pics

Here's where I started back on Sept 17:

And here's where I was yesterday on December 12:

Miles to go? Absolutely. But a serious start.

Before and after:

And the obligatory old clothes shots...

Stats and thoughts on the project to follow after I've had a few days to digest it all.

over already?

Is today really the last day? I'm confused. This feels like it has been going on forever, but also feels like it just started. So tomorrow I have no grams? No workout pdf? Back into the real world, wow. Going to be interesting.

slacking

Not on the workouts, just on the blogging.

Yesterday was the first of the supersets. I'm a fan. Exhausted by the end of it, but like the switching around and variety. Cardio, on the other hand, still is awful. An hour a day is just too much. But not for the next two days. For two days it is perfect.

Food is good. Exercise is good. The amount of time it all takes is bad. Nothing new with all that. Heading out to workout now then there will only be two left. Awesome.

tired

Workouts continue to get harder, and more importantly longer. Taking over an hour and a half to get through it at this point. I'm back to the old standard of having zero free time. I feel the changes going on though. Lots of fat still floating around, but there's actually a frame of muscle under that now and it feels good. Just over a week left, going to finish strong.

After that is going to be a very different situation with 5 bonenkais/parties/dinners in a week. I'm really interested to see how that plays out. I'm not too worried. I don't plan on being overly conservative, I don't plan on thinking that much about it while I'm out and doing. Just in between the events eat reasonably and keep working out (just not for well over an hour a day, will be nice to get some sort of life back). I also don't think that new me will go as far off the deep end as old me did. I don't think there's anything wrong with having a total blowout once in a while, but I'm seriously out of practice.

dinner

Thanksgiving dinner last night was great. Other than one meal at Blocky's and one at Benson's this was the first meal I've had that wasn't in my apartment or at my desk since I went to HK 7 weeks ago. I was amazed at how apprehensive I was about going to a friend's house to eat, it was far too real world and out of my little bubble. It was by far the furthest off the reservation I've gone since I never took my indulgence, but it wasn't really so far off. Turkey was about the right amount of protein, went heavy on the green beans, light on the mashed potatoes, skipped the cranberry sauce and had some yams. There was some butter and salt in the food, but I didn't add any extra. Had a little bit of stuffing and a roll, but other than that it worked. Stuck to water, skipped the wine.

Would I have rather had seconds (and thirds)? Yes. Would I have liked to drown everything in gravy? Yes. Would wine have been great? Yes. Did I miss any of it that much? No.

Best of all, I didn't really have to think about it. I know what 80 grams of protein looks like. I know how much veg I need to fill me up (not that much these days). I wasn't hungry. It was awesome. I have new hope for sustainability after the project ends.

17 days left? Oh yeah, bring it on.

fuel

New diet came out today. Goodbye apple dinner, hello real food.

If I'd thought about it I would have thought I'd be excited about that, but I'm not. Very first thought was to be annoyed at having to spend time making dinner again. The last few weeks the only meal I really had to do any work for was lunch. I guess this comes back to what my top problem has been through the whole project, time management.

I don't remember the last time I was really excited about a meal. Some people in PCP have blogged about this before, the concept of food just as fuel. I understand it, but I don't much care for it. It is convenient, but I like food. I like liking food. I guess this also comes down to a matter of balance. Have good meals, just have them sparingly and eat reasonably in between.

Speaking of good meals, Thanksgiving is tomorrow and I'm going to a friend's for dinner. I can justify it half a dozen ways, but I'm not going to.

Things are going great. Workouts are still long and boring (50 mins of cardio a day now?!?), but the results keep coming. Down 14 kilos at this point, I think the last time I weighed in at these levels I was just out of college.

recovery

I was trading emails this afternoon with one of my friends who had a birthday last week. He threw a party that I skipped because a night out for dinner and boozing just isn't on the agenda right now as much as I wanted to go and celebrate with the crew. I apologized for missing the party and he said something to the effect of "No need to explain, you need to stay in the zone. Giving you a hard time for missing the party would be like offering a recovering alcoholic a tequila shot."

I'm still thinking that through. People don't (or at least I didn't) think of fat and out of shape in the same way they think of alcoholism. I'm not saying fat is a disease (at least for me it wasn't), it is more about making bad choices. Is what I'm doing really any different from an alcoholic going to rehab though? Both are about developing new habits and making a lifestyle change. One big difference is that as opposed to an alcoholic's goal to have "not one drop" I'm already doing a lot of thinking about how life works after this ends. I'm excited to go back to eating out with friends and meeting people for drinks, but I can't imagine ever going back to the way I was. It is all about striking a balance and no doubt it will take time to figure out.

Things are going well. New diet is a touch smaller than last week's, but nothing to be afraid of. Timed cardio all week again. Turns out 45 minutes a day of cardio is boring and time consuming (it takes 45 minutes!), but it sure is effective. Still failing by the end of pretty much every exercise, but getting further and further so all good.