drool to write this addendum to my post. Oh my good god you cannot be serious!!! Today was by far the toughest yet for me. Chest dips - failure. Push - ups - failure, I had to slip in a set of 'lady' push ups. Biceps - I had so many freaky hulk like veins popping out everywhere by the last set I thought I was going to haemmorhage and die. Not to be dramatic or anything. 90 SECOND PLANKS?? I was crying proper baby tears by plank 3. Mehhh, I hurt.  Excuse me while I go lie down in a very cool and dark place and try and piece together my sanity. But on the plus side - my new skipping playlist rocks!! Skips were (almost) a delight - in retrospect...

Day 63 - Search & Rescue

With less than a month to go, I think I am finally being winched to safety out of the valley.  The last couple of days have been TOUGH physically and psychologically. Gilles is in France at the moment and it has actually given me some time to concentrate on getting my moods and routine back on track. I'm sure I'll really need to dig deep to get through this last stage but just knowing we are already 2/3 of the way through is a huge  motivator.

We're at the tail end of another glorious long weekend. Friday I watched the royal wedding sans champagne. I was pretty nervous but looks like our wedding will have absolutely nothing in common with Wills & Kate -  no overlap on the guest list, venue or dress.... phew.  Though apparently Kate Moss and Prince Albert of Monaco are also getting married in July so we're not in the clear just yet. I must make sure "our people" coordinate. Of course straight after my Mum (a die hard royalist) immediately called me for a fashion de-brief. Hilarious. She makes Joan Rivers seem like a sweet old dear.

I got up early this morning to go for a run around the racecourse instead of doing my skips. Out of all the cardio I am doing this is definitely the one which kills me the most. I try to keep a steady jogging pace but I'm pretty sure my heart rate goes above what it does when I skip or use the elliptical, sometimes I get a bit overexcited with the music I am listening to and break into a 'victory run' which doesn't help as I burn out after a few seconds, it must be all that adrenalin. I crashed the local running club by tagging along with their group for a while but all those wiry old guys are so fit so I dropped back. What is interesting is that I no longer get a crippling stitch which would usually kick in when I looked at my sneakers. I'm definitely no runner, my performance has always been abysmal, but seeing the evidence of progress has made me want to stick with it 1-2 days a week for now with skipping and elliptical on the other days.

Patrick's "red faced" email was interesting. I don't usually get this phenomenon usually I just sweat like crazy but after this morning's run I was flaming tomato red. Not sure if you can really see it in this pic but a few hours later and my skin looks really good!

OK, going to get out and soak up what sunshine is left of this fine day but before signing off I'd really like to know what people are listening to during their workouts. I'm building a few playlists and would be interested in what everyone's get off your butt and move song is.

Week 9 photos now posted.

Day 59 - Rebound

The last two days have been really touch and go. Probably the lowest point I have experienced yet on PCP. Up until now I have just accepted my workouts as part of my daily routine but yesterday I really really really wanted a day off - just one. After negotiating with my conscience for quite some time we came to a mutual agreement. We would revisit the rope. For the last week or so I have been doing most of my workouts at the gym using the elliptical for cardio which makes it impossible to finish everything in an hour as Patrick reminded us today. Then when you factor in showering...sauna... general faffing about it's quite a long and drawn out ordeal. Not really something I can manage on a daily basis before work

Yesterday I ventured back to my local park and took up my position on the astroturf, pumped up the volume on my ipod and started to jump - gingerly at first -but soon I found I fell back into my old rhythm with relative ease. I was unstoppable and so I just kept going and killed the 4x4. When I was done I was barely out of breath and there was no pain in my joints...no pain of course until I started the strength exercises. Good God they are getting crazy. What is surprising though is that I managed the planks - had I even attempted two consecutive one min planks a few weeks ago you would have had to stretcher me home. It's actually quite fascinating how quickly the body can adapt - it's like a ravenous baby bird gobbling up exercise and wanting more provided of course the mind is cooperating. As I mentioned, it has been a bit of a battle the last two days. Even though I remembered how great and satisfying it felt once I got started, getting motivated was once again a challenge today. For a variety of reasons I had to swap today and tomorrow's workouts (Sorry Patrick). Basically I had a few conf calls tonight and had to see Gilles before he left for France so I just didn't have the time to go to the gym or trek down to the racecourse to use the pull up bar so I ended up doing the Day 60 workout today and will do the Day 59 workout tomorrow morning at the gym (since of course I will be glued to the tele watching the Royal wedding tomorrow - HA!!! A forerunner to the real wedding of the year in July of course. By the way, if Kate has ripped off my dress I will be livid!).

So does this mean I am seeing the rope again? Not sure - even though the legs and joints are feeling good, I plan to keep my options open and continue to mix up the cardio with the elliptical or jogging. I think my legs appreciate the break and it was a relief to find that I am managing to keep pace with the rope with other forms of exercise.

So as the clock hits 12:01 I can officially wish you all a Happy Friday!! Bring on the weekend!

Day 57 - The Sweet Eggscape

What a great mini-break! Today I was back at the office and have a four day week to lift my spirits. If that isn’t good news enough, here in HK we have two more 4 day weeks to look forward to thanks to an abundance of holidays this year. That’s right people – 3 weeks of back-to-back 4 day work weeks. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the foresight to plan any holidays…so I’ll be spending them ALL in Hong Kong. Sadly, the first thing that comes to mind is “great, now I can work out when I want!!”. The biggest treat it seems I can give myself these days is the luxury of not getting up at 6 to do my exercises….

But anyway back to the Easter weekend! So much to report but I’ll stick to the good stuff. Most importantly, it was the hallowed INDULGENCE! [cue chorus of angels and heavenly light]. This Easter I decided to forego all chocolate (btw, nice timing on the indulgence Patrick. I am sure there were a few happy PCP bunnies out there this year) and roll it up into one hold-onto-your-tastebuds-and-pull-out-the-elastic-waisted-mum-jeans feast!! Gilles and I were a bit divided on this – I was favouring Spanish and he was gunning for surprise surprise – French. Then I figured I might try to play my ‘nostalgic for home cooking’ card as well which led me to bbqs and Japanese food – hmm, both largely PCP compliant – dammit! So in the end we went for French because as Roland rightly observed, that stuff will kill you so what the hell. I will confess this outright – I am pretty sure we blew our caloric quota by about a gazillion and then some. There was champagne, cheese, wagyu beef, a rainbow of heady sauces, a ‘bit’ of foie gras, desserts, digestif…    



Half devoured goat cheese concontion



Choices...choices...



 

Scallop topped with all manner of

decadence in a heart attack sauce 

Let there be - light Champagne!!! [recue chorus of angels...]


you get the picture…OH! and not a single EGG in sight. Ha! Oh my it was worth it even if I am to be condemned to PCP purgatory.The former foodie ghost of meals past has been resurrected from the dead and is back spreading the food love…I have been haunted ever since. I still love food, that hasn’t changed and I doubt it ever will, but now it seems I can appreciate a good meal every once in a while and not feel guilty about it because the regular exercise routine is there to fall back on. The question is whether I can make things stay this way after PCP. What was interesting is that I didn’t crave more, I was abundantly satisfied with what we had (albeit excessive) and could happily return to my chicken/fish & veggies for everyday which makes the sense of indulgence that much better.

On Sunday night, I took my friend for her last authentic HK experience before leaving - Sunny Paradise Spa & Sauna. It sounds a lot more suspect than it actually is folks. I figured she needed an experience she wouldn’t forget and I needed a massage to ease my PCP bruised and broken body. This place needs to be seen to be understood but in essence it gives the term ‘foot massage” new meaning…an army of ancient aunties hang from bars on the ceiling and dance nimbly around on your you back, cracking your spine with their toes and working out all those crippling knots.  It’s terrifying as all hell at first but completely rejuvenating. Now I feel like I can face another 7 days of PCP battering.

The weather has been amazing these last few days in HK. I had my fingers crossed it would hold out for the weekend and luckily it did. Yesterday a couple of friends and I decided to hike to High Junk Peak and then reward ourselves with a seafood meal at Po Toi O, a little fishing village at the end of the trail. Why it is called High Junk Peak I have no idea most probably because you need to be in an altered state to be crazy enough to clamber up this mountain. I suppose all the endorphins I am getting from PCP puts me squarely in that category now and so I dragged two unsuspecting companions along for the ride. It was the most perfect day for a hike but unforgivably boiling….we were completely hammered by the sun and now I have a lovely patchwork tan complete with backpack strap marks to prove it. Nevertheless I did notice how much fitter I am…the hike wasn’t easy but it was definitely easier. Usually I am the straggler at the back but somehow I seem to have developed mountain goat DNA and was the annoying perky person at the front yelling out ‘good job!’, 'you’re almost there’, 'you can do it!’ etc. These remarks were greeted with a stoney glare by one of my friends while the other flipped me the bird despite being doubled over in a stitch which I thought was pretty impressive but also fair enough – I would have done exactly the same to myself. My enthusiasm did fade a few hours in and by the time we finished the hike, I was back to my crabby self crying out for a shower and a diet coke. 

Looking back on our trail

At the summit!

We climbed that crazy hill!

It was really a great day out though and our best prize of all was the amazing seafood feast at the end of it all (and a taxi back to HK island…). Good job – woo!!

Picking out our fresh seafood lunch.

I realise I haven’t reported that much on the exercises….I swear I’m not trying to deflect – I’m still doing them and suffering. Today's leg sets were particularly grueling (Patrick you're a maniac!). I see my diet has barely changed this week. Gilles is back on proper food in the evening which actually doesn’t make me as jealous as I thought it would. I am strangely enjoying the light feeling of not having a full meal in my belly at night but I am also compensating by watching a lot of Asian Food Channel…

Week 8 photos are now up!

Day 52 - Kung Fu Diva

Thursday afternoon and it's almost Easter weekend. Hip hop hooraaaaay! I'm off for four days!

Yep, Four days of relaxation, hiking, catching up with friends, the long awaited 2nd indulgence and...PCP.

This morning I got up early and went to the gym to train. This is because *sigh* I am still on the elliptical for my cardio BUT this weekend I am hoping to do some hikes and runs instead. Good lord there are some crazy people at my gym - and it appears I have become one of them. I am convinced I am on the 'watch list' of obsessed regulars. Well I am not alone - every morning there is one guy who who rocks up in his comfort walking / business shoes, gets on the same elliptical, two down from me,  sets his level to max (not that I'm in anyone's business or anything...), puts his head down on the handles and goes hell for leather at FULL SPEED for 15mins until his glasses fog up - and then that's it. He's done. It fascinates me. In fact I see a tonne of people literally killing themselves on machines of all type. I guess the idea is to expend as much energy as possible and get it all over with in a shorter frame of time however, my PCP brain can see this is complete insanity! It can only end in a ball of flames.

I found today's work out REALLY tough. Excriciating actually. To my frustration I still cannot do pull ups so for now I have to settle with the inclines. Try as I might I just hang there limply like an orphaned orangutang. Wondering if I will ever have my epiphany moment. I have been using the TRX at the gym to do the inclines as there isn't a nice little bar that isn't conveniently positioned in front of a door (!).  Unfortunately I forgot my band today so I had to get a bit creative with the weights - sorry Patrick!

What I am lacking in pull ups I am starting to make up for in kung fu sit ups. Yes, they are a bit out of control and this morning I kept on crashing into the frame of the bars making a huge crashing sound on my descent not unlike a gong - high drama.

This weekend I have a couple of farewell drinks which should be interesting. I'll probably have a glass or two so I can send my friend off but she is clearly disappointed I won't be up for a huge one tonight and sees it like a kind of betrayal. I'm pretty sure I won't be tempted but it's funny how some people are being really supportive and others want to see you fall off the wagon in disgrace. Saturday, Gilles and I are planning our INDULGENCE!! We have a couple of ideas already as to where we will go. The whole idea of just going out to eat is so exciting. I can't wait!!!

Boooo I forgot I have to finish my homework...Not digging the extra curricular work Patrick. Just finding enough hours in the day to blog, do my workout and cook is a challenge but written Q&A? The dog ate my computer. Hope this is just a once off...

Day 50 - Bloated

That's how I am feeling today. All I want to do is curl up into a ball (after eating a giant bowl of spaghetti bolognese) and sleep for three days straight. I'm completely and utterly exhausted. 

This morning I woke up with mega cramps and have been outrageously cranky for the last few days. Nevertheless I managed to push through my strength training this morning and spent 30mins on the elliptical at the gym this evening then 8mins abs which I followed on my iphone. I figured that if I could get through all of this feeling as sluggish as I do, then tomorrow I will be unstoppable when I am back to my normal self. That's the theory anyway.

My ankle feels a LOT better but I don’t want to push it by getting back on it too early so the plan is to stick with the non-impact cardio and hopefully start jumping again after Easter.

The new workout format is a tad nasty - beefed up versions of each set! As agonising as the shoulders are I am learning to love them now that I am finally starting to see some changes. It's a bizarre fixation but I have always wanted a nice clean collar bone line as mine has been buried under several layers of insulation for many many years - seems they are finally floating back to the surface.

Week 7 photos are up! I don't see a massive change from last week but some of my clothes are feeling a bit loose so something is shifting.