Day 31 - The peaks and valleys of the PCP

The peaks and valleys of the PCP. We hear about them in the blogs of the peakers who go before us. We may or may not realize that we too will be travelling the same ground. In my last blog I mentioned how spring was here and for some of us with spring come the allergies. With the pollen count today very high I was hit this morning with a cloudy head and a runny nose. Which very well might be a tiny cold. I felt I was dragging for a good part of the day. During the workout tonight a gym buddy helped me do 10 pull ups and after 1300 jumps, the cloudiness had lifted and the runny nose gone. I worked it pretty hard today. Pushing myself to do 40 second planks and keeping one eye on the clock to make sure I was keeping with the rest portions.

After the workout, now this is one of my favorite parts of the PCP, I get in the locker room, remove my shirt and it's just amazing to see all your muscles pumped and bulging. It's a great feeling to know that's actually you in the mirror. I get home to make my tilapia and asparagus as I was ravenous and again cloudy as the allergies and/or cold came back on. I started to tell my wife a story from a book I'm reading about a little girl and her father playing baseball and I just broke down and cried and I mean, I was crying! My wife stood there with a look of amazement of her face as an innocent parable transformed into epic sobbing. I then started laughing and took a nice long shower. Which, needless to say, was just what a needed.

How about my fellow peakers? Any mood swings going on in your world?

Day 30 - Around any corner

I found a new love today. Baked artichokes. I had never had one before, baked that is. Usually the artichoke is hidden in something called “dip”. Which, one must admit, is rather delicious. However, I never eat artichoke dip because it is rarely presented at cocktail parties, beach shin digs, nor the bingo hall. This morning, I sipped my morning Joe, and baked a dozen or so artichokes. I then scraped away the leaves, held the precious still beating heart in my hands, and chomped down. A new love indeed. The smell recalled tomatoes, the taste recalled, hmmmm….artichoke minus dip. Splendid!

The PCP offers many new opportunities to test boundaries and explore the world inside and out. That’s the wonderful thing. The discovery right around the corner of a new burning sensation in the arms, a new taste on the tongue, a new sight in the mirror. Oh, and just in time for spring. A wonderful time for renewal and discovery.

PCP confession booth: I could not do my V sit up's today. After the 4 sets of leg ups I was a quivering mess and I literally could not lift my legs anymore. So, I did three sets of regular sit ups and one set of planks.

Week 5 pics up.

Day 29 - Kick it up a notch

How does one feel after 1300 jumps of the rope, 120 lunges, and into the 2nd set of floor jumps? Tired and exhilarated. The pleasure and the pain of the PCP. PCP proper. PCP, kicked up a notch. That's where we are right now. The grams reduced, the carbs cut, the exercises doubled, and a long month ahead as we reach the 30 day mark.

I need to make adjustments to my meal times. By 12:30pm today I had gone through my mid-morning snack and lunch with only my yogurt to look forward to at 4. This is where my coffee would usually come in to help me reach my 7pm workout. So, one cup of coffee a day is manageable but I will have to push my lunch back an hour. Overall, a great PCP day.

Day 27 - Indulgence & 738

My indulgence was perfectly timed as it coincided with a BBQ/hang out session with a couple of good friends. The indulgence was never a mystery. Twas only ever going to be a cold beer. But which one and how many? I studied my options and counted my calories by staying true to the 400 calorie limit Patrick imposed on us Peakers. And since I stood around for a few hours on St. Patrick's Day watching hundreds of people drink "the black stuff", it didn't take much research to pick a winner. Guinness.

Two Guinness Extra Stouts and 1 ounce of Makers Mark bourbon came in at a respectable 422 calories. I started off with the 1 once of Maker's while we were all prepping the food and gabbing about a number of topics. After all the food was cooked and ready to devour, we gathered around the table and enjoyed a fine meal.

It was after the meal that I cracked open my 1st Guinness. Pouring the black gold into a pint glass was a beautiful thing to watch. Only made all the more so by the fact that I was about to raise the glass to my awaiting lips and eager tongue. She did not disappoint. I nursed the two stouts for the next two hours and managed to work up a small but giggly buzz bolstered by a fine array of silly and humorous conversation.

I'd like to thank Joe and Spence for their support and mindfulness of my life on the PCP. When it came time to BBQ the communal slab of Delmonico steak we'd all be sharing, a small slice was BBQ'd separately without salt, and without complaint. A wonderful gesture. There was not a dry eye in the house. Nor a drop spared in that pint glass.

Today, Day 27, was a great day by PCP standards. I started my jumps in the sun and in the zone as I knocked out 738 in a row! The Guinness clearly helped! My dinner tonight was solid. I made my famous meatballs today and they were a welcomed addition to the meal. Aruglia, cauliflower, pasta, carrots, and those wonderful meatballs.

P.S. I did not have any of the Newman's marinara sauce in the background. 510mg of sodium! Only 21% of your daily recommended allowance! 5 servings in the jar.

Salt free is where we gonna be!

Day 25 - Pulled up

I had a pretty fair day today. The floor jumps were fun and I felt like a frog. Patrick mentioned the burn after performing the floor jumps and boy, was he right. Something tells me I'm going to feel those in the morning. The tricep dips killed today. The chicken wings were cooked on a slow burn. The V sit ups were a welcomed change and I also felt the burn in all the right places.

But it was before my workout where my significant PCP event of the day happened. Patrick checked in on me to discuss my ability, or lack thereof, performing pull ups. The pull up is something I've struggled to do my entire life. For as long as I can remember. It's one of those ghosts of gym class that have been haunting my thoughts ever since the PCP started. And, I must admit I was accepting those negative thoughts. "It's OK", I told myself, "as long as I concentrate on the other exercises it will work out fine".

Patrick explained to me why the pull up was vitally important to my personal fitness and development. We brainstormed a few ideas to get me on the right track and after our conversation I've decided to put a pull up bar in the apartment so I can work extra weekends. Thanks Pat for helping me shake out some of these old cobwebs up in my attic. I have new focus and knowledge to walk my path.

Day 24 - Walking the plank

The plank is a torture exercise first used in 1484 in a dreary dungeon hidden somewhere in Barcelona during the Spanish Inquisition. Holding the position for 30 seconds for 3 sets would undoubtedly compel the poor soul into confessing to any sin or transgression that was put before him or her.

Fast forward to the year 2010 and you'll find a victim in a gym somewhere in Piscataway, NJ lying on the floor and screaming "WHY GOD? WHY?". Oh, Patrick. You cruel, cruel, man. Who would put the plank right after the shoulder press?!? WHO??? What devious soul would do that? AHHHHHHH!

I confess!!! A confession written in sweat on the gym floor.

Day 23 - Just 5 more...

Just 5 more....Keep your back to the floor....Just 5 more....That's how I was able to get through the last two sets of leg lifts today. The extra sets and reps added to the workout this week is exhausting. My arms were burning during the abs workout and I wasn't even using my arms! Straighting your legs for the triceps dips certainly makes them much, much harder. Muscle failure was imminent on the last set when I stopped and panted "Just 5 more". Just 5 more. Keep the form. Keep the legs straight. Bend your arms in the 90 degree angle. . Breath! Spit! Fight! Just 5 more and then 5 more after that.

It's amazing to look in the mirror and see changes in certain parts of my body that have haunted me since the 6th grade. That's not a joke. That's when I started to get harassed in the locker room for being fat. I'll tell you one thing, it certainly builds character. It feels marvelous to making this progress. I'm willing to go anywhere, provided it be forward. Just 5 more and then 5 more after that.