It's over...?

Alright... it's been several days and, much like the rest of the team, I keep thinking I'll have a nice inspired post to wrap everything up.  I get little pieces of what I want to write, but it doesn't flow the way I want, so now I'll just get going with it.

I went it knowing that I hated eating.  It was a pain to eat regularly and especially tough to eat healthy.  We were eating out all the time, I was skipping meals, etc.  I'm "lucky" in that my body is pretty much okay with that lifestyle, just as it is on PCP.  Of course it's become really clear that the PCP eating style actually provides me with energy, unlike all my previous eating habits.

I dropped a to-go pizza from a local restaurant into my diet this week and, boy, did that drag me down.  The next day I woke up thirsty and sluggish... basically miserable.

Also interesting is that I've continued to crave so many of the things that I thought I'd learn to hate - those egg whites?  They still taste pretty good and I like having them around.  That Greek yogurt?  Oh yeah, that's here to stay.

I have to be honest and say that I'm really happy with the fact that I've gotten a lot more definition to my body, but I still wish it had gotten a little bigger or a little deeper.  This process has certainly been an eye-opener to just how my body reacts to things - exercise and diet don't show up externally, but primarily internally.



Of course a huge component of PCP for me (and Susan) was Olivia.  We've altered our diet and household in such a way that she is exposed to a wide range of good food now.  She's been watching us exercise and will continue to see us exercise.  We've talked about the choices we make and I know it will be something we will have locked into our lives now.

We didn't go out for our celebratory dinner just yet - it's so busy right now - but we did get our fancy dress clothes on...



Again, given that most of my changes were internal, the biggest thing represented here was the fact that I wanted to own a suit that was tailored for me.  This is something I can now fill from the heart - it would have fit 90 days ago, but I wouldn't have carried myself nearly as strongly.

It's going to really, really odd from here - no emails from Patrick, no blogs to read and catch up with my new friends.  It's the team that is really going to be tough leaving... we haven't all been the best bloggers (myself included), but we've certainly bonded through a pretty wild experience. 

I won't miss all the cooking I've done to prepare the massive meals, and that damn scale can get out of the prime counter space.  Chicken can take a bit of a backseat... not too far back, but not something that I'll eat 6 times a day.  (Only joking... kind of.)

Ugh... I feel like I'm rambling...

I think the long and short of it is that I've learned a lot... my body desires and requires a lot of food, and I'm better when I provide it.  I can push through a 90 day exercise routine, and given that I did it for 90, it shouldn't be that hard to lock in a routine moving forward.

Thank you Patrick and Chen for your desire to share your insight with the world.  For bringing strangers together as a family and turning them back to the world as stronger, healthier people.

A very deep and personal thank you to Patrick (again) and his lovely wife for showing me Yokohama and treating me to a fantastic time there.  I felt immediately welcome with you guys and hope that one day we can return the favor.

To Brian Glazer, who also provided me with a warm welcome to a city halfway around the world - a massive thank you and an even bigger congratulations.  It's wild looking at your starting photos.  When we met, you were halfway through the program, but you were also a completely changed man.  I'm so glad to see that the weeks after I left got you even deeper results.  I know it's been a tough road for you, but I also know that the guy I met there at Tameike-Sanno one Sunday afternoon is really dedicated to getting this done right.

Team Orange Crush - congrats to you all.  Reading your banter was a blast, I only wish I'd had the opportunity to connect while I was in Tokyo, but that's a dangerous place to go out!

Team Cookie Monster - Just F**king Do-it will continue to echo through my mind as I feel the burn.  It's been a blast working with such a diverse, motivated and geographically disbursed group.  It was tough losing folks along the way - some for positive reasons (happy baby thoughts Erin!) - other for negative reasons (so sorry you've been so sick Alex C...).  And now, to "lose" everyone to their daily lives will be a bit lonely.

To Susan - thank you for putting up with me, my massive diets, and my overly excited view of PCP.  I'm so glad you decided to come along with me, as I'm not sure how it would have worked without you.

So... I'll leave you with the permanent reminder of my time on PCP.  After these 90 days, I can say that I know my self better... but I'll always be reminded to keep looking.

Thank you all.

Day 90 (Not the final...)

So I just finished my day 90 workout.  The hardest parts?  The waits between sets... so much energy sitting, poised to pound out more.  The energy left over after the workout... again, so much energy, like a coiled spring!

The abs were really the best for a laugh... I can remember how horrible they felt.  Now, after so many days of v-sits, kung-fus, and 8 minute abs, these weren't a problem!

Okay... off to consider what my final post really should be...

Super set me...?

Ugh... super sets are... massively tough.  The shoulder super set was murderous and not something I'll miss.  That's not to say that the other super sets are something I would love to do on a regular basis, but those shoulder ones are hell.

Squeezing day 89's workout in was fun - I was up until 2a after a miserable hockey game, then I worked with a friend to install a new microwave and dishwasher.  I had a couple of hours to clean that up before we had people over for our Christmas tree lighting / decorating.  Add to the mix a snowy day - which shuts down Southern cities like Nashville - and it was tons of fun.  Sara mentioned an 'obstacle course' style set up, which I think describes it very well.

Susan and I haven't set any plans for our celebratory dinner, but I think we'll be doing some post-PCP pictures in our fancy dress outfits just the same.  I'm really excited about Susan's photos, as she shows a lot of difference in her clothes.  Me... meh, I don't have any dimension changes, so I'll just show off the tattoo, muscle definition and fancy clothes.

I haven't gotten to my Day 90 workout yet, but I'm pretty psyched to see how it feels.  I'm also trying to wrap my head around the mental concept of not being within the program's fine guidelines anymore...

So... I'll think about my Day 90 post for a day or so and get back to everyone. 

Last day... wow...

Deciding on ink...

After yesterday's post, Patrick posed the question: "Can you share why you chose that tattoo in that location?"


So I'll answer...


I chose this particular tattoo more than a year ago - I don't remember the circumstances or timeframe, only that it's been printed out and sitting in many locations around my daily life.  Most prominently on my desk at work.  I wager this concept is the standard advice to most anyone that is considering a tattoo.  I've thought of tattoos for years upon years, much like I thought about my motorcycle.  I weighed it's impact on my life, I talked with people that had them regarding it's impact on them, where they had it done, etc. 


I do know that when the idea of 'know thyself' came to me, I didn't want it to be in English... perhaps because I'm exposed to the Roman alphabet all the time, I wanted to do it in some other alphabet.  After a little time with the idea, it only made sense to be in Greek.


The placement - on my chest - was the second choice.  I knew that I wanted it to be in a place where I could see it and be reminded of the concept.  (To truly know oneself is to know the universe)  I initially considered my inside-forearm, but after a few conversations I discovered that it could have a negative impact on a lot of relationships, especially professionally.  That and I could not commit to the idea of always wearing long sleeve shirts like a friend with full tattoo sleeves has.  From the forearm came the chest.  My thigh was considered, but didn't seem to be quite as good a location for being reminded of something.


Even having made these decisions months and months ago, I never committed - never talked to an artist, etc.  Once PCP came along, though, I knew that the program would shake / shape my foundations such that I'd have a clearer picture of myself.  This program, combined with my therapy sessions, have changed me in innumerable ways over the past year or so.  I know that I'll continue to grow, continue be challenged, but I want to mark the occasion with something significant.

Of course, amongst all these things Susan was a consistent - we talked about the message, the meaning, and the placement.  She's been supportive and plans on going along with me to the studio.  It'll be interesting to see how long she sticks around - either she'll be a geek about the process (plenty of similarities to nursing, what with bio-medical prep, etc) or she'll focus on my pain which will eat her alive.

I haven't shared with a wide audience that I'm doing this - still unsure how everyone will react.  But this isn't about others, it's about me... that's why I put it someplace I can actually see it. :)

Wow - that's COLD

Ok - I'm just not down with the sub-freezing jumps.  Can't do it.  I never liked the tiny bit of running I've done in the cold and I just can't get settled with jumps in it either.  It's been chilly lately, but today it was in the mid-to-upper 20s and I barely made it through the first set.  I came inside and finished out the other two, but not without basically stripping down to nothing in order to adjust to the heated interior... yuck.

Moving on... don't you just love the way exercises feel so 'easy' in the first set or two?  And then they start to fade?  And then they start to fail?  Hmmm... I never thought I'd enjoy the feeling of failure quite so much as I do.  Like that last set of pull-ups when your feet won't come off the ground but your brain is sending a massive single to ppppppuuuuuulllllllll.

We're in the final, final stretch... it's such a strange feeling, too.  On the one hand I've been counting and watching and waiting... but on the other its just a black hole of DIY.  I know Patrick has been / will continue setting us up for that black hole, but it'll still be pretty strange.

To answer my friend James' question (and perhaps everyone else's) the tattoo that I'll have in a little more than 36 hours from now:

It's Greek for "Know Thyself".  I spent 5 hours on Saturday watching a coworker get two pieces done by the same guy that will do mine.  It was an odd way to spend a large chunk of Saturday, but it made me more comfortable with the artist, the studio and especially the process.  It did, however, make it clear that mine placement is going to prove to be rather painful... the coworker had his on his calves and indicated with small winces the pain as the needle went over / along the bone.  My chest, despite all the PCP goodness, still has plenty of bone... wheee!

Jump runs & indulgence

So, seemingly counter to the advice for Dec 2 (isn't it strange getting the emails a day "ahead"?) I decided to run through my jump rope session today.  No, not replace the rope with a run, but instead jog while jumping.  I was somewhat inspired by the video I posted and somewhat inspired by watching "the man" do his jumping in Yokohama nearly a month ago.  I decided to give it a go... on top of that, it's actually cold here for the first time of the season (35 when I went outside) and I thought that the extra movement would keep the cold away.

It was generally a success - I count the increased interruptions as an "ok" thing because added cardio from the running... right, right?  It got much harder halfway through the second set, though...


So, on to the indulgence.  It's hard to say if I drifted too far during Thanksgiving - I have a pretty massive set of grams to attend to.  Perhaps some of the dishes were too fatty in one way or another, but for the most part it was protein or veg centered.  The wine would be counted as a drift, of course.  Oh... and I had two Thanksgivings - one local with friends and one with my family a couple hours away. 

So, counting Thanksgiving as a small transgression, we'll call the trip to the Turkish restaurant on Monday the indulgence.  It was the first Monday after a long holiday so the OR was busy, keeping Susan at work a little later than usual.  On top of that was massive amount of rain falling and no one in this town understands how to observe rain but continue to drive.  Given that Susan was running late, I made the trip across town to pick up Olivia, only to find out Susan wasn't going to be as late as she thought.  Instead of making the trek home in the rain and traffic at rush hour, we decided to go a favorite place on that side of town, the Turkish restaurant my sister found just before we moved to Nashville.

I had the baked eggplant with lamb and tomato, a small salad with oil, some bread with oil and a bunch of yummy hot apple tea.  Again, I'm not sure if it was really an indulgence, but it sure was delicious.  I can't say that it had much impact on me... things kept rolling like normal throughout the night...

So... we're in our final 12 days.  It looks like I'm set for a session at the tattoo studio on Wednesday and my suit should as early as Monday.  We'll probably make our celebratory dinner reservations for the Wednesday or Thursday following the end of PCP - an excuse for fancy dress!

It's tough, but the end is neigh!  JFD Cookie Monsters! :D

Oh, and to those we've "lost" - I hope things are rolling along well, in sickness and in health, in sleep depravity and boredom.  We miss you!

Ready for the jump rope show?

You see... I've been in on a little secret since my trip to Japan.

We're all going to meet up in a secret location and do this routine.


Everyone ready?

Time ticks away

Let's see... I'm still a bit wrapped around the "lack of difference" in my body shape, so I decided to take a comparative look, perhaps a little early given that we've got 17 days remaining...

We'll start with the relaxed front shot... comparing 1 and 73.





I apologize for the poor lighting on Day 73, but... ummm... maybe I should quit bitching about a lack of change?  No - it's just one comparison and poor lighting... I really want to argue this point some more.





Hmmm... small changes in the front flex. What about the back?





Some changes there as well... I notice the triceps mostly.

I don't know... the first front photos show a tremendous change. Plus there are those changes that can't be captured by the camera - my hockey playing has gotten so much smoother. That likely has a lot to do with the jump rope, but I'm also a little more stable when getting bumped around.

In more whiny news there is something slightly wrong with my left shoulder. I went to do the da vincis a couple of days ago and felt a horrible pain. I steered clear of the shoulder exercises and I've been generally quite careful with it. I've put a heating pad on it the past few nights, but I've been equally conscious of not letting it's weakness translate into poor form on the exercises. Today's didn't get me into much trouble until the kung fu situps - I got one set done and then it screamed.

I've done some prep for day 90 - I've ordered a suit (per the last post) and I've had a chat with the tattoo artist. Things are falling into place... now it's just pushing through these last couple of weeks to make a big change in my photos. :)

Go Cookie Monsters, go!

After a week…

So it’s been a week since I flew from Japan, and a heck of a week at that.  The jet lag recovery was massively difficult and stretched all the way through Thursday.  Pushing through to get the workout done was certainly in the category of ‘grim enthusiasm.’  Combine that with trying to navigate a method of being a cheerleader for my wife as well as reconstructing my dietary habits.

The trip was amazing and I wouldn’t trade the time I got to spend with Patrick in the midst of the PCP training.  That said, it’s really been a shock to my routine on so many fronts that I wonder a bit if I’m going to get quite everything I had hoped for.  I had a great conversation with Patrick about ectomorphs, those with my body type, and how my body works with a program like this.  I don’t remember vast amounts (I have such a terrible memory), but I do remember him mentioning that my measurements (biceps, chest, etc) weren’t really going to change.  I suppose that’s fine, so long as I the definition I’m forming becomes clear to those that don’t have to see me half-naked. 

I’ve thought a bit about the idea of new clothes and my thinking has certainly been influenced by the trip to Japan.  In Tokyo you see so many guys in these great looking suits – well cut, fitted nicely – and it makes me want to get one.  However… there isn’t much reason for me to have one!  It’d be pretty counter to my “have only what I need,” philosophy that I committed to a few months ago because this suit would just hang in the closet waiting for the perhaps one occasion a year to wear it!

So… grim enthusiasm FTW.  JFD cookie monsters… JFD indeed.

time to fly... mostly

I'll provide the details of my awesome last night in Japan later (likely I'll write on the plane), but for now I'm just waiting for the limo bus to go to the airport. We fly at 530p JST and land at 735p CST. Susan and Olivia will be meeting me there!

Thanks to Brian, Patrick and Patrick's wife whose name I won't even attempt to spell out of respect! :)

Now back home where I can realign my diet and JFD the last 30 days!

Getting toward the end

Alright… it’s Thursday.  Yesterday my boss’s boss’s boss Dave arrived in Tokyo, so we got our first true read-out on our progress.  John B had been pleased for the whole time we’ve been here, but we knew that given the fact that Dave & the Tokyo boss had worked out the trip details they’d be the ones to tell us if we were on the right track.  We met with Dave at 3p and ran through the entire set of work we’ve done…

… and he was happy.  There were only a couple of small edits and he agreed that we were in exactly the right place.  That means we continued to fine tune things the rest of Wednesday evening, will spend all day Thursday doing the same thing, then we’ll spend 3 hours on Friday presenting our findings and recommendations.  That presentation will be for Dave, Antony (Tokyo boss), John B, and the majority of the operations staff.  We expect to have a pretty reasonable discussion of the material.

I’ve struggled with my workout the past couple of days – probably because I’m not eating to the plan nearly as well I hoped or would be at home.  My sleep hasn’t been fantastic either – I am usually awake until 11p or 12a, much later than normal, and then I’m sleeping until 8a, again later than normal.  The bed is nice, but the pillows are odd… maybe the bed is too soft.  I feel pretty sore in my back which I’m attributing to the bed in some degree.

I’m beginning to get pretty excited about coming home now that I know the flight is (basically) 100% locked-in for Saturday.  I took some time last night and this morning to begin packing my luggage.  It’s been a nice trip and I wish I could have done more, but now that I know I’m about to go home, I’m ready for it.  My video call with Olivia this morning was about the best we’ve had – she was really interested in talking to me which is a change from previous calls.  I explained I’d be home soon, but then I realized for her it’s not really… it’s still only Wednesday there.  I did get reminded, though, that my arrival time is pretty reasonable – 7:30p – so I’ll actually get to see them both without having to wake them up.

My goal is to see Patrick again, taking the trip out there on Friday evening.  Unfortunately Patrick is in Yokohama and apparently President Obama will be in Yokohama as well.  I’m hoping that either due to my chosen mode of transport (train) or my timing (early evening) I won’t encounter too much trouble.

JFD team… we’re nearly that magical day 60 where we’re in the last part.  Patrick’s email about grinding through the sets sure is timely…

Wow… time flies!

Ok – trying to slam out a blog post before heading to bed.

Busy times guys.  My work days are around 12 – 14 hours, plus I put in 4 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday.

Wednesday was Zazen with Patrick, then a great dinner… mentioned that already.  Saturday, after working, was a trip to Tokyo Disney Sea.  Fun, but no rides because of massive wait times (2+ hours).  Sunday was mostly sleep catch up until the evening…

… when I rode a train with Brian out to Yokohama to work out with Patrick.  That was a heavy workout – the standard setup, but with ‘the man’ pushing you along.  Because I was there, Brian got his workout “upgraded” to where I was, as well as Andrew from the Japanese PCP who is a week or so behind us.  I felt a little bad for the guys as I’m not sure how I’d feel jumping ahead by a week or more!

It was nice to see that my form was pretty appropriate for the exercises – that was a big worry.  Watching Patrick on the rope was an inspiration and I began to move my feet a little more / better than before.  Everything else was just normal, only pushed a little bit faster than at home.  The whole thing was done in about 45 minutes, whereas I’d say it’s around an hour when I’m at home.

Monday had me back at work and now I’m headed toward sleep.  Oh – I had a streak of 7 meals in a row with fish in them.  It broke at lunch today, but I still think that’s a pretty awesome accomplishment!

At the moment I’m still set for a Saturday afternoon departure, so I’m going to try and get out to see Patrick at least once more – perhaps Friday.

Long days… and I need some help!

I’m trying to knock out a post really quick before breakfast, so if it seems rushed, it is!

Japan is nice, but after my first day of work, I’m finding the workday to be really long for me.  I guess I sort of expected it, but living it was different.  I’m here for a short period of time and it’s for a fairly significant reason, so I need to milk every minute of productivity.  That didn’t however, keep me from working out last night.

Where I need help, though, is on the food front.  Breakfast is working out alright, but it’s really expensive because I’m eating in the hotel buffet.  I have access to great stuff there – lots of fish – but have no idea what my alternatives might be.

Lunch and dinner (expect Wednesday night with Patrick) have been questionable as to meeting my diet needs.  My host is trying really hard, but he’s still an American that hasn’t completely settled into the place, despite having three years.  That and he has never been particularly focused on what he’s eating – he’s just aiming to eat like the rest of the population.

Wednesday night with Patrick opened my eyes to a fantastic meal, but I have no idea how to replicate it despite plenty of Googling this morning.  It was a dinner of saba fish (mackerel), rice, spinach, seaweed, miso and tea.  It was a ‘homemade’ type place where everything was prepared fresh and with care… it was amazingly delicious.

If lunch and dinner are proving tough, let me tell you that the snacks have been even harder…

This place is fun, but I’m a bit lost!

Established in Japan

I'm pretty much settled into the hotel at this point, having completed a workout here and slept a night.  At this point I'm about to head down for the breakfast buffet in the hotel to try and work out my latest version of the diet.  It shouldn't be terrible, I hope, given my portion sizes that are still embarrassingly larger than most everyone elses.  After breakfast should be a short Skype chat with Susan & Olivia (I had expected it to be now, but we mixed things up when I said "tomorrow"... meaning tomorrow in Japan) and then out to the grocery store around the corner to see what I can grab.

After that I'll spend some time wandering around Roppongi or perhaps jump on the subway to see what trouble I can get into.  We'll meet up with our host around noon for some more wandering in concert with discussion work stuff.

Wish me luck on my 2 hours of Japanese language lessons. :)

For those that are local, I've got a local cell number.  I won't post it on the internet for the world to see, but you can email me (it's just PCIan, if you know what I mean) and I'll pass it back to you.  Can't wait to see everyone!  Oh yeah, I'm planning on hitting Yokohama this evening for the Zazen if anyone wants to join me.

About to board the flight to Narita. Should arrive around 2p JST / 12a CST. Olivia is apparently a confused despite plenty of talk. Will Skype w/ her tmrw.

Preparing…

So I got final confirmation of my trip to Japan yesterday afternoon when the tickets were finally purchased.  Of course, I guess it isn’t final until I’m actually on a plane, but it’s a lot further knowing the tickets are ‘in hand.’  My company is known to be rather flexible in regards to travel plans… sometimes you think you’re going and your not… sometimes you don’t know you’re going and your are… sometimes you think you know how long, but it’s more.

I headed into my closet, dug out out my remaining ‘nice’ pants and found they all fit – a perk of travelling while under the influence of PCP.  I also discovered that I only had a couple of dress shirts that I’d care to wear, so today was spent in discount stores grabbing a few more, plus some dress shoes that are better than I have today.  My wardrobe in the US office isn’t going to fly in the Japan office.

I plan on crashing the Team Orange Crush party there in Tokyo by inserting my Team Cookie Monster self into their homebase.  Honestly, I’m quite excited to have a chance to meet both Patrick as well as some contingent of the other half of our project!  It’s been a blast telling people around the office that I’ve got 10 people to meet when I get to Japan.  (Bill thanks for the invite, as I will take you up… but do you commonly invite people to JBlo’s flat?)

I don’t know that I’ll get much free time in the country, but I’m planning on sneaking out to the studio in Yokohama at least once, preferably on Wednesday for the meditation class.  I’ll be in Roppongi, apparently a bit of party place, but Patrick and Bill have both said it shouldn’t be hard for me to keep the diet going.  At this point I land on Tuesday around 2p, so I should get to experience a couple of eating times pretty quickly.  Oh… and apparently Wednesday is a holiday, so I’ll get a nice quiet start to my work in that office.

We’ve rallied the local friends to make sure they can help support Susan and Olivia while I’m away – we only have an aunt that’s local when it comes to family, so the easy babysitters like grandparents aren’t really available to us.  They are, of course, on standby and will drive up if required.

In other news…

*** Warning – Disgusting Digestive Stuff Ahead ***

… it seems my guts are rebelling at the moment.  I’ve been enjoying the expected easy and regular bowel movements that come along with our diet, but within the last day or so I’ve become rather unsettled.  Firm has moved to softer.  Calm and happy guts have shifted to roiled and gassy.  I had to make a brand shift on my Greek yogurt, and it’s the prime suspect.  I’m lactose intolerant, but I’ve not had any problems so far with the Fage brand, but Dannon… they may have gotten me.

Speaking of shifting brands of yogurt… I had to switch because the closer grocery store doesn’t carry Fage and I was out.  I initially pulled “Greek Gods” (or something similar) from the cooler, only to discover that they had basically no protein in there.  I don’t understand what the heck they did to screw that up, but luckily I read it before purchase, otherwise it would have been a general waste of time and money.

*** End disgusting stuff ***

I haven’t gotten to my exercise for the day, so I’m going to try and knock that out amongst my upset stomach and the sleepiness creeping up.  Tomorrow I have to dress up as Shaggy (from Scooby-Doo) for the office Halloween trick-or-treat for the local elementary school.  After that I’m judging the office costume contest.  And finally, I take Olivia to the doctor to catch up her immunizations so she can stay in daycare beyond tomorrow… a small detail.

Saturday we’ll drive halfway to Chattanooga to meet my mom so I can borrow my sister’s nice luggage for my trip.  We’ll likely head to the zoo that evening for the Halloween party there with some friends.  Sunday will be my mad scramble to get prepared for the Monday 6:45a flight… busy, busy.

So… off to JFD.  Keep it up Cookie Monsters.

Grim indeed.

Wow, this has been a tough week.  The food isn’t changing much in it’s weights and my creativity is waning.  I did well with a turkey breast a few weeks ago, but this time it got dry, so I’m having to muscle through that.  I re-tried the ground turkey breast “sausage” but that was dry without baking it, so that has also not been too pleasant.

The past few weekends have been busy which puts a strain on the food prep for the week.  I’ve had to cobble a meal or two together based on little bits of stuff hanging around the house.  Needless to say, eating has been a pain in the butt.

The exercise has been okay, and having things change up has been helpful to keeping me interested.  I did Saturdays routine at my sister’s house despite a number of people there for a hockey viewing party.  My sister / brother-in-law are used to it, so they didn’t blink… the others didn’t say anything either.

Work hasn’t exactly provided a respite from the busy times – I finally made a role change that I had announced 3 months ago, but only now had the opportunity to make the transition.  (We had to find my replacement)  It’s a welcome change to my professional life, as I’ll be moving out of management and back into an individual contributor role.  Finally I’ll once again be responsible for only myself. :)

That said, my first assignment has come as a bit of a shock.

I’ll be going to Japan, Tokyo specifically.

It seems they could use some help on the ground there with the type of work I’ve been doing as a manager for the past year.  As such, I’ll be (supposedly) travelling there as early as Monday the 1st and staying for 2 (I suspect 3) weeks.  It’s a pretty big deal to be selected for this gig, as it’s not a trip we take very often.  We’ll be going in to help out a somewhat ‘rough’ IT situation, so there is plenty of visibility involved.  And here I thought my new job would get me out of the spotlight…

So now Susan and I are racking our brains over how to work out our lives with a sense of normalcy despite my not being around.  We’ve had a great routine going to make sure our exercises get done, so now we’ll have to adapt – Susan more so than I probably.  She does have the distinct advantage of small, low-prep dinners whereas I need to sort out how to find 5 pounds of food in a foreign country everyday.  Granted, Tokyo shouldn’t be too tough to find food and protein in the form of fish should be simple, a nice change from my birds.

Well… sorry for my absence from the scene lately – I’ll try to do better.  I need to get some reading done, too, as a reminder that we’ll all (likely) struggling at this point in the program.  Oh – and pictures too…

oh man... i'm tired

wow. just... wow.

i dont know when i last posted, as i didnt look before starting this one.  i'm typing on my phone, which reminds me how terrible mobile support is on blogger.

so, eating. well, not eating so much as preparing. it sucks. i am so worn out with cooking and weighing right now.  i continue to amze all those around me with my tupperware towers at work.  eating is fine, so long as i stick to the schedule - today was tough because i  did a lot of interviews and i figure its not nice to stuff your face at the first time someone sees your company.

time is another tough one.  right now as soon as i get home from work, i make sure susan can get started on her workout, then i start eating my preworkout and do a staggered start.  once we wrap up, i eat my post workout and start to prepare dinner.  maybe i eat first and maybe i put olive to bed first.  either way, as i eat dinner i'm likely preparing the many containers for the next day.  when that done, its time to sleep.  i've been nonstop for a week or two, so its getting rough.  susan is stepping now that her dinner is "simple" so that helps a lot.

the exercises are progressing steadily. i would have photos from tonight but the camera battery is dead... after two shots.

there is plenty more to dicuss - a freezing motorcycle ride, a great honor from a friend, etc - but i'll do that later.

jfd cookie monsters.

A few other things...

It's late, I should be in bed, but I'm a bit wired and wanting to catch up.

1) Jump Rope today - I GOT CROSS-OVERS!  It wasn't a lot and there were only a couple of times that I was able to pull off a series, but boy that made it a ton of fun trying.  I also tried single leg, but that just couldn't last more than one or two jumps.  I also got back into being able to go really fast - fast enough that I can't say the whole number in a single rotation.  It's a fun change, but not something I can sustain for long periods.  Needless to say, the jump rope is out of the naughty corner in my mind. 

I did notice one small detail about the improvement - when I jump in the dawn / dusk light, I can't see the rope and suddenly I'm much better.  It's not as if I'm concentrating on the jump, but somehow its different.

2) I'm considering a pretty massive trip next fall.  Susan and I are still negotiating the terms between ourselves and I'm still reading up on the destination so I know this is the thing I really want to do. 

The "massive" destination?  The Annapurna Sanctuary in Nepal.  It would be through REI, done with Sherpa and pack animals, but still a pretty big deal, given the elevation change and the 6 hour daily hike.  I've done a 4 day 6+ hour hike carrying my own gear (in New Zealand) with some elevation changes, but not an ascent from 5000' to 13,500'.

I'm figuring, though, that my PCP body should hold up to the challenge, and given that it probably won't happen for a year from now, it'll be great inspiration to stay in solid shape through to that time.

My other target would be good ol' Fuji... maybe that's 2012 when all three of us visit Japan - if that's the destination we decide on for our family international vacation...

Did you ever wonder...

What my breakfast / lunch looks like, given that I'm eating like a race horse?



That's turkey breast (B / L), quinoa pasta (L), apple / raisin / cinnamon couscous (MS), two eggs (MS, AS), greek yogurt (AS), whole wheat bagel (B), the same couscous (B), tomato (B), corn / carrots / snap beans (L).  This excludes the kiwi as part of my MS.

That's 4 of 8 eating opportunities in my day.  Not pictured are the before / after workout, dinner, and evening snack.

I spent a lot of time tonight (with help from my lovely wife) preparing the next block of food to make it through the week. A few things amaze me from this...

1) I can eat all this
2) I don't feel uncomfortably full, only pleased
3) My body is handling all of this food - I've seen little impact on my weight
4) I have enough tupperware to carry this stuff to work 5 days a week...