March 11, 2012 7:35 AM HKT

and we're done

That's it for the repeak!
Killed off the last workout with my son attempting to "help" me by adding some obstacles.
Air chairs are the new suck. Won't be doing those again anytime soon!
Stats: waist is down to about 79cm, weight is pretty stable at 68.8k, so I must have put on a serious quantity of muscle, because my pants are most definitely loose and my shirts are most definitely tight.
I think I actually added the most muscle on my back and legs. I am having a real problem finding jeans that fit; anything I can get my legs into, the waist is way too big.
I think the repeak did just what it was supposed to do; brought back the discipline necessary to get back into shape. Lots of cardio every day, but then again I guess that's the point.
Best thing about the repeak was getting the flu right in the middle. Not the healthiest way to drop weight quickly, but it worked!
Now I just have to figure out what I need to do to stay like this; at the very least want to to kill my yearly health check in August, so I will have to stay strong through the spring and summer.
I messed around quite a bit with the diet, going off track a couple times with a slice of pizza, etc. I think I know enough to eat well week to week, even if I have big night every now and then. Also timing the meals with workouts makes a big difference.
Rest of the cohort looking good, well done gents -- everyone had some issue to deal with so I wasn't the only one with an imperfect repeak. But that's life and getting it sorted through complications is the whole point. Perfection is an asymptote: can approve it but never reach it!

March 9, 2012 5:58 AM HKT

T-2

This morning I was very proud of my first set of kung-fu sits; legs were practically straight all ten reps, I wasn't swinging around, nice clean movements...the rest of the workout was the typical shambles. Knighthood pull-ups are just gnarly, weighted chest dips FTW...also I realized now that my backpack is HEAVY. I am using my actual emergency prep backpack, so it has 4 bottles of water, plus a bunch more water in packs, canned break, flashlight, emergency kit, etc...haven't weighed it but I am guessing at least 20 kilos, because it WAY heavier than my 15 kilo kid. Oops?
Speaking of weight, no idea what mine is, but the suit pants remain loose, the six-pack is in full effect (especially in the morning, after workout, before eating!), and I am feeling good.

Except for the MONSTER desire to eat one, single, solitary piece of 86% dark chocolate.

I have also dialed in Frijoles meal perfection: a ren special chicken fajita burrito = no rice, minimal (pinto) beans, regular quantity of chicken, double serving of grilled fajita veg (bell peppers and onions), extra corn salsa, regular tomato salsa, double heaping of lettuce, and instead of guacamole, half an avocado sliced up.
The avocado instead of guac was actually Roy's (the owner and president of Frijoles) suggestion and it's brilliant because I get all the flavor without all the crap that goes into turning an avocado into guacamole. And since it's so packed with lettuce and veg, it is a seriously filling meal.

Anyway looking forward to not ever doing the block4-A workout again!

March 6, 2012 9:43 PM HKT

last blast

There is now only one half-block cycle to go.
I have no fear of crushing the exercises every morning; getting up at 5:30am is just how it's done.
However work is crushing me back. Launched a nice CB tonight so I left the office after 10pm, and (full disclosure) I did in fact partake slightly n the celebratory pizza.
My attitude towards the whole diet concept is basically: get it right on a week-by-week basis.
This is not always a safe nor certain strategy. As has been pointed out many times, we fallible humans have a tendency to guesstimate and pay-it-forward badly; misjudging our ability to go easy tomorrow to balance the excess of today.
However I do think I've done a pretty good job this past post-flu week, and if I can keep this up I will call it a successful repeak.
No idea what I weigh; I suspect it's still way above my PCP and even 6WC ending weights, but even my skinny suit pants fit just fine and I see the hint of a vein on my lower abs. Veiny Abs being the Holy Grail of body fat in my book.
When this is all done I will hit the local health food store that sports a really high-tech scale. For 500 yen it will give me my weight and body fat percentage -- per limb! Curious to see what it says; I suspect I still have some inner gut fat, but anyway my waist is about is small as it's gonna get and I feel pretty strong so I'm not too bothered.
I WILL however partake in some serious chocolate binging when this is over.
Chocolate...
Dark chocolate...
86% dark chocolate...with a side of pizza.

March 4, 2012 8:11 AM HKT

Block 4, workout "eh?!"

I am redubbing the Block4 A workout "bar hell", since I seem to spend all my time hanging from the damn thing grunting and sweating.
A potential cheat/trick for knight pull-ups: I do the first couple sets with my fingers laced, but by the 3rd set my fingers are killing me, so I just grab the bar with both hands, and on sets alternate which hand is in front.

And instead of using a sissy weighted backpack, I just grab my almost 3-year old son:

March 2, 2012 5:23 AM HKT

block 4 ftw

Damn, who turned up the ftw?! Block 4 is a serious jump in intensity; flashblacks of 6WC.
I too managed to achieve the 500 challenge...except doing a 4 minute speed rope not 3 minutes. Oh well, nobody's perfect.
Glad I installed the pull-up bar in my apartment; got lotsa mileage out of it today.
Much failure: knight's pull-ups, handstand push-ups, weighted push-ups...I think I am fairly well recovered from the flu, so this must just be not-repeaked-yet.

New menu is looking thicker, too. I get veggies again for dinner again as opposed to apple and egg whites!
Still 6 egg whites a day though...need to go do some boiling.

March 1, 2012 5:12 AM HKT

j-blo is my hairless hero

In honour of The Great Waxed One, I have decided to depilate in preparation for my post-flu Block 4 photo.
Given the extreme whiteness of the parts of my body that don't normally get daylight exposure, sunglasses are suggested.

February 29, 2012 5:26 AM HKT

leap day

How appropriate that today was both jumping lunges and floor jumps.
Hopefully today will be a bit better than yesterday.
I felt OK until about 10:30am, at which point I literally felt like my blood sugar was so low I was going to pass out.
Immediately jacked myself up with one of those nasty bagel-ham sandwiches from Tully's. It worked, sort of. Then I just felt mildly nauseous.
Anyway I have probably so massively under-eaten over the past week I really need to get my strength back. Ran out of egg whites so had to purchase from the combini -- too salty!
Walked home last night and got home early enough that the kids were still up, so I killed off my fruit snack (with sweet potato; sorry but I needed something more filling!) and went to bed.
Getting plenty of sleep this past week that's for sure!
Will still take it easy today and tomorrow, and then pulling out all the control rods for a proper chain-reaction Block4!

February 28, 2012 5:27 AM HKT

And we're back

First of all I would like to thank the miracle of modern medicine that is Tamiflu.
Secondly, like Patrick said the flu is a not fun way to get skinny real fast.
After a weekend of basically solid sleep, interspersed with a meal once a day or so, my fever is gone and the type A is kicked.
Did the exercises this morning and felt okay. Body is well rested but still not 100%, and I probably lost some muscle mass too over the long sleep.
Will see if I am up for a long walk today for cardio, and will do my best to stay on diet, though I really am not very hungry.
Probably won't be too hard to keep this skinny on, maybe just need to put on some bulk in the last block. We shall see.
At least I know my flu shot was worthless, so I got that going for me.

February 25, 2012 9:37 AM HKT

Type A

Not personality, influenza.
Taking tamiflu, dead for the next 3-5 days.
This. Sucks.

February 24, 2012 5:25 AM HKT

spring is in the air

Spring = pollen, or something. Wife and kids all coughs and sore throats, woke up this morning to feel that old familiar scratch in the throat. Hoping it's just hay fever as (hoping again) winter starts giving way to spring.

And what Fish said, only times 10. Leafy greens + multiple egg-whites a day = serious gas.
Like no, serious.
When my almost 3-year old, who finds ALL bodily functions the single most hilarious thing on the planet, when HE runs from the room screaming "Papa stinky!" we know we have an issue.
I feel sorry for anyone who gets into an elevator after me.

February 23, 2012 5:21 AM HKT

spirit vs letter

I am cranking on the exercises. Haven't missed a morning session yet.
Cardio I get either in the dojo, the gym, fighting at lunch, and/or taking big walks to/from work, with the kids in the park all day....
Diet: I guess I am following the spirit of the diet, if not the letter. The "problem" is it seems to be working so I am not so motivated to be more strict. That ways lies the slippery slope...need to tighten it up, especially dinner and evening snacks.
Yesterday for whatever reason I was massively low on carbs, and came home at night properly hungry.
Wife and kids did home-made pretzels for dinner, so I sampled. Damn fine, and just what I needed. But not quite the AMAYW fruit evening snack.
So I am thinking banana-fried egg whites tonight, side of apple slices and cinnamon powder for dipping.

Also still have a fridge full of valentine's day chocolate. I need to just start bringing it to work and leaving it on the snacks desk so other people will eat it. Outta site, outta mind!

February 21, 2012 5:32 AM HKT

Block 3!

Got the Block 3 exercises; air chairs are the new suck. Legs just keep falling! Rear pull-ups are tough, too. My pull-up bar is only doorframe width, so it's tough to extend my elbows out enough to get up so that the bar is behind my head. But anyway I can barely get up that high anyway so it's a work out.
New diet: AMAYW veggies is nice. AMAYW fruit for evening snack? Sweet! Guess that is balanced out by the egg-whites and apple dinner. I see much evening fruit in my future.
Block 3 start photo hasn't unlocked yet so will upload last night's photo when it's open.

February 20, 2012 5:34 AM HKT

Half way there...

Oh, oh, livin' on a prayer...bringing a little 80's Bon Jovi love to keep the energy levels up!
Half way repeaked as of tomorrow.
Just knocked out the 2-C mini-chisel; feeling those flapjacks in my thighs. Manned up for the humping planks by just bum-rushing straight for 2 minutes. That burned.
Diet was a shambles this weekend; after taking mom to the airport bus so she could return to NY, came home and bundled up the family for a proper lunch of pizza and gnocchi. Actually I managed to stick to a salad, veggie sticks, and a couple slices of marinara, so probably over on carbs and too much oil, but not bad in general.
Then headed over to Tokyo Dome Hall to watch my buddy in his retirement MMA fight, then ended up in Shinjuku eating pickled veggies and grilled chicken before calling it a night. Had some left over veggies before bed.
Sunday we hit the park for a couple of hours, then ended up at wife's favorite Italian place. Had a killer white asparagus salad and some old-school pasta with beef bits. Again probably over-carbed but good on veggies. Gave my daughter my chocolate cake slice and she loved me all the more.
Then we walked from Nishi-Azabu to Hiroo and back home while the little one slept and the big one borrowed his kick-scooter.
Dinner was home-cooked veggies; spinach with garlic, baked sweet potato, bell peppers, steamed broccoli...

February 18, 2012 7:29 AM HKT

Cheated...ish

So my mom finally left Japan this morning after six weeks in country.
Yesterday took a friend at work out for a celebratory lunch (she got promoted) so we did lawry's salad bar.
Probably too much oil in the dried tomatoes and on the salmon, but otherwise I had a fine plate of spinach leaves piled high with baby carrots, broccoli, bell peppers, and garlic chips. LOTS of garlic chips.
Then for dinner mom wanted yakiniku, so we hit the local Korean BBQ joint. Had a big salad, a bunch of namuru, grilled veggies, and some grilled beef. Again probably too much oil on the namuru veggies, but I think I did ok.
Will take it as easy as I can on the food today, but heading to korakuen to see a friend's MMA fight, so the post fight celebratory dinner might be tricky...

February 17, 2012 5:24 AM HKT

snacking

Have not had an unplanned, proper, diet-busting snack in 17 days. Thinking back to the random bit-of-chocolate here and yummy-cracker there, it all added up obviously.
I find I get bored or zoned out at work, and then think "hungry", but really I'm not actually hungry. For some reason I have some brain-wiring amiss, and "I am sick of doing this continuously uninspiring task" becomes "Mmm, bacon!"
Forcing myself to do something other than reach my hand into the cookie jar helps. Regularly planned apple slices and egg whites help, too. Not trying the latest overly sweetened, artery-clogging frappuccino probably helps the most.
Sadly, my experiment with caffeine as an appetite suppressant ended as badly as I feared.
A morning coffee powers me through to lunch, and then just when I start hitting that 3-4pm zoning-out-need-chocolate time, the caffeine wears off and I get standard withdrawal headache. Really bad timing.
The solution is either Starbucks' unacceptably bad decaf (don't even ask me about the undrinkable sludge Tully's produces), lukewarm green tea from the free vending machine, or some foofy tea thing like "hibiscus blend" or "lady's armpit" or whatever. Actually the teas are often kinda nice.

A piece of chocolate would help, though. Seriously, how about a mini-indulgence after Block2?

February 15, 2012 9:11 PM HKT

protein

C-day schizzle, knocked it out at 5:30am as per usual. I am the opposite of Fish; hate the flapjacks, don't mind the scoop pushes, and for some magical reason my squat jumps be on FAIYA! Seriously, knocked them out in nearly trip-free succession. FTW?!
Did two of the four sets straight through, then took a break, then knocked out two more. That got the blood pumping.
Abs work was good, too. Feeing that last set of leg raises burning down below the belly button; always have trouble hitting that lower ab area. Hump planks I just manned up and did a solid 2 minutes no stopping. My trick is breath control: breathe in and raise for five seconds, breathe out and hump down for five seconds. Repeat. Because of the humping I (kind of) feel like I am getting a break, but the last 2 seconds of lowering and yeah I'm shakin' like a crack whore with an empty pipe.
Had a reasonably big lunch with the wife and sick daughter: italian ham at our favorite new place, Panino Giusto in Roppongi (right next to Frijoles.) They have some nice big salads with no dressing, just drizzle on the balsamic vinegar, and finish it off with a nice plate of ham and a couple freshly baked, warm bread slices. Probably too much salt in the ham, but damn is it tasty and five year-old daughter can power through an entire plate of 3 different hams all by herself. Go girl!
After work I walked up to Roppongi crossing and did a workout at Body Plant; some weights and balance work and 30 minutes of light cardio before heading home.
Desparately craving protein so dinner was some boiled spinach, a couple chunks of baked pumpkin, and some of mama's genuine Jewish Italian meatballs; baked not fried, minimal breadcrumbs and no added salt. Damn but my mom knows how to make a seriously good meatball.

February 15, 2012 5:06 AM HKT

lunch fight club

Never mind the 5:30am repeak workouts, and the walking to and from work.
This is what really kicks my ass several times a week: fight club where I am obviously WAY outta my weight class.

Photos

February 14, 2012 5:18 AM HKT

auspicious 14

Happy Valentine's Day.
Also happens to be my wedding anniversary, and as luck would have it, my 14th at that.
For all you guys in Japan, stay strong when presented with all those psuedo-coerced giri chocolates. Just stick them in fridge and binge once the repeak is done! Or give them to your lovely wife; she'll NEVER figure out where you got them from.

By golly but that's alot of v-sits this morning. When I get tired I raise my upper body more than my legs and get all out of sync. And so when I concentrate on raising my legs more I really REALLY feel the burn in the lower abs.
DaVincis just burn and burn all the way through; forgotten how much the shoulders smolder.

When I finish my ab workout, lying there on my back panting, my six-looks pretty good.
However when I am doing my planks and I look down, I see that lovely gut hanging down in all its glory. At least I decided to just man up and power through one 2-minute plank. By the last 30 seconds I am shaking like a heroine addict, but it burns good!

Walked to and from work yesterday; over an hour round-trip. Will do some fighting today at lunch and then hit the dojo after work for a bit. Probably walk home, too just to keep burning carbs.
Was feeling slothenly yesterday morning so indulged in a soy latte; no too many unnecessary calories but damn the caffeine lit me up like a Christmas tree! Gotta be careful with that drug. Maybe stick with something less potent, like a lovely cuppa tea.

February 13, 2012 6:23 PM HKT

egg whites

I share once again my wife's recipe for The Perfect Hard-Boiled Egg.
Note that I take absolutely ZERO credit for this. She told me what to do, I do it.
The result is a hard egg-white, not overly rubbery, with an orange ball of squishy yolk nowhere near the chalky nastiness of an obviously over-boiled egg.

Boil enough water to cover the eggs completely.
When the water is boiling, wet the eggs and put them in the boiling water.
Cover and boil for 4 minutes.
Kill the heat, leave covered and just sitting there for 8 minutes.
Dump the hot water, pour in cold water so the eggs are sitting in cold water for 1 minute.
Peel immediately.

To successfully peel hard-boiled eggs:
First, do NOT hard-boil fresh eggs. Use eggs that have been sitting in the fridge for a couple of days.
Second, peel the eggs whilst they are completely submerged in water. The water will get in there between the egg white and that thin membrane just under the shell, and then just help the shell and membrane to separate from the egg white without ripping the egg white to bits.

February 12, 2012 8:28 AM HKT

weekend brunches

Two weekend brunches make the diet a bit tricky.
Started Block2 yesterday morning no problem. Combined breakfast and lunch into brunch; went to R Cafe at Roppongi Hills. Kid-friendly mainly-veggie buffet. Loaded up on veggies, under on carbs.
Dinner was a bit trickier; went to the new Italian Ham place and had awesome protein, a bit over on the daily carbs because of the panini bread, and an awesome salad.
Net for the day I was probably OK; got my fruit snacks and egg-whites in and spent all day walking around.
Had a bit of a hay-fever attack in the afternoon so was feeling kinda crappy, but NyQuil + 10 hours of sleep = crazy delicious.
Another brunch today, so again combining breakfast and lunch and will try to be good about dinner, too.

More pistol squats means more suck.
And double katanas? Dude, are you trying to pick all the exercises from PCP that I hated the most, eh?

February 11, 2012 8:14 AM HKT

block 2

Good to start a new block on a Saturday. Slept in late (7am) so had a full night's rest.
Family was up watching morning cartoons so I dove in. Exercises were doable. Definitely a notch up from Block1. Feeling the burn on the shoulders, legs feeling much stronger.
Will meet friends for brunch so combining breakfast and lunch.
New diet is obviously moving into the Build Muscle stage; hello egg-whites!
Second photo is up, too -- haven't been weighing myself as I don't particularly care. But my waist is down from 81cm to 79cm. Targeting 75cm so reasonably on track.

Last night walked home from Shinbashi; nearly an hour. Today will do much walking with the family and kids, so not terribly worried about the cardio. Just need to stick to the diet.
And since today is Saturday, the kids get chocolate. But I do not.

February 10, 2012 5:30 AM HKT

block 1, I hardly knew ya

And that is the end of 25% of RePeak!
Definitely feeling the difference. Will take a new photo to end Block 1 and Start Block 2 tomorrow.
Feeling solid; moving at a good pace, not over-doing anything. Taking one day at a time.
This morning was just too tired so I slept in until 6am and was half-dreaming all kinds of excuses to do the workout at the gym at lunch, or at night after work; bring my shoes to the office, get a change of workout gear and a towel...and thinking/dreaming threw it I realized it would just be easier to get my lazy ass UP and go do it.
So I did.
BTW did I mention how much I love brussel sprouts? Seriously. Food of the Gods. Right up there with 86% dark chocolate on the list of Things That Make the Universe Awesome.

http://www.giveyourmeat.com/2012/02/brussel-sprouts.html

February 9, 2012 5:09 AM HKT

sick!

Seems like there's another flu-thing going around. Kids at school are sniffly, co-workers dropping like flies...think I'll wear a mask today during my commute, just in case the salaryman or OL next to me decides to sneeze my general direction.
Woke up this morning with my throat a bit scratchy. Then again waking up at 5:30am isn't all roses and ponies. Also, I don't think I'm drinking enough water in general, so I will make a concerted effort to always have a nice cup of tea on hand. Getting dehydrated would definitely suck. Plus it helps keep away hunger cravings.
Will probably fight club today at lunch, which is such an obscene amount of work that I easily deserve the burrito I will have for lunch afterwards! And anyway tonight I will be in the dojo for a couple of hours swinging swords and sticks, so it should all net out to the health-positive.
All y'all take care; over-doing it and getting sick or hurt right when we're about to finish Block1 will not do much good!

February 8, 2012 9:40 PM HKT

yer basic wednesday

Of course my 9am meeting this morning: rescheduled. Had a productive day; a bit tired for only sleeping 5 hours but made it through. Skipped strenuous exercise this evening; back still feeling not-great, so I took a nice 40-minute walk home from work, and it even snow-flurried a bit!

Mom and wife came by for lunch, so had the awesomely Peak-friendly Lawry's salad bar. Another thing I had forgotten from PCP and am now remembering: a single medium (not large!) salad plate filled with spinach and other awesome veggies, topped with garlic chips instead of dressing for flavor, is totally delicious. And after eating it, chit-chatting with my ladies for 5 minutes, I felt full. Not bloated and about to pass-out food-coma, just satiated. Satisfied. Energized.
Like the man says: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

However, I still miss chocolate.
I carry on with my own kids the childhood tradition my parents did with me since I was born in Sweden: Lördagsgodis.
So every Saturday I watch my kids eat some stupendous piece of rich, dark chocolate. And I have a piece of apple with some cinnamon.

February 8, 2012 5:16 AM HKT

the morning after

Congrats to those who got promoted. To those whose bonus sucked...welcome to The New Wall Street?
Anyway didn't end up going out big last night; had a total of two umeshu on the rocks over the course of the evening. Met some old friends and new, caught up on gossip, and was in bed by midnight.
5:30 alarm this morning was almost ignored; lying there telling myself I could catch up on the workout at lunch, after work, etc...but that there is a slippery slope!
Yesterday at lunch I went to fight club for the first time in a week, and was so tired afterwards I figured I earned a PCP-friendly buritto so that was lunch.
Grandpa brought over some amazing sweet potatoes this past weekend so baked them and putting them into my bentos.

Yesterday's food:
http://www.giveyourmeat.com/2012/02/carrot-onion-omelet-whole-wheat-fig.html
http://www.giveyourmeat.com/2012/02/post-fighting-buritto.html
http://www.giveyourmeat.com/2012/02/dinner_07.html

February 7, 2012 5:16 AM HKT

rain?!

Cold is tolerable when it's snowing, but rain?
Sucks almost as much as pistol squats.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I only drink alcohol once a year, and tonight is the night. I plan on sidling up to some greasy local watering whole and getting my umeshu on. But don't worry, I'll be drunk in 15 minutes and passed out in another 10, and I'll stick to the grams for meals.
Not sure about the 5:30am wake-up tomorrow though...

February 5, 2012 8:16 AM HKT

grams

Did the C workout this morning no problem (except for my two-year old son deciding he needed to suck up my nipples with the toy vacuum cleaner whilst I was doing v-sits.) I guess after 6WC, it's all relatively "easy".
First day of grams yesterday I was spot in AM, then we went out all day; didn't measure but had excellent veggie balance with a salad and veggie sticks as my family inhaled pasta and pizza.
Cut up and weighed apples for my snacks, bagged them into ziplocs...and forgot them in the fridge.
So after checking out the awesome Kuniyoshi wood block print exihibit at the Mori Museum, we had a fruit smoothie type snack thing. I did soy base with banana and a touch of black sesame. Not the best substitute for actual fruit, but it was all I snacked on all day.
For dinner my sister-in-law cooked an awesome chicken; pan-seared and then dropped the whole bird into a huge pot with carrots, onions, and potatoes, doused it all in spices, and cooked/steamed for an hour. Also had sides of oven-baked pumpkin and onion chunks. Skipped the rice.
The dinner grams were enough and I didn't feel hungry going to bed, but I was hungry this morning!
Put some of the onion and pumpkin into an egg & egg-white omelet and sided it with some leftover pancakes.
http://www.giveyourmeat.com/2012/02/pumpkin-onion-omelet-pancake-bits.html

February 4, 2012 8:47 AM HKT

pistol squats suck

Other than that, all lovely.
After some more minor technical hiccups, got the diet dialed in, so I'm grammin'.
Seems like doable amounts.
The best part is it takes the thinking out of it; just measure it out, pack it in tupperware, and eat.
I suspect most of the benefit will be NOT eating the random bits and bobs not part of the diet; the occasional senbei here and chocolate there, the soy chai latte or manju...mmm, manju...

Breakfast:
http://www.giveyourmeat.com/2012/02/carrot-and-bellpepper-omelet-pancake.html

February 3, 2012 5:15 AM HKT

routine

Feels like I am already back in my routine. Wake up at 5:30, get the coffee maker started, jump rope.
I think I finally woke up somewhere around the middle of the workout; managed to zombie through it until the muscle burn and smell of coffee finally got my brain started.
No one has woken up yet either so instead of dodging children I am simply contemplating my existence as I repeak.
Will be nice to finally get some gram guidance; too much mental effort required to think about meals.

February 1, 2012 9:03 PM HKT

a good end to a sketchy start

Woke up this morning at 5:30am, checked the website and...made my kids' breakfast, got them dressed, prepared for work...and by the time I was out the door with the kids I had forgotten to eat breakfast and still didn't know the plan for the day.
Finally got the technical issues sorted by lunchtime, had a lovely (way too spicy, I said "mild" not "bring it on!") thai curry for lunch, a frijoles special for dinner (chicken fajita buritto, no rice, no chips on the side, just chicken, lettuce, protein, and avocado) and walked 40 minutes home from work in the freezing cold.
Opened a letter from the IRS saying I STILL owe them money from 2010 even though they cashed the goddamn check three weeks ago, so in a huff I started the workout.
Jumping sucks. Or, more accurately: I do.
What happened to my pull-ups?
The rest was fine; kung fu sit-ups are annoying because my arms give out before my abs do. Also still slightly recovering from a back (shoulder blade) injury so the push-ups were doable but not exactly fun.

And I still end my workouts sitting in a wide-angle forward-bend pecking away at the keyboard; a little Kung Fu Body lesson that I've taken to heart. Everything ends better in a wafb.

Anyway now that we are dialed in and I got my marching orders from PCP-30, I got a fridge full of veggie, a plan, and an alarm clock set for 5:30am!

February 1, 2012 5:01 AM HKT

starting stats

Don't have much faith in weight as a good measurement of progress anymore.
Haven't weighed myself in ages, and when I did, it seems I am a few kilos below pre-PCP weight from back in the day.
However my suits generally still fit and I know my shoulders, arms, chest, and back have more muscles, and I have the semblance of a four-pack in the right lighting when I wake up in the morning.
So I'll stick with the tape measure:
Waist is up to 81cm; need to drop that back down to 75cm and I will be happy.

Also managed to wake up today at 5:30am. Sucks waking up early when it's still dark and so damn cold, but I have now reminded myself that I can do it. So I will be on an early-morning workout schedule just like PCP and 6WC, though I might slack at do some stuff at lunch-time, depends how the workouts are.
Speaking of which, if I don't get the weekly info soon, I won't know what to do and how much food to pack...

January 31, 2012 4:43 PM HKT

Game on!

It will be so excellent to not have to think about what to eat for 40 days.
And it will be even better to reacquaint myself with my six pack. I know it's in there, hiding, desperately seeking attention.
And best of all I will have a legit excuse to post nekkid photos of myself on the Internet...as opposed to Fish to who just does it for the hell of it.