Day Forty-Five: "Half-way? No! All the Way!"

Well, am going to keep this brief as it is 'Round About Midnight and that's what I am listening to. Had a lot of prep work to do as tomorrow is a rare night out of the house for me. Brian and I are going over to PCP graduate Alex's house to meet up with a friend who recently moved to Singapore who is back in town. We're having our usual cards night, so Brian and I are working out beforehand and then heading over. So, tomorrow's breakfast, three snacks, lunch and dinner are all set to go. As is my gym bag. When I get back I will still have to prep for Wednesday so we'll see how that goes.

The workout today was okay. Again, love the timed jump-rope. Legs definitely burn when you double up workouts, like floor jumps straight to lunges. Feels good, but man are the lunges ever monotonous, especially doing eighty.

Good night everyone, congrats on half-way. Since I've got nothing else new and exciting to post, how about a dish from a couple of weeks ago I never put up. Oven-roasted "casserole" but it's chicken below, veggies on top. The kabocha or Japanese butternut squash is very sweet and when it is heated in the oven, its flesh kind of melts down on the chicken, adding a sweet flavour. This was a photo taken before I threw it in the oven.

Oh, and it snowed today. Back to winter? Strong all the way until the end.

Day Forty-Four: "Warmer Sun and Hints of Spring"

It was a sunny Sunday in Tokyo, with unseasonably warm conditions. Probably not ideal for the 32,000 souls running the marathon, including our fellow PCPers James and Peter, but very nice for the rest of us walking around town and soaking up a few rays as we shrug off winter.

Packed my lunch and afternoon snack and stopped by a nice Dean and Deluca and sat outside having a coffee and a steamed low-fat milk (for my dairy content, of course). Had my lunch there, too and then left to meet Brian and head off to workout in Yokohama together and do all the weigh-ins and stuff. Trains are so convenient in this country, I don't know why I bothered with the car the day before, but we were there in about 40 minutes, all set to go.

I think as more than a few have pointed out, jump rope without counting is so much better. It's really quite fun, actually. And I had never really tried to jog in place or high-step it or skip on one foot, but I was able to do all those, but slowly. I still can't do those tricks fast or do stuff like crossovers, but it felt good to be able to do something other than just hop in place. On another note, it is so nice to workout in the late afternoon and still have a bit of light left. Spring is around the corner. We actually switched days 47 and 44 so we could try a new exercise. You'll see when we get there what it is. Um yeah, these things are tough--and even tougher without a pull-up bar attached to a door frame so I am in a pickle. The pull-up bars at the gym are free-standing and I have none at home. Hmm... More food for thought.

I think Molly and a few others mentioned all the dish-washing we've been doing--YES! Unreal. I feel like it never ends. I am constantly washing tupperware, steamer parts, my measuring cup, etc. Though I feel like it never ends, it doesn't bother me. Grim enthusiasm I guess, Patrick? Just part of the project, and I like opening my fridge to find my snacks for the day. I like to mix up the fruit snacks. Tropical fruit for one snack and berries, apples, bananas, etc., for the other. Yogurt and citrus fruits don't really go that well together, so when yogurt is required, I keep that in mind, too. But the fruit snacks are my fave meals of the day. I like the variety, too.

Had some herb-covered pan-fried salmon with water, not oil, and sauteed veggies for dinner. Oh, and my girlfriend tried that veggie sauce I made yesterday with whole grain pasta and she quite liked it. Said she was surprised it had no salt or anything in it as it was quite tasty. I'll take that as an endorsement that it works.

Well, Week Six photos below. The one taken at the studio this time, I look like a lobster! Guess it's getting warmer out.

Someone else mentioned--and I tried to go back and find this but couldn't quite place who wrote it. Apologies--music when they work out. They went from upbeat music to more mellow spa-type music. How about a combination of the two instead?  Interpretive dance after 8 minute abs? Umm...no. I think not.

Day Forty-Three: "Silver Lining"

This is the port of Yokohama as seen from the iconic Yamashita Park (the makeout capital of the greater Tokyo region, no less). In the foreground is the Hikawa-Maru, and the background is the Minatomirai area. This is where I drove out to for an hour to have my afternoon snack on Saturday.

Why did I go so far just to have my fruit yoghurt? Parking fail. The previous weekend I drove and made a Costco-run in addition to going to the studio for training and it all seemed fine and easy enough. This Saturday, I planned to go back to taking the train, but I lost track of time while prepping my lunch, snacks and dinner so I opted to take the car. I should have been there with plenty of time to spare, but the whole Motomachi/Chinatown area where the studio was located was packed with people. Turns out there was a big sale on called the---wait for it--- Charming Sale. Patrick says some people come from three hours away to hunt for bargains. So the entire area was packed. There are really only narrow one-way streets to begin with, and the van in front of me took the last parking spot. I drove the only direction I could, back to the main road, and hung a left in order to loop back around. Mistake there. Turning left took me straight through a tunnel, up a hill, and on some road way in the wrong direction. By the time I got back around to near the studio, there was still no parking and it was almost half an hour after the session started. So, I decided to forget about it and join Brian for a session on Sunday instead.

Now the old me probably would have been angry and stressed out in my car, but I figured there wasn't much I could do about it, so I drove to the nearby park and sat on the bench to enjoy my snack. I love the sea in general so it was quite a pleasant half hour.

Then I drove over to Kawasaki to the IMAX theater to watch The Green Hornet in 3D IMAX. My girlfriend came out from Tokyo to join me. My recommendation? Don't do it. At least for that movie. Maybe for Rapunzel in a few weeks? Actually it was a really nice cinema though. And by train, it's fairly easy to get there from Nakameguro or Shibuya. Again, getting into the parking lot due to one-way roads, barriers, etc., around the station is not easy. Driving in Tokyo? Just don't do it, I guess. Save it for the countryside trips.

Got home a little after 10pm and the gym was closed so did the exercises in my apartment. Not ideal, but doable in a pinch. It was good that I had done the jumprope first thing in the morning along with an 8-mintue abs session. Oh well. The silver lining was that I sat at a nice, different spot to have my snack, managed to catch a movie and discover a good cinema, found that I wasn't upset about the whole thing and the wasting of time (the normal perfectionist in me would have been very angry at myself), and I discovered that in a pinch, I could work out just fine at home.

And now the reason why I ended up scrambling to get to Yokohama in time. Lunch, of course!

Oven-roasted chicken

Red quinoa

Tomato, avocado, green bean, onion, mushroom sauteed and simmered down to a sauce with the excellent home-made salt-substitute mixed in.

And put it all together.

The sauce with the salt-substitute mixed in is great. It tastes every bit as flavorful as a tomato sauce made with salt. In fact, I think it tastes better. I think there is potential to make lots of pure-veggie pasta sauces using this stuff mixed in. Only two days from the half-way point!

Day Forty-Two: Fridays, Carbs, and Not Going Out

It's Friday night and I am seated on my couch, reading up on everyone's blog entries, laughing, smiling, nodding in empathy, and feeding off everyone's energy and positivity. It's a good place to be after a long, long week. I've got no interest to go out drinking at all with friends. What's happening to me? Whatever it is, I have to admit I like it.

On Patrick's carb comment, I suggest quinoa. It's light, fluffy, low glycemic and high in protein as well. I went to Cusco and Machu Picchu in Peru 3 years ago and discovered the stuff there. Because it is so light, you can have heaps of it compared to the calorie dense carbs.

Tomorrow is Saturday! Can't wait for the new diets/exercises. Hoping I am not switching to apples/bananas for dinner because I have a freezer full of amazing organic free-range chicken that needs no seasoning at all to taste great.

For a change, I am going to post something not at all related to the PCP. Although there are parts that I must say apply. I could drink a case of you--all of you and your positivity. And we are still on our feet. Oh, and you can never go wrong with a little bit of Joni. Happy Friday, PCPers.

Day Forty-One: "Dedication"

Some call me dedicated. Some call me an absolutist. Some call me a perfectionist. Some say I am too hard on myself. Some call me stupid. All of that may be true. I think of myself as never quitting, never giving up, and putting in maximum effort on things all the time. Perhaps I would be better served taking more time off work to unwind each night. Perhaps I should "take it easy" a little more. It's difficult to reprogram yourself after years of operating in a certain manner, however.

In some ways, the PCP thus fits my personality to a "T." I know there is a certain regimen I must stick to. I know that I have to hit the target amount of each food group. I have a numeric goal in terms of exercise reps (always go for the maximum number, of course). In other ways, I am actually amazed I've managed to stick with it, because I am not a creature of habit. My exercise times are all over the map. Some mornings I manage to get up in time to jump rope. Others, it's hopeless. On weekends I may work out in the morning or in the afternoon. My weeknight work-outs can be anywhere from 7pm to 10pm.

It is not as though any of this is automatic for me. It is simply that I am not a quitter and I give everything I have. I am encouraged and inspired by my fellow PCPers, especially my group, and Molly, Chris, Scott, and others, who are incredibly supportive and take time out of their busy days to leave comments that cheer me up and make me smile when I wake up in the morning and see an email alert on my phone with their words of encouragement.

So I dedicate my Day Forty-One post to my fellow PCPers. Thank you for YOUR dedication and encouragement. It is fuel for me to keep going.

Day Forty: "The Forty Thieves"

The thieves are stealing my sleep! I just want to clarify that the title is not in any way meant to be offensive. I am playing on the number 40 and my work depriving me of sleep.

With that out of the way, I feel very lucky today. I know I should feel lucky everyday. But the fact of the matter is, I don't always. I tend to be hard on myself. I beat myself up a lot when things don't go well, especially at work. There is an opportunity cost involved when that happens. Tuesday was rough and so I was feeling so down that I turned down an invitation to go see a basketball game in the Japanese pro-league here, for a team owned by the firm where many of my friends work. Turns out I missed a 22-point comeback in the final 6 minutes, complete with a 35-foot, buzzer-beater 3-pointer to win it. D'oh! But my mind was not in the right place. And I was angry. Raging angry during my jump-rope. At one point of frustration at whipping myself in the head for the fourth time in a short while, I snapped and threw my rope across the parking lot in anger. One good thing that has come out of the PCP for me has been a more stable mood, but this was a clear lapse there. I got over it fairly quickly, but I guess I still have blips.

Right, so getting back to the main point of my post. I've been all over the world and seen all sorts of living conditions. I visited a bunch of Zambian villages last May and their overcrowded kindergartens, etc., with supplies like soap, toothpaste, candy for the kids to donate to them in tow. But today I was a bit shaken by the story of the 19-year old Japanese boy who was rescued from the rubble of the quake in New Zealand; he survived and will live, but had to have his leg amputated on the spot to be pulled out. For some reason, the thought of this resonates with me a lot. I am very grateful for the health that I have now. And for having the ability to do all the sports and physical activity I want.

I feel like I owe it to that boy and to the millions of other people out there who are in a similar boat to take the best care of my body that I can. I am lucky to have all my limbs and physical ability. It's not fair of me to abuse it, neglect it, and let it rot when so many others would love to have what I have. So, with this project, hopefully I rededicate myself to taking care of my body and health from now on. I won't always be in this PCP mode, but I will certainly think before I make choices in the future. I am lucky.

Day Thirty-Nine: "Miles to go before I sleep"

Until I'm 6 feet under
Baby I don't need a bed
Gonna live while I'm alive
I'll sleep when I'm dead -Bon Jovi

Groooaaaaaaaaan. Not Bon Jovi! Too cheesy! All joking aside, my biggest PCP fail is the sleep component. Saturday night, I can get the eight hours, no problem. Friday, probably seven or the magic eight. But most other nights, I am closer to five, maybe six. Tuesday night it was three. That crazy man in Libya is making it impossible for me to get a good night's sleep at the moment due to the nature of my work. If I snooze, I literally lose, like what happened to me on Monday night. So this whole week is pretty much going to consist of interrupted sleep where I wake up to check markets every hour or so. I will be feeling pretty ropey by the time the weekend rolls around. I am also getting home from the office after 8pm, so it's workouts and prep work after that.

All of this is a challenge, but eye is still on the prize. I want nice abs so I do that 8-minute ab workout each day on top of the day's requirement. Combined with my lack of sleep, I constantly have the BGM from that video stuck in my head at my desk at work. Arrrgh! Worse than Bon Jovi, trust me.

So, my confession is that I am just not getting anywhere near the 8 hours, which, for an ectomorph like me especially, I'm guessing is not helpful for building muscle. Hopefully things settle down soon. This is not a complaint or negative post. I chose my career path. It is more a statement so that I write down something I need to address and find a way to work around.

Day Thirty-eight: "These Dreams of You"

I dreamed you paid your dues in Canada,
Left me to come through
I headed for the right way
I knew exactly just what to do... - Van Morrison

After I graduated from university in Vancouver, I left Canada to come "back" to Tokyo to begin my career. In one sense I "headed for the right way," certainly when it comes to my career. Yet in another I didn't know "exactly just what to do." And I headed for the wrong way, health-wise.

I am not going to moan or whine after the fact about the hours and stress that come part and parcel with working in finance. We know what we are dealing with and we are hardly alone. I certainly did not help matters with my personal choices, however. Going out drinking until extremely late on some occasions and then only getting two or three hours of sleep before going to work or staying up all night watching every minute tick of the U.S. market when things are totally out of my control and I might as well leave things be and get a good night's rest.

Another aspect of that is the lack of physical exercise. Yes, I've done triathlons, etc., while living in Tokyo, but it was never as easy to get some gym time in or go play basketball or just be outdoors as it was back in Canada. Effort required when you live in the big city. Too often I was too tired after work to make that effort.

Now I've got nine years' worth of bad habits to make up, and the PCP is helping me to fix some of these things. When I am done the program, I will still go out and drink--but only on occasion. And I will binge less. And I will exercise more than before. This can't and won't just be a 3-month, slightly-longer-than-usual-flash-in-the-pan sort of thing, because I don't want to be destructive to my body every day anymore. I won't be weighing my food all the time, and I will eat out at restaurants and have wine, but all the same, I need to make this a turning point in terms of how I treat myself and my body and my health going forward. I'll have two caiprinhas on the beach instead of ten. And get some exercise in beforehand...or something like that. Am not entirely sure what the final form or thoughts will be, as we still have a long way to go here.

Question on the ski-jumper exercise. Elbows tucked in close to your body seems to result in more tricep-focused burn. Is that right and is that what we are going for?

Day Thirty-seven: "Face"

"Facing it, always facing it, that's the way to get through. Face it."--Joseph Conrad
Conrad is one of my favourite authors, and what a life he had. Quite amazing that this Pole learned English in adulthood and then proceeded to write in his adopted language so beautifully and with a dark edge so as to leave his name forever etched in our collective literary consciousness as a great English author.

So we face "it" and are always facing it. As Patrick said to us a few weeks back, the easiest way to get through the tougher stretches is to just look upon the PCP activities as a rule. We must do them. At times, I am tired of looking at my scale, of reaching for the vegetable drawer to figure out how to get to my quota. But I face it and know that's the way to get through it. I am hopeful that hitting the mid-point in a little over a week will help give us a boost.

Went to the gym to do the exercises today so that I could get the pull-ups done. I did a little better than Wednesday, but not much. 7, 5, 4, 3 and then I switched to inclines to do another 4 sets of 6. Couldn't do 6 x 10 as I was already a bit tired. People definitely stare at me when I do floor jumps at the gym. A good laugh, I think. Can't wait to start doing creeps there, ha ha. After the workout was done, including the planks and  bicycles, I did the 8-minute abs as well. No making fun of the leotard man when he can do those easily while talking in such a happy mood the entire time. I, on the other hand, definitely have no room to talk as I endure the burn. Tomorrow? Just another Monday. I'll no doubt wish it were Sunday.

Day Thirty-Six: "Invisible gains"

Yokohama today to work out with everyone at the studio. Good to meet Peter for the first time as well. Good luck to all the Tokyo marathoners next weekend.

The obligatory Week 5 photo. Doesn't look like anything is different. Cut my hair so saved some weight at the weigh-in ;). Actually the weigh-in results were pretty good. Weight down, fat down, muscle mass up. On to Week 6.

Day Thirty-five: "Dagwood"

This man should need no introduction, but just in case, this is Dagwood Bumstead of serial comic strip Blondie fame. And in his hands is the iconic "Dagwood sandwich."

No, my mother is not blonde--could you guess from my jet black hair?--but this comic has a special connection for us given our shared, unusual last names.

According to the wikipedia entry on Dagwood Bumstead (yes, I know it is not the best source), the comic first appeared some time before February 17, 1933, which would be seventy-eight years ago yesterday. Coincidentally, eleven years ago yesterday, my dad moved on to a better place.

So, in his honour, I made a PCP Dagwood sandwich, all portions weighed out for lunch, of course.

Here's to you, Dad.

Day Thirty-four: "Okay gang, that's it!"

I realized I forgot to post pics from week four. I just have the one taken at Patrick's studio so posting it here. No comment. No muscles at all. Wimpy and gross!

Tried the 8 minute abs video for the first time today, subbing it in for the regular ab workout. This was good as I had swapped Day 32 and Day 33 workouts so it was going to be back-to-back of the same thing. After the extra ab work the night before at the gym, however, there was some serious burn. It all looked easy the first time I saw the video, but by the time I was trying to touch my legs on about the 4th exercise, I was gassed. Somehow managed to get through it and I admit reluctantly it was thanks to the annoying enthusiasm of the instructor. Ha ha. "See you in 24 hours!"

Day Thirty-three: "36.67 percent and the sleepy bear"

Morning jump-rope is tough. I've whipped my head countless times and seem to be no better at it in the mornings than I was a week ago. Nonetheless, I am trying to split the cardio from the resistance circuit.

Wednesdays = big workout day as always. Swapped days 32 and 33 so today I did the lunges and floor jumps and then managed to squeeze in five sets of proper pull-ups at the gym. 5,3,4,6,5. I've become a bit rusty, can't get up to the 9 suggested in the exercises. I used to be able to do more. Only thing was that the gym is busy these days and it's really hard to get time on one of the bars. In fact, during my 15 second break during my sets, one guy butted in to start doing other exercises and took forever, disrupting my rhythm. The pull-ups --clearly frustrating and causing me as much stress as anything during this program. Did a full set of weights--squats, weighted push-ups, squat/shoulder presses, standing rows, seated rows, tricep extensions, abs, etc. Then picked up some veggies at the nearby grocer, went home and finished off the Da Vincis and the regular ab work. Felt good and worked up a big sweat today. Was good that I had some pre-prepped sauteed chicken in just a hint of mustard waiting at home because I got back late. Cut up some avocado, tomato and cucumber in balsamic as well. On to tomorrow.

Day Thirty-two: "Grounded"

Having just a little bit of a problem with the exercise regimen.

This is my pull-up bar. As you can see, it is grounded. I literally have nowhere in my building I can use it. Nowhere. I've even tried the garbage room doors. Does. Not. Fit. I've walked a mile or more in every direction looking for bars I can use in parks, parking lots, buildings, etc. Nothing. I am fully capable of doing pull-ups, but I am unable to find anywhere near my house to do them.

Tomorrow I commute to my weekly gym session. There are pull-up bars there at that gym. But the gym is way out of my normal way and there is no room to do the other exercises, such as floor jumps, creeps, etc., and no doors to which I can attach resistance bands. I most certainly cannot skip rope there. However, since I will be going there anyway tomorrow, I swapped exercise days, so I did Day 33's today so I can do Day 32 tomorrow and at least get the pull ups in, since I know that is an important exercise.

Speaking of the "ground," we got more snow overnight, a snowy Valentine's night, and the palace lawn and the rooftops and streets were covered with slushy snow this morning. Need to get these pull-ups off the ground somehow.



Day Thirty-one: Valentine's Indulgence

"Is you figure less than Greek?
Are your quads a little weak?...
Stay little Valentine, stay"

I took a half day off work today to surprise my girlfriend. I'd pre-arranged with the manager of the French Kitchen at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo to have a special PCP-friendly meal arranged for me, while my girlfriend got to eat from the bountiful buffet. She chose sea bass for her main dish though. Am I rubbing off on her?

I decided that since I was eating out, I'd have something I wouldn't prepare at home. I opted for a roast rack of lamb (three chops), with no oil, no salt, no seasoning at all, and some steamed veggies. I'd also asked for some whole grains and was told they had whole grain bread, so I went with that choice. The bread that turned up was white-bread-masquerading-as-whole-grain-bread, so I limited myself to one small roll. It was baked on site though and quite delicious, I must admit. Nothing on it, and I know we can have white flour based carbs once in a while if necessary, but I didn't feel like pressing the matter.

This was also my first taste of red meat in over a month--probably the longest I have ever gone without red meat as I've always loved a good steak, home-made lean burgers, or lamb. I found the meat so oily from the fats that I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. The steamed veggies that came along with it were tastier, and that's coming from a red-meat lover and the lamb was roasted to perfection. No complaints at all about the chef's efforts. I took apart the lamb with Dexter-like surgical precision (disturbing image?) and cut away all the fat, though.

And then it was time for my indulgence. I knew I wasn't going to go for wine this time. I have two wine fridges at home and I love good wine. I've spent a pretty penny on drinking fine bottles over the last few years. I went just last year on a tasting tour in South African wine country.  However, I've gone on longer stretches of being off alcohol, for example, when training for triathlons, so I knew that I hadn't hit my breaking point to where I was craving wine yet. No, as I've mentioned a few times on past posts, bakeries have been driving me crazy each time I set foot in them. So I opted for a baked dessert: Tarte tatin made with apple.

And here it arrived:

First of all, from the moment it arrived I knew I didn't really want it. Just look at it. It looked so greasy, crusty, and disgusting. I took my first bite and I thought I'd bitten into raw sugar. It felt granular in my mouth and insanely sweet. I thought I wasn't going to finish it. From the third bite on, though, it tasted a lot better, and the apple came on stronger and the crust receded into the background a bit and it was, I'll admit, not bad. But I enjoy plain yogurt with fresh cut Fuji apple in it (my evening snack on more than a few occasions) more than the tart in terms of apple-based desserts. I still couldn't bring myself to eat the sugary crust though, and I left all of that:

And then it hit me...pretty much as soon as I put my fork down, and in spite of having a black coffee with my dessert: food coma. I hadn't had one of those during the entire PCP. I had almost forgotten what they were like. Since I had the afternoon off, I went home and took a 20-minute nap, then hit the gym for my daily workout. Quads are constantly sore these days from the extra leg work, and the floor jumps caused massive burning towards the tail end of each set.

As the last surprise, I then took my girlfriend out to the Cotton Club to catch a Valentine's jazz concert with Alaskan up-and-comer Halie Loren performing. Fantastic venue and phenomenal talent. We had a great time. Before arriving there, I planned on coming home after the concert finished (815pm) to eat my PCP food at home. But I looked on the menu at the Club and saw a PCP path right there before me. Now, Japan can be very tricky with requests on food, but lo and behold, ask and ye shall receive. I got a big salad of nothing but mixed veggies--beans, snow peas, broccoli, cauliflower, turnip, lettuce, rocket, yellow and red tomatoes--with balsamic vinegar. Winner. For my protein, I selected a seabass poiree, but had them hold all the sauce, all the salt, nothing but grilled fish with a tiny bit of olive oil and pepper on the side. Very tasty on its own and another winner. Met the artist and thanked her for a great show and went home happy from a fantastic evening.

Final thoughts: I feel a slight headache as I write this. I found that I was a lot thirstier today than normal and needed more water throughout. I wasn't a fan of the fatty lamb and the greasiness it left in my mouth. My indulgence dessert was less tasty to me than apples in plain yogurt, but had I stopped at one bite, I would have had an even worse image of the tart. That said, I am not rushing out to get another apple pie any time soon. The disguised-as-whole-grain-white-bread-ninja is now obvious to me--but I have to admit that it tasted good. I don't normally eat bread anyway, but this is an interesting twist and reaction from my body to PCP. Also, one meal out every once in a while might be doable, if you prearrange some things. But two in a day is pushing it. Though the chefs followed my requests and prepared wonderful dishes, I still feel better on the whole after eating my own prepped meals.

Lastly, music is good for the soul--live music that is. If you are feeling a little down with winter and not going out and sticking to the regimen everyday, try going to a venue and checking out an artist. They may help give you just the right "pick-me-up" to get you through your workout....quizas, quizas, quizas.

Day Thirty: "As You Like It"

"Blow, blow, thou winter wind,
Thou art not so unkind
As man's ingratitude;" - Shakespeare, As You Like It

Today was a gorgeous day in Tokyo. Clear as you like, with blue skies, crisp air, a winter wind-- not too harsh, and this sunset.

Thirty days. One-third of the way there. On one hand, it feels like there is so much longer to go. On the other, it feels like there isn't enough time to get to where I want to by the end. I know that ninety days is really only just scratching the surface and is a beginning of sorts, but I look at my still tight jeans and my gut and I can't help but wonder a little bit if I am going to have the results I want in two months. Let me state clearly, I am committed to this 100% and I am not wavering at all. Was just a bit bummed to try on a pair of jeans today that were tight before I started this and found them to be, well, still tight.

Still, today was a good day. I got up to do jump-rope in the morning, had breakfast, then went out with my girlfriend. She surprised me for Valentine's Day by arranging a massage for me at the Peninsula Hotel spa. Considerate is she--she thought a relaxing massage would be good for my aching muscles from the workouts and for the stress so far this year at work (well, always at work, really). Sauna, steam room, and an hour massage later, I was feeling a lot better. Man's ingratitude? I am grateful today.

Walked the two miles back home around the outside of the Imperial Palace moat, had lunch, then did the afternoon workout--Day 29 today as we did Day 30 yesterday in Yokohama with Patrick. I still cannot find a solution to the pull-up problem so I had to stick to inclined pull-ups again. Quads were burning by the end of the floor jumps--the concentrated, doubling-up of leg exercises is having an effect for sure.

Day Twenty-Nine: "One Thousand and One Nights"

ONE of the ne'er do-wells found himself one fine morning without aught, and the world was straitened upon him and patience failed him. So he lay down to sleep, and ceased not slumbering till the sun stang him and the foam came out upon his mouth, whereupon he arose, and he was penniless and had not even so much as a single dirham. Presently he arrived at the shop of a cook, who had set his pots and pans over the fire and washed his saucers and wiped his scales and swept his shop and sprinkled it. And indeed his fats and oils were clear and clarified and his spices fragrant, and he himself stood behind his cooking pots ready to serve customers. So the larrikin, whose wits had been sharpened by hunger, went in to him and saluting him, said to him, "Weigh me half a dirham's worth of meat and a quarter of a dirham's worth of boiled grain, and the like of bread." So the kitchener weighed it out to him and the good-for-naught entered the shop, whereupon the man set the food before him and he ate till he had gobbled up the whole and licked the saucers and sat perplexed, knowing not how he should do with the cook concerning the price of that he had eaten, and turning his eyes about upon everything in the shop. [From "The Larrikin and the Cook," One Thousand and One Nights]

Weighing of food sounding very familiar? Feeling a little North African tonight so it's tagine night. Finally fired that thing up, actually my girlfriend did: Chicken, carrots, onions, saffron, chili, cilantro, a few raisins (though none for me) for flavour. Very good and surprisingly easy to separate and weigh, much more so than curry. Definitely a PCP-friendly dish. Aki's been using her tagine more than a few times, I think. Good choice.

Tonight, I finally feel real muscle pain. Because I switched up the previous two days, it's back-to-back workouts including a session at Patrick's studio. I got up in the morning and got in a pre-breakfast jump-rope (1300). Then I met up with former PCPers Jason B and Alex B for a coffee at Starbucks before hopping on the train to Yokohama for a session with Patrick. Met Rich and James for the first time, which was great. Did 1400 jump-rope this time and then on to the exercises. We switched up and went for the more grueling Day 30 session. Squats and creeps after two jump-rope sessions were definitely causing a lot of burn in the thighs. Am I insane for enjoying the chest dips? Liked them a lot and looking forward to doing more of them. A question--why are the trains between Tokyo and Yokohama so packed on weekend afternoons? It feels like weekday rush hour.

Day Twenty-Eight: "Bueller?"

"Nothing - wha - what do you mean nothing good? We've seen everything good. We've seen the whole city! We went to a museum, we saw priceless works of art! We ate pancreas!" [Ferris Bueller's Day Off]

No, I wasn't playing hookie today, it's a national holiday and so a day off work. National Foundation Day. I guess we have Brian "Foundation" Glazer to thank for that then?

Switched up the exercises between yesterday and today as mentione on the Day 27 post, so I did the Day 27 exercises today. Wound up back online watching US markets until a silly hour so with a serious lack of sleep I was still pretty exhausted today. Occupational hazard of the line of work I am in. Took a nap during the afternoon and everything wound up getting pushed well back. Dinner ended up being 11pm. Not ideal, but was so tired that things just worked out this way.

Dinner consisted of the following two dishes and a bit of brown rice. Oven-broiled wild tiger prawn and free-range chicken with a sprinkle of whole wheat flour and the home-made spa salt substitute and a warm salad consisting of spinach, carrots, mushrooms, green string beans and lotus root first steamed, then sauteed with a bit of water, then fresh ginger and coriander mixed in to add flavour instead of dressing.

Both not bad. Three-day weekends rule.

Day Twenty-Seven "TGIT!"

Thank God it's Thursday!

Three-day weekend starting tomorrow, and it couldn't come soon enough. Been another week from hell, but salvaged the week somewhat today. Still, the pressure was immense this week so I am drained. It's 1130pm already, so I am making an executive decision and switching tomorrow's jump-rope only session to today and doing today's exercises tomorrow on the "off day" instead. I got home around 830pm and was all set to do all the exercises but a work emergency hit and basically I had to work another three hours from home (and, as it would later turn out, half the night as well).

On a positive note, I went over to Brian's house to pick up the new resistance band and pull-up bars I ordered with Brian. He's off to the US for business from tomorrow. On a negative note, I am pretty certain I 've got NOWHERE in my house to put them up.

Day Twenty-Six: Lethargia

"Lethargy" etymology--late 14c., from L.L. lethargia, from Gk. lethargia "forgetfulness," from lethargos "forgetful," originally "inactive through forgetfulness," from lethe "forgetfulness" + argos "idle." [ from the Online Etymology Dictionary  © 2001-2010 Douglas Harper]

That's funny, I don't feel forgetful. I do feel tired though. Today was the usual Wednesday big exercise day. Did my gym session with weights as well as the PCP stuff. Had no energy from the beginning. Figures that just one day after feeling great, I'd feel tired and could barely get through even a few squats.

Onwards and upwards though.

Day Twenty-Five: "Let it Snow"

Snow at last in Tokyo. We occasionally get a dump here that settles on the ground, and once every few years, about a foot accumulates for a few days, but mostly, Tokyo winters are very dry, clear affairs, with temperatures in the high-30s to mid-40s (F). Apologies to all you poor snow-weary Northeastern Americans on the PCP. I think Tokyo at one point had gone about two months without any meaningful rain or snow so things are as dry as a dessert. Static electricity everywhere and a challenge on the sinuses.

Nothing really to say about the program today other than that I had a terrific workout and felt great cranking out the exercises to some up-tempo music. When it goes well, there is less to think about.

SUPPLEMENTAL: GREAT SALT SUBSTITUTE RECIPE

Hi everyone,
I thought I'd share a recipe with you for a great replacement for salt or steak spices during the PCP. It comes from a world-famous detox resort in Thailand where the chef has won many spa food awards. It requires stocking up your spice cabinet considerably if you are a male living on your own--what exactly is marjoram? Isn't mace either a medieval weapon or a self-defense spray? I kid, I kid. But it is well worth it. Absolutely delicious, and PCP friendly.

1 teaspoon ground mace
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground sage
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 tablespoon red or cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried parsley

Mix all the ingredients together. Keep it stored in an air-tight container and sprinkle just a little bit to your meats, fishes, etc., to add some nice flavour. I just put all the ingredients into an empty jar and shook the whole thing until it got mixed. I opted for cayenne pepper and my swordfish thus tasted nice and almost cajun style. I also went with HALF a tablespoon as the cayenne packs quite the punch. If you want a bit more bite, you can always add a bit of cayenne pepper to whatever dish it is that you are having anyway, whereas it's impossible to take out the pepper once you've mixed it in.

Oh, and the great thing about this mix, other than the flavour, is that it only requires a tiny amount (1/3 of a teaspoon for a piece of fish, for example) so it won't cause you much headache in terms of weighing your veggies.

Anyway, give it a try and let me know what you think!

Day Twenty-four: "Stepping up"

Crescent moon over Shinjuku tonight, taken from my balcony.

After the great salmon that my girlfriend cooked for me on Saturday, it was time for me to step up my cooking. And after the boot camp and workout combo yesterday, it was time for me to step up my workout.

For the workout today, I brought out a timer for the first time. What did I use it for? Why skip-rope, of course. I did the first 600 in normal fashion, and then decided to time how many I could do in one minute. The first attempt? 206. The second 202. I have no idea if that is good or bad, but it might be sort of a mini-benchmark to compare at the end. Three and change jumps per second sounds good, but I have no idea. Then I proceeded to have the best gym session yet for me on this program. I put on some up-tempo workout music and cranked my way through it. Since I had ended up doing inclined pull-ups on back-to-back days because of the boot camp, and today made it three, I started with 3 sets x 7 reps of 40kg lat pull-downs and then did 4 sets of inclines at 7,6,5,5 reps. I have wimpy back muscles!  I loved the shoulder press, by the way. For sets two and three, the last couple of presses were tough. Great workout. Planks I think I need to go longer than 30 seconds. Set two I did 45 seconds and set three 60 seconds, just to get a little more burn. I know soon enough I will hate these things when we have multi-minute reps, but for now they are fine. I have a little bit of muscle ache from yesterday, but I stepped up and it felt good today.

As for stepping up for cooking, I've had the best three meals of my PCP so far in the last three dinners. The salmon with sauteed spinach and mushrooms on Saturday I already talked about. Sunday I prepared seared swordfish with my newfound trusty salt substitute (see my supplemental post coming up) with mixed brown and multi-grain rice, and a salad. Also did some roasted red and green peppers. To my girlfriend's swordfish we added a little bit of homemade pesto (almost PCP friendly--basil, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil--no salt), but I opted for the no oil option so skipped the pesto. To keep the great flavour of the swordfish sealed, I sprinkled a tiny bit of 100% whole wheat flour on the outside. This also kept the fish from burning and I was able to sear it with a bit of water in the pan and just a drip of oil.  Photos of the food are below.  It was pretty darn good and I will definitely be doing that again. Wild swordfish is a bit expensive, but since my dinner protein is 90grams, it's not like I will be buying a whole lot of it anyway.

The salt substitute is phenomenal by the way. I also prepped some cod at the same time, which I took to work today for my lunch. I've had cod three times during the PCP, but this was easily the best and most flavourful.

Tonight's dinner was scallops in tomato and mushroom sauce with red quinoa and avocado. This one was another winner. In a flat dish, I sprinkled a bit of the whole wheat flour and a bit of the salt substitute. I then put each scallop in to coat it lightly on each side. Heat the frying pan over medium heat, add in one and a half chopped tomatoes and a half dozen or more chopped mushrooms. Put a tiny drop of olive oil if you must to keep stuff from sticking and/or burning. Sautee the veggies until the tomato starts to turn into a bit of a puree, throw in the scallops and cook each side. Serve yourself your carb portion of quinoa (I went with the red variety and it is so easy to cook in your rice cooker. 1 part quinoa, 2 parts water), then weigh (he he) and put your protein allotment of scallops on the side, then weigh and pour out the tomatoes and mushrooms over top. Slice up some avocado or whatever else you may fancy as a bit of garnish, to add colour, and to top up your veggie content. Make a little extra so you can take it to work for lunch. This was darn good! It was a good PCP day, even though it was a Monday.

Day Twenty-three: "Boot Camp and Anchors"

This morning, I woke up early (for a Sunday) and headed over to Arisugawa Park for a charity boot camp day. I kind of wanted to skip the thing and do just my PCP exercises, but some very good friends of mine were hosting it and all the proceeds are going to the flood victims in Queensland, Australia, where they are from, so I couldn't say no that!

Turned out to be a very nice, warm winter day and it was nice to get a good outdoor workout in. I did my 1,050 skips first to warm up, then joined the group to do some boxing, then walking lunges, steps, inclined pull-ups, push-ups, planks, interval running and stair running. It tired me out a little more than I was expecting. I thought that given the charity nature of the event and the number and the varying fitness levels of the people turning out, there would be a lot of down time and it would be easy. Not so. They split us into groups and I was made to go in the "advanced" group, of course. It had been about 8 months since I boxed so it was tiring. Boxing cardio is an entirely different kind of cardio, I think. But the jump-rope must have been helping because I felt quicker and more mobile on my feet. "Float like a butterfly..." Right? When I work out, I tend to go all out. There's no quitting or doing a half-ass job, so I used up a lot of energy.

The most expensive supermarket on Earth is next to the park, but it has tons of stuff you cannot find in a regular Japanese supermarket, so I went to town: wild swordfish and coho salmon from back home, quinoa, bulgar wheat, lentils, dal, garbanzo, whole grain flour (going to follow Jason B and try making a PCP pizza one weekend). I also procured a loaf of 100% rye bread to try, though the only ingredients in it say "rye and salt" and don't tell you how much salt there is. I also picked up a frozen loaf of 100% whole "sprouted" grain bread. But I looked on the ingredients list, and also some salt, as well as honey. Heck, every single loaf of bread I have looked at in town has some sodium or salt in it. Is this a no-no then? Am I just going to have to skip bread? I bought them just in case because I am struggling here to find the right whole grain bread.

Did you know that the vast majority of advertised "whole grain" bread in Japan is a mix of bleached white flour, with a little bit of whole grain thrown in? It's hard enough to find 100% whole grain bread. It seems impossible to find it made without any salt.  I am not even a "bread person" to begin with. I like brown rice just fine. But the one craving I seem to consistently be having is for bakery food. It's weird. Maybe it is because I've walked into a dozen bakeries looking for whole grain bread and I've taken in the aroma of fresh-baked bread so much. My girlfriend had a piece of toast this morning with butter and it smelled so good.  I've also found a neighbourhood bakery that only makes 100% whole grain bread on Wednesdays, so I've ordered one for this Wednesday to see if it holds up. But again, I can't tell how much salt or other stuff is going to be in it.

Anyway, shopping done, I went home and finished off the rest of my exercises in my second home or second offfice, if you like--my gym. It felt good, though I snapped my door anchor. I can tell I may end up going through plenty of these things. They are pretty flimsy.

Here's the carcass of my former door anchor

Oh, on the "did my girlfriend notice any changes after 10 days of not seeing me" question, the answer was that I lost a little bit of my face and I have "dimples" on my stomach--"why do you have dimples on your stomach?" What the heck? I have no idea, either.

Day Twenty-two: "Catch"

There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind...Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle. "That's some catch, that catch-22," he observed.
"It's the best there is," Doc Daneeka agreed. [Heller, Catch-22]

Your significant other wants to be supportive of what you are doing. You are grateful for that. Your signficant other wants to cook for the two of you from time to time, and she is being sweet. You appreciate it and want to let her do that for you. Your significant other is not on the PCP, so it is difficult. What ends up being a gesture of goodwill ends up being a potential flashpoint. "Please only use a tiny drip of oil when you sautee the veggies, and instead use a bit of water to keep the veggies from burning."  You end up looking like an anal retentive, unappreciative jerk. Your significant other is making a very nice gesture and is being understanding, and you feel bad because you know that you are, in some way, suppressing her goodwill a little bit. You might even hope that she winds up reading this blog entry at some point so she knows you are sorry. But you are committed to doing this program the right way.

Anyone else experience a similar catch-22?

Week Three Photos. The workout today was good. The incline pull-ups I do on the treadmill have a lot of distance to cover so it is a good workout. I still don't have a good solution for pull-ups near my house so I did the inclines and I did 3 sets of 7 lat pull-downs with 40kgs as well. I continue to do the maximum amount of reps per set on every exercise, as I have from Day One, and now I add in about 50% more reps on the final set of each exercise, just to get that final burn. I also managed two jump rope sessions today, about 6 hours a part. 65.8kg (71.2kg start).

"Catch-22...says you've always got to do what your commanding officer tells you to."
"But Twenty-seventh Air Force says I can go home with forty missions."
"But they don't say you have to go home. And regulations do say you have to obey every order. That's the catch. Even if the colonel were disobeying a Twenty-seventh Air Force order by making you fly more missions, you'd still have to fly them, or you'd be guilty of disobeying an order of his. And then the Twenty-seventh Air Force Headquarters would really jump on you."

Who's YOUR commanding officer?

Day Twenty-One: "One Thousand Skips"

At one time, this was my vision of hell. I was on Day Three of my Amazon experience. My group had started out with just three: guide, cook, and me. It had grown to five when a couple from Florida joined. But a terrible zip-line accident later, we were back to the original three--shaken and stirred. It could just have easily been me that went into a tree at 50 miles an hour and destroyed my entire leg. Heck, it could have been a lot worse.

We carried on with the kayaking and hiking in silence--I had thought about giving up and going back to the city of Manaus, but accommodations there were so terrible and depressing anyway that I decided I would feel better continuing in the jungle. This is my hammock with a mosquito net over it. It is unbearably hot, over 100F constantly. It is unbearably humid at 100% humidity. The entire forest breathes and so it is constantly steaming and raining. Your camera lens fogs up in 2 seconds when you take off the lens cap. All your clothes smell like "swamp" even when you keep everything in a dry bag. It is so wet you get blisters when you walk. Oh, and the mosquito net doesn't do much when the ants all crawl inside and you are awoken by hundreds of them sinking their jaws into your flesh--and these aren't your average garden ant.

I love nature, I love the outdoors, animals, plants, insects, the wild, whether it's on the lakes of Canada, the sun-scorched Andes of Peru, the windswept dunes of the oven known as the Sahara, swimming with iguanas and penguins in the Galapagos or sidling up next to lions on safari in South Africa. But the Amazon kicked my ass. It was the most difficult three days I've experienced in the wild, and I can say unequivocally that I do not recommend it for the faint of heart.

You know what else used to kick my ass--what else I used to think of as hell? JUMP ROPE. But it doesn't. Not anymore. 1,000? No sweat. I don't have the best form and I definitely exert more effort than Patrick does to complete them, but I can get through them just fine.

Tomorrow should be an interesting test. I haven't seen my girlfriend in about ten days as she has been sick. So we'll see if she notices any changes when we meet up on Saturday.

Day Twenty: "One Score Down"

Twenty. It feels like a new beginning. It feels more significant than Day Ten did, and I think it will most likely feel more significant than Day Thirty will. Three-and-a-half scores left to go in this thing.

In response to Patrick's comments about possibly noting some physiological changes around this time, to be honest, I am not really noticing or seeing any. The headaches that I had earlier in the week appear to have gone away for now and if I reflect on my mood, it has been better than usual. But during the first week of my PCP I was pretty much in the dumps because of work so I cannot say for certain that it isn't just rebounding from that low. The program isn't hurting things, that is for certain.

But physically, not much is different. Skin is pretty much the same. It's been an unusually dry winter in Japan so that's a challenge. Other things? Hmmm....no. Maybe underneath my belly I can feel my abdominals are a little more taut, but there is still plenty of fat there keeping it invisible. So I would have to conclude nothing yet.

Exercises were fine today and the jump-rope is getting easier, at least in terms of cardio. Can get through 900 in about eleven minutes without getting the breathing up too much. Maybe I had a bit more energy as I forgot my fruit snacks at home today so I had my afternoon snack after I got home, just before working out. I was starving this afternoon without my morning snack though.

Dinner idea: Ginger chicken salad: Celery leaves, cilantro leaves, avocado, tomatoes, cucumbers, okra finely chopped. Steamed chicken mixed in and fresh, grated ginger for a topping. Lots of nice, herbal flavours here and no dressing necessary.

Thought I would introduce my PCP "office" today.  The photo at the top is the view from my "office" window. I do my skipping in the parking lot where it is cold, but not as cold as outside, and then I go straight upstairs to this little gym to get the rest of the exercises done. It has a perfect bench for tricep dips, etc. The only thing is that there is nowhere to do pull-ups although there is a big, cable-based machine where I can do lat pull-downs, etc., at least. I do the inclined pull-ups on the treadmills (see the handle bars in the picture). I just need to make sure I don't accidentally turn the thing on while pulling myself up, lest I have an interesting "experience."