Day 58 - Pushing through Push Up and Curious Case of Couscous

Finally!!! I managed to push through 4sets of push ups without a single push up with my knees on the floor! Woot woot!!

My first attempt on cooking couscous after 2 months of bread/pasta/wraps. After scalding my broccoli, I added some miso paste to the water (yap, rich with dissolved minerals that had sneakily seeped out of my broccoli), and poured the couscous into the miso stock. Not a very successful attempt as the couscous looks a bit - uhm - sticky/damp. Think there's too much water *shrugs*.

However, the taste was great! I am going to test it out again till I get the water-to-couscous proportion right!

Day 57 - Jump Trance

The timed jumps sent me into a trance these days. I am just breathing, focusing on every jump, doing my best not to get annoyed with any hicks and trips - just continuous jump, hop, skip. The tapping sound when the rope hits the ground coincides with my breathe and heartbeat. Indeed, jump trance. Till of course, the alarm goes off on the 4th minute.

Upon reflecting on the jumps, I saw a correlation with my life pace these weeks. My days just zipped by and I was just so caught up in the passing activities and getting myself physically and mentally challenged that, upon stepping back now, I actually have little clue what I had done.

That's scary.

Then again, probably like the jumps, when I am in the moment, focusing on every skip, I had made subtle changes to my body which I had not given credit to. When the alarm sounded and all ceased, I should be glad that it had passed, and each hop/skip/jump had made a mark somewhere. So I guess, the activities that had passed and been experienced in the past weeks may not have effects that were apparent then and now, but they had shaped me somehow along the way.

Day 56 - Connectedness

Today, I saw and felt gratitude in someone's eyes and tone. It was lovely. Truly, one of the most amazing moment is to feel that resonance of gratefulness in me and others.

When I saw her walked away despondently, head hung low and making a resolution under her breathe on her determined next step, my heart sank. I ran to her and was delighted (and privileged!) to break the great news to her in eagerness. The startled look on her face immediately lit up in brilliance.

Joy is infectious.

The indescribable connection of one's within with without.

*beams*

Day 55 - Roll on!

This is a lovely story by Shel Silverstein and it had been one of my all time favourite. It serves as a reminder to me to take charge and not sit around waiting for other’s to make me complete or happy. Happiness begins with me.

I would like to share this with all and congratulate my fellow PCPers for taking charge of their own health/wellness/happiness!

Enjoy :)

Day 52, 53 (Fifty-trrreat), 54

Day 52 - Zonked out.
It's funny that when you get into the groove of a new habit and the routine gets disrupted, it's rather tough to adjust spontaneously. I get to go off earlier and by rational deduction, I would be able to get home earlier and do my regime. But uh-uh, I kind of felt "lost" and just willed away the time with other stuff till it's the usual timing of oh-it's-late-in-the-night-and-I-better-start-to-exercise.

I start to notice my eccentricity.

Day 53 - Indulgence.
I am a happy girl. Man, today, I went off with my friends to a local vegetarian restaurant for my FIRST meal out!!! Yes, in 53days, yours faithfully had been gorging her own creation of greens and carbs. It's ultra bliss.
My friends couldn't understand my delight as I savour every bit of my food. Well, it's a real treat. Something that I might had taken on a regular basis (it's common to eat out here) is now presented as an indulgent.

Ocean Bliss. Yeahhhhh.

And it comes with a fragrant plate of unpolished rice with long beans! And clear soup!!


To top it all up, a nice cold (non-alcoholic) wheat drink. *burp*

One word: Bliss :)

Day 54 - Back on track.
Today, didn't feel much "hang over" from the indulgence, but I do feel more achy than ever. The battle to wake up vs sleep in is a constant challenge I face these days. Reverted back to my evening exercising regime but bringing it an hour earlier so that I end the day before midnight. Going to make the changes of split workouts tomorrow on. Wish me luck :)

Day 51 - Victoria Secret

I was channel surfing a bit prior to my workout and VS fashion show was on! Now, for those who are not familiar with Victoria Secret, it is well known for its lingerie line and infamous for the annual fashion show (how do I know? Wiki!)

Looking at the "angels" do their walk on the runway without an iota of jiggle on their waist can be a clear motivation (or rather envy) for many. Since the start of PCP, I had understood that it must have taken such hard work and discipline to maintain their physiques. These models had earned my respect - kudos.

Day 50 - Wicked

Wicked wicked. The new set of exercise regime can kill! 5 sets!!! My shoulders nearly dropped off when I pushed through the last set of davinci. I could cry (yes Mel, you're not the only one!).

It's wicked. And guess what? This too shall pass - now, seated in front of my computer happily typing away, I could hardly recall the vein-popping instant as I willed my jello shoulders through the last shoulder fly.

The moment will pass. Grit my teeth and push through it. Shortly after, it'll be a forgotten pain and hello sweet burn.

* * *

In response to Mel's question on timed jump, my preference is for timed jump for now as I can just focus on jumping instead of counting. I set the alarm for 2 min and just jump away till it rang. I managed to jump faster too! Will observed the change as we work through 2min to 3 min etc. Update again!

Day 49 - 7x7

Gosh! It's been 7 weeks!! And it's Tuesday! Today wasn't the only-jumps day - made up for my lack of diligence 2 days ago by working out today :)

Today's energy level was much much better. I felt that the V-sit were more manageable and really getting into the groove of hey-gang-8-min-abs-workout.

I wonder what's up for tomorrow. Always love the anticipation in seeing what had evolved in my diet/workout plan.

Signing out! goodnight world :)

Day 47 to 48 - Confession

I crashed yesterday, yap, I felt totally exhausted when I got home. Under the weather and couldn't willed myself to the regime. Crashed till this morning and I went out without my jumps. Not sure if it's psychological, the whole day I just felt super restless and low energy. I am not sure if it's attributed to missing my exercise or missing my meals the day before or just simply exhausted.
Anyways, I felt totally out of it, unable to really pinpoint what was the cause.

Came home first thing in the evening - exercise! Now I can feel the energy rush. Wooah! I did the Kungfu abs today (suppose to be yesterday, but gonna shift day 47 regime to 48 and 48 & 49 to 49). My palms are hurting more than my abs (Cos my palms kept slipping!).

Any tips to the slipping? Gloves?

Day 46 - Saturdays

Generally, most people's Saturdays are the best days - no work, sleep in, chill.

My Saturdays are the exact opposite. It's one of the busiest day of the week and it's consistently the day that I'll miss out on my lunch / dinner! Today was one of those Saturdays, time simply zipped by and before I knew it, it was already dinner time AND my lunch was still tucked in my bag! Though I had planned out today in my head yesterday, somehow, when one event overrun and ate into the time of the consecutive event, I smell lunch only at dinner time. In the end, I didn't finish my afternoon snack and my night snack for the day.

Not that I am hungry or complaining, but I feel the lack of breather for myself. Tsk tsk.

Oh well, mental note to self - I need buffer time.

* * *

Anyhow, the split exercises are really working for me! It's really less of a mental block to know that I only have to jump and ab-ing in the morning. Makes waking up more enticing knowing that the next 20min is short and sweet.

Day 45 - 1/2 way mark

I will take some time to commemorate this special moment in time - the 1/2 way mark to completion of PCP!!

It's quite a feat to know that I had successfully crossed the half-way mark of due diligence in preparing my meals, exercising and blogging consistently! Somehow, it felt like I had been doing this for ages. Anyhow, it feels really refreshing to know that at best, I had been keeping well to my commitment in this endeavor :D

I am sure the next half of the journey will be a more challenging yet rewarding one. Brace on my fellow PCPers! We are in this, together. *ROAR*

Day 44 - Tangible results

Today, as I took my weekly photo, I was pretty disheartened to notice the little change over the last 2 weeks. I guess I look forward to tangible results especially after the hard work put in. I caught myself in the thought. Probably I am too impatient, possibly I am just too driven by the visual results.

Took a step back and thought about the intangible delights of embarking on this programme and upon reflection, there were pretty much a whole new positive habits formed on my diet, my fitness/energy level and my capacity to persist.

Sometimes, it's a challenge to focus on the intangible benefits. However, I reckon that it is vital to remind myself of these short term motivation/inspiration to move further. Maybe it's like the seedling just beneath the surface about to spring out. Just a little more push. All will blossom.

Day 42 and 43 - Sine Cosine Curves

Day 42 - Top of the peak, my favourite day of the week, Tuesday, blissful jumps - 1500.

Day 43 - Bottom of the pit, a new challenge, toughest part of the week, Wednesday, jumps and more challenging (understatement) sets of exercises.

A week felt like a climb from ground level to the summit. The ascent is tough, but the fresh whiff of wonderful air at the top is worth the climb. Just as I begin to enjoy the little breather of the week's end, the next day brings about a new set of challenge to grow.

Up and down, up and down. Many mountains to climb, each one getting tougher but the scene at the top gets better.

Onwards!

Day 41 - Reasons to Splits

Splits are gooooood! I am loving the morning burst of energizing jumps and 8-min Abs workout. My energy level is up in the day without feeling all jelly-O, fantastic!

I am also enjoying tuning down in the evening with strength training without feeling that I am overtly perked by the cardio workout.

Splits feel more rounded than rushing through my regime and I am able to focus more on each group of targeted exercises. :)

Woohooo!!

Day 39 & 40 - Morning Affairs

It been consecutive 3 days of working out in the morning. Brilliance! Gonna keep it going.
The new paradigm of splitting the workout into two segments works wonders! Today, I had only some time to spare before heading for a class. So, I decided to just do my jumps and the 8-min abs workout. This freed up sufficient time to have a proper breakfast instead of rushing off (if I had done the full regime). Coming back in the evening, I just had to complete my strength training.

Now, this is a brilliant split to help bridge my sleeping habit and early waking! I can now wake up a little earlier (instead of much earlier) to do my jumps and slowly, adjust on my waking habit to fit in the rest of the exercises in time to come! *beams*

Aside, the jumps are great endorphin dose to kick start the day :D

Day 38 - A Brand New Start

Ok, I had learnt my lesson. Today, I woke up earlier and really psyche myself up for a morning exercise. In my head, the only objective is to get through the regime in the morning. This is because:
1) I want to maintain my metabolism rate through the day.
2) It allows me to get an earlier rest (it's just too difficult to get to bed after exercising in the late night as my body is all awake!)
3) It minimizes and negates any possibility of not exercising cos it's just too easy to say, let me do it tomorrow!
4) It's just killer to do 2 sets of exercises in a day given the intensity now. Moreover, it's not effective and inconsistent (yes I hear you Patrick!)

There's gozillion reasons to do so, and whatever it is, I am glad I did it :)

Day 36, 37 - Doubleup

I never did learn the lesson of how a "just 5 min nap" can totally ruin the plans ahead. Yesterday, after getting home late and changed into my exercise gear, my mind just willed my body to "take 5 min nap" before I get outside to start my exercise. 5 min became 50min, and before I knew it, it was dawn!! This seemed to be a repeated matter for some time. Tsk. I am putting my head at how to minimize these as . . .

I need to double up my exercise in the morning and in the evening! Man, that's twice the hard work! Anyways, the pistol squats were killers! I felt my thighs BURN and turning jelly-like as I finished up my last set. Woooo and somehow, the exercises this week is really a big step change. I felt "strengthless" after the regime and my wobbly legs were screaming for support! Bicycle was tough too.

Two work outs in a day is not fun, uh-uh... but at least it cancels out the guilt.

Day 35 - Questions are the Answers

It had not been a great day, started off rushing to prepare my meals and rushing off to work, followed by long day of lessons and ended off with a nagging feedback.

Just not one of those high rara days.

I mean humans are creatures of rationalization. Me included. So I started reflecting on my day as I did my skipping - about how and why this happened to me, why am I so bleah bleah bleah (bad bad negative thoughts). I started to rationalize what happened and became defensive about my actions. In my mind, I was accounting and defending for my responses, giving entitlement to my reaction on the day's situation.

Then the skipping cleared my mind. I began to feel different towards my thoughts/rationalization. Instead of being defensive, I began to feel grateful for what had happened. I acknowledge my lack and took the feedback as a pointer to grow. I begin to question the value I can add to others through this experience and plan for my action to demonstrate the new understanding. It was a liberating moment :)

Truly, questions are the answers. If I change the way I question my day, the process can be a wonderful tool that will lead to a positive growth.

Day 33 till 34 - Sleep

I had been letting myself go on the blog, and had not been updating daily...tsk tsk.

These days, I am feeling rather lethargic, probably due to the lack of proper sleep. Been sleeping at wee hours like 2, 3am. Total flip of my unusual prompt discipline on my meals / exercise. The swing on the latter had been pretty smooth but am still struggling with resting early or waking up earlier for my exercises.

Sleep is my focus in this month. Apparently, I fare rather poorly on this sheep-dash test.

Any tips to waking up earlier PCPers?

Day 30:31:32

Day 30:
Pro-te-in shopping! I was overwhelmed by the variety of protein powders available in the stores! And gosh, they are HUGE!! Mega! I was lucky to have the 2-for-1 deal on the powders and got myself 2 bottles (well, 2 HUGE jars to be precise). History was made.

Proud owner of Whey Powder: Extreme Milk Chocolate and Double Rich Chocolate. No price for guessing who's the chocolate lover.

I was pretty concern on the mixing of the powder (hearsay that it's difficult to dissolve these protein mix) and was intrigued by a simple yet smart innovation of a whisk ball in a shaker!

Being a sucker for such "eureka" design, I bought one of those shaker. *blush*




Day 31:
Protein powder taste funny. Really weird. Probably I didn't shake it with milk. The aftertaste is synthetic. Not a huge fan of it. It's funny to see my peers exclaimed in disbelief when they saw me downing the blend two times in a day. They must have thought that I am mad and probably on my way to be the next . . .

*GASP*

NOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooo.

I just want to be really fit. Not B(poof)uff.

Day 32:
8 min abs is pretty funny! I followed it once but dear dear, my neck is strained. Not much feel on the abs! Got to refine the way I am doing it.....right, gang? *snigger*