Vodka indulgence

Hey everyone, hope you'll going well. My indulgence was vodka. 3 decent pours of ice cold vodka with fresh lime and soda, and lot's of ice. It was really good and given I indulged with Tracey we ended up singing and dancing until 1am.  Fun times indeed until the next day. Fuzzy, sluggish and very disinclined to exercise. It's an obvious trade off with alcohol. Short term joy but medium term pain. With a hangover you just want to eat the wrong foods and do nothing all day. We've known that for years and have always put it aside as a side effect of having fun, but we now wonder what's more fun.......a night on the booze, or a day feeling perky, fit and ready for anything. Hmmm, will see if I can limit the intake after Day 90.

Rolling on through Day 50 is good as you can now sort of see the finish line less than 6 weeks away. I hope the improvements continue at the same rate as I'm getting a really strong motivational kick every week with the changes I'm seeing in the mirror. I'm also finding the food and exercise routines have become the new normal. I especially like the feel good effect of the workout each day and really look forward to punching it out, hitting the showers and then winding down at the desk. 8 minute abs are great and still make me smile with his infectious language and enthusiasm. Boom, there you go.

Good eating everybody.

Swimming in it

I took the opportunity to swap 1500 skips for a session in the pool. I've been a keen swimmer for decades but have found it a limited pursuit here in HK and particularly since PCP began. It was great to get down to the Wan Chai Swimming Pool and bang out a few laps. I thought it would be easier given I'm living a Spartan lifestyle and weigh about 10% less. What I found was the lap times were the same, the muscles shouted at me at the same times, but the aerobic aspect of it was so much easier. I hadn't really thought I was getting a lot fitter by skipping, just going for fat burn, but the program has definitely picked up my stamina and aerobic capacity. If anyone else has cut a regular exercise out like running, cycling, swimming, etc. to do the program I'd love to hear if you notice any changes going back to it for a session.

happy 40th

Hi team, sorry I haven't blogged for a while but I can't do it at work and just don't get around to it at home. That's not to say I don't follow you all cos i can get GMail on my phone and read the dailies religiously. You ask a lot of questions for me and talk about the things I notice as well. Anyway, I'm going pretty well. Haven't missed a workout or broken protocol so pretty pleased with that. I've lost a bit of weight and had to buy some new shirts and a pair of jeans on Sunday as all my stuff is very loose. I only bought a few things as I think I'll have to go again at the end of PCP and don't want to spend too much. Great feeling though getting into clothes I've never looked at before. Whilst I still have a lot of fat hanging around, it does appear I've shifted a fair amount already. Certainly getting comments to that effect pretty constantly now.
I really like the 8 minute abs and do it every day. Amazing difference as to when I do them. First thing in the morning I get quite a sore neck but doing them relatively pain free. If I do them after work the neck is stronger but the abs notice it a lot more. If I do it at the end of a workout it's serious ab burn. I like the idea of doing them before or after work as I workout at 12 noon each day and that gives me a feeling of "turning on" the muscles twice a day instead of once.
The skipping has improved, now up to 250 in one go so getting through them a bit easier. Have sorted the tripping issue....you have to concentrate on each one and adjust when it starts to clip your shoes. Not much else to add except to say there's a new man emerging and his wife, kids and doctor like what they are seeing. A healthy long life is the aim and I feel myself improving towards that goal every week.
Stay with it team and look forward to the half way mark on Sunday.

That awesome indulgence

I did go after an indulgence on the weekend, opting for a bowl of pavlova after lunch on the back of a boat.   Great setting, great friends and great weather, all combined to help me take on a bowl of sugary, creamy pavlova. It tasted awesome and seemed to satisfy me completely. I could have demolished another bowlful, but didn't. The interesting thing was how I felt about 1/2 hour later. In a word..... not well.  I felt a little sick, a bit nauseous and had to lie down for a little nap.  I have no doubt it was the sugar overload that did it. I really don't won't to feel like that again so I suspect Patrick's plan was to achieve just that....nice one Patrick.
Regarding the workouts, I'm going pretty well. I haven't missed any of them or crimped on any of the sets. The skipping seems a little tedious but does have the effect of getting me amped up and ready to hit the rest of the session. Tracey and i are up to 150 jumps at a time and will be looking to move that to 200 soon, so that's a good improvement.
My daughter has just left to return to Aus so Tracey and I can get back into hide out mode and focus on the program exclusively, as opposed to trying to make restaurant meals and day trips work for us.

Can't believe we are a 3rd of the way through and marching towards the half way mark. Keep the focus team, we are going beautifully.