Starting over.

After the PCP ended, I quit the exercises cold turkey. I tried doing the maintenance exercises, but I couldn't make a habit of it. Since then, my main form of exercise has been running; three miles every other day. Running regularly has been a very satisfying exercise, much more so than jumping rope. It gets me out of the apartment.

I also stopped following the diet, although I stuck to a vaguely similar one, minus the hard boiled eggs. I have been eating out an average of twice a week. Surprisingly, I've been able to keep off most of the fat that I lost during the project, and I still have a bit of definition. I'm hoping that by being a part of this community, I will have more motivation to stick to my fitness goals.

Getting the Wheels Turning

Wow, it seems like so long since I last made a PCP post. I am happy to be one of the lucky seven in this Peak Condition Community. Hello, everyone!

This week I have been taking it slow, easing back into a routine of working out and following a diet again. Adrian and I finally brought the kitchen scale out from the cabinet, but most of my meals were left unmeasured. To be honest, it has been tough to get my body and willpower going again.

Like my fellow PCCers, I have been taking it pretty easy since my 90-day Project ended a couple months ago. Aside from running, I have not done any formal exercise. And I definitely baked and ate a bunch of cookies over the holidays. Eating out has become a regular part of my life, and I am now struggling to cut that out and begin eating strictly from my own kitchen again.

I have been noticing the effects my diet has taken on my body and energy, and I know that once I get back into the rhythm of things I will start to feel good. So that is my challenge this week, to find my groove again.

Tomorrow's poster is none other than my lovely boyfriend and fellow PCP2-er, Adrian! Yay!

Until next Friday,
Emiko

Back in the game!

SO....it's been exactly 54 days.....that's 54 days off of the PCP.....54 days of no consistent exercise and 54 days of no diet to follow.....54 days too much of not being careful and starting to feel it!  Well, I think it took me about a month to really start feeling like I need to be back in the game....and here I am....

PCP was great....learned a lot about diet and exercise and the combination to feel and look fit.  I also learned that with no"program" and a "program leader" AKA Patrick....I had no one watching me....and you know when no one is watching....it all falls apart.  So I am looking forward to being part of the Peak Condition Community and getting back into a healthy lifestyle with prescribed diets and exercise....and lots of companions too!

My biggest indulgence while in "rest" mode was eating just about the entire batch of rice krispies treats a couple of weeks ago.....they were YUMMY...I know I should have jumped 2000 times just to burn them off, but didn't because no one was watching :)

My goal now is to get back on track and keep my indulgences under control and to just once a week.....while getting back on the diet and keeping off the sugar, fat and salt.  I am also planning on exercising about 5 times a week.....will track my progress and let you know if I'm hitting my goals.....see you next Thursday!!

Why Do You Hurt So Good!?

To say that I am honored to be a part of this conditioning project again is an understatement. I completed the first round of the PCP in mid-August. Since then I have taken it very very easy.

I haven't really done a workout since about a week after the project ended. This has actually been a good thing for me. Over the past five months (wow, time flies), I've really been able to reflect on how it feels to be in shape, and how it feels to be out of shape. I've felt my body slow down as I've ceased workouts, I've felt my taste palette become polluted once again, and at the same time, I've had opportunities to show pictures of my PCP body, and take pride in what I had attained.

How have these mostly negative things been good for me? Contrast. I was hoping that the PCP would be something I could look at and feel really good about. When I pull up my pics from time to time, I can't help but smile -- smile because I really pushed myself to do something that I had always wanted to do, but feared I would never be able to pull off. In my slothful state from the end of the PCP until now, I have felt something in me yearn to get back in to shape again. Alas the opportunity is here, and my perspective towards the PCP has changed yet again.

When I began the first PCP, I felt that I had something to prove. Now I feel that I have something to maintain. Granted I'm not near the condition I was in at the end, but I'm also not as out of shape as I was before I began the first PCP. I am a spontaneous person; I live and work in cycles. I've had a season of conditioning, a season of ease, and now, a season of conditioning is upon me once again. My excitement is less, "Yeah! let's do this!" and more, "It is time." The first is motivation -- something that doesn't last long for me. The second is a core, conscious decision to execute discipline.

Today I took it easy: just 2000 jump-ropes. My body wanted to quit at 1500, but I've learned to push on. I felt my body scream at me, "Thank you!" at the same time crying, "I hate you!" The hatred was fueled by my poor diet over the past several weeks. After I finished my routine, I felt sick as I could feel the junk moving through my body, but psychologically I felt good for working out. I fully expect to be back in my full routine within the next few days.

Now for some fun metadata:

Workout time: 15-20 min.

Routine: 2000 jump-ropes

Music: The Wallflowers

Until next week,

David

Community and an Active Lifestyle

Hey Guys! I am back and proud to be a part of the new PCC (Peak-Condition Community) blog!

When Patrick first sent out the e-mail to us veterans I was really excited because this was something I was thinking needed to be present in the PCP program and couldn't wait to start blogging (once a week this time, yay!). I hadn't done any post-PCP blogs back on mine because every time I tried I felt like I was polluting the closure of the last post and I felt like I should only ever post on it for important announcements, maybe. But I am ecstatic to see what is to come hear from people who I followed and people I shared the PCP experience with.

So not only is this importance of healthy community vital to continuing the PC journey but something else I'm going to discuss today, active life choices, or active life-style. First a little update on me and my thoughts of post-PCP life.

I definitely took it easy. I haven't jumped rope much at all since the project (i miss it but it's hard when cold) and haven't done well-rounded intense work out routines. I really took it easy and I am surprised I haven't gotten more out of shape. I put a little more fat on my belly again (maybe a 1/2 inch) but only gained 3 pounds. I have been eating pretty healthy and have done probably weekly indulgences, mainly in the forms of canolis and caramel lattes. Besides that I have kept up good breakfast daily (something I have never done my whole life and it's a huge benefit!) and healthy eating. The only thing I have done wrong is not enough veggies and probably too many carbs for my activity level.

So now onto some discoveries and insight on how to maintain relative PC while taking it easy. I was extremely surprised that once in great shape it's actually harder to get out of shape than into shape. You have to push yourself into bad habits if you want them to form (Patrick and that nasty Reeses thing! Ugh! haha). You also have to be extremely inactive if you want to loose your muscle mass and stamina. Your body really does want to be in shape! And once you are used to the rigors of the PCP you want to stay active as much as you want to take it easy and that's what has helped me stay in shape, active life choices. 

While the weather was still decent I actually spent a lot of time climbing trees at my house and local parks, expanding on my ideas for nature Parkour. I also have gotten into rock-climbing (indoors right now of course) and have been going 1 to 2 times a week. So because of this some of my muscles have gotten smaller (pecs, biceps, quads) but other muscles have gotten MUCH stronger (Back, shoulders, and forearms especially). Not to mention doing something fun and active that gives you a sense of accomplishment and evolution continues to spiral your desire for fitness upwards, I can't wait for good weather again!

So over the next few weeks/months I plan on increasing my activity again and using this opportunity to  get into better shape than I was before, hopefully get to my true vision of PC by the mid-summer. And I think the PCC will help me stay motivated.

I have my 3 week trip to backpack Europe (Dublin-Rome) in May and I certainly wanna be in great shape for that, and I want a 6-pack for the summer (since it has faded lol)! So since I know the PCP is the fast-track to doing that I'm cracking back down and can't wait to release my pent up energy. This June I will also be doing my annual juice fast detox and will like to blog about that. 

Until then stay active people!

I'm now passing the baton to David in this relay of PCP madness! Back from PCP1 or PCP Amber. I can't wait to see how he has been doing! Be back next week.

Peace

Welcome to the Peak Condition Community!

Patrick

Hello and let me have the honor of breaking the digital bottle of champagne over the bow of this new project.  But of course we always have to be a little different around here:

Ah... that was cathartic.  Now on to business.

You are looking at the first post of the new Peak Condition Community blog.  I and many of the other PCPers have found that one of their favorite things about doing the project is getting in the habit of keeping a weblog about the journey to better health.  When you're feeling awesome it's so great to share that, and when you're feeling down it's crucial to connect with others who will pick you up, or at least commiserate.

I also just really missed all the good friends and interesting viewpoints that came from the PCP blogs.

So a few of us hatched up this idea to pool our efforts into a community blog.  Basically it will work like a regular PCP blog, except that instead of just one writer there will be 7 graduates of the PCP at any one time, each writing one post a w

eek in a revolving authorship.  That means this blog will be piping hot every day of the week!

Thus, with new post-PCP diets from Chen, we're all trying to get back on track after an indulgent winter holiday season This time around the focus will be on sustaining and maintaining the energy and good habits we learned during our projects.  There won't be months spent learning how to jumprope and eat well, we'll all hit the ground running.  It'll be cool to see what happens.

With that preamble, let me catch everyone up with my own condition.  As I mentioned in my personal blog, I had been training in one way or another every day for 7 months.  That was totally awesome, but I could feel my body getting worn down, so I decided to take it easy for December and January.  I also thought it would be a good experiment to see how my body fared without the workouts and strict diet.  Would I blimp out as I've experienced in the past?

In December I took a trip to the States to see Gwen, and she can attest that I was far from timid about my indulgences.  Every night saw a parade of cheesecakes, beers, pizzas, onion rings, and so on.  The culmination was the night before my return to Japan, drinking a large Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Mocha from a 7-11.  It was so nasty but it was all in the name of research.

Since then I haven't done much beyond my usual activities.  And here is a picture of me from today after completing my first serious workout for about 8 weeks.

I'm pretty impressed by how well everything stayed together despite the nutritional beating I put it through.  If I had been at all sensible I for sure would still be in great shape now.  But it was nice to know that even at my most wicked my metabolism and muscle did their part to sustain fairly good condition.

Now that I'm back on diet and training regimen again, the changes will happen incredibly fast.  I even took a picture of myself holding today's newspaper to have some evidence when the doubters cry "no way".  I've gotten used to the way my body responds to exercise and I know what it is capable of.  So check back on Mondays when I'll be posting to see the changes.

I can't wait to read about everyone else's experiences post-PCP.  Together I know we can come up with some good strategies to carry our projects into the rest of our lives!

Till next Monday, have a great week!  I pass the ball now to a dapper young man named Nate Belle-Isle.