Farewell Late Nights

As I've stated prior, I love getting up early in the morning. Unfortunately, as a geek I sometimes really get into my work and stay up way too late.

Last night was one of those nights. Now my whole day is thrown off, and I'm eating meals way later than I should.

As Patrick stated in a recent post, the only person responsible is myself. I need to know when to pack it away for the night. I'm more productive in the mornings anyways.

Farewell late nights.

What Doesn't Kill You... Well It Sure As Hell Won't Make You Stronger Either

We've all heard the phrase, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger," but think of that in terms of food for a minute.

One could argue that eating unhealthy food is "killing" us in a way; but if you were to take a more literal perspective, you would see that while the unhealthy food is not literally killing us, it's not exactly helping us either.

Today was the first day that I really felt the full effect of eating the way we have been. I have struggled for years to fight off a consistently tired state. The first wind came when I went Pescetarian this year, the second when I started working out more regularly, and the third -- now.

I can't believe the energy that I've had today let alone the fact that I'm seeing muscle come in that I've never had before. This is my second wind, my new motivation. It's going to get tougher, so your encouragements to us are necessary and much appreciated!

Um, Ouch?

Saturday I sprained/pulled the top of my foot. I have no idea how it happened as I didn't notice it until Sunday, but I've been doing my jump ropes with my weight on one foot for the time being.

Yesterday I was only able to do 15 push ups! I've completed all sets in the days prior, but yesterday my arms kept giving out from fatigue. I'm hoping that I'll be able to get through them today.

I like being sore, though. Not too sore, but the soreness in my arms tells me that I have exerted them well, and new and improved strength is on the way.

Patrick says that this is about the time where people start to break down and want to cheat and quit. But whenever I see who I was, and who I want to become (Tyler Durden), I'm reinvigorated. It is a choice to work out, to change eating habits, to get in shape; but at the same time, as Patrick so well put, removing that choice of quitting makes it easier to stick with it.

I don't have a choice in this anymore. I'm doing it. Not only do I not want to let myself down -- I don't want to let our team, Patrick, Chen, my friends, and our readers down.

Helpful Sites

Here are some sites that I have found to aid in determining the nutrients of food:

http://www.nutritiondata.com/

and

http://www.carb-counter.org/


These seem to be good sources for such information. Any other recommendations?

Build That Muscle!

I just finished my exercises for the day.

Jump ropes become fun yet challenging very quickly; there's an increasing desire to do more consecutive jumps. Strength training, on the other hand, takes some time to really develop a love for. It truly is mental. You dread having to do it, but once you finish, you love it.

I feel pretty amazing right now. Isn't it interesting how you can wake up a little groggy, but once you exercise you feel that you can take on the world?

That's how I feel right now, so watch out world!

So Close

I almost fulfilled my diet today.

I'm out of eggs and bananas and won't be able to have my late P. M. Snack. I also only consumed 115 of my target 200 grams of protein for lunch.

It's tough coming up with that much protein, but I'm going to figure it out.

Any suggestions for foods that are high in protein?

New image coming tomorrow.

FAIL

Yesterday we began our new diets:

Morning
100 grams carbs
100 grams fruit (no bananas)
150 grams vegetable
1 whole egg (not cooked with oil)

A.M. Snack (around 10:30am)
100 grams fruit (no banana)
1 egg white

Lunch
200 grams carbs
250 grams vegetables
200 grams protein (Seafood)

P.M. Snack (around 3:30pm)
100 grams fruit

Dinner
2 egg whites, 1 apple and 1 banana, combined with 150 ml milk in a smoothie.

P.M. Snack
1 egg white, 1 banana.


I totally failed this yesterday. It's not that I ate things that I wasn't supposed to, it's that I can't recall ever eating this much food in one day!

I'm going to figure this out. I'm going to try again until I get it. I can't get it right the first time every time, right? But I can and will try again and again until I succeed.

Thank you all for your support.

Cutting it Back

I used to drink lots of tea, but over the years I've become quite the sucker for coffee -- especially a good mocha.

In town there is a coffee shop called Aroma. It has the best coffee in town by far. But now that I'm on the PCP, I have to be considerably more mindful of what I eat. For me this means cutting out mochas. I started by getting mediums and smalls instead of larges. I have now switched to skim lattes, and I am working on moving to drinking coffee black with a little bit of skim milk.

I always find that making such a change is not that hard in the long run as long as you do two things:

1) Make moderate steps towards your goal. Quitting something hard can be very discouraging as difficult changes can be hard to keep up.

2) Have a greater goal in mind. I remind myself that I am working towards something greater, something I've always wanted. This makes my immediate sacrifice so much more worth it.

The next time you feel that craving to go back to your old ways, visualize who you want to be, then turn and walk away from that old habit.

It's a Choice

Working out and eating right is a choice

I prefer to get up early in the mornings. Some of my friends think I'm crazy for this, but I feel more energetic and productive when I'm up before the sun. These are the moments when I am most motivated to exercise. This doesn't always happen, however. Sometimes projects and deadlines loom, forcing me to work late into the night.

After a running errands and working yesterday, I was a bit beat. My body yearned to relax, to blow off exercise, but there was no way I was going to even remotely consider blowing off the first day of PCP! So I grabbed my gym bag with my workout clothes and jump rope, and off to the studio I went.

I had an incredible workout. For one, I was able to do 200 consecutive jumps with the jump rope. That's a new personal record for me. Squats ended up making me walk like a robot, but I felt great.

I realized it's a choice.

It's so easy to be directed by how we feel. Modern day marketing plays of this so well. Monolithic billboards of big, juicy burgers beckon our stomachs to indulge; but what makes us obey these urges? Our emotions -- how we feel.

We feel like consuming these things. We feel like watching TV. We don't feel like working out. Emotions are a great at fueling our creativity and passions, but they are horrible at logically dictating our needs. In fact, they only get in the way. I've realized that I have to start choosing.

I will choose to exercise. I will choose to watch what I eat. I will choose to achieve peak condition. When we choose, we are in control. When we choose to choose, we can make the "right" choices even in our weakest of moments.

The Journey Begins

First and foremost, thank you for your support.

My entire life I have been the skinny, scrawny, geeky guy, while my brother has been the fit jock. While I have been blessed to have been introduced to computers at a very young age, this has led to a rather sedentary lifestyle that has become consumed with work.

That was the old me.

From here on a new journey begins; better yet, a new lifestyle begins. I have always desired to be fit and slender-muscular, taking advantage of the body I have been gifted with. My hero: Tyler Durden of Fight Club, played by Brad Pitt.

Why Tyler Durden?

Tyler is a summation of many elements that I have lacked in the past: fitness, strength, energy, confidence, perseverance, discipline. Determined to no longer be the old me, the PCP is a prime opportunity for me to reach out and achieve the level of fitness and personal evolution that I have always dreamed of.

The great thing is, I'm not alone. We are a team. Patrick, Chen, Corry, Sean, myself -- we run in stride together towards our goals through encouragement and accountability. Where one stumbles, may we all pick them up in order that they may continue to run alongside us.

The journey begins. Thank you for being a part of it.