Day 90 - COMPLETED

What a great feeling to have made it to the end. Although conceeding to two blowouts i am pretty happy with the results, i feel a million times better than on day 1 which seems a very very long time ago.

Not  only have i lost 14kg, and from a 42inch to 38 inch waist, i have learnt more about health than i thought was possible. I am very excited about carrying alot of this knowledge forward and going even further with it over the next few months.

Thanks especially to my georgous wife Sally who without her support none of this would have been possible. Not only did she manage a thousand ways to cook healthy meals for me she also gave me the encouragement to keep this to the end when it was all so tempting to throw in the towel.

My blogging has been patchy at best so i better not break the trend with anything too deep or insightful in my last, but i also wanted to thank Patrick and all the PCP crew for all their support on the blogs/emails we've all done so very well, brilliant work !

Ouch !!

That was hard work day 87 u are the hardest workout to date

Tuesday April 5

Seems hong kong is sold out of jumpropes! WTF

Monday 4 April

10 days out and the end is within sight!

Going to really push myself super hard tonight with my workout, its going to hurt but ohh so good!
Can really see myself getting more active, and enjoying excercise as opposed to seeing it as a chore when this merry go round comes to a halt next Friday.
Kyaking, hiking, tennis, kick boxing, cycling, rock climbing all being looked into.

Quite surprised with the no of questions that we've all asked on the threads. i hope we'll all be able to think for ourselves when this is over...

best of luck everyone , lets finish strong !

31 MARCH

Indulgence no 3

4 pure blonde beers (low carB apparently...) think 95cal each whilst watching the cricket.

Shared starter of crab cakes and tuna taretare
Ribe eye steak and sweet potato chips yum yum...

woke up this morning feeling groggy and tired...not so good at all.

Hopefully a workout will sweat out this nasty feeling. and i can more onwards and upwards to the end!

Post HK Sevens

What a crazy weekend in HK..sevens is a sight to behold and for PCPers "avoid"

Managed to punch out the new workouts and not miss the diet plan by too much which was good.

Although seeing some great results, 12kgs down and much smaller in the waist, I am struggling to keep interested particularly with the skipping. switched it one day last week with a spin class at the gym and really enjoyed doing something different. i do realise the benefits of skipping and my endurance/skill in the area has well advanced but think that skipping every day will be a hard ask once this pcp is over.

Is anyone feeling the same??

This kid needs a skipping rope and a shift in diet !


http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3483987/Tragic-three-year-old-Chinese-toddler-Lu-Hao-weighs-nearly-ten-stone.html

another week...

These workouts are getting tough, really needing to push myself to get even 3/4 way thru some of them.

Abs the hardest for me, really really struggling to get out that last set or so of plank, especially after a tough hitout with the rest of the excercises.

The fifth and sixth sets of shoulders and arms also tested my pain barrier, needing to blokc that out and just push thru.

Diet wise need to sharpen up, think like maybe others i take the as much as u want vegs a little too far.

I see everyone seems to be on track.
HK sevens this weekend so massive danger, i better be on gaurd for all threats.

adios amigos !

Day 60

Hope everyone in Japan stays extra safe the next few days, take care guys.

Day59

Looks like everyone is really progressing well with their projects well done gang.

One movie you need to see is "the fighter,"brillaint movie, leaves Rock for deady (big call i know)i found it quite motivating.

Off to the gym after work to push myself once more, getting some weird looks from those around me, and i think my second resistance band is likely to break sometime soon (she has taken a beating of late)

Stay safe all you guys n girls in Japan, I hope things improve for you soon.

DAY 54

Did my workout last night in front of so you think you can dance, what a terrible show, shame my wife loves watching it.

Pumped out all my excercises , really solid burn on those creeps was duck walking around the aprtment like a freak almost in tears, not getting any discomfort in my knees/shins any more which is good, definately feeling stronger down there.

V-sits although getting better are still a struggle to get a balanced/controlled movement.

Diet wise, my wife Sally had helped alot with cooking up bug vats of fresh veges everynight for me with plenty to take to work for the following day (def better than frozen emergency rations i have at work).

Hope everyone is doing well, from the look of all your posts we're all on track!

07 March 2011

Back in Hong Kong after a weekend in taipei with my wife. An interesting place,,,reminded my a little of Japan, definately not as chinese as i was expecting.
We got into town late Friday and headed to Shilin night markets, sprwaling retails and food stalls selling anything and everything...sampled a few things as part of last weeks induldgence ..some deep fried salt and pepper prawns and bbq squid , was tasty at the time but woke feeling pretty dodgy...not used to all the salt.

Excercise wise was not ideal, replaced skipping with a run on  and punched out the resistance bands in the tiny hotel room (quite tough)

Ready to pick up pace this week. will get the photos up tonight. have slackened off a bit in all departments needing to pull my socks up and make a fresh push, otherwise i will slid back into my old ways...

second effort  here we come !!

04 march

Back on the blog...its been a while.

Discovered cottage cheese and cous cous and added it to my meals, great suggestion guys.

excercises are going ok, although the plank for a minute is a real stretch to complete.

Off to Taipei this weekend to check out some hot springs...should be good for the tired frame.

check out this link...sad story.

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/restaurants-and-bars/heart-attack-grill-giant-dead-at-29-20110304-1bhme.html

OVER THE HUMP !

New week , new diet and excercises...

Feeling like i have a bit of momentum on my side. Diet is going well and excercises are really hard which i guess is a good thing.

JUst ate a big serve of raw vegetables with my lunch, hoping it keeps me full all afternoon.

and another thing....

who has a sore backside? mine is killing me and lunges squat jumps tonight i need to man up !!

TGIF 25THE FEB

Back in  the groove this week with training and diet, still dropping sml weight but most noticable clothese are getting looser...needing to add a few notches on the belt.

looking fwd to another healthy weekend. cant wait to get out in the sunshine tommorrow then set myself up on the couch to watch the Waratahs/ Reds Match. go the Tahs !!

Train crash of a weekend....

I flew back to Oz for a mates wedding in the country. To cut it very short i drank and ate and totally deviated from the pcp for two nights in a row. althugh i did manage to get some of the workouts done.

Pretty angry with myself so will try  back into the groove tonight and get more skipping done to try and offset the indulgence..

Saturday Feb 12th ***One month****

Pretty pleased with my progress this week, clothes are all feeling a bit more lose and noticing less volume in the gut department. Its beeen a month of zero booze , its been 5 yrs since ive had a break like this. Although i wouldnt consider myself to have a "proper" drinking problem i realise now it has been the quickest escape/relaxation mechanism....something i need to consider when i re-introduce "responsible" drinking in a few months time. I have a wedding to attend back in oz next weekend which will be fun, i better make sure i keep a mineral water in my hand and avoid the cold beers...mmmm beer :)


Did my workout this morning. it hurt . 1300 jumps or possibly more...i am terrible at keeping count.
The legs really copped it especially the squat jumps straight after 160 lunges. other excercises fine, sit ups getting much easier (theres muscles in there somewhere..)

Another night at home on the couch, thankfully some rugby to watch so not so bad.

I am really feeling for my wife at the moment, i think this project is probably taking up alot of my atention and my lack of wanting to socialise is probably taking its toll. anyone got any ideas for non drinking activities in HK ? Hows everyones better halves dealig with your projects??

Diet wise i think im going fine, the dinners this week will be interesting a couple of peices of fruit and 2 egg whites??? who wouldve thought...

hope everyone else is doing well and keep it up !!

Tuesday 8th Feb- body scan results in...

New excercises , ouch !! squat jumps really work those legs.

1150 jumps was fine even though i had to stop every 100 or so...does anyone use a pedometer to keep count?

diet wise....not feeling too hungry. i miss the booze though i'd kill for some wine or a vodka right now.

got some promising results on my body scan at the gym (how on earth do these things work?)

visceral fat area  VFA (cm^2) down from 160.8 to 131.4 whatever that means....

body fat mass kgs 39.6 kgs to 34.5kgs...

still a long way out but encouraging none the less.

hope everyones doing well and thanks for all the encouragement guys.

7 Feb

Spinach's superpowers revealed - Pop-eye was right !

http://www.smh.com.au/executive-style/fitness/spinachs-superpowers-revealed-20110203-1aext.html

and more good news ! coffee helps releive muscle pain

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6254731.stm

Saturday Feb 5

Another week down and feling pretty good !

Although finding it hard to be sociable. went to a chinese new year party last night....watched everyone get hammered while i chugged down the soda waters ....damn.  early doors for me.

Got all the excercises out really well today. Pushed it as hard as i could and really added some pull on those resistance bands (they will snap b4 this is over i think)

Skipping is much easier and getting some pace on so geting done in 15mins ...

Diet is where i am struggling, need to get more orgainised and make things more intersting.

All in all think i am on the right track but alot of work to do.

1 FEB 2011

February already....

Hopefully i can keep that downward trend in weight. I will get my stats from the fancy machine at the gym tonight.

Cant wait to knock out the excercises and relax at home...its been a long day.

will have lots of time to blog tommorrow (lots of mkts closed for cny hols)

anyone know any health/fitness websites that may be worth checking out?

Day 15

JUst back from the gym...and feeling very clear minded and fresh .usually saturday would involve sleeping in after a late night out followed by dim sum and a couch afternoon.no such thing this weekend of course.

Excercise wise the skipping was ok. finding i get to 60-80 jumps before i get tangled and need to start again but getting to 800 eventually . finding i loose count very easily, maybe because i mix up the pace a bit and get easily distracted....anyone else get this?

Other excercises are getting easier i am doing them all at the gym with light weights.
the one that killed me today was the last set of 12 push-ups , first three were find but that last set was to failure so had to do the last few on my knees (ouch!)

Diet is going well, was out for japanese last night w friend s and managed to keep true to the diet and no booze (sushimi salmon and tuna and vegetable salad and sml amnt of steamed rice and several bottles of mineral water) although unable to measure quantities which is a little frustrating maybe the wife should carry a purse scale with her next time...that would be handy.

Physically feeling stronger and fitter.noticing my thighs/shoulders/arms have more definition . still alot of work to do to loose my gut....think this is going to be the hard part.


will post a photo this afternoon.

stay strong people. have a great weekend !

wednesday 26th Jan

Spent all day yesterday in bed with fever, aches/pains....posible withdrawls???
 or just a Hong Kong virus?
woke up much better today so went straight to the gym and got my excercises done.

dropped 3 kgs so far and getting thru the push ups/skipping much easier. still dont see too many results in the mirror but i guess we're only day 13...


i found this page i think you guys might find it interesting regarding symptoms of fat burning/ketosis

http://diet.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Ketosis_Symptoms

MOnday January 24th 2011

Will need to make my food more interesting to stay true to the project. Lacking some flavor at the moment.
Is anyone experiencing headaches/lethargy??

excersises tonight at the gym. hopefull i punch them up no problem.

Sunday 23rd January- ouch...

Day two of the DIET proper. think the amount of food is fine and very manageable although battling to think of an appopriate breakfast vegatable???? any ideas guys??

jump ropes getting a bit more fluid now and getting out the reps without as many trips/stopages...

other excersises also good to get thru. doing mine at the gym so keeping the weight light on the rows. bicep curls etc.

Lunges today were a killer. 4 x 15 is 4x30 right?? one rep is a lunge on both legs?

hope everyone is having a great weekend. chat soon.

WEDNESDAY 19TH JAN

Not feeling too bad at all...

Had dinner last night and watched everyone down beer ande wine was a bit painful !

wondering whether i should be having some pizza/ takeout (half size of course) before the new diet starts this weekend.

17th January

JUst threw away half my lunch...wasnt too tasty anyway.

will do my excercises after work. need to unleash the beast!

Sunday day two...

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Pulled up a bit sore after the lunges this morning, and still no better on the jump rope.
Is a batle to hold back on eating my regular servings especially at lunch today (i love sushimi...) but managed anyway.

Popped by my mates pub this morning for a coffee, it seems not many people reckon i can do this 3 months away from the booze. I WILL PROVE THEM ALL WRONG!!

Quite interested to see what is in store for us in PCP proper when we get out diets and start having to measure our food. Going to be intense.

Does anyone know if we are able to drink coffee on the PCP? i darn hope so....

Later guys n girls...

Day One

After a last supper of biblical proportions -spaghetti, beers, red wine and ice cream i awoke this morning to start this project off.

I punched out the excercises slower than i thought i would, has been a while since i've done a "proper" pushup. Skipping was also harder than i thought it would be, found myself tripping over myself and losing time quite a bit but i think a few more sessions and it will be fine.

The half food thing has been 'ok' still trying to get the head around leaving perfectly good food on my plate but i guess i better get used to it. I'm skipping the drink altogether this week...i think i've had more than enough over the silly season.

THis blogging thing is new to me so hopefully my writing skills will get better as we go along.

Over and out.