Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Day 8 and a little of 9.... food for thought...

Week 2 activities have ramped up, I have to say, it's great. I find the work outs are much more balance... need to get up earlier now to get the extra activities in, this waking hour is enough of a challenge, let alone adding the extra fitness in. I find by the time the evening arrives I’m ready to just do nothing, I don't think I've ever looked forward to weekends as much as i do right now, even then we still need do our PCP, but at least we get to go back to bed....

Food has been pretty good and enjoying the meals, the amounts for me are good and I enjoy cooking, I could do with some more protein spread through out the day, mainly because I do activities during lunch as well, but I’ll see how the plan goes first - Someone mentioned this, but i'd like to better understand the variation in diets..i.e. why one week i might have "X" amount of protein and carbs, and then the next week it's different - maybe this makes more sense, I’d like to know what the intentions are for that week on that particular nutrition? e.g. weight loss, Weight gain..etc..

One thing that I’ve been thinking about is Food & Time - Quite a contentious subject right now.  I've been trying over the last year to use natural ingredients for flavouring food(e.g. Herbs) we can use these in food preparation and cooking - you'd be very surprised how tasty food can be when cooked with these ingredients - Previously and at times still today, I can find that I'd only enjoy food when it is rich with intense flavours, covered, spread, sprinkled, sauced(i just made that word up, but you know what I mean) but i ask, where does it stop ?Food doesn't need to be cooked in oil and sauces to be tasty,  in the end we are only satisfied with these intense flavours and everything else is bland.

A great example of this, sushi/sashimi, relatively low flavours, fish and such has it's own natural flavour, but what do we do, we dunk it in soy sauce and smother it with wasabi...  Funny when you think about it...

From what i can see, that's only one part of the problem, I believe the other part, and i think this is all too common in Asia, also around the globe, we're used to buying food from take aways and restaurant, people don't know how to cook anymore, the convenience and affordability of eating out is too alluring, this unfortunately makes us lazy and highly dependant on others. There is also the time factor, again, very common in Asia and i hear a lot of people talking about this, in saying this, if you can't afford time to look after yourself then perhaps you already have some other serious challenges, such as balance in your life.... and generally we suck at that too, just look at our diets and why most folks are doing this project....

I think it's great that all of us making this positive change, but i think that part of that change is re-evaluating our lifestyle and making time for things that are important - Being able to look after ourselves by means of cooking/nutrition, know what to cook, how to exercise, and to make all this work, balance of life...  Nutrition, Exercise and Balance - I realise that none of it works with out the other....

I know, over simplifying it all... but why is it complicated and and who makes it this way?

More Food for Thought: An Editorial Cookbook

P.s Google! Greatest recipe book on earth....

P.s.s T - 81 days

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Day 7 – Feeling the burn….

500 skips at 6:30AM is as tough as it sounds…. After 7 days of consecutive exercise it starts building up and I have to say, felt pretty fatigued yesterday and today… Skipping was also more difficult today then the last few days, obviously because were doing close to double, but i think also i was feeling slightly beat up... But, hearing everyone else’s pain makes me feel just a little better, as I’m not alone!  I see what group 1 is doing now for their skips - Things to look forward to !

I see a few others are having some disruptive sleep, i've had the same for the last 2 nights... Makes the morning jibe that little bit more tough....

Oh, I found this pic this morning and thought I’d share, Shirley and I headed out for breaky on Sunday after our PCP activities, and since we’re still on our half diet thing, Shirley was more then happy to propose we go 50/50 in a chocolate croissant – I obviously had to oblige... oh, I can still taste the buttery goodness….


Have a great PCP week!
T - 83 Days

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Day 6- POW !!



Sunday 8am work out - it's been a while.... but what a high for the day....

Had a goal today, it was to learn how to skip like a boxer, warmed up with the feet together for a couple of sets, then moved on to one leg at a time, started with the right, then moved to the left, then combined, it was great, took quite a while to bring em together, the oldies in the park were for sure having a good ol laugh at my expense, not to worry, it was fun and felt good to challenge myself to try something new, to not be complacent with just getting by - I definitely walked away thinking, wow, I'm really uncoordinated ! ha ! but seriously, i am uncoordinated, no wonder i can't dance ...

Squats and lunges have been a good challenge, i find a lot of stuff we do in the gyms and even yoga can be very upper body focused, so bringing this in to the work outs i find helps balance things out... Abs and push ups are solid .. have to say, I love the ab work outs - The burn...

Looking forward to the new week, new menu and new exercises...

bye for now....

T-84days

Day 5 - What was the number for that Pizza Hut ?

Ha, got your attention with that one....

Ok, day 5 is done... Exercises were much like they were yesterday... Rope is goin round and round and I'm happy to say, with a little more consistency.. Took Shirley's suggestion and bought a new one with some fancy weights and ball baring based movement, it's smooooth... Nike rope is in the trash !

This week has been huge, 5 days of PCP, 5 yoga classes with an epic 90min session today, and i have to say, i'm a little exhausted - but it's such a good feeling and that's what is, quite simply, addictive!

I've not been completely adhearing to the half meals, i can't, so much activity and eating half of my meals, i couldn't cope and not to mention, i'm not sure it would be healthy to do all that activity and eat very little.... I've cut back where i can, and already eating fairly good with a respectable diet, some fine tuning needs to be had.... and that's why i'm here... I'm already on the lean side and I don't feel i can afford to loose any extra pounds... I have to say, in this case, you can't paint everyone with the same brush... I'm sure next week will be better as we start with the personalised meal planning....

Hope everyone is having a rocking weekend and staying true to the cause... You're PEAK CONDITION ..

Rock'N'Roll...

T-85 Days... 

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Day 4 - Another day in paradise....

AM training was a hit down with the HK oldies, once again... For just 30mins, Shirley and I owned the astro turf, the oldies were afraid of being whacked by our swinging ropes! and not to mention me attempting to double jump the rope was indeed a catastrophe waiting to happen....

Push ups are good and deep and little quirky ways you can make them more challenging, one foot up, swapping feet during pushes - think it helps keep you focused on having your core switched on and not getting too comfortable with the movement...

Squats and lunges are good and surprising with out any weight, but i find that you really need to focus on technique, right angle (90 degrees) on the front, big backward stretch on the back leg with the knee a cm off the ground.... It helps maximise the exercise and feel like you're working it...

Legs raises are good, however i find i need to stick my hands right under my lower back, even just at the top of my butt to support my lower back - helps a lot...

Oh, PCP in action, Shirley, not usually the most regular of exercisers, occasional yoga, does her morning exercises yesterday, couldn't do the skipping as she didn't have her rope, get's home late last night and says, "i didn't do my jumps today, I need to do them, i'm going to head out now" I was completely in shock –Shows what a little bit of peer encouragement and peer pressure can do for someone - It's only the first week, but it's a great start! Keep it up Shirley...

Over and Out...

T - 86 days...

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Day 3 - BAM !

Day 3 with a bang ....

Up and at it for a 6:30 session, headed off to Vic Park once again, i think the little ol chinese ladies are well and truly stumped at what i'm pushing up and down on - Probabaly thinking, "kids these days, using these new gadgets"

Skips were pretty good, have to say, if you can find yourself some astro turf, give it a go - It's really nice on the knees when you're bouncing around... And if you're in HK, it's pretty easy to find...

Push Ups are great fun, and those bars, damn, they make you go right down and pull that chest apart - I'm pretty sure my chest was talking to me today, went a little something like this "Hey, Man, what are you doing to me?" - I responded appropriately, "Shut Up and Push"

Lunges and squats are ok, however, i'm sure i'm walking around like i've been riding a horse for the last week ... Nice !

Ok, breaky, since we're up to sharing some photos thought i'd try and inspire you by this nice "little" dish...
You might be wondering, wow, looks good, but is that half a meal, well, you'd be half right in asking that... It's only 1 egg, usual 2, and that's half a peice of toast under that 1 egg, might have packed on the vegies, but you know, vegies are good for you and i'm doing a yoga class at lunch, so i figure i need a little something extra....(in case you're wondering, it's scrambled egg with a light dash of olive oil, basil and pepper, and a side of tomato and zucchini - lightly sauteed)

Have a great day !

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Day 2 Action....

Howdy Ho Everybody,

Day 2 of this "EPIC" journey...    Like most, i've never blogged previously, however i do have to
say once everyones profile was up I was excited to check out who is doing what, who is saying
this and what will come of all - All the best to everyone !

Training, Up bright and early this AM for day 2 activities with fello PCPer, Shirley, my fiancee... We
headed down to Victoria Park in Causeway Bay, I figure morning exercises are the best,
something about the body using more of what we want to loose the most first thing in the
morning and it's also great to get a high energy positive start to the day!

Eating has been ok so far, in saying that, i just heard my stomach screaming at me and it's only day 2 - even my colleague, said "was that you're stomach !"...  What was really hard, is that I cooked eggs, toast, tomatos and mushrooms this morning, then had to give half to Shirley...
Not sure what the rule is on fruit during this week, but I try to snack on fruit through out the day and loads
of water - usually keeps the beast at bay until our half portioned lunch and dinner - well that's what i tell my belly...

Good Luck again and bring it on !!!
T - 88 days ....