Day Sixty-Seven: "Postcard home"

Week 8 photos. I did take them. Just didn't have time to post them.

Week 9 photos



Days Fifty, Sixty-something or rather: Forrest Gump and the PCP Rescue

Right, so a lot to catch up on. Apologies to my fellow PCPers, I will be reading up and catching up on your blogs this weekend.

I could go on and on with the stories about life in post-quake Japan. The 600 or so aftershocks, the worried calls and emails from friends and family abroad, the extended hours at work (business as “usual”), the stress, the lack of sleep, the contingencies upon contingencies, fear, radiation, hoarding, etc. But there is no point. The fact of the matter is, things have been rough, but no amount of moaning about it will do anything, and the more important fact is that I have a roof over my head, food to eat, water to drink, a bathroom to do my business in. I am not cold. I haven’t lost a thing. Except sleep. And weight. I am fortunate. “And that’s all I’ve got to say about that.”

United Nations of veggies continued...Japan of course (or Canada, but in this case, Japan). Hang in there. Times are tough, but you will pull through.

I went on a rescue mission this weekend. A mission to rescue my mindset and my PCP. The diet was a blessing in that it kept me in a routine in terms of what I ate. I was lucky to have that or my eating habits would have been far worse. I say far worse because the timing wasn’t ideal. Late nights meant big gaps between afternoon tea and dinner, and compression among dinner, evening snack and post and pre-workout food. What I was eating was PCP food. When I was eating it wasn’t really PCP. Still, need to ignore my perfectionist voice gnawing at me on this one and focus on the positive. The jump-rope, I missed one day. The exercises, I know I missed one somewhere, and then two in a row at least last week. Three workouts missed, one, maybe two jump-rope sessions at most missed. Look, it just wasn’t happening. Even the exercises I did, sometimes my heart was in it and my mind was on it, and at other times, it wasn’t. It was on reactors, and micro-sieverts and 15% drops in the market, on refugees and tsunamis. And more often than you would think if you aren’t one of us here in Tokyo, it was on getting under a door frame or a table during another large aftershock.

So, things were threatening to unravel for me. I decided to take matters into my own hands and get my PCP life back. About 1am Friday morning, I decided to head for Guam with my girlfriend and her mom. We all needed a break, and it would give me three days to reset mentally and get back on track. A little sand and sun was just what I needed. I felt human again instead of like a mole living indoors all the time. The sun gave me energy and a bit of a sunburn, but crucial was the energy. My hotel had a nice, soft, foam-like floor perfect for jump-rope. Just firm enough to keep the rope going, just soft enough to go easy on the knees.  Big open spot, a mirror. I could actually see what I was doing in the there and distract myself. Intensity on workouts high, gym a touch warm, each workout was a killer. Especially Day 64’s legs. I could barely walk for 5 minutes after the floor jumps were done. Likewise for Day 66 and the planks. Could not hold 90 seconds on the last two. Focus on the workouts the whole time, not on other matters. Pull-ups? Not a whole lot of luck there, so I improvised and used a piece of equipment with a bar to pull myself up. As the bar was diagonal, I alternated sides in order to work my muscles equally. Not perfect, but good enough, in my realist , not perfectionist, books and better for working my back than inclines.  Kung-fu sit-ups--nowhere to do them. Did regular sit-ups instead.

My imperfect pull-up set-up (using the diagonal bar at the top).

Food-wise, things were ok. Breakfast protein had to be extra eggs. No way around that unless I went for pork. I did not. Sometimes, white rice was unavoidable. Had muesli twice, went very light on that and picked out all the dried fruit and nuts before pouring in milk. Basically subbed in low-fat milk for yogurt every time. Boiled eggs were not a problem, and a grilled chicken sandwich with brown bread and nothing on it served nicely as well. Had one lean fillet mignon as well. Just about all my veggies were steamed. And caught up on some sleep. I know from looking in the mirror that I have lost weight, including muscle. It has been a stressful time, and I hadn't slept four hours in a row, let alone eight, since March 11. So this was huge.

Just three days before the quake, I saw some people in peak condition perform some pretty amazing things. I resolved to improve my jump-rope skills after that.

Time to finish strong.

Day Fifty-Six

Praying for everyone

Day Fifty-Two: "Ireland"

The United Nations of veggie variety continues with "Ireland": broccoli, carrot, and burdock root (gobou in Japanese). Nobody eats burdock back in North America.

"OK gang!" I am going to keep this short and sweet today in the interests of getting to bed before eleven PM. After my little down day on Saturday, the indulgence and everyone's encouragement helped me to get back on my feet Sunday and I had a better day.

 I woke up early this morning in the rain (which later turned to snow again--what's going on, Japan? When is spring coming?) and got the jump rope done. A few usual morning trips but I skip much better outside in the mornings than inside. I've figured out that much. It was cold today, though--cold enough to snow. Found a roof under which I could skip just outside my back entrance. Back when I first started, I'd be hitting the roof with my rope in this sort of space. Not anymore. Skipping done and dusted, I went straight to 8-minute abs. "We're having fun!"

Patrick has mentioned the Japanese breakfast a few times on the question threads and emails and Molly posted a nice youtube clip way back in the beginning about the differences between Western and Japanese diets. Well, this week I am on protein for breakfast as well, so the grilled fish comes right into it. The milk is a touch unusual I suppose, the broccoli definitely is (it's more likely to be boiled spinach in soy sauce), my rice is brown genmai instead of polished white, and the miso soup is missing, but I'd say this is a pretty Japanese breakfast. And I'd also say it was pretty delicious, too. The fish was wild buri (Japanese amberjack), and no flavouring was needed. Good just as is.

This may present a stark contrast from my burger yesterday, but I have always loved Japanese breakfasts. We'd have them at my grandparents' house in Hokkaido whenever I went to visit (though we'd also often have ham or sausage as well) or when we went to onsen hot springs, where there is a more elaborate spread. My grandpa was very fit and had strong muscles always and he was eating this sort of thing, so I think those who say the traditional Japanese diet was lacking in protein may have been wrong. Lacking in red meat perhaps, but good fish, rice, veggies, and lots of exercise/working outdoors was plenty enough to get an old school PCP body. It's a good reminder of those possibilities--and it's in my genes. Good to know.

And here is the obligatory Week 7 photo. Off to bed and will be a day late posting Day 53's entry as tomorrow night, I am going out to see some more real peak condition bodies in action for a little inspiration. Will tell you all about it soon. Good night, "gang!"

Day Fifty-One: "Area and the PCB"

I felt like on Day 51, I was sneaking into Area 51 today, given that I'd decided to have my indulgence and so was entering forbidden territory. No conspiracy theories here, however.

51 is also the jersey number of my current favourite baseball player. Growing up, 24 was my favourite (he was probably the favourite of my generation and the best pure player), then 11, then 51 took the torch. He, too, is clearly a perfectionist like me--more than me.  I quote him here:
http://thepeakconditionproject-george.blogspot.com/2011/01/day-two-tools-of-trade.html

I went to bed just before 11pm last night and closed the curtains, turned off my phone, and slept until 9am. I awoke to a headache. After breakfast and my morning snack, I napped another hour or so. Headache still there. It was time to go have my indulgence.

It's strange, until yesterday I didn't feel at all like I needed one. I felt alert and good and thought there really wasn't all that much that I wanted to eat. I even felt like that this morning, but when I sat down to my food, boy did I find I needed it! Maybe it was me still feeling a bit down about my results yesterday. My girlfriend very kindly treated me to my late lunch. We went to a burger joint in Ningyocho called Brozers (pronounced Brothers).

The inside of the place features posters of various films involving brothers.
This one quite funny given all the rage at the moment.

And so...my indulgence: the PCB (Peak Condition Burger)

If my last indulgence was a disappointment, and it was, this one was a 9 out of 10. I am not going to lie, it was awesome. The pickle? Inedible. I had one bite. Too salty. The fries? I had 4. Again, too salty. The onion rings? Not bad, but too oily. There were only two. I ate both. Cheeseburger? Total win. Brozers was a great choice if I went for a burger because most of the other gourmet burger joints in town feature gigantic monstrosities and tons of sauce. The Brozers burger is actually pretty small, and the BBQ sauce on it is very light. I also asked for no mayo. So a bit of black pepper and just a tiny bit of BBQ sauce on a lean patty. I cut my burger in half before eating it as I wasn't sure if I'd eat the whole thing, but I devoured it all in about 3 minutes. I had half a diet Coke, which was underwhelming to say the least, and a couple of sips of my girlfriend's chocolate shake just to round it off. That was good, but light on flavour, and one of those things where you ask yourself, "Did I really miss that?"

In summary: Brozers cheeseburger was great. Fries, pickles, onion rings, Coke, milk shake, could totally do without. When I finished, I realized just how much I needed that little pick me up. I walked out into the afternoon sun with a smile and feeling better. Strangely, I didn't even get a food coma this time. Went home, had a productive couple of hours of cleaning my house, then went and cranked out the workouts. Back on the PCP food for my snacks and dinner and feeling a whole lot better about things.

As the sun set, I stood on my living room balcony and reflected on the weekend's events. Silver bullet got the werewolf. Glad I held out for it, grateful for the reward, and feeling better about the way things are. It also helped to see all the comments of encouragement and support from my fellow PCPers and Patrick about yesterday. Thanks for the encouragement, everyone! Hope you had a great weekend!

Day Fifty: "Setback"

So today I face the revelation that I lost muscle this past week. I didn't slack on exercises or food. It appears the culprit is a lack of sleep. This is frustrating because there isn't anything I can do about it. The midnight calls from NY over the past week came fast and furious and I was waking up several times a night. Lucky to get 5 hours a night, most of it was interrupted sleep as well. I have half a mind to turn off my phone and let others deal with the problems, but that is irresponsible, and quite frankly as the senior trader on my desk, there is no one else able to make these decisions.

Worked out at Patrick's studio with Rich and Jason F (former PCPer who is going to be starting the 6-week Chisel program). The new exercises are brutal. The floor jumps after squats and pistol squats were particularly painful. The shoulder presses as well, I was failing by the 3rd set and we had another to come.

Still a bit disappointed by my weigh-in set-back (I also dropped a total of 1.4kg over the past week and my body fat percentage stayed the same, which was not what I want--I don't want to lose any more weight, I want to gain it in muscle), I went to a house-warming/birthday BBQ at a friend's place in Hiroo. He has a great deck although it was very cold out at night still. I took veggie sticks with me and a chicken thigh I threw on the grill with no condiments/flavouring added. Luckily, the organic chicken is tasty on its own and it received plenty of smoky flavour from the baby back ribs drenched in BBQ sauce next to it. I don't know if getting salt/sauce particles through the air is PCP-friendly, but it was the best I could do. I suppose I could have used my indulgence on the BBQ, which, I had to admit, was an awesome spread. The host's girlfriend is an amazing cook and there were brownies and casseroles and sausages, steak, two kinds of ribs, grilled prawns, potatoes, salad, veggie sticks and dip, birthday cake, all sorts of things. And I have no doubt that the food would be tastier than 95% of restaurants out there. But I had gone in with the mindset of not using my silver bullet on that werewolf and instead on something else, so I stuck to the plan. Hope I don't regret it.

Take care fellow PCPers, hopefully you had a better week.

Day Forty-Nine: "Colombia"

The Colombian flag: One part red (strawberry), one part blue(berry), two parts yellow (mango).

"All is in a man's hands and he lets it all slip from cowardice, that's an axiom. It would be interesting to know what it is men are most afraid of. Taking a new step, uttering a new word is what they fear most."- Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

One of the greatest books ever written, Dostoyevsky's masterpiece gives us pause to think. So what is it that we are most afraid of? Is it trying something new or the fear of failing at something new? What made us all try the PCP? I believe that simple word-of-mouth is not enough for us to have come this far. Perhaps seeing past PCPers achieve results led us to the water. But what made us drink? What made us take the plunge? Tomorrow marks fifty days since the start of this journey. This is no half-assed attempt, but instead a full on commitment. What made you take up the challenge?

In my case, I haven't yet arrived at the answer. Until I started the PCP, I considered myself pretty healthy. I thought my food choices were good, I was avoiding fat and processed sugars, and I was getting what I then thought was regular exercise. So I guess I can't say that I started the PCP because I wanted to get healthy. At least, that wasn't the be all and end all. Sure, I had fat I didn't mind losing, and I still do have it. But I wonder what it was that was driving me? Now it is more of a self-fulfilling cycle, where the progress we make becomes both the driver and the continuous goal. But what got us rolling? Again, if it was simply weight loss, there were many alternatives from which to choose. Why this journey? I don't know yet all my own answers, but I am glad I chose this one.

Tonight, I got the night off cooking, which was great. Girlfriend cooked up a PCP-friendly chicken cacciatore that was pure veggie and chicken. It was delicious.

The bad news is, my jumprope may be nearing the end of the line. It is just not working like it should any more. The bearings are shot and the thing keeps curling up. I've ordered another one, can't wait for it to arrive. And one more Fuji view. TGIF, PCPers. Enjoy the weekend!

Day Forty-Eight: "USA"

Red, white and blueberries.

Day 48 done and dusted. Head was in a fog this morning as I woke up. Not enough sleep again, I guess. Managed to get out of work by 6pm today though so I came home and did the jump-rope and the workouts fairly early after a 20-minute power nap. Couldn't jump well today, but I think that has to do with my yoga-mat, as I was jumping inside. It is too springy so the rope bounces off it too hard, causing me to trip more. I have a new toughest exercise to deal with though, and that is 60 second planks after V-sits. Amazing how just the extra 10 seconds puts such a strain on the back and arms, as well as the abs. Tough work.

Fixed up some fruit and also some water-sauteed scallops and veggies: all organic broccoli flower, celery, tomato, daikon and asparagus with the trusty salt substitute spice mix.

The weekly organic food deliveries I am receiving are fantastic. It saves me time, but not only that, the food is so much tastier when it comes from nature rather than chemicals. The difference between organic avocado or celery and non-organic is amazing. Same goes for the tomatoes, etc. The most noticeable, however, are the milk, eggs, and chicken.
It was another crisp, cold morning today. These are probably the last few days of the clear Mt. Fuji views before the warmer air makes it hazier once spring rolls around. So will post a few pics below.

Day Forty-Seven: "Italia"

Got home around 9pm today, exhausted after a big workout session at the gym--the Wednesday weekly. Managed to get 4 x 5 pull-ups in with good form, although I got partial assistance on the last two of the third set. With my old, easier, hurried form, I have no doubt I could have done 10 reps per set today as I had good energy, but with hanging all the way down, arms fully extended, shoulders down and pulling with your back, it's a lot tougher. Hey, just gotta do it. I love doing pull-ups anyway.

So as I said above, got home, and still had the PCP exercises to do, so I did them all except the pull-ups, which I'd done earlier, or course. Weighted squats at the gym, floor jumps, then lunges. Overloaded the legs. I was definitely feeling the burn.

So, Patrick preaches to us the importance of mixing up our veggies, of getting some variety in there. I think that is one aspect of this program I have done well on--veggie variety. Today, I present "Italia." Red bell peppers, white enoki mushrooms, green okra. Colours of the flag.

Absolutely exhuasted so off to bed...until Gaddafi does something again and I have to wake up. Good night fellow PCPers. Talk to you tomorrow.

Day Forty-Six: "The New Batch"

PCP carrot from this gentleman's chin, anyone?
Gremlins 2: The New Batch was a terrible sequel. Let's hope this new batch is up to the task. Welcome to the PCP. Get your game faces on, cause it's a challenge. But the rewards are there for the taking.

Back to our PCP and today I managed to get morning jump rope in. It's still a struggle in the mornings, but it is good mentally to have it out of the way early in the day. A case where the reward is incentive to get it done early anyway.

Worked out with Brian in the evening, this time at his gym, which is actually pretty spacious for a residential building gym. Was a good workout. Am thoroughly impressed with BG's skills and tenacity, especially on leg exercises. Oh, and had my first push-up fail. Like with the other chest exercises, too, 4x15 on the bars was too much. The last set, I could only do 11 on the bars and then had to put hands down on the floor to finish regular style.

We then went over to a friend's house and played cards. People ordered pizza. I was actually a bit hungry for once. Maybe I really should have had more veggies for the AMAYW, but I prepped it the night before so I could travel with it all. People were drinking wine, but I wasn't even tempted. For those who know me, that is a HUGE change. It wasn't that I wanted it, but resisted. I didn't want it. Anyone want to raid my two wine cellars? I have some stuff in there that is too good to never drink!

Saw some friends I hadn't seen in a while and got the typical response of: "Why are you on a diet? You don't need it." I think they all slightly fear I have a problem thinking "I am fat" or something. Oh well. I wasn't inclined to explain the whole thing. Let them think what they want and at the end, I will explain it to them if they so wish.