Day 90

The pictures speak for themselves.

In 3 months I've undone a good 15 years worth of damage and I feel fitter and healthier than I can remember. I've shed 3 inches off my waist and and just over 12kg.






Day One



Day 90

      

Day One

Day 90

            

I was the guy who went to the gym 3 times a week for a bit of stairmaster action The original pictures show this wasnt working out too well. I guess the drinking didnt help either.



This project has changed my whole mentality not only to working out but to diet and food in general and has been a great experience. It was hard work at times but once you are in the right mindset, its much easier than you think.

 



Day 81

Jet lag and a cold have not helped with this weeks exercises which have been tough and time consuming. A couple of times ive run out of energy before the ab exercises. No six pack for me it seems but very happy with results elsewhere.

Holiday 1 PCP 0

Back in HK after a 2 week holiday visiting relatives in England.

I feel like I've taken a few steps back achieving peak condition but it was kind of impossible to do otherwise. We were constantly out and about and ended up eating out for virtually every lunch and dinner. Even finding time to do the exercises was at times difficult.

I think I struck a good holiday vs PCP balance but am now motivated to knuckle down for the next 2 weeks or so to achieve the best end results possible

On the plus side, my wardrobe has been somewhat replenished. Gone from a somewhat tight 36" waist easy leg trouser to a nearly baggy 34" straight..

Royal PCP

In sunny England (no it is really) and sticking to the PCP diet is very, very tough.

Everyone's life seems to revolve around food here and Ive had to turn down loads of dinner invitations and sit around whilst everyone else is wolfing down pizza & pasta. We always seem to be on the move which is making the mid morning and afternoon snacks difficult to follow too.

Ive managed to do pretty much all the exercises but, without a gym, yesterdays pull ups and kung fu sit ups were a bridge too far.

Just spent a few mins surfing the PCP site and have seen how ripped a lot of the other guys are. Feeling a bit low as Im so far away from them. Have I been doing most of the exercises incorrectly?

Day 58

Decided to save my curry indulgence for next week when I'll be in London...aah i can smell the chicken tikka masala already.

I have become a lot more vain the more PCP has gone on but i guess Im now less embarassed to look at myself for a while in the mirror. I have realised that most of my weight seems to have come off my legs and posterior so the pcitures dont really tell the whole story....All my clothes are very loose which says enough by itself...32 more days to sort out the chest and belly.

Day 52

Saw 2 people this evening in the gym that I havent seen for a while and both commented about how much weight i have lost. This has set up the weekend very nicely indeed thank you.

Workouts are becoming more and more challenging. My attempts at kung fu sit ups were laughable. "keep your legs up at 90 degrees and take a breath" ..are you having a laugh, Patrick?

Bumped into a couple of other friends on the way out of the gym who were in the bar downstairs and sat with them for a couple of hours. Managed to stick to the water. A major milestone.

This has got me thinking,..why has Pure opened a bar underneath the gym ..why indeed. Very clever.

Day 49

The Day of Indulgence is nearly here....and I cant decide what to eat. 

Chocolate, pizza, fries, curry... You know what I just dont care. Oh dear, I have been truly PCPd.

Oh wait..curry you win. Phew! I was getting worried there.

Day 45

 A very timely email this morning from the PCP guru. I was just falling into that trap.

The before and after photos of the recently completed group are inspirational. If you havent browsed through I would recommend it. That'll be me in just 45 short days.

Day 44

I'll let you all into a little secret. I'm playing a game of football later (probably in the rain) and I happened to mention this to Patrick to see if I could avoid the skipping today. Not only did he say yes to me but he threw in an extra 20 gm of carbs for me to eat to boot. Considering PCP has taken over my life, this has got to have been the best news Ive received for weeks.

New pictures added to replace the ones i took last night in front of the mirror which were awful quality. The Mrs has taken the camera with her and i asked a friend to take these on the weekend with his camera but he seems to be a technophobe as its taken him 4 days to send them to me. Anyway, definite improvements can be seen and more to come I hope, Not quite the lean machine of my youth....yet!

Day 41

A big thank you to Conny and Tracey for their helpful comments. 

Got up early with the intention of skipping before going to work but just couldnt get in the right mindset to skip at home. Did the skipping at lunch instead and the rest of the exercises this evening at home. Great burn from the triceps dip.

Hoping to get to the gym nice and early tomorrow morning to get the skipping out the way. Fingers crossed.

Where Did My Day Go?

Time management is a big part of PCP and mine has been ridiculously bad this week..

Ive been feeling pretty tired so chances of a pre-work PCP workout were slim and circumstances have meant that a lunchtime gym workout were a no-no so Ive had had to do all the workout and skipping  after work. This means Im done & home by 8.30ish and then need to prepare & eat the egg whites, apple etc and the veg snack as well as cook the breakfast and lunch for the following day then do the washing up etc etc. By then 10pm has long past and chances of an 8 hour sleep drift away. There is no access to blogger at work so this could be my only blogging time but too many other things then get in the way..

On a few occasions this week, Ive bought lunch out to save time (the night before) and used guesswork for the weights which I admit is sub-optimal but at least has freed up some time. Later today, I plan to barbecue a few pieces of meat and hopefully that will take care of lunchtime protein for Mon-Weds at least. Any time saving food prep ideas would be greatly appreciated.

In general though, everything is going ok and my body is definitiely incurring some positive changes. I think like a lot of people I was feeling tired and sluggish this week which has made the daily exercising a real chore. However, I think I may have turned the corner as since Thursday Ive been feeling a lot more energetic.

Once I get to grips with the time management, can anyone recommed a good book? I just cant see myself sitting through Australia's next top model.

Not Quite Ready Yet

So one month in and Im thinking with all that skipping and all the extra exercises, I must be a lot fitter now. So when a friend suggests we walk from Disco Bay up over to Mui Wo, up Sunset Peak and down to the Stoep for a bit to eat, Im thinking sure why not. A nice 4-5 hour hike shouldnt be a problem and Im sure I can keep up with my friend, the regular maclehoser . Hmm, not quite yet.

Just the thirty minutes of straight up at the start, knocked the stuffing out of me and we hadnt even started Sunset peak yet. Well i do have 2 months more to go on PCP so Im not yet fighting fit, I explained a wee bit embarassed to my very patient friend.

Whilst i did finish (absolutely knackered), I realise there's a lot more work to do until peak condition. 2 more months to go and a whole lot of hard work needed..

PCP is Everywhere

So I'm having a conversation with a guy in the office who sits about 15 yards from me. i dont know him that well as he's pretty new but guess what, hes doing PCP - same start date..

On the same day, after a mornings hard graft, I decide to go to the gym at lunchtime to finish the PCP exercises. Im sitting on the floor (rowing) and I spot a guy walking around with a piece of paper studying it like it's the gospel..seems a bit strange i thought but somewhat familiar. After a few minutes, he comes over to where i am and i see its the PCP exercise sheet. i say hallo and introduce myself.

Coincidence, i think not. PCP has taken over my life.

What the hell am i doing here? I dont belong here

Up early Saturday which was a beautiful day so we all went to Big Wave bay. We were there by 9am and save the surfers, the beach was deserted. A few hours of bodysurfing and mucking about with the kids and back home for lunch and PCP exercises. Its mornings like that that make HK such a great place to live.

I found the Saturday exercises tough. Not sure why, but thinking that leaving everything till later in the day makes it a lot harder. Thats the first time Ive really done that. The new leg exercises are definitely more challenging. Nobody likes a creep. Also, cant seem to get that Radiohead song out my head now.

Im happy with the progress so far though im still waiting for the beer gut to diminish. Go already!

Where is the love (handles)?

Chugging along nicely. Trousers looser and love handles slowly but surely disappearing.

Exercise-wise, Im way off doing a proper pull up. Tried to do one today in the gym and failed miserably (I hope noone was looking).

Still helperless but the Mrs has been brilliant in relieving some of the burden of preparing PCP compliant meals. After a long hiatus, I have not missed having to cook and wash up after a long day at work.

Day 18

Unfortunately, we had to let our domestic helper go today. Now the diet is going to get interesting!

Still stubbornly refusing to lose any weight.

Floating like a butterfly but dying for a beer

2 weeks in and going strong (kind of). I was skipping earlier and definitely feel lighter on my feet nowadays though to be honest weight loss to date has been minimal. Those pesky scales.

I was out last night...me on soda water, the rest on beer..I still find this a challenge (I do like my beer)and when the pizza, chicken wings and fries arrived, I had to leave or temptation would have got the better of me.

I've got to agree with Homer Simpson on this one - Ah, beer. The cause of and the solution to all of life's problems.

Cravings

I had my first real craving for sugar today. I felt a little light headed and my body was screaming "Hey, Hyams where's my chocolate??!!"

This was on the way to the MTR at 6ish and squeezing into the train to Kowloon side at rush hour was a great way to take my mind off it. A game of footy and a litre of water later and the craving is gone.

Not sure that remedy will work for everyone though...

Lunges

I am not a fan of lunges. They feel like a punishment..

"Any more of that and you'll be doing lunges, 10 reps , 3 sets, no rest!"  Now theres an idea to stop the kids misbehaving...

Day 7

I spent the weekend in Manila which was hot & humid but fun. Whilst there, I had an "executive" check up and having been weighed there,  it seems my bathroom scales are a bit lenient . I guess it doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things as I'll stick with my scales throughout PCP but  I seem to be heavier than I first thought...gulp!

Diet and exercises are going well but the soles of my feet still burn after 100 or so jumps.

The first day in Manila I used the gym but the ceiling was unusually low and made skipping quite difficult.. In fact, Ive decided I much prefer exercising outside and will endeavour to do so in the future, when possible.

Roll on week 2.

Day 2 and 3

Workouts and diet going well though those lunges didnt half hurt.Off to Manila this weekend but confident of sticking to the diet & exercise regime.

Body Stats:
Weight: 200 lbs
Waist: 36 in
Moobs:check
Beer gut: check
Love handles: check

I'm hoping these stats will be totally different in 87 days...

Day 1

The skipping is a bit alien to me and the soles of my feet and my calves were burning hard at the end but all in all everything went well on the exercise front.
I had a sandwich for lunch at my desk. I ate half and left the other half wrapped up next to my computer. Unfortunately I seemed to have chosen a sandwich with telepathic powers. Throughout the afternoon it was urging me to eat it but after a couple of near misses, I stayed strong and mental willpower won the day.
Dinner was at Zuma a pre-pcp arranged event but again I stayed true to PCP and only ate half as much as usual.
So far so good.

the adventure begins!