Day 17

First of all, FOOD!

When I get to eat at home (usually only on the weekend), here is a sample dinner (clockwise from top left):
- Carbs: rice (sometimes white, sometimes brown/white mix)
- Protein: boiled shrimp (with salt-free salsa), grilled buri (the Japanese name for this fish, sorry I do not know what it's called in English)
- Veggies: Brocolli, mushrooms
- Veggies: Miso soup (with sprouts and baby bok choy)

I really like how Heather posts pics of her meals as it helps me with ideas for mine. I'll try and post more pics going forward so we can all help each other with more good ideas.

Secondly, UPDATE

I had probably one of the busiest weeks at work this past week due to a major project we are working on, which unfortunately prevented me from updating the blog more often. The following is a quick wrapup of how PCP went this past week for me ("yearly evaluation in a corporate environment"-style: sorry I spend too much time at work, I know...).

Accomplishments/Achievements
- Diet: I NAILED the diet exactly as directed. This took a lot of planning, as due to my work schedule I eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner (as well as two of the three snacks) at work. And my wife Fumiko played a HUGE role in this by cooking all the food necessary (while I weighed out/packed the food). I definitely could not have done this part without her, and I am VERY grateful for her support on this! :)
- Exercise: I completed ALMOST all of my exercises with good intensity (I did miss a jumprope session one day).
- Body Changes:
Bodyfat %: Day 2: 21%, Day 9: 20%, Day 16: 18.2%
Muscle %: Day 2: 32%, Day 9: 33%, Day 16: 34%

Areas of Opportunity
- Sleep: With work, commuting, and PCP, I averaged 4-5 hours of sleep a night. Much lower than the PCP-recommended 8 hours, and definitely lower than my usual average of 6. I talked to Patrick about this and he said that the body can handle about a week like this, but any longer and I am in danger of getting sick and my body just shutting down. A major goal this week is to increase my hours of sleep.

Overall Comments
- I am very encouraged to see that if I stick with the diet and exercise as planned, I can already see results in decreasing bodyfat and increasing muscle mass. More so than that though, I am definitely feeling physically better (which I attribute to the diet - I never feel heavy or bloated now) and I feel stronger and more energetic (which I attribute to the diet and exercise).
- Getting more sleep and continuing the consistency are my goals for the next week.

Day 10

Wow, Week 1 went by much faster than anticipated. I was largely successful in sticking to the half portions and I was able to eat most of what I wanted before the diet portion became more "PCP" (although I forgot to eat McDonalds...looks like I'll have to put that one off for a while). On the exercise front, the muscle pain went away after Day 3 or so, so I was able to keep the pace and intensity of my sessions up! Overall I felt I had a good Week 1 and was looking forward to Patrick's email on Friday.

After doing the new plan for three days, here are some of my observations:

The exercise plan is definitely at a different level that Week 1.
- I was doing okay when the jumproping was in sets, but I have a ways to go in doing all 650-700 in one go. My best performance was doing them all in 2 sets, but today I digressed and had to break it down into 4 sets (resting about 15 seconds between). Looking to bounce back tomorrow.
- Squats/lunges are getting more difficult with the increased volume (as well as doing it after increased jumprope), but I am still able to get through them as directed. I like the upper body and arm stuff that has been put in!

The diet plan is challenging, but for different reasons than I expected.
- My experience has been similar to a lot of others who posted recently that the volume of food is actually a lot! To be honest, I am not used to these amounts of food, but I feel it is giving me even more incentive to workout as I feel like I am eating too much.
- My wife did a whole lot of cooking today to prepare for Monday. I usually eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner at work (breakfast is usually bought while I bring lunch and dinner packed from home). Going forward, I will be bringing all three meals (plus two snacks - the last one I will have at home), and the amount of preparation needed was more than I expected. Another surprise both of us had was the daily amount of food required from the PCP. We made A LOT of food today (I thought at least 2 days worth), but after measuring and packing my breakfast, lunch, and dinner, we only had just enough left for dinner for the both of us tonight plus a little bit that we may be able to use to supplement Tuesday's meals. I am so grateful that my wife is so supportive of me on this!

I've been taking pictures of what I am eating, so I'll be posting those soon along with some descriptions. I'm really looking forward to seeing what everyone else is doing as well!

Day 5

It was a relatively successful day today. Today was my first day in the office this year (I was away for business in London since the beginning of Jan, got back to Tokyo on Fri, and took Monday off so I could have three days to readjust to Tokyo time) and things were not as hectic as I anticipated. My legs weren't nearly as unhappy today as they were yesterday, and I had a pretty good workout after I got home from work.

One thing that I got to thinking about today is how my coffee consumption at work will be affected by PCP. While I will have the occasional grande Caramel Steamer or Honey Milk Latte (I bounce between Starbucks and Tully's, no real loyalty to either), I tend not to drink the sweetened stuff on a regular basis. I do, however, rotate between one (or two) of the following on a daily basis: grande Caffe Misto, iced Soy Latte, Coffee of the Day, or Caffe Latte (whole milk).

Patrick, can you tell me if I will need to sacrifice/restrict any of these in the coming weeks, or am I going to have to wait for one of the Friday emails for the answer???

Day 4

It's the end of Day 4 and the following are some thoughts:

I didn't think jumprope would cause so much pain...

Doing the exercises have been okay so far. Even the muscle soreness caused by the pushups is not bothering me too much. But my legs are just VERY unhappy because of the jumproping! Once I get them stretched out and warmed up, they are bearable, but when I wake up in the morning, or when I'm getting out of a chair after sitting for a long time... all I can say is WOW! Right now I am just looking forward to when my legs finally start adjusting.

Intensity is key

On Saturday I went to Patrick's studio to meet other local PCPers (Ai and alum Sean) and do the day's exercises together. I usually do the exercises alone, and I feel I follow Patrick's instructions to the letter. However when exercising with the group, what I realized was missing from when I exercise alone is intensity. Patrick kept the tempo up the whole time and created a very energetic atmosphere that really helped me get a better workout. I don't want to say I "go through the motions" when I workout alone, but I realized that my workouts would definitely benefit if I increase my intensity.

Eat it now!

So far I have been okay with the half portions, but I think one reason for that is that I am still eating what I want, just in smaller portions. I've been warned that the REAL PCP starts this Friday, so before that happens, I plan on eating reasonable portions of food that may not be PCP-approved before that is no longer an option!

Aw Yeah!

This is Erik's blog, where he kicks it old school!

I like the intro Patrick, so I am going to leave it there.

Day 1, it's finally here and a lot sooner than I thought it would be. Ever since I switched jobs last year, I have been meaning to rededicate myself to being physically fit. However instead of doing what I did previously (exercising without set goals and paying only minimal attention to diet), I wanted to do it "right" (ie create/follow a plan that incorporated exercise and diet while increasing my knowledge in both). In reading the PCP website and the experiences of its participants, I felt that I finally found a program that addressed what I was looking for.

It felt good to start the program today (doing the exercises while decreasing my serving sizes) knowing full well that this is only the first step, and things will get progressively challenging from here on out. Looking forward to experiencing the next three months with all of you!