Day 47: Kung Fu fighting

I think I'm not doing them right, seemed to easy. Should I be keeping my legs totally straight? I touch the ground in between to try to stop the swinging, but enough to support my weight or rest...

Jumprope: beat my personal best, 263 in 2 minutes, but no way I'm getting close to Mikhael's 328...

What were the rules about beans and tofu? Beans count as veggies, not protein, but should avoid them because...they are hard to digest? And tofu is bad right?

Day 46: Hard boiled eggs

Anyone have advice on making easy-peeling hard boiled eggs? We were doing really well until the last 2 batches, disaster...have googled "how to make hard boiled eggs that peel easy", cooked up a batch today, will keep you posted.

Jumprope: Mikhael, you're a superstar. Maxed out at 253 today, didn't even beat my personal best (259). Reckon my best shot is at the gym, so will see on Wed (rest day I jump at the gym, every other day at home on the tight carpet).

Pushups: for the 2nd workout in a row I had a very hard time w/ pushups following the chest dips. 1st set 10 proper/2 knees, 2nd set 8/4, 3rd and 4th 5/10...

Diet: I am really satisfied and enjoying the mountain of steamed/stir fried veggies for dinner, even when my parents (visiting) and wife are eating chili shrimp and shredded pork and green peppers and dumplings (all of which I LOVE).

Day 45: Livin' on a Prayer

Oooooooooooooooh, we're half-way there...congrats guys. And a big shout out to our Sempai class, who finished today. You guys are a true inspiration! Well done! Now Team Running Rats moves to the top of the Active PCPers! YA HEARD!

Workout

-jumprope: LOVE the new timed sets. I'm averaging 230-240 jumps per 2 minute set (resting 10 seconds in between), so already doing more total than the last set of 1500, but I find it much more enjoyable, each set trying to break the previous record (259 is my top so far).

-floorjump: I know we are supposed to jump as high as far, but should we be staying crouched or straightening on the up? I'm guessing it makes a difference for which muscles we use...

-plank: love it. should I be feeling so much strain on my arms and shoulders? sometimes they start shaking...

Lunch: daily triple decker: asparagus, broccoli, radish, cucumber, avocado (God's butter, can't remember who said it but I second that emotion!), egg and grilled chicken on raisin wheat bread. Are raisins kosher? I know there is no fruit allocation for lunch, and vaguely remember an anti-raisin diatribe by Ren...

Day 44: Bicep-gate

Right, just to prove that I wasn't going crazy, I checked back to the Day 41 workout, and the label for "outside curl" has a picture of the thumbs up curl. If you check Day 48, the thumbs up curl is labeled correctly and Day 38 you can see the actual picture of the outside curl...

Day 43: Workout

Does the order of the exercises matter? Wasn't sure I was going to have time for the full workout, so started with abs-chest-shoulders-legs. And somehow the Plank was not as tough as usual, and that was kicking it up to 4x 50 secs. I'm either a) getting stronger b) not doing it properly or c) its easier when done first instead of last. Other notes from recent workouts:

Chest dip: did properly for the first time, serious burn, felt like I was going to lose control and collapse.

Push-up: probably because I did the chest dip properly, could not even get thru the first set, 3rd and 4th sets did full from my knees.

Outside curl (Day 42): picture looks like the thumb-up curl, what is the difference?

Bicycle: I find my legs getting more tired than my abs (doing on a stool with no back/no cheating).

Day 42: Hangover

The day after my (over) indulgence, don't feel so bad, just a little out of sorts, think it might have as much to do with going to bed late as the food/wine. Have to admit, I really like to eat rich foods and drink good wine, so a bit of a dilemma if that doesn't jive with being in peak condition...

Did the 1500 jumps today, and as Mikhael mentioned in one of his recent posts, I felt like I wanted to do more, even though it is supposed to be a rest day, so did a set of pull-downs for my back...

Day 41: Overdue (Over) Indulgence #1

Right, so Patrick said the indulgence should not be by accident, it must be on my terms, so I blew it up tonight. It was a client dinner, and the client also happens to be a very good friend, who is a connoisseur of fine wine and food. Went to a very fancy french restaurant, but big ups to me, stayed as true to PCP as humanly possible: amuse bouche salmon terrine with tomato puree, appetizer steamed white asparagus (laid off the buttery/creamy sauce), main dish grilled snapper w/ green asparagus (a little salty and buttery but oh so good), no dessert, no coffee...started with a glass of champagne and had 2-3 glasses each of white and red wine with dinner. A little buzzed as I type this but all in all feeling really good...

Have been jumping rope the past 2 mornings before leaving for work, waking up only 20 minutes early, love it...

My legs are sore every day, the pilots and creeps killed me today, wow the burn...

Days 38-39: Working for the weekend

The wife had a baby shower on Sat, and using her 1st Mother's Day present on Sun (3 hour treatment at the Peninsula Hotel spa, yeah, Daddy's got skillz), so been on Jessie duty all weekend. Missed a mid meal snack or 2 but for the most part have stayed the course. Had brunch out, got the grilled chicken club, substituted avocado for the bacon, no mayo, good stuff.

Per Patrick's Day 39 email, I jumped rope this morning before doing anything else, felt invigorated to start the day. Will see if I can motivate to get up 20 minutes earlier during the week to jump before work. Would make it much easier to do the workout at the gym at lunch time and allow for a little extra cool-down time before returning to the trenches....

Day 37: Return of the King

The wife read my blog entry about the SALT in the water for boiling
veggies, so she kicked it up a notch today, check out my lunch: it was

as delicious as it was colorful...there is grain rice hidden underneath

the shrimp, broccoli, cauliflower, red peppers, yellow peppers, carrots, asparagus and eggplant.

Worked out with Obi-wan tonight, practically straight off the plain from Hotlanta. Sorted out my pistol squats (tough), push-ups were very tough after the chest dips, v-sits actually a little easier (abs getting stronger), side crunch tough but I like it, feels good to work a new muscle.

Stats are in, looking good. Lost almost 3kg over the past 2 weeks,

body fat and subcutaneous fat down less than 0.5% each but visceral

fat down 1% (Patrick said 1 or the other will go down, not both).

Muscle mass almost unchanged, but that is OK since weight and

fat are down.

Day 36: Forgive me Father, for I have sinned

Unbeknownst to me, the gym is closed on the 5th and 20th of every month, so could not work out at lunchtime. Had "drinks" with a client after work (apparently the best Mojito in town for him, Perrier for me), reasonably early night so was able to do the workout when I got home (YEAH PLANK!) but skipped the jump rope (pun intended). Figure sleep is important, and this is the first lapse in 36 days...

Breakfast: triple decker egg, broccoli, celery, cucumber, yellow peppers on whole wheat raisin bread. NICE! First bite looks purty, the wheels came off after that...

Day 35: 5 Weeks down

Nothing much to report today.

The next (but certainly not final) word on jumping rope: I realized another variable that I have at the gym that might contribute to successful jumping: a mirror.

Looking ahead to Day 36: Plank 4x 40 seconds. Sweet.

Day 34: Salt in the wound

I will preface today's post by saying my wife is a wonderful person, fully supporting my PCP endeavor, packing my breakfast, lunch and mid-meal snacks every day and making dinner every night, using a diverse mix of ingredients, everything is always delicious, and at all times with unrelenting devotion to the almighty scale. This while taking care of our 4 month old baby girl. HOWEVER, last night I was helping out in the kitchen (boiling eggs and washing fruit, what else?), she was boiling some brocolli, and I caught her DUMPING salt into the water! DOH! She has been disciplined and reprogrammed, and we are back on track.

Still a bit under the weather, but not worse, and was able to work out:

-1,429 jumps without a trip, holy crapola.

-I almost collapsed on the last few floorjumps.

-for the first time I really felt the burn on the elevated triceps dip and double katana.

-I hate the plank.

Day 33: Under the weather

Starting to feel a bit under the weather, sore throat, a bit weak, not sure if I'm getting sick or could be allergies. Either way, did full workout today, felt good at the time, will see how we go tomorrow...

V-sits are killing me, by the way, and they ain't pretty...

Day 32: Bread

Breakfast: avocado, asparagus, cucumber, hard boiled egg on wheat bread sandwiches (1 is a tripple decker and still a bit short on the carbs).

Since I have solved my jump rope mystery, my new crusade is against sodium. After blowing the lid off of the Bueno Foods Buenatural Whole Wheat Tortillas, my next target is wheat bread. Pasco Wheat Nuggets, the smaller slices, and Pasco Whole Wheat Raisin, the bigger slices. The Nutrition Facts are based on 100g, which is 3.5 slices of Raisin and 6-7 slices of Wheat Nuggets.

Raisin weighs in at 364mg sodium (15.2% USDA, 36.4%PDA),

Wheat Nuggets weighs in at 592mg (24.7% USDA, 59.2% PDA).

That seems like a big difference. Not exactly sure why the Nuggets
need so much sodium, but considering I LOVE raisin bread, and psychologically its easier to eat 3.5 slices of bread for breakfast than it is to eat 6-7, we've got a winner!

Day 31: Leg-ups

4x 25, that's a lot of leg-ups...

I know, I know, I'm fixated on jumping rope....but I think I have the answer! I suspected that the smooth, hard floor was the ideal surface, after killing it at the gym. Thu night I had to jump at home, did it outside on the pavement, tripped at least 10 times. Fri went 1300 straight at the gym. Today at home again, in the elevator hall with compact carpet, and I was tripping on average every 20-30 jumps, sometimes twice within 10, a few times twice in a row. Very frustrating. About halfway thru I came inside the apartment, pulled the rug back to smooth, hard wood floor, and jammed the last 650 with only 2 trips. I'm sure the tenants in apartment 301 were thrilled...

Day 30: Inadvertent Indulgence

Old friends in town, had them over for dinner. Was planning on staying the course, though it is very difficult (for me) to control my eating if I don't weigh things out (which I did not), so found myself picking and not stopping when I should have. Didn't eat anything over the top bad, but had some pork, beef curry, incidental carbs in an asian glass noodle salad. So in the end I am calling this Indulgence #1. It was good but feeling a bit bloated, even though I'm not really that full, if that makes sense....

As commented on Brett's blog, I also went 1300 jumps without a trip or break today. I'm convinced the smooth, hard floor is the best surface for jumping.

And congrats to everyone: we're 1/3 of the way there!

Day 29: Blowing Tortilla-gate WIDE open!

When we last left our hero, he was eating 4-5 tortilla wraps for lunch every day. The Buenatural Organic Whole Wheat Tortillas (from Bueno Foods, Albuquerque, NM) came recommended from a very reliable source, a hard core PCPer, so it never even occurred to me to check the label. When Todd commented that he was impressed that I could find PCP-friendly tortillas in Tokyo, when all of the ones he came across were loaded with sugar and salt...well, sure enough, so were my beloved Buenatural Organic Whole Wheat Tortillas! As is typical in Japan, the packaging was overwritten with a Japanese label, and the Nutrional Facts were vague, to say the least: it listed "sugar" and "salt" as ingredients, but no specific amounts. Upon further investigation, a lovely woman in the customer service department at Bueno Foods, Jeannette (who was amazed that people could buy their tortillas in Tokyo, "that is very cool"), replied to my email query with a PDF of the Bueno Foods Product Specification Sheet for the Buenatural Organic Whole Wheat Tortillas, which included the Nutrition Facts. Now, it seems that the product sold in the US is slightly larger/heavier than the one they export (shocker), so adjusting for the size difference, here is the lowdown:

Tokyo Serving Size 1 tortilla (6.3", 30g)

Sodium 230mg = USRDA 9.5%, PRDA 23%

PCP Lunch Carb Allocation 150g

PCP Lunch 5 Servings

PCP 5 Tortilla Wrap Sodium 1,150mg = USRDA 48%, PRDA 115%

DOH!

In other late breaking news, I'm loving working out at the gym at lunchtime. I feel energized for the afternoon, and it frees up so much time after work...

Day 28: Holding out for the indulgence

Not sure if its the karma in the gym or my synapses finally firing on all cyllinders, but did 1400 jumps today with only 4 trips, and only 3 trips up to 1100 when I started the final sprint. I know the daily workout was only 1300, and Patrick warned against going overboard, but I was cruising when I hit 1300 and did not want to stop until I tripped, so went until I got to 1400 I "retired"...

The Tortilla-gate saga continues, need to firm up 1 final piece of the puzzle, stay tuned....

Had a company function tonight, red wine and vodka tonics swirling around me, but held my ground, stayed the course, 1,000 points of light, and all that...feeling good, and good about myself as well.

Day 27: Revelations

Yesterday's Trivia Quiz answer: 200g of cherries, the spit-out pits and stems weigh just under 18g, less than 10% of the total weight!!!

The Whole Wheat and Spinach tortillas I have been loving might be full of salt and sugar! The label in Japanese does not specify the amounts, so have emailed the company to get the scoop.

The past 2 days working out at the gym has been great. Jumping has gone well (only 4-5 trips, I think the flat, hard wood floors are better than carpet or outside), and its nice to get home and spend time with the baby and eat dinner a little earlier. The downside is I'm still sweating back at my desk, even after a cooooold shower...

Have not decided on my indulgence yet, will see if I'm inspired or tempted at some point over the next few days...

Day 26: Gym

Joined the gym near work so I can work out during lunchtime. Test run today, enough time for the full workout including jumping, then eat lunch at my desk after. Sorted. Nevermind people think I'm a freak doing the creep across the aerobics studio. Speaking of the creep, it was even odds whether I would collapse or puke first, so I guess that means I was doing it right...

BONUS TRIVIA QUIZ: 200g of cherries including stems and pits, how much do the stems and pits weigh?

Day 25: New Exercises, focus

Floorjump: wow, tougher than I expected, especially straight after jumping rope. And I'm sure the neighbors downstairs appreciated it...

Chicken wing: need to make sure the band is tight enough to feel the burn...

V-sit: not sure which I hate more, this or the plank...

Pull-down: still feel it in the shoulders but focusing on squeezing my shoulder blades to focus on my back...

Triceps dip: still feel it in the shoulders, but focusing on keeping my elbows as tight and straight back as possible, can definitely now feel the burn in my triceps...

Day 24: Give me a beat!

Tried jumping rope with the ipod for the first time, and I liked it. Speeding up and down with different beats from different songs helps make the jumping go by faster. Another thing I'm doing is 200 jumps before the end I'm speeding up as much as I can, sort of like a sprint to the finish...

Today's workout: definitely doing the shoulder press correctly, wow, burn. Don't think I'm doing the pull-down correctly, was feeling it more in the shoulders than the back, I think I need to stick my chest out/shoulders back like in the picture...I have a feeling we're not going to like the plank...

Day 23: Coming to America

Today was my last Yokohama workout before Patrick goes back to the United States of America to get married! MAZEL TOV! And what a nice going away present he gave me: fixed my pushups, major burn on the forward shoulder raises, and a sneak preview of the V-sits (you're going to love these). Stats looking good, still moving in the right direction, this week's moves not as dramatic as last week's, but last week's were not sustainable....so all good.

Diet: nothing earth shattering, but mixing it up with the lunch wraps, usual garlic grilled shrimp, pumpkin, broccoli, spinach and lettuce, but spinach tortilla instead of whole wheat, to keep things interesting...

Day 22: Carb down

Don't know about everyone else, but my diet this week has a serious reduction n carbs, especially dinner.

Breakfast: found whole wheat bagels at the supermarket, heavier weight (than bread or pita) combined with lower carb allocation and BAM! 1 bagel, normal breakfast! Well, almost: hard boiled egg, cucumber and radish bagel sandwich...

Lunch: the usual garlic grilled shrimp, broccoli, cucumber and carrot, whole wheat tortilla wraps, lower carbs so 4 wraps instead of 5.

Dinner: carbs cut in 1/2 to 50g from 100g! Thought I would go hungry but actually feeling good.

Whole wheat spaghetti, garlic grilled snapper, spinach, broccoli and eggplant. You can see the difference, lots more stuff, lots less spaghetti.

Workout: tripped a lot again, feeling the burn on the rest of the exercises, especially DaVincis, standing ovations and sit-ups.

Days 19-21: Head for the hills

Sorry for the blog silence, but headed up to the mountains (Yamanakako) for Golden Week, Japan's version of spring break (a few old Emperor's birthdays jammed together to make a looooong weekend beginning of May). Not only do the in-laws not have internet at their mountain house, but took the wrong charger for my iphone, so was a complete blackout, which was kind of refreshing.....

Have scale will travel, but otherwise the weekend posed many challenges, and highlights, here are a few:

Diet

-Day 19 dinner was easy, make your own temaki: assorted sashimi, sliced cucumber and nagaimo, rolled in dried seaweed (salty), plus some extra veggies on the side for me (takenoko (bamboo), stir fried spinach in garlic).

-Day 20 lunch was a challenge: played golf and was stuck eating a typical Japanese golf lunch, choices either something fried, salty noodle soup or fatty meat, so went with the pasta, spaghetti vongole, side green salad (no dressing), extra side order of smoked salmon for my protein. Not bad, but oily and salty.

-Day 20 dessert: I did not give in to temptation, but good Lord...

Workout

-Not sure if it was the mountain air, or just because I KILLED it the day before in Yokohama, but tripped a record number of times jumping rope the first day.

-WARNING: if you are doing your rowing on the outside of the sliding glass door (after someone kindly locked it in place for you on the inside) and you have a mischievous 3 year old niece lurking about, make sure to release the bands before she unlocks and opens the door, or else SLAP! Fortunately my arms were straight out and not at full row, but still left a mark (BUT nothing close to Maren's finger...).

-Following Patrick's recent advice, one of the days I replaced 900 jumps with walking the 6400yd (5900m) golf course, and to be fair, the amount of time I was NOT on the fairway I probably ended up walking closer to 10km. The picture is my mother-in-law, nice drive straight into the shadow of Fuji-san.

A few questions:

-if we do end up eating something salty, is there anything we should do to counteract it (besides purging)? Was thinking of drinking a lot of extra water....?

-if a canned/bottled drink (I know, I know, cans/bottles are bad, mmmmkay?) says "zero calories AND zero sugar", like Coke Zero, is there still other bad (worse) stuff we should be avoiding?

-I assume if we are in a dire situation where we are unable to fill our food group quotas exactly, and something moderately salty or sugary or fatty slips in, as a 1-off exception it is fine, AND eating something is better than eating nothing at all....?

Day 18: Results

Weekly workout with Obi-Wan today. Definitely think there is something in the air in Yokohama, did 900 jumps with only 1 trip, at 698. HOLY CRAPOLA!

It is very useful working out with Patrick, not only to give the extra push (keeping the abs tight for the entire last set of sit-ups, both on the way up AND down) but also to make sure I'm doing the exercises right and not cheating on the last few reps (keeping the elbows straight during the DaVincis).

And the results are starting to show, check out the Week 3 stats: GAINED 0.6kg but muscle mass UP 1.0% and body fat DOWN 2.2%. Also feeling a bit more healthy and genki lately, which is a good thing...

Day 17: Balance

Breakfast: made my usual weekend omelette, this time w/ onions, eggplant and spinach, but since I'm down to 1 egg and 1 egg white, I tried to be clever and use a little more milk to make the omelette bigger, but instead just made it a little more wet. Need to find the right balance....

Lunch: went to a friend's BBQ, very satisfied with chicken wings (sans skin), spinach salad with apples and vinaigrette dressing (hold the walnuts and cheese), but pulled up short on my carb allocation (could not bring myself to eat 2-3 hot dog or hamburger buns by themselves), which I figured was better than falling into a massive bacon cheese burger or sausages....balance...

Workout: 850 jumps with only 2 trips, at 321 and 535. Wow.