The Wrap Up Part 2: Final Thoughts

It's been a week and a half since Day 90, and I still can't believe how fast the program went! Can't say I have anything more original to say than what has already been said, but I can detail what going through and completing the PCP has done for me:

I have established better eating habits

1) Eating and drinking till I am satisfied, not full.
2) Eating 5-6 smaller portions a day.

PCP really reducated me on the optimal quantity of food to eat in one sitting on a regular basis. Growing up, my mentality was to clear everything on my plate. As a teenager this was not a problem as I was rail thin and very active. However once I graduated and got a desk job, this no longer worked. My weight increased, I became less active, and less healthy overall. Also, the feeling of fullness I had after completing a big meal became almost a source of comfort for me despite the period of tiredness and lethargy I almost always had after meals. By eating until I am satisfied and eating smaller portions throughout the day, I found myself becoming more alert, productive, and energetic throughout the day - a big part of that I attribute to not being in a "food coma" after my meals. Of course getting to this point was very difficult - retraining my body not to desire that comfortable feeling of fullness you only get after eating too much. But that desire for the short-term payoff of feeling full has been replaced with a preference for sustained energy, alertness, and productiveness over an entire day.

3) Eating healthy, well-balanced meals.

Less carbs and more fresh veggies/fruits I feel really helped my digestion. I no longer have a "heavy" feeling in my stomach and again, I feel much more energetic.

4) Eating to live, not living to eat.
5) Enjoying simpler tastes/appreciating complex ones.

This was a paradigm-shifter for me.

For me, eating became somewhat of a stress-reliever for me, something that I would look forward to that would break the monotony of work and the stresses associated with it. I looked forward to being "entertained" and satisfied by the strong tastes and varieties of food that are available. If I was having a stressful day, lunch would be what I looked forward to (what do I want today? Indian? Chinese? Sushi? Hamburger/fries? Thai? French? Italian?). Extremely stressful days would lead me to USD 30-50 prime rib/steak lunches. If I was having a stressful week, dinner at a nice restaurant or drinks with friends would become my stress reliever. Dinner at a nice restaurant, while nice, almost always involved highly flavored, rich, calorie-dense foods. Drinks at the local world beer bar, while satisfying, almost always involved 5-6 beers, fried finger food, and a migration to a second or third bar to continue the night. Eating out for lunch/dinner on a daily basis and drinking on a several times a week basis became an exercise of always looking for something better/more satisfying/more "delicious". This inevitably meant something more calorie-dense, something more strongly flavored, something worse for my health.

Through PCP, I learned how delicious simple tastes can be. Good quality milk, fresh fruits, and grilled veggies (such as carrots and sweet potatoes) are NATURALLY very sweet and satisfying. Salt, cream, and butter are not necessary to create a savory, satisfying dish when you have a diverse selection of veggies/spices (tomatoes, garlic, ginger, rosemary, basil, lemon grass, coriander, etc) at your disposal. And these simple tastes do not blunt your senses into demanding more/stronger tastes and do not adversely affect your health no matter how much you eat.

This is not to say I don't enjoy the occasional slice of caramel almond cheesecake or serving of butter chicken curry anymore. It's just I am not looking to be wow'd by their seductive tastes everyday in every meal I eat. On the occasion I do choose these options, I no longer need an entire serving to be satisfied. A few bites is more than enough for me to appreciate these more complex tastes. But on a daily basis, I am more than happy in enjoying the simple clean taste that grilled/steamed veggies, freshly steamed brown rice, a lean cut of chicken/fish, and strawberries and yogurt can provide.

I have established better life habits

1) Getting an early start to the day
2) Exercising regularly
3) Exercising (not eating) to combat stress

Before starting PCP, I was a night person. I would wake up late, go to work late, work till late, eat late, and go to sleep late. Half of my weekends were taken up by me sleeping through most of it. Due to the nature of my work, 12-14 hour days are the norm. Throw in an hour commute each way, and 5-6 hours of sleep a night and you can see I have very little time for myself/my family during the week.

Fitting PCP into my daily schedule required advance planning and a more efficient use of time on my part. Part of this was setting a time for myself everyday when I could do my PCP exercises. At first I tried nighttime after I got home from work, however this did not end up working as the time I finished work often varied. I then set 6am every morning as my PCP exercise time. At first it was difficult for me to get used to, but by the second month I was getting up automatically without an alarm, regardless of what time I went to bed the previous night.

In terms of the exercises, I found I was experiencing a "natural high" of sorts that stayed with me throughout the day. The sunshine on my face, the fresh morning air, the feeling of accomplishment of just going out and doing the exercises on a daily basis, I think all of it contributes to the overall feeling of optimism and high energy I can carry with myself throughout the day if I exercise in the morning. In effect, morning exercise provided me a more physically and mentally rewarding and satisfying way to relieve stress than eating and drinking out.

In combination with my new eating habits, I found myself more productive at work which helped me decrease my working hours to the point where in the second month, my daily schedule would involve me getting up at 6am to do jumprope/jogging and abs, and then coming home early enough at night to do another round of jumprope followed by the PCP exercises while still getting around 6 hours of sleep a night. When the program ended and I was taking a break from exercising, it really made a difference not having that "natural high" that regular exercise gave me. Needless to say waking up early and doing my morning exercises has become an integral part of my daily routine.

To wrap up:

I can definitely say that by completing the PCP, I am now living the PCP in that I am now living (and knowing how to live) a healthy, sustainable lifestyle. The habits that the PCP have helped me build are habits that will stay with me going forward. Establishing these habits for myself was the main accomplishment I was aiming for through this program; the great physical changes I achieved were a very nice bonus!

Patrick/Chen, thank you so much for putting this program together and making it so easily accessible. This was definitely a life-changer for me and I will forever be grateful!

Fellow Peakers, it was great going through this together with you. All the support, feedback, and sharing really was a big part of the entire experience. You all look great and this was a great accomplishment for all of us! Congratulations!