new high score

67 is my new number to beat. 67 jumps in a row today, still making progress. At 67 I tripped and I was kinda happy about that because the legs were burning and breathing was ragged. Rock on, good stuff.

I saw a funny joke today. Ready? 5 planks for 40 seconds each! Hahahahahaha. Yeah, I thought it was funny too.

5 or 6 sets of everything. Can't do that many of most things so end up with a lot of failing. The connotation for that word is changing for me. Failing used to be something bad and to be avoided. Now it is a sign you're doing it right and burning the muscle like crazy. Feeling way too upbeat at the moment. I'm sure another crash is coming, but feeling great right now.

stepping it up

Another new week. Am I really in week 6? It doesn't feel like it has been 6 weeks. That's a good thing I guess. Things took a definite step up today. Breakfast and lunch are a bit smaller and I'm on to the apple, banana, egg, milk dinner. Is it strange that I'm actually a bit excited about the new dinner because it means a little less food prep?

On the exercise front things have definitely stepped up as well. Cardio up to 40-45 minutes a day and no new exercises, but more sets of higher reps in everything. Oy. Pushups are not my friend, but they're slowly getting better. Everything else I'm getting through most of and failing towards the end on some of them. All good.

Jumping is definitely moving in the right direction. Took a few days off of jumping because my ankle hurt. Got back involved yesterday and banged out 49 in a row during the jumping today. Major improvement over the 5-10 max I was getting a week or two ago.

dichotomy

Ups and downs, but all good.

Yesterday I got the best compliment I've had so far. Ran into a friend I haven't seen in about 6 weeks on the street. He's been out of town and I'm pretty sure he has no idea I'm doing this project. First words out of his mouth were asking me if I've lost weight. He's not the kinda guy who asks that every time he sees you, so I actually believed it. Hearing it from people who know I'm working on it is one thing, hearing it from someone who has no idea is a different story.

On the flip side I took a really good look at myself in the mirror today. I'm somewhere between huge and gigantic. I was even bigger 5 weeks ago, but there are still miles between here and any sort of normal reasonable place. Oh well. Getting from point A to point B is a process, not an event. Key is that I'm actually taking the steps to do something about it instead of just looking at that long path, deciding it is too much effort and ordering a pizza. Mmm... pizza.

Left foot started hurting yesterday, skipped the jumping. Right ankle went back to hurting today, now I'm limping again. Cut out jumping again today and did some extra jogging. Of course with the limp it was more like fast limping than jogging, but the heart was pumping and I kept going for about 40 minutes so all good. Got through the strength part of the exercise. Still failing at the end of most things, but all good. I might not be there yet, but I know how to get there.

rough week

This week was rough. Hit a total mental wall. Had some serious self pity going on, was in a pretty bad mood. Definitely helped to see that most of the PCPers had the exact same thing going on. They all summed it up well, but the thing that stood out the most in my mind was Bill's comment on Blocky's post. That post was exactly what was going on in my head that day and that one comment turned it all around.

Nobody is making me do this, this IS how I want to be spending my time. I have zero free time during the week. I'm getting nowhere near enough sleep. I have no social life right now. That all lasts for 3 months. If three months is all it takes to get myself to a better place it is a bargain. I'm within striking distance of being down to the weight I was 3 years ago which was my lightest since college. That time the weight loss was due to drinking too much and not eating very much and there was no exercise involved. This is a much healthier approach and I can see differences in my body already. With nearly two months left I should be in better shape than I've been in my entire adult life by the time this ends. After that maybe I'll do PCP in January and kick it up to the next level and maybe I won't. Either way 3 months of pain and boredom is a small price to pay.

noticing a pattern

Today was 45 minutes of jogging day. Got home from work and could not make myself go out to run. Took well over an hour of fighting with myself before I went and did it. I know I sound like a broken record, but once I got into the jog it felt great. The legs that had been burning all day calmed down. Started to feel some burn in my back (that was a first) after yesterday's incline pull-ups and lawnmowers. Did the shoulders, now they hurt - but good hurt. For some reason I was super low energy today despite the fact that unlike the PCPers I'm still eating a good amount of food. Hopefully the energy bounces back tomorrow.

time for a new rope

Friday was ok, just a late day. Got home from work about 6:30, sat down on the couch to check email and suddenly woke up about 8:30. Oops. Didn't start the workout until 9, ate dinner at 10:30. 45 minutes of jogging (fine, there was a fair amount of fast walking in there too) would have been impossible a month ago, now it is just boring. In food news I bought a steamer. Cooking veggies for dinner is suddenly a whole lot easier.

Worked out with Alex this morning. Did the jogging, skipped the steps and did some jumping instead. Turns out my rope sucks. Struggled jumping with my rope for a while then switched to his and knocked out 250 pretty easily. Managed to get over 20 in a row without too much trouble. I think my rope is too light and too short. Will be finding another one hopefully before I need to do 1000 jumps on Tuesday.

Working out with somebody else is a good thing. Time goes by faster and you push yourself a little bit harder.

try, try again

The stairs by my apartment were packed today, so did some extra running and did some jumping. The jumping is already getting a bit better. Bill mentioned doing the jumps in front of a mirror and it really helps. Max was 16 in a row, but did that twice and was consistently around 10. It really felt all around better today. The rest of the workout was ok until it ended with planks into leg-ups. Failed on both. I have no muscles in my lower abs. None.

more jumping

Like last week the Tuesday workout was basically a day off with just 500 jumps. Only the second time trying jumping, it was a little better than last week but not much. Was consistently getting 5-10 jumps, got as many as 15 in one go. Sad as that is it is a massive improvement over last week. Like a few of the other guys, my ankle is killing me. Once I get into the workout it feels ok and I managed to jump on it today without a problem, but I'm limping during the day. Hopefully it works itself out.

Exercises this week were great. Everything is burning since I'm doubled up on muscle groups each day, and it feels good. Lower abs are clearly the weak point. Hardest things to do are bicycles, leg ups and planks... all the same problem spot. The workout itself is fun, the cardio is boring... guess that's the way it is.

back in Tokyo

Got through the weekend in HK without going off the reservation, but did it by not eating enough. Skipped a few meals and parts of meals when I just couldn't find anything that worked. I was outright relieved when I got home and started cutting up vegetables for dinner. Very strange.

Went out on Saturday night with some friends to a birthday party. Sat around a bar drinking bottles of overpriced water for an hour before I bailed. Bars just aren't that entertaining when you're the only one there not drinking.

Shoulders are burning, biceps are burning, ankle is back to being in pain. Meat Loaf said it best, 2 out of 3 ain't bad.

in HK

Flew down to HK last night, spending the weekend sightseeing here with my parents.

Wednesday was a normal day. Got home too late. Started on the new set of workouts. Lunges are a whole lot harder after 20 mins of climbing stairs and leg ups manage to be even worse coming right after sit ups. I guess that's the point, all good.

Thursday was my first real disappointing day. I was at work at 6:45, home from work at 6 and needed to be on a flight at 8:30. Got to my hotel in HK just after 1am. Kept looking for a way to get the workout in and just couldn't do it. Blocky was also right. Airport terminals and airplanes are no place to try to eat healthy. Had a bit of cold soba with no sauce and an apple for dinner. Figured eating far too little was better than eating junk doused in sauces. Felt like garbage.

On a happier note did yesterday's workout this morning. I'll double up on either Sunday or Monday and do one in the morning and one at night then I'll be caught up.

Today I was introduced to the plank. I know this was Fish's favorite. I saw it on the sheet and figured how bad can 35 seconds x 3 be? Dumb question. I kept my hands loose, but they were still shaking by the end of the third set. I can only imagine once this gets into minutes instead of seconds. I feel great though!

jumping

Today was the rest day, workout was just 500 jumps. First time I've had jumping to do and I am the single most uncoordinated person on the planet. Don't think I ever got through more than 10 in a row. In the beginning I couldn't get 5, so I guess 10 by the end was some sort of progress - but not much. Oh well, I'm sure it will come sooner or later.

lethargy

Had the first round of pain today. My right ankle hurts when I put weight on it, was walking with a slight limp all day. Got home and it seemed like such a good excuse not to work out. After a while of fighting with myself and the overwhelming desire to be lethargic I put on my shorts and my sneakers and headed down to workout.

Couldn't get into a decent jogging rhythm (turns out you can't limp through a jog) so just walked fast. By the end the ankle still hurt, but actually felt better than when I started. Hit the stairs then powered through the workout. Still can't find a good place to do incline pull ups, did pull downs instead. Got through everything except for Davincis where I couldn't quite get through the last few. As always I felt great at the end of the workout. Just keep on thinking about that and remembering that I'm not going to get stronger by talking about exercising, need to get out there and do it.

milestones

2 weeks in or so, need to figure out a good way to count this.

Headed down to Yokohama for the weekly workout with Patrick. Good workout, got a preview of what next week will bring and the exercises are getting more focused, should be fun. Worked out with one of the PCPers and did his workout which was the same routine as mine with a few more reps on most of the exercises. Couldn't get through the leg-ups at the end, but what else is new? Failing after a lot more reps than I was last week, so no complaints.

Two signs of progress today. Forgot to check the numbers last week, but turns out I'm down 4.5 kilos in two weeks. Starting from a high benchmark, but must be doing something right. Second, and more exciting, the shorts I've been running in were sliding down my hips today, need to change them up. Nice to see some payoff this early in the process.

Saturdays are awesome

Weekend, nice. Got the workout done in the morning, that really changes the whole day. Was out with friends this afternoon, got home around 7 and realized I didn't need to do the workout. Surprising how big of a difference that made.

Leg ups are still awful. Standing ovations are still awesome. Still haven't found a good place to do incline pull ups, so have been subbing in rowing instead, Alex gave me a good idea on how to do them today though. The big stairs by my apartment that I've been using for stairs were crowded today, so decided to end cardio by trying jumping instead. It is absolutely impossible. Can't do 10 in a row without tripping. I see the PCP crew doing many hundreds in a row and would be worried if I didn't know a few weeks ago they couldn't do 10 in a row either. Hopefully will get the rhythm down once I really pick up the jumping later this week.