Day Ninety

All done.  WOOOHOOO!

I had my first glass of red wine in three months tonight.  At a sayonara party at work for moving offices.

Came back and had my first piece of dark choclate with a coffee at home in three months.  Both tasted great, but nothing as good as having killed that muffin top.

Have to say, I feel lighter, have a real true six pack, and am psyched for my next big event, Ironman Korea in Jeju in July.  I am really looking forward to running and cycling with 10k less to carry around the track.

I want to say a huge thanks to Patrick.  He has been a great mentor through-out the course.  His constant encouragement and education have helped me not only get through the program, but understand what the real value of the program is - not just shedding a few kilos, but really getting to know how your body, diet and exercise tie together.

Also want to say a huge thanks to my fellow PCPers, you were a great source of support.  I include all the Old Boy PCPers in that as well, who got the party started and encouraged us all to join.  I really hope that everyone else got as much out of it as I did, right now I feel awesome - but that could just be the sugar high from the dark chocolate talking now.

Now we just need to keep it that way .....

Day Eighty Eight

88.8k and holding.  Diet ok, supersets ok. Two days to go.  Woohooo!

Day Eighty Six

All good!  Finally made it down to Patrick's studio for the first of the superset exercises, and my final (probably) shots and stats.  I like these supersets, time efficient and a nice even burn, little like being cooked rotisserie style.

My numbers have continued to come down, except for muscle mass - which is up 3% or so (its been a while since I measured though).  More importantly, you can see the results.  I can remember being told when I was on the dragon boat rowing team - there is only one test of fitness, and that is how good you look with your shirt off :-)  Shallow, but true!

What was even better to me is that I hopped on my scale this morning and it finally read 88.9k.  I have been hovering at 89.0k since Kota Kinabalu.  Of course, I am going to bump up past 89.0k again, when I have my smoothie for breakfast in about 35 min time, but right now, as I write this blog, I am in 88k land.  Which is territory I have not been in since I was 33 years old - wooooohoooooo!

Time for some early morning sets and then munchies - 4 more days everyone.

Day Eight Two

The final, final stretch - woohoo!

Been a busy few days back at work, as I was off for four days last week. Diet all ok, but the skip rope takes a long time. Can't fit it and the work out in during lunch-time, so have been doing as much jumping as I can in the morning and just focussing on the upper body.

Beautiful day today, so am planning on meeting James at lunch-time and heading down to the park - getting in my pull-ups (now at max of 15 before failure) and a 7k run through the cherry blossoms.

Have not checked my numbers in a few weeks, will be curious to come down this Sunday and find out what the final results are.

Day Seventy Nine

Back off road and weight still holding at 89.5. Going to push the last 11 days to get through to the 88 mark.

That said, I am pretty happy with change in body composition. Muffin top pretty much all gone, very little subcutaneous on the lower abs. Photo below as evidence

Was able to maintain PCP diet pretty well. Most places were buffet and did have a veggie section (see typical sample below)

Though the huts at Kota Kinabalu were not exactly PCP friendly work-out wise (pretty cramped and -5C cold outside). Did do a few dips between the bunk beds. However, figure I burnt a bunch of calories hiking up and down. Back into the swing for my last week and a bit of PCP. Pleased with progress - particularly on abs.

Onwards and downwards (weight wise) for the last push.

Best to all the other PCPers out there.

Day Seventy Two

89.6 killos Wooohooo!

Right calf a little sore from running Wilson trail (going to be interesting climbing KK) so I did a light jog along the harbor-front, rather than jump rope.

Abs are in good shape. Muscles in lower back (spino scapula, rhomboids) still too weak to support Lats on pull downs. Can get a max of 12 reps from a dead man hang position - Aiming for 20!

Interested to check my stats and body comp when I get back to Tokes.

Day Seventy One

Back on track with training and diet.

I was very proud of going to HK Sevens - which are famous for the amount of beer that gets drunk, and sticking only to water and the salad bar - and still had a great time.

Got my work-outs in for Friday and today. Also run Stage 1 of the Wilson Trail this morning in addition to the legs, which was tough - but absolutely gorgeous. Trail running in HK is one of the little known secrets of this place. Twenty minutes out of Central and your running through bamboo forest over ridges with great views out to the sea.

Also, hit my lowest weight so far 90.1 kg - just a little bit more to push into the 80s - wooohooo!

Stay safe and stay strong!

Day Sixty Eight

Man - rough couple of days at work.

Was up till 2:30a on Tuesday trying to get stuff done for the next day. I have. So not only missed my work-out I was completely wrecked for Tuesday during the day as well.

Finally got a good night sleep Wednesday evening, and got my work-out in today (Thursday), but am going to have to get up early to finish off some more work. It isn't all business class and five star that is for sure.

Looking forward to getting things back under control on the weekend and climbing Kota Kinabalu next week.

Went to failure on the plank this evening again. Third set this time at 67 seconds. Sigh! Everything else was ok - though my biceps were pretty well burned at the end of the thumbs up curls.

Day Sixty Six

So hanging strong in Hong Kong.

Yesterday caught up with friends and went to the Marina Club at Aberdeen. Hong Kong is definitely the land of the endless buffet, but despite all the wonderful munchies my daughter was eating beside me, I stayed to the veggies and fish end of the buffet, which was still delicious.

Did my work out late last night (gym is 24 hours - woohoo!) and hit failure on the plank - 90 seconds is a frikkin long time. I am not sure if rocking on your heels is allowed, but it seems to help. But even rocking could get me through the last set and I dropped like a rock on 27 seconds.

Great thing about the gym is that you can mix in some weight work at the end for the muscle sets you really want to focus on. I think PCP is great because the resistance bands are portable and work out is sustainable, but for a short, hard, burn, a set of heavy weights are hard to beat.

Stay well all, the final stretch is coming up!

Day Sixty Five

First day in HK and went down early to the hotel gym and hallelujah - they have a pull-up bar (seems to be only Japanese hotels that leave this out of their gyms).

Did my skips, though the rubber flooring kind of throws my rhythm. I am used to the petrol smelling, cold concrete of the apartment garage and the springy, air conditioned gym is just to fancy.

Also did 8 minute abs and some pull-ups, then went for breakfast. Mmmm... big bowls of blackberries and blueberries in low fat yogurt. Will do my main muscle work out later today.

Weather is pretty grey so probably no trail running (also family in tow, so can't just cut and run). Anyway got to go and catch up with friends. Got to stay strict - way too much good food in HK.

Day Sixty Three

Getting ready to take off to HK. Downloaded my new diet to my iphone along with the exercise pdfs. Packed my rope and resistance bands. Hoping I will get a chance to do some trail runs with my buddy Adam, but weather is not looking so good over the next few days.

Did my workout first thing this morning - well first thing after I woke up at 9:00a :-) Feeling good, looking forward to seeing some friends in Honkers and then on to climbing Kota Kinabalu in Borneo.

Am going to join a friend for the Sevens on Friday at the Macquarie Box. As anyone who has gone to the Sevens knows, its all about the booze ... and they watch Rugby. So this will be an interesting test of will.

Will take my Week 9 snap when I get to the hotel and post up later.

Day Sixty Two

Lots of jump rope today - did a few abs and push-ups as well.

still having trouble pushing below 90 - bouncing along at between 90kg and 91.5kg.

Diet is going well. Off to HK tomorrow, so that will be a major test - packing the scale as well and looking forward to the veggie section of the buffet.

Feeling good but work and taking care of my daughter, who has been out of school all this week has been a handful. Still only 28 more days to go - yes!

Day Sixty One

Another day done

Have found what I believe is a PCP friendly snack that is great for energy just before work-outs. Dried lemon peel. I have a tough time believing that the water weight of lemon peel is much different from its dried weight, and while I know if may not appeal to most - its got a great tangy taste that I love.

So, pumped on lemon peel, worked through my sets again with James today - seeing as I am on work from home all week and James' has the only network my PC seems to be able to access. Have been crashing his pad for the last couple of days.

Was a good work out. Man the planks at 5 times 60 secs is a good burn, held it - but definitely felt it and could not have gone another set that is for sure.

Hoping everyone else out there is keeping safe and strong.

Day Sixty

Day 60 and two thirds down - wooohooo!

Finally, found a store with eggs and apples and other PCP friendly food in stock. So I am back on my favorite hot milk and egg whites.

Went round to James' for a work-out and photos (posted below). He has managed to get a pull-up bar set up, so tried a few sets with him on that. Then went through today's exercises, good burn. I think the 8 minute abs are paying off as I am able to hold the V sits at the end of each set - can feel it, but can hold it.

Missed taking the numbers. I am planning on picking up one of the Omron scanners myself - as I am keen to keep measuring post-PCP to make sure what comes off, stays off.

Day Fifty Eight

Woohoo! on another peak day performance.

Ran 20k with a buddy from HK, who is looking to join PCP next group and James. Then came back and finished off my Day 58 workout. The chest dips give a good burn and I am trying elevated push ups to get a bit more body weight onto the chest.

Cooked up mushrooms and garlic in olive oil and nutmeg and the last of the egg-whites and smoked salmon. Understand that smoked salmon is now no good for the final push, so am going to have to pick up fresh salmon and grill it asap so it can last.

Post earthquake main concern is that a lot of the PCP foodstuffs. Eggs, apples, etc are getting harder to find. Hoping that the transportation system gets going soon so can restock the fridge.

Glad to know all my fellow PCPer are all ok. Stay safe, stay strong! 32 days left and counting.

Day Fifty Six

Uggh - more late night calls last night - so again did not wrap up till after midnight. And too tired to blog.

I am going to crash early tonight and let my body recover. Still am pretty pleased with how I am progressing. I am hitting real resistance now in terms of weight loss - the 91k mark is hard to break. But, I am pretty sure my body composition is shifting - more muscle, less fat - so am not too worried about the overall weight figure. Still my target remains 88kg.

The fat on the bottom two abs and just under the obliques is also hanging in there. Though, I think the last couple of weeks have noticably loosened its grip. Thirty four more days to go to completely ditch the muffin top - am really going to have to burn, baby, burn when it comes to the last bits of fat.

Attached is a photo of the California style omelette. Egg whites, salmon, dill and capers. Really nice, really healthy - strongly recommend it.

Day Fifty Four

Did my eight minutes abs again in the morning, and tried something a little different for my munchies. Egg whites and smoked salmon omelette with dill and capers. Really nice!

Lunchtime had my veggies and protein (smoked chicken, snowpeas and carrots), and went to the gym. Mixed in a little weight work with the resistance bands to focus on biceps and pecs.

Snack was banana - I know bananas are on the high calorie list, but the convenience store had run out of the little fruit salads I usually pad out my day with.

Dinner, cooked up my usually tofu and ginger - love that stuff! and had another egg-white and milk. May throw in a few more push-ups before bed, though I have another late night call starting at 11:00 - ugh!.

Am going to try making up the omelette again tomorrow and take a snap - very happy with that little creation.

Day Fifty Three

Late night as couldn't switch off after call. Cascade effect was could not get up early and had to squeeze jumps in with lunch work-out.

But got it all done. Fridge restocked with PCP friendly munchies. Off to bed now so can get up early and get the rhythm going again. Looking forward to getting down to Yokohama this weekend and seeing how much progress we have all made.

Will be interested to see the stats.

Day Fiftytwo

Got up this morning, did my 8 min abs to get psyched "and their fun too", some push-ups and jump rope. Had a little bit of smoked chicken for my 60g protein, snow peas for veggies, along with some mango smoothy for milk and fruit snack.

Lunchtime was late, so I hit the Hibiya Palace buffet first before it closed and then went to the gym. Would not have been my first choice, but a) I was starving by 1:00p and b) I tried to moderate my portion so I was not too bloated for exercise.

Hit the gym and finished my work-out. I am going to do another couple of short sets on the oblique/abs and pecs, before I go to bed to justify my egg whites and hot milk.

Day Fiftyone

I'm back!

Hakuba was a lot of fun, but very hard to maintain the rhythm of PCP. Took family up boarding, went back-country, came back absolutely exhausted. Traversing on a board through the woods is damn hard work, not just on the legs, but also pulling yourself up snowdrifts. The guys I was with today literally had to pull me up with a rope the last slope as I was climbing 2 meters and sliding back 1 meter - even with snow shoes!

My indulgence came just in time, we went out to this great Izakaya in Hakuba and I was able to join my family in a plate of Genghis Khan style lamb hotpot - man was it good. See the photo below.

Anyways, back into the rhythm, up tomorrow for my jumps and back to my veggie buffet and lunch time work-out tomorrow. Woohoo!

Day Forty Nine

Hakuba is a not a PCP friendly place, but am doing my best. Luckily the lodge we are staying at has a kitchen so I have bought some eggs and milk at 7-11 for breakfasts. But, no fruit snacks, and pretty hard to jump rope in the snow. Not even with the James Brinck patented virtual rope.

Have found a veggie place for lunch, which is good. Lots of humous and curries though. Not sure what oil they have been fried in, but it will just have to make do till I get back to my PCP friendly apartment in Tokyo.

Still legs are getting a good work-out. Lots of burn today as got back to boarding for the first time this year.

Day Forty Seven

Another great day - but busy.

Still enjoying the lunches at Hibiya Park - great thing about the veggie buffet is that it avoids the trap of eating the same 2 - 3 veggies each day. They have a great mix (see the photo below) and finally can get value for money from buffet, because can pile up more than one plate.

Got some pull-ups in at Hibiya Park, did a set of 10 and then again got to failure at 2 on next set. Patrick figures it is not the lats letting me down, but something lower down. When I find out where the rhomboids are, I am going to work them out till I nail these things.

Had to cut my usual gym based work out short due to an unexpected conference call. Which was a bummer, but got in everything except the jump rope (1,500 eats up a fair amount of lunch time). However, did get in some extra sparring training with my buddy Brent and our trainer Jan Kaszuba tonight for just over an hour. Really good work out with the kicks, so the legs definitely got a burn. Stuck the video up on flikr so I can review - if you want, you can check it out here.

Packing the rope and resistance bands and off for snow-boarding tomorrow in Hakuba, and fresh snow is falling right now - woohoo!

Day Forty Six

Today was awesome!

First of all - fresh strawberries with bran flakes on hot milk was a great way to start. Did not get my early morning jumps in, but did to 8 min abs - it is a great way to kick start the day - "and its safe too".

Had my veggie buffet and forgot to take a photo - will tomorrow - but it was so good. Two plates of various great veggie dishes piled high. No more eyeballing to see if I cross the 180 gram mark.

Then, went to the gym, and not only got in a few extra sets on the lats. But broke my record on jump rope. 1,295 is now the official new high water mark for my jump rope. Takes me a couple of errors to get in the zone, but once I get over my legs getting pumped I feel like the energizer bunny on these things.

Looking forward to the remaining 44 days, though this weekend is boarding so it will be a little tougher to maintain.

Day Forty Five

The 21.1k mark of PCP has been crossed - woohoo!

Back onto a regular schedule of exercise, though left the jump rope alone for today as woke up feeling tight in my right Achilles, which is a problem spot for me, so decided to leave it be - going to soak it again in a hot bath tonight and should be good by tomorrow.

Feeling really well after the marathon. Took it easy, as I was worried about my left knee. But all ok and still finished strong at around 4:35 min. Definitely being lighter helped.

Back on diet, and man am I looking forward to this week. As I mentioned in previous posts, there is a great vegetarian buffet restaurant in Hibiya park right where I work. But, I always have to trim back whats on the plate. Not this week - all you can eat veggies for lunch - I like it.

Here is my week 6 photo from Patrick's on Saturday. Muffin top is still hanging in there under the obliques and lower abs, but much less than before, starting to get some hard definition around the external obliques and even the magnus serata. Biceps are ok, but the other muscle groups I am keen to build up, particularly the lats and deltoids are still taking time.

Diet all ok - after my Saturday night carb loading on smoked oyster pasta sauce and fettucine - back to the apples and egg whites. Here is breakfast (bran flakes in boiled low fat mily and strawberries - great for a cold day).

Day Forty Four

So another marathon down. Feel pretty good - no injuries. Time was ok - considering the lack of serious running training. Tough balance with the PCP, as the running can burn off some of the hard-earned muscle along with the fat. However, I am less concerned with bulking up a lot of muscle - which though it looks great - is going to slow me up in the aerobic activities I am interested in like swimming, cycling and running.

Am very glad to slip back into a set program, one of the recurring problems I have is peaks and troughs with my training. Whenever I complete a big event like a marathon or an ironman, I tend to kick back and let myself slide for a few weeks and this is where the relentless visceral/sub-cutaneous fat has built up. So I am going to be back to a strict diet, though may throw in a few more egg whites to rebuild some of those muscles

Day Forty Two

Another day of early morning jumps, 1,500 of them - first couple of sets are painful, but building it into the morning routine.

Also, put in my last 7.5k loop of the Palace prior to marathon. Left knee had been bugging me (it always seems to be something), but it was ok today, so hopefully it will be ok on the day of the race. Also, have been working the lats in the gym, I figure that is my point of failure on pull-ups so have been going for some low resistance, high repetition pull-downs to try and build up strength there.

Diet is all ok. Sticking to the program. Though, I have to say the carb loading tomorrow night is going to make the pain of running the marathon all worthwhile. On average I would burn somewhere between 4,000 - 4,500 calories on a marathon - so that is at least a big bowl of pasta and pasta sauce ... smoked oysters, in pasta sauce, mmmm....

Day Forty One

Got up did my jump rope before breakfast and - while I made more mistakes skipping than I did on Day One till I had woken up - once done, I felt really good about it. Going to set the alarm clock forward 20 minutes to give myself more time to build this into morning routine.

Have come to grips with the new diet, don't miss the carbs at all. But, look longingly at the smoked chicken each night and can't wait to lunch-time protein allocation the next day. I am padding out some of the gaps with soy milk lattes, which I really enjoy.

Including a snap of my evening, egg-white whipped with soy and cinnamon/nutmeg and vanilla drink. This is awesome and sends me packing off to sleep each night.

Day Forty

Five more days to go to the half-way mark. Will be interested to take my measurements at the end of the week, but I feel like I have definitely shed some subcutaneous fat this week. The stuff just below my obliques is extra sticky visceral fat, and is not shifting ... yet.

Ran my usual 7.5km loop of the Palace and Hibiya Park, I am making a point to swing by the pull-up place and try and improve my feeble efforts on the bars each day. Still shocked at how tough these are. Went through the rest of the exercises, no problem, chest dips are a good burn.

Diet on track. I am measuring out the lunches carefully - usually a mix of fresh veggies (carrots, snowpeas), protein - smoked chicken/salmon, and an egg (if I don't have one for breakfast). Spacing out the snacks can be tough, though usually have a banana with my soy latte as morning and afternoon snack. However, many evenings I have conference calls so I tend to roll the evening snack into dinner - rather than have it just before bed.

Looking forward to catching up with the other PCPers down in Yokohama - good luck with the rest of the week's program.

Day Thirty NIne

Ok - most of the exercises I can handle without to much drama. Even the pistol squats, though I agree with the posts I have seen about these being tough on the knees.

The one thing that gets me is the pull-ups. Not the incline pull-ups which I have been able to do ok - found a bar fence near our place for that a few weeks ago. But the full deal pull-ups, which to be honest, I have been substituting other back exercises for, simply because we have no doorway ledges and nothing suitable near home - just found the place near work that I can do these, and man they are killing me.

Managed first set of 10, then 6 on the next set, then 2, then zero - just hung there from the bar helplessly trying to lift myself up.

Still on the plus side, diet is going well - am managing to push past to post-work hunger pangs. All the other exercises are good - put in an extra 7.5k around the Palace today, so burnt an extra 733 calories on that. Am going to try taking Patrick's tip about getting in the jump rope first thing, but man is that going to be hard - am definitely not a morning person, till I get that first cup of coffee.

Day Thirty Eight

Still on track with the diet, though the cut in protein in this week's diet is definitely leaving me hungrier than last. I am starting to notice the changes though, pulling in the belt buckle a couple of extra notches, definitely looking leaner and feeling lighter.

I find the evening egg-white mixed in with soy milk and warmed up with cinnamon/nutmeg is a great way to go to bed. Got this tip from an PCPer (thanks Jason). But for me the really tough time is when I come back from work hungry and pull open the fridge. I have to have my measured amounts ready - or otherwise I would go loco and eat out the whole thing ;-)

Day Thirty Seven - post script

809 jumps - no fouls - a new record - woohoo!

Day Thirty Seven

Made it down to the yoga studio in Yokohama yesterday, which is always good motivation. Unfortunately, my stats flat-lined this week, so not much progress. Bit disappointed, but need to stay focused on the end goal. Previous PCPers tell me the big changes come in Week 9.

Still, you see that I have made a dent in the muffin top - so that is some progress

Still liking the new sets of exercises, side crunches is a new one on me, and finding really good on the obliques, which are one of my focus areas.

Today got in 23km around the Palace as probably the last training run before the Tokyo marathon which is coming up this Sunday. According to the Nike + app, this was 2,226 calories, so pretty good burn - but still going to do the PCP work-out today to make sure I stay.

Diet is still on track, though I am having to spread my dishes around, like a lot of PCPers, I have a tough time having exactly the right amounts at the designated times. So, am going with Patrick's suggestion of being a bit flexible inter-day, but not carrying stuff over between days.

Below is my evening vegetable snack 180g tofu with ginger (and a cup of tea)

Day Thirty Five

Finally found a chin-up bar that is convenient - though it is in Hibiya Park - so it can be a bit chilly.

My gym is pretty close, so I can go change, work out in the park - which is much better than inside a gym, even if it is cold, and then I can go back and sit in the sauna/spa and defrost. I noticed there are all these salary men in their shirt and ties doing the occasional pull-up, so I have a ready made peer group.

I am eating a lot of tofu these days, which is awesome with grated ginger. Not sure whether to treat it as vegetable or protein, but typically I opt for the former. Am also starting to fool around with different ingredients into the smoothies - nutmeg, vanilla, all pretty tasty.

Looking forward to next weeks sets and diet.

Day Thirty Four

Another good day. Cereal and a smoothy for breakfast - got to buy some more blueberries. I love those in the morning shake. Small salad and banana for lunch and used my protein quota on fish for dinner. Went out with some friends who I haven't seen for ages to a restaurant we have gone to for a long time.

Owner is a great guy and specially cooked up some PCP friendly grilled medai fish with ginger - so light and juicy it was just fantastic, along with a couple of grilled scallops - no salt. There was a couple of PCPers at dinner so not a lot of pressure, though I have to say the smell of the jumbo shrimps in garlic and onion was very tempting.

Exercises all done, haven't been able to top my record on jump rope, I find my legs get pumped after about 500 and I start making mistakes. Like some of the new exercises, the elevated tricep dip is another great one. Keep them coming!

Day Thirty Three

Okay, finished exercises and a 12k run today (2 loops of the Palace and Hibiya Park). Those chest dips are great - really get the burn going allow your pecs, lats and trapezius. Though, even with the heavy resistance band, I am not getting much out of the standing ovation sets.

Diet is still on track, and kilos are coming off. Down to 93.2k so finally touched the 50% mark of my original goal. Expect the going to be slower from here (hopefully as I replace fat with muscle). I am finding I prefer soy milk to low fat these days, and have started substituting it more into smoothies. See below for this mornings blueberry smoothy. Still love the yoghurt and berries though, so getting my dairy in there.

Day Thirty Two

Squeezed in a 5k run, interestingly according to the Nike + GPS app, at around 5 min per km, I burn around 100 calories per km. Would be interesting to know how many calories we would burn in the average PCP work-out.

Did my work-out at the local gym today. Went there because I figured they would have pull-up bars - what gym doesn't. Well apparently my one. Did the pull downs instead, which definitely worked the lats, but not sure if it hits the same muscle groups as pull ups.

Also did the 8min abs work-out at the gym, that video is so hyper-peppy it was definitely made in California - I would love to see a NY version of the same thing, "1,2,3 ahh fughedaboutit!" That said, it was a great work-out, and as Patrick mentioned - the enthusiasm, while over the top, does get you going.

Day Thirty One

Squeezed in a 5k run, interestingly according to the Nike + GPS app, at around 5 min per km, I burn around 100 calories per km. Would be interesting to know how many calories we would burn in the average PCP work-out.

Did my work-out at the local gym today. Went there because I figured they would have pull-up bars - what gym doesn't. Well apparently my one. Did the pull downs instead, which definitely worked the lats, but not sure if it hits the same muscle groups as pull ups.

Also did the 8min abs work-out at the gym, that video is so hyper-peppy it was definitely made in California - I would love to see a NY version of the same thing, 1,2,3 ahh fughedaboutit! That said, it was a great work-out, and as Patrick mentioned - the enthusiasm, while over the top, does get you going.

Day Thirty

Had a business call from NY in the middle of my evening work-out, which blew my rhythm, which sucks. Have been trying to get all my kit laid out so that I can get the whole thing done and dusted in under thirty (no way to get it under twenty unless I skip rope like Superman).

Anyways, finished my routine, and had my smoothie. Had banana as my afternoon fruit so used a half a papaya for my afternoon smoothie, with my evening egg white and a mint sprig. Looks as good as it tastes.

My super heavy resistant bands also arrived in the mail from the US today. It sure makes a difference on the bicep curls. Cannot use them on the double katana as I just stand there like a trussed goat grunting and trying to get my wrists above my ears. Swap over to the medium flex ones for that.

Below is the Week Four shot Patrick took, gradually wearing down that muffin top.

Day Twenty Nine

One third of the way through the project, and my stats at least are looking good! Woohoo

Did a quick workout with Patrick at his yoga studio, and came back and finished off the jump rope at home, 584 is now my new record for jumps - another woohoo.

Had some sauteed spinach and garlic in China town (was eating with the family) and came back and had my banana smoothy and apple. Here is another tip to anyone on the same end of the PCP diet with a banana, egg white and milk. Let the banana ripen till its soft (not brown and gross on the inside, but kind of soft and speckled on the outside) - tastes much sweeter then, and not as bland as a fresh banana - still miss the honey and nuts in the smoothy though. Ah well, wait for another indulgence.

Congrats to all the other PCPers who have hung in there to the 1/3 mark - hang tough for another 2/3s.

Day Twenty Eight

So, finally got a training run in for the Tokyo marathon. Did 17k around the palace and back to my place. Good news is that the snow had largely let up, bad news was that my left knee started to twinge on the return run, so pulled the plug (I had been aiming for 21k), as last time I did a long training run before Mumbai marathon I tweaked my right achilles and had to limp it round the course for 15k till the muscle loosened up.

Did my Day 29 work-out, I was a little worried about the jump-rope because of my knee, but actually so long as I keep my legs flexed it put very little strain on it. In fact I beat my record for straight skips, no breaks no errors at 524 skips - very happy.

Noticed the diet has flipped over again. Dinner has no meat! Still can make a pretty good smoothy with the ingredients and I love apples, so that is cool. For the meat dishes, I have found beef pastrami at Nissin is a pretty good buy, cold cuts and very lean - so it is convenient and healthy. Cooked up some chicken, pumpkin and garlic to eat tomorrow, and planning to make up a big batch of pumpkin soup on Sunday - mmm nothing like hot pumpkin soup on a cold day!

Oh, and as I got the run in, I finally had my indulgence while sitting on the sofa, watching Inception (my fav movie of 2010) and having my milk ration in a latte.

Day Twenty Seven

Swamped with work and late night calls - so missed my blog and only got my jump rope in. Still met my diet and plan to do the Day 26 exercises tomorrow to make up.

Here is my week 3 photo that Patrick kindly took. Muffin top is still there, despite the kilos coming off. But, I understand that it is the visceral fat round your belly that puts up the most resistance.

Anyways, am continuing to fool around with recipes. Am also pasting up a photo of last night's dish of fried mushrooms and garlic in olive oil with salmon and oregano. I am thinking the salmon is going to go pretty well with dill - so am going to pick up a big bunch of that when we go to Costco on Sunday.

The yogurt and berry smoothies are also a great way to finish the evening. Thinking of some ways I can put a spin on these. Throw in some mint, etc.

Day Twenty Five

Ok, bought new resistance bands. Found a place nearby where I can do pull-ups, all good to go on the exercise. Am being much more diligent about having all my kit laid out in advance, so that I do not waste time between sets. Jump rope is coming much easier now.

On food side of this whole thing, I am getting more imaginative about the meals - and have been checking out the recipe sites for interesting stuff to make out of the limited food types and amounts we can eat.

Here is one I dreamed up myself. Avocado (125g) stuffed with smoked salmon (75g) with lemon juice and capers to spice it up. Fried up some mushrooms and left over 35g of salmon as a side dish. Mmmmm..

Day Twenty Four

Found a vegetarian buffet in the middle of Hibiya Park, upscale and a little pricey for a work-day lunch for one. But good mix of vegetable dishes and pasta in olive oil and spices. Am pretty confident of how much 200g of veggies are by eyeballing it now, and left about a third of the pasta on the plate. Wasn't even tempted by the desert - so I must have crossed some psychological line. Headed down to do my workout, 1100 jump-rope here I come.

Day Twenty Three

Another day down! Did my exercises in around 30 minutes - as I managed to bust my resistant bands on the last shoulder set. I think it was a) buying a cheap set of bands from Don Quixote, and b) the pull down that actually did in the bands, but luckily no harm done - except to the bands. Am going to order a decent set on-line.

Also, went to Costco and bought an awesome amount of fresh berries, fruit and veggies, which I have now stuck in little freezer bags with the date and amounts written on them (how anal is that) still - makes me feel as I have a head start on the diet for the next week.

I am pasting in a photo of my desert, 180g of rasperries and 120g of low fat yoghurt, as I have been reading Richard's blog - which looks like a gourmet traveller magazine.

Feeling good and dropping those kilos, measured in at 93.7 at Patrick's - assuming I am not losing too much muscle mass, I should be making a dent in the muffin top soon.

Wishing you a good week to all those PCPers out

Day Twenty Two

Went down with Jason, James and Richard to Patrick's yoga studio and did the work out with them in 18 min flat. This is about half the time it normally takes me and really brought home the point that if you are focused you can squeeze the workout into any part of the day. Just got to be focused.

Was devastated to learn on the Week 3 vid that dried fruit was off the list (or at least only in reduced quantities). Dried mango has always been a fav of mine and have already had to give up the walnuts. Oh well, need to do a bit more prep and a trip to CostCo to pick up the low cost fresh fruit in bulk. Going to start experimenting with some recipes for what is still on the list.

Good luck to everyone on the program - would recommend a trip down to Patrick's if you can make it - good for motivation.

Day Twenty One

Woohoo!

1,000 ropes jumped and feeling good. got to branch out on my diet a bit though. Chicken as protein is fine as far as it goes, but thinking of lashing out and getting some smoked salmon to throw in with the tofu this w/end. It may be a bit bad, but I added just a touch of light soy to the avocados - been having them that way all my life and they taste pretty bland without it.

Althogether, feel like I am getting into the swing of this. Still a little snuffly from the cold, but definitely bouncing back - got to put some milage in this weekend for Tokyo marathon training as well. Hope everyone else is doing well, thanks to all the former PCPers for your encouragement - it really helps!

Day Twenty

Much better today! Cold all gone. Exercises all done and feeling good on my diet. Bring on week four!

Day Nineteen

Ughh! Sick with a cold. Went to bed about 8:00p and hate to say it but shirked the exercise. I figure that it is better to recover quick and get back into it than push it when you are sick and drag out your recovery. Spent today home - and starting to feel better. Will try and get in my set tonight if I am up to it.

Day Seventeen

All done again. Still have not gotten into the habit of getting up early and knocking off the exercise, but at least I am getting it all done before a bath and bed. Saw Patrick's post about doing the exercises right. It is the first time I have trained using resistance bands, and I have to say I find them harder to get right than free weights. I find that the right length for curls is a little short for the shoulder davinci, but I have been trying them slow release to get the best burn.

Still haven't got a proper solution to the pull-ups, using the dining table for the incline ones, but find it shifts a bit - which worries me. Don't want the folks coming home to see a pair of legs sticking out under a turned over dining table.

Otherwise, diet is remarkably easy to stick to so far. Ta made brown rice, chicken and tofu stir fry, which was awesome - nice to be back home.

Day Sixteen

Woohoo! I am down to 95.3k, down from my starting weight 98.2kg.

Have been training with James again, which makes it a lot more fun. Also, sticking to the diet, which has changed again. Need to get a better pair of resistance bands, as the ones I have are offering enough resistance.

Just got my week two photo up, no real change in the muffin top, despite the kilos coming off.

Day Fifteen

Bit swamped with travel and work so bit of a break from blogging. But, pleased to say been more consistent with exercise and eating.

Back in Tokes and did today's PCP with James and he is making the regulation munchies now. Vegies and pasta.

Should be able to blog more now am back into regular timezone and work is less crazy.

Peter

Day Ten

On the road with my jump rope and digital scale. Actually this is not as tough as I thought, as I have been able to go to the buffet and weigh out the smoked salmon, steamed veggies and whatever else matches my diet. Gradually getting my eye in for how many spoonfuls of cereals in 100 grams, etc.

Also, came across a great app called Tap and Track which helps reinforce the diet and training. Will post my photo asap.

Regards


Peter

Day Seven

First day on diet and proud of not just sticking to it, but coming up with a pretty good meal. Chicken, pumpkin and tofu cooked in lemon juice and Rosemary with a tiny bit of olive oil served with brown rice.

On down side resistance bands have not arrived, will pick up tomorrow.

Day Seven

Ok, 500 jumps later - done.  Ate my last half meal of chili shrimp and rice and am getting my shopping list together for tomorrow.  I have decided I am going to get a strong wooden pole tape it to a couple of chairs and use that for the incline chin ups.

Just weighed myself Day One was 98.2kg, Day Seven am 96.8kg - headed in the right direction at least ;)

Day Six

Ok, all done again. Though R Achilles is bugging me on the jump rope.

I am going to be on the road again Sunday to Friday, and am worried about how i am going to take a bunch of veggies through customs in carry on bags. On the plus side, I am going to really appreciate the fruit baskets in the hotel rooms.

Regards


P

Day Five

Just knocked off my exercises. Legs ok now. Found a jump rope with digital meter so I don't have to worry about losing count. Still looking for resistance bands and a chin up bar though.

Day Four

Got in my sit-ups and push-ups early before my flight, but man my legs were so sore I could not manage the squats and jump rope.

Going to soak in the tub when I get back Tokes today and try this evening.

Day Two

Just finished the Mumbai Marathon.  I was slow, but at least I burnt around 4059 calories, according to my Nike+ App. 

Need to drop those kilos though, they are weighing me down (literally) and slowing me up.

SWEET!

Dude, Peter is THE MAN!