Day - 90 First step - done - whats next....

I think it is a quote from Mao, that a trip of 10,000 miles begins with a 1st step. Well we just now finished our first step, 9,999 more to go, however they do not seem intimidating nor long, I can easily say bring it on.

Thanks are in order, first to Patric for creating this great program, my team mates - Will, Sara, Haley Louise and Grace for the support and inspiration, and to someone who does not even knows me, Renfiled Kuroda who's blog post lead me to this great project.

I was active but not fit, I needed to lose weight but everything I tried, mainly rationing my food intake, worked for a limit range and easily got back. I know what I was looking for but did not know where. I needed a program, cohesive, something that will be for the long run, something that will change my life, will change the way I live.

The changes just from 90 day are amazing, but the fundamental changes are even more amazing for me - eating right, good food that is accessible, tasty and healthy, more important control and planning of eating and drinking. I think these 2 are the most important things I gained in the program.

The workout program is a GREAT program, the tools are simple, they are portable (as I needed to travel few times within the 90 day, training did not stop)  and can be done anywhere, I jumped rope indoors, and in the HOT and sweaty summer we had here in Japan I could put on the aircon and survive.

In order to succeed in the project, as well as other parts of life you need to be patient, trust the program and JUST DO IT.

Results
Starting:
Weight: 70.8Kg
Body Fat: 27.9%
BMI: 26

End:
Weight: 62.5Kg
Body Fat: 22.2%
BMI: 23


Some pics:

I just got these pants in HK in week #1, they were not tight but some slack, but not like this:

Now if I do not hold them this happens.....

2 days have passed since the end of PC project, I had lots of fun with Patric eating lunch a Pizza and beer, there is nothing like a cold beer in hot Japan. I missed it allot.

As Patric advised I kept away from workouts for these 2 days, but I feel my mind and body asking for it. been to Aikido instead, git my ass kicked in a different way. I assume I will rest another day and restart.

Food wise I am still eating like within the program but with less fuss, I can not give up the breakfast of PCP, but added a glass of wine and some other Small foods to the menu, do not feel yet a need to go wild on foods I did not eat the past 90 days. I am sure it will come, but I am more motivated now to keep on working and progressing.

Ilan

Day 90 - not the final post yet

Today I went down to Patric jedi layer for the final workout and 90 day's PIC.

I did not have breakfast as I wanted to be the least full for the weigh in, I did not even had coffee. Well the workout was a good challenge good sweat, and walla finish. took the pics that I will post in a later post, and we both headed down to have lunch.

I picked up Pizza as the main theme, and with a clod beer it was heaven. got back into Tokyo, worked online from Starbucks, was able to close one of the deals I was working on but not the second one. and headed down to the Dojo for Osawa sensei practice.

I worked with a 74 year old slim and 3 times stronger than me, Japanese dude. He kicked my ass but we were smiling all the way.

I got back home and craved for the breakfast set I usual eat (Egg, Tortilla, and steam Vegi ( so i quickly scooped it up and down the hatch, I love it.

Off to sleep and think about the summery post I need to make.

Way to go team BadAss!

Ilan

Day 89-90

It is actually 00:39 so practically we are at day 90.

Today was as expected, one of the projects I was working on will be delayed, and the other project is hanging by very risky, without them it will be a very bad quarter, one of the worst I ever had. As Patric mentioned, I could be hacked but at least I will be in shape.

I was able to jump rope today, but could not do the supper sets. was early to work and we had a entertainment to customer at a small place.  I know we were going there so instead of lunch I eat dinner portion at noon time so I could cope with this Dinner.

Actually the food was not much and part of it was salads, I had 1/2 beer and the rest of the evening was water. since my guest were drinking Shochu mixed with water they could not tell the difference, they got drunk and I was happy.

Tomorrow, well today actually, I will be off to Patric place to take final PIC, can not believe we made it so far, and way to go team BadAss we are all at the finish line...

Day 87

Today was a relaxed day, slept late, and simply taking things easy. I needed it.

Food wise was a very good day, almost no sweet craving, and healthy food all the way.

Workout was hard, mentally mainly, reached failure on the sets way before the target number. it was not pain failure but stuck in motion kind of. the thing that worked best was the jump rope, done 25 minutes today.

I feel the stress and the erosion of the reaching the end of a target step. 90 days is just a step, it means nothing, Tuesday Sept. 28 has no importance of any sort, but it there in my mind, as if something will happen thereafter. In the workout today I think it played a role in early failure, what will these additional 4 missing pull/push will contribute to the 90th day.....mine was setting it self up to failure, well it worked. I always say I am thinking too much, I wish I had an off switch somewhere.

Off

Day 86 Super sets

What a change in workout. I had a great workout, I had no power to.

Today some small progress in the work, not some thing that will make my day shine, but progress is good. I hope we make it.

Jumped rope for 21 minuets than stated the supper sets. last 2 sets were hard code just as we like it. however it is very refreshing change from the routine we had so far.  the abs were hard Vsets I could manage to fail at 30sh and less, but plank I could not finish 60 sec. I like it. but lets see how stiff I am going to wake up tomorrow. thank good it is a Sat. tomorrow, can sleep some more.

Was a bit more hungry today, and had a craving for sweet, a tea spoon of chocolate spread took care of that, again I see the level of control PCP gave me to decide how far and what I would like to consume, before it would not end and 1 tea spoon.

Day 85

Thank god that today was a holiday, I needed it. Dropped the kids to their school bus in the morning, than put is a few hours of sleep to catch up.

Food was all pure PCP for me. I like how it feels when you are 100% eating the good stuff. Not that in other days I do not eat this way, but when you have the time and the control you feel it better.

Work out was good, done 30 minutes jumps, in the shoulders set I got very winded, than the inspiration image came to mind, I imagined I was in Osawa sensei call and he sees me do the workout, it helped to finish the sets I would otherwise fins any excuse to give up early. first time it happened to me, just like Patric said it would.

I am still not over the stress from work, but I an not thinking about it now. It is lurking around waiting to jump back into my mind, I can smell it. I hope to have good news tomorrow.

Day 84

Yet another long day, but tomorrow is a holiday in Japan and I will be able to get some rest, I hope.

Things at work are very tight, I am waiting for 2 customer to place their PO, and like all things being Japanese the status of that is not clear, will it come in? on time? delay? cancel? I am at the end of my rope here. If these 2 does not come in for any reason, this will be the lowest Japan ever was. I am cough is circular thought what can I do, did I do everything possible? what will happen next quarter, and again round and round it goes.

As you can see my mood is down. At lease I was able to get to the Dojo on time and get a workout and practice with nice people. after that a few Israeli guys visiting and 2 Japanese went out to small Dinner, I had a small beer, and watched out for the food I eat.

Go back home at about 23:00 done the workout + 8MA

It is now 01:00 and I am trying to relax and get to bed, but still the pressure of work does not let go. I could really use a good strong drink now....

Day 83

One more week to go!

Sartign from the end, i decided to switch today's workout with tomorrow, I already done 28 minutes jump rope this morning, and I am so dead now my workout will be miserable.

Got to work today after I prepared lunch at home, so food wise it was pure PCP the way I like it! I think it is a key to any activity but for health and diet, planning in advance is gold!, prepared chicken rest slightly grilled and cooked in fresh Orange juice, I also mixed the remaining juice of the pan with some yogurt to spread on the tortilla+Steam Vegi+chicken - yummy. will do that tomorrow as well.

I was able to rush to the Aikido dojo and take the lesson from Osawa sensei, it was intense, hot like hell, and I was exhausted at the end. This time i felt my ankle very sensitive, I think from the jump rope, I was painful to roll over and rise up standing. Nothing to stop the practice nore the workout, but I think I over done it a bit.

Back home now after a few conference call with home office, the end of the Q is here, lost of loose ends to close and bring the $ home. therefore the reason to switch between the workouts.
Night you all

Day 82 Hart burn

Holiday went quick, some work, some leisure. For lunch I decided to steer from my usual lunch (tortilla, Chicken breast grilled with Balsamic, and steam vegi) and cooked couscous with Tuna, garlic and tomato, it was nice, very filling but a few hours later I got hart burn.

pre PCP life for me was a daily hart burn, I used to chew the Tums every night, regardless of what I eat. since the first day of PCP I did not have any, that was the best proof of how good the PCP system is for my health. Today was a reminder.

I done the rest of the workout, the abs were the worst ever, by back was stiff and I could not lift my legs, could do the planks but apart from the first one, could not stay for 1 minute even. the Hart burn did not help there as well. I did manage to do the 8MA and crushed down.

I think I mentioned it before, my mind is playing tricks on me. we are just a bit more than a week form completing the project. this is the most dangerous time, allot of car accidents happen 5 minutes from home, after a long drive you almost feel at home and let your guard and attention to go down. same here my mind is telling me, you nailed it, you learned how to live , eat, workout the right way, you can have a glass of red wine (that is the latest craving), I almost found myself going to the supermarket in the wine section, to pick up something (I kept a home free of wine not to be tempted), need to focus.

In Aikido each drill is completed when the attacker is thrown down, so you get thrown many time, you learn to pick your self up and continue. the same when you are the one to do the technique, sometime is good sometimes it is bad, the attacker just keep on coming and you continue, all this is a long way to say that tomorrow is another day....

Tomorrow I hope to go to the Dojo for my favorite teacher.

Day 82

Jump rope is down for today, logged 25 minuets, new PIC are up

Day 81

I had the time this morning to jump rope before we steeped out to a Park near Tokyo we never visited before. jumped for 30 minutes, tried  to follow up Patric suggestions to be light in the jumps, and keep the shoulders tight, was great.  Always the first 5 minuets as I am cold I get tangled allot, than mid way it runs very good, I get tangled due to shoulders or hands fatigue.

We spent the whole afternoon in the park, there were lots of attraction for the kids, it was a fun day. Get dizzy a bit since i did not prepare lunch, so eat a quick hot dog, that put me straight until we got home and I eat Lunch instead of dinner.

The evening workout I hit failure on the Davinci (around 18) , and shoulder press (around 15), need to improve. Abs were great and I added 8MA that was heaven. I just love the 8MA, it is diverse, challenging, hard, but doable, at the end you can really feel your system tight and working.

Tomorrow is a holiday here in Japan,  but the kids have school, so I will be dropping them off int he morning and will have plenty of time for my jump rope with out them criticizing me every time.

Day 80

I can not believe it 80 days down. Before starting the program, like most if not all of us I read many of the complete blogs. All seems so complicated, the workouts, pain, sets, grams, est. To tell the truth it is easy, that is the truth. You do it one day at a time, learn from your mistakes, build yourself up and WORK the program.

When I was looking for something to put me on the right way, I was looking for a program, just diet did not cut it, I was looking for more. Stick to the program and it will work.

Today is Yom Kipur, a day of fasting and contemplating. Fasting went OK, strange, the main food on my mind was my morning PCP tortilla, nothing more fancy than that...

I did not do the workout nor the jump rope, all restart from tomorrow.

Day 78

Less than 2 weeks to go, my mind is playing games and thinking I am already beyond the 90 days mark, that food is OK just needs to be in control.

We had guest today, family from Israel visiting Japan for a 3 month scholarship, it was nice to have them over, but I binged on the cake we had, not too much but not something I planed to do.  I need to get better back into the program

22:00 I was able to pick myself up and get downstairs for the workout. I worked within my mind many reasons why I can skip this workout and other excuses. I think the time passed, created within us the delicate and breakable motivation to keep the routine. neglected I think we learn easy to give up and find excuses why not, just keeping with the routine helps us to fight it. ( I think it also works the other way around, breaking a bad habit)

I jumped 30 minuets and done the needed sets, it was a bit hard, as the past 2-3 days I did not keep the program, here is also another lesson, break and it will be harder the next time yo pick up, follow up and it will be less hard.

Tomorrow is another Jewish holiday called "Yom Kipur", it is a day that we fast for a day, contemplate on the past year, asking forgiveness from people we hurt, ourselves and god. It is one of the few holiday i try to keep. my father used to tell me that in the Nazi death camps he was, although there was very few food for people in the camps, but some of them fasted during this day, I keep it for also in memory of them.

I need to see how I combine PCP with this holiday, workout gets you dehydrated, we are not suppose to drink for that day.

I am not satisfied with my progress past 2 weeks, I kept the same weight for 10 days or so, Understandable with the glitches I done. The new diet seems to add some food, but my instinct is to go back to 3-4 weeks ago diet where I dropped weight, I am fighting to resist this idea and stick with the program.

Tomorrow is a new day,

Day 77

Forgive me for I have sinned, I did not post for 3 days.....

The business visit is almost over and tomorrow I will send of my guests, it has been hectic 3 days and a spread indulgence.

Where do I start? We had a very long day Monday, I was able to only jump rope before the day started and had no time to do the workout. we had dinner with our new partner, it was a Sashimi dinner so mainly protein, and I also had a small glass f beer. that was the beginning of the indulgence.

Yesterday was even worth, very early morning, no time to jump rope, to very late night. no workout yesterday at all. I felt very bad. I took my guest to a Yakitori (grilled chicken) place is down town Tokyo, this is a very special place. it is a very small place, around 20 seats, the youngest of the employee are about 65 years old, all the cooking, grilling is done in pure harmony, and wonderful synchronization. there I had the second half of the indulgence. (Beer, Sake, and a bigger portion of meat than subscribed)

In this indulgence I quickly felt bit sick from the alcohol and a bit fatty chicken meat. However the change I felt is a big way is my ability to control my eating and drinking, with the guys visiting me, I used to drink allot. that was part of the business discussion and entertainment, however this time I could easily stop myself after the first beer, or the first hot sake. Before a drink would invite its second, third and forth bottle, but now I did not have the craving to order more and I was in easy control, I did not feel I was missing anything, est.  that is nice.

This morning, I jumped rope for 30 minutes, that is my goal for now to try to maintain 30 minutes each day, waiting to start another new week tomorrow.

Ilan

Day 74

I had a feeling, and today scale told it to me as well, I gained some weight (~0.5Kg), was a hectic few days and a few more days to come, but it just made me more careful on keeping with the guidelines.

So this morning even we had some plans (first day of Sunday school) i planed the time to eat my PCP morning breakfast, fro lunch the kids asked and we got to a steak house called Outback, ordered a house salad (not the usual tasty that I really like Cesar salad) Fillet steak with steam vegis (mine are better...:-)) all measures are under PCP,  and kept the rest of the day satiric PCP.   need to get back to basics and keep myself from being lose towards the end.

Workout was hard, jumped rope to 25, failed from the 3rd sets of the shoulders, and split some time before I done the abs, so i can put the kids to bed, they were laughing their heads off seeing me do the Creep.

Tomorrow starts very hectic week with both my bosses are in town, chowing my ass for the sales results, if only it would get some of the fat off no problem....

Day 73 Swim team day

My daughter join the school swim team, that meant that today (Sat.) instead of sleeping late, we all woke up early to drive to school for practice. we did not take it into account that it will be such a long think, from 8-14. we left without breakfast, so I needed to improvise, bough a Pear for breakfast (instead of the break snack) and finally hunger set it and I gave in for a 1 slice (small) of peperoni Pizza.  We have additional 2 weekend like these, I will better prepare next time.

Got back home and scooped my regular PCP controlled lunch. 3 Tortilla, grilled chicken, and steam vegi (with a bit a yogurt and Balsamic to make it yummi).

I soooooo did not have the strength to do the workout, but when the time was right, about 20:00 usually,  I found myself downstairs jumping rope, and doing the workout, Bicycle were the biggest pain, more I the legs than the abs, I must do something wrong.

I keep enjoying the jump rope, I went up to 25 minutes each day and my plan is to reach 30 minutes, I do not know how Patric will build it up for us in the next 3 weeks, but this is my target and also my target to keep post PCP.

I have been feeling a craving for sweet these past 2-3 days. before PCP whenever I eat carbs, mainly pasta, I had a real carving for sweet, this is just the same feeling. I am trying to fight it with coffee and tea, hope it will go away soon.

In Japan you renew car license 1 every two years, my car is due this month, well after the service checked it out, they called us up saying that the cost will be 6K for a car worth maybe 2K....so it is time to replace my 15 year old car, finding a used car in japan with all the notice being in Japanese will be a challenge. that is the last thing i needed to be on my head just now these days....eeeerrrrrr

Day 71 New year day

Today is Jewish new years eve, I was off work today, and spend some good time with my wife and later on the kids, I managed to get a few more extra sleeping time that is always good.

I likes the DaVinci sets that are until failure, first 2 sets were in the 20th and the rest were in the mid 10th, I like it, short and brutal.

New diet are in, need some adjustments, goodbye for Apple for dinner, I will miss you very much. need o find my new groove.

Thank god tomorrow is Friday. next week will be very hectic, I have my boss from HK and from Israel visiting for most of the week...hard times ahead
Ilan

Day 70 - Anger motivation

Today was not a good day to say the least, I know such a day will come, so I am not shaken too much.  Body shut down a bit and it was hard to do anything today, in addition I just learned that a project I worked on of the past 6 month and was hopping to close it for this quarter sales will not happen but will be delayed, this puts my quarter sales at a s**t state.

Finally I got myself to do the workout, thank god , it is just jumps. I jumped for 20 minuets, however my anger at the work situation was still high, I jumped another 8 minuets. than done 8min abs, finally cooled down.

In the past these kind of situation would drive me to take a beer, or a good glass of Whisky (Scottish single malt, this is for you Louise :-) ) and some cheese. this time I was able to channel it to workout, something intensive i could do at home indoor while it is rainy outside.

Tomorrow I am going to get a heap load of heat from HQ on the pipeline, but at least it will be a new PCP week

Ilan

Day 69 more of the same

I did not have a chance to prepare lunch for me today, so I dropped down to a shop near by that prepares sizzling steaks on hot pan, ordered a garlic steak, it was 180g, so I eat about 2/3 of it and the side vegi, and small rice. I will be better organized tomorrow,

Got to my favorite Aikido practice of the week, got my ass kicked for an hour, was totally dripping sweat at the end, but it felt so good. again the confidence at my body and what it can do helped.

Got back home done the workout, failed miserable at trisep, did not have an apple so I eat a Nashi (Japanese pair) instead, got my shopping work out for tomorrow.

Day 68 Aikido

One of the reasons to venture into PCP was to improve my Aikido, for sure  being healthy and fit was also up at there at the top as well, how would PCP effect my Aikido was interesting.

Today I done the jump rope in the morning, I did not have all the time to complete the rest of the workout before leaving to work. I hate Mondays. done my regular 20 minutes, it was a bit harder than before due to the fact only less than 10 hours passed since the workout and jump rope before.

I dragged myself through the day and finally it was time to Rush to the Aikido dojo. Today's teacher is a very energetic one and the lesson is full of people falling and being thrown around. the lesson start with a warm up, than the teacher is showing a technique, and the class spreads in pair to practice them. 4 time you make the attach and the other person gets to blend in and throw you away and than switch and 4 time you are being attacked and throw him away. Some lessons you get to stay with your partner for the whole hour and sometime you switch after each time the teacher shows a technique.

During the rotation I got to team up with a relatively very strong partner. it is challenging to try to overcome their muscle strength and trow them away by technique alone, especially if they apply force when they attack, as my partner did. however this time a thought came to my mind "Hei I am Strong as he is" (well putting aside 20Kg of Weight difference between us in favor of his side).

knowing I had PCP conditioning helped me to ease the pressure I felt from his strength, and to focus on the technique now strength and a s Elli Walach said in the movie the good the bad and the ugly -  " I like them when they are big and heavy, they make a big noise as they fall" so he did.

Knowing you are fit helps not just in the cases of physical action, but in cases that you mind know it can trust your body.
Ilan

Day 67 swimming

Today I took the kids swimming, there is a community pool 5 minutes drive from our home, and there is a nice kids pool there, lots of fun.

I decided to switch the jump rope to swimming today, and done 15 minutes of free style swim, that felt great. It was very hard first, so i decided to do only 10 minutes, reaching 10 minutes I could tell myself lets give it 5 more, I think it is a way to cheat our dedication.

Got back home and done the workout early, I added 10 minutes of Jump rope also. I plan to have a morning workout tomorrow so I hope I can get a good rest.

Food wise all is fine. I find myself thinking allot about what will happen after 90 days. I like my progress, but I want to lower my fat more, even more than getting best definitions. I am afraid of how it will be once we finish and there will be a beer now and than, less limitation on serving size, eating out, est. I know for sure that:
1. Will keep on doing the workouts
2. Keep the breakfast set up as it is these days.
3. Try to keep making lunch for work

But I think the danger is at night. Beer, Snack here and there, entertainment.....what is the equilibrium once we are on our own?

I already decided that i will try to keep writing this blog even after I finish, from all the complete generations there is a good advice on the program, but what about life after? I decided to try to share mine, once we finish

Ilan

Day 66 numbers and pain

I got on the weight today. here are the numbers I got:
Date        July 25     Sept 4
Weight    66.4         63.5

Fat%        23.8          23.9
BMI         24.4          23.5
Calories   1535         1495

I know that the numbers do not count for anything, and what is important is the way you feel, look and how your cloth do not fit you anymore, (I needed to drill another whole in my belt...) but I was disappointed from the fat%. almost unchanged, I think it must be a mistake as my body really changed, I need to get to Patric who has a better system to find out the truth.

We staid indoors mainly today, it was very hot outside, tomorrow I plan to take the kids to the pool, promised to do it today, but it did not feel like it....

Workout was na,,,, jump rope went so quick i almost did not notice it, put it first on 16 minutes, than added 4 more minutes. Pull ups were even worth than before. got 6 up the first set than 2, 3,2,2

There is a downside to loosing weight, at lease in Aikido. you get to roll allot and fall when a technique is applied to you, before I had a good cushioning to my back side bones, but these days the bones are closer to the surface, and it hurts allot. but I am glad with it.

I attach a video of the teacher I enjoy best.

Day 65 Failure

I do not know if it is Patric e-mail or what but I worked my way for a few failure during today's workout. I do not know if just doing 8min Abs and yesterday 8Min+sheet abs but today Plank was a bust, could not hold even 1min.

Had allot of work today and a good meeting with a new partner, they used to be our competitor in Japan but we were able to find common grounds and collaborate. Meeting was prolonged and I was late for Aikido practice. I was still able to join for the last 30 min (a lesson is 1 hour).

Got back home and done the workout. I jumped for 20 min, trisep, push ups, curl and abs fail fail and fail. I was thinking that at least in the abs I would make it, as it was my strong point for the past few days, but no. I blame the e-mail.....

Food wise things are OK for now, due to work I forgot to eat the morning snack (banana) so I added it to dinner (Apple)

I also got into a strange habit of going through the complete section of PCP (not Just team Sexy) and reading what people wrote for the current day, gives perspective on things.

Night
Ilan

Day 64

Last night was the firs time in my PCP that I felt hungry, that feeling repeated itself today as well, strange, as I thought my body would adjust to the food level. the only thing that changed was adding Aikido practice...I hope I do not need to give up Aikido for last month of PCP or slow it down.

I am gathering the needed day to apply for second degree lack belt test sometimes towards the end of the year, for that I need to do 3-4 practices a week, Need to make it work.

Today I used some spare time to go to mid day practice. I survived but it was hard, I am sure that I could not do that before PCP, the heat is also killing, but from the corner of my eye I could see Old Japanese guys between 65-75 years old going at it on a constant pace, like machines, I admire them

Got back home to babysit the kids while my wife had a time out friends to hear a lecture. got the kids to go to sleep at a reasonable time, I almost fell asleep with them but went down to start my workout. Although I was dead exhausted I managed all the workout. I steamed some veggies and make breakfast and lunch for tomorrow, and got back to do 8min abs (actually I think I would call it 6.5min abs) as Patric suggested I done the 8min abs in addition to the abs in our daily sheet, it was hard.

Off to bed and tomorrow another long day, but thank god it is Friday....
Ilan

Day 64 - new pics are up

Day 63 - switching night to day workouts

Hi everyone, PCP rocks ! and I can prove it.

But first things first. Today I switched from doing the workouts at night to do them in the morning. since I done day 62 workout last night, Ihad only 1/2 a day to rest between. thank god it was only jumps. even so my legs were burning, I also added 8 Min Abs, i want to see that 6 pack I never had.....

Than I headed off to work, Just my luck that the day everyone comes back on line, my PC crashed and I am in the process to reinstall everything. more of the day I stared at the % of files installed and complied. Yack.

THAN i headed back to the Aikido dojo. got there just in time for the last lesson. I was a bit hesitant as I did not do any Aikido for a month and might be rusty. BUT this is where PCP came into place. before my trip to Israel and 30 days of PCP, I managed to go by the 70% of the lesson than lose air and just try to survive.  this lesson was nothing like before. in the warm up I was more flex than ever, and I did not work on stretching at all for the past month. I did not lose air the whole lesson and could go for another one, but I needed to get back. I feel a better energy in class, and i know it all comes out of the PCP.

I was hopping for something like this when started, and I will try to see more how PCP will change my Aikido in further days.

Keep it up team, there is a great reward at the end and during the ream we take.

Ilan

Day 61 going back to normal

Jetlag is almost over, last night everyone was sleeping relatively OK.

Today we met with Israeli Friends who visit Japan. They are a couple with 1 kid, the guy is an Aikido teacher and writer of a great blog (Sorry in Hebrew) about Aikido and Japan. He is the one on the top of my blog titles Aikido. He lived in Japan for 10 years and practiced Aikido in Kyoto. there he met his wife, and now they live in Israel.

I read his blog that helped me allot in my Aikido practice, i contacted him with some questions and we became very good friends a year ago when he visited Tokyo, every time I am in Israel I try to visit his dojo and practice with his group.

We had a great lunch with the kids and than a great time in the park. I miss Friends like that here in Japan.

I know we will have lunch together, and we woke up late, so i combined breakfast and lunch and we eat at a great! pasta place. that place is soo good that Al Italia crow eats there every day (go figure flying all the way from Italy to Japan and eating pasta?)

Got back home and went through the workout. done 16 minutes of jumps only, as I plan to do morning workout tomorrow. pull ups were hard and this time even harder than before. done only 5,3,3,2,1, later I added some more, but helped myself up with a slight jump and slowly got down. today was my 4th day to do 8Min abs, I am doing that in replacement of the abs workout in our sheets. getting the hang of it, I think

As Haley wrote we need to better our blogging, I will try to post pics the coming day or so.

Tomorrow the kids are off to their first day of school. I hope to restart my morning workouts after I drop them at the school bus. I also hope (pending on work ) to restart my Aikido pracice.

Ilan

Day 60

Yet another good day. It is easier doing PCP when you are at home and under control

Stepped on the weight today, and I saw I lost all the water from the flight. when we came back I was 1.5-2 Kg heavier than usually, I was afraid I eat too much in Israel....but it was just water, now I am back to normal self.

Happy to be back on the wagon. good workout today and food wise life is the same as before.

This week the kids will start school again and I plan to change my workout routine. I plan to take them to the bus in the mornings than back home by 08:10 do the workout, shower and go to work. Than Aikido int he evenings, fun ca not wait to start.

Strange for me to see our team at the top, it is windy and lonely up here. but we made it so far we can finish this in a bad ass with a smile

Ilan

Day 59 Back in PCP land

Hi

Today was all PCP just as it was before. jet lag is ON in a major way, we just got tomorrow to adjust and than back to work/school.

Work out was hard, i was so bumped from the flight I almost gave it up, but managed to pull myself together, done 20 minuets of jumps, pull ups were a challenge. i was able to do sets of 9,8,6,5,5 only

Today I also had a chance to do the 8 min abs. ouch but I like it. hope to do that every day from now on.

out to have apple dinner
Ilan

Day 58 falling of the PCP wagon and back again

We arrived late last night to Japan and spend most of the night trying to get to sleep. not go to happen.

The 24 hours before the flight were off the PCP wagon. I eat things I should not have (not too much but) but I knew what I was doing and controlled it. (it was israeli dishes as Humus, Tahini, Pita bread, and before departing to the air port 3 small white flower and suger cakes (small ones)) the flight was long but we finished it, eat teh vegiterian meal on the flights (vigiretian does not meed too many vegi...)

Today woke up in PCP mode again (after 3 hours of sleep only) done the shopping and off to steam my breakfast.

Workout will be later

Day 56 we fly tomorrow

Tomorrow we will fly back to Japan. I can not believe it will be a month (almost) since I got here. this time it is very hard to go back to Japan. my contract will be renewed for additional 2 years, and it will make 8 years in Japan. I love Japan. I think it is an amazimg place to be in, but somehow home is calling a bit harder now....

I am sure I will sign a difirent tune after I am back to Japan.

On the other side it is hard to beleive that we finished 8 weeks of PCP, another 4 days and we will be promoted to the top group of PCPers. I recall looking at the 2 groups above us when we started and thinking no way I will make it.

Today I extended the jump rope to be 20 minutes, it just felt right.

On the other side, tonight we took our patents and kids for a walk and coffee near the old city of Jerusalem. My dad a retiered doctor spent alot of time in his retierment doing art showing his momories from the holacost and the death camps. One if his work is showm at the Mall near the old city and we went to see it. This is my parents and kids, my tough coach is in the black pants and pink/white.

After we saw it and how people relate to it we sat for coffee and food near by. I did not have lunch so i decided to have the Burecas I was so envy of a month ago.

Day 55

Hi

We have 2 days left before we fly back to Japan Thursday night.

Today we saw a wonderful movie, called Land of Genesis, it is a 20 years work of a nature photographer about wild life in Israel. He raised and follow a pair of wolf, followed the life of Jungle cats and a clan of Ibex. It is all within the natural parks of Israel and it is amazing.

We took the kids to see it and they want to have more field trips next vacation, so next year I will need to run even more than this vacation, good job for me....

Tonight my 8 year daughter joined my workout. I done 18 minutes of jump rope, down in the parking and when I went out to do the rest of the workout she wanted to see it, and eventually she decided to become the coach. so she took the workout program, the watch, and timed my sets.

For Triceps I failed at 7 in the last set, I wanted to move on to push ups but no, she said "dad you have 3 more to go, finish them..." and I did. few times she said "I will be kind to you and give you 5 more sec to rest". Boy I did not know I raised such a tough kid. it was a wonderful workout.

We will be back to Japan within 2 days. one side I am really waiting to get back. Back to my controlled PCP environment where I have things scheduled and under control ready for the last push. On the other side I do not want to go back, the work waiting for me, the problems with customers, sales Vs quota issues , I try not to think of them....

Ilan

Day 53 back on line

Hi

It is almost a week since last post. Been running all across Israel (that is not that big).

Yesterday I was able to get myself on the scale and I dropped almost another 1Kg. I cannot remember when I was at that number so many years ago.

The past 8 days we were on 3 locations. Up north to a Kibutz on the border between Israel and Lebanon http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&gid=34586299383 , to my bother-in-law - in Tel Aviv, and last to a resort http://www.isrotel.co.il/carmel_forest/ just my wife and me.

The workout were hard and I think only twice I was only jumping rope. I am having hard time with the pistol squats and replacing them with regular sets of squats. Today it was hard for me to do the bicycle sets, so I replaced them with sit ups and leg ups.

Jumping rope is getting better and better and I enjoy them more and more. I just do 1 set of 15 minutes instead of 3x5.

I find myself enjoy more the food I prepare and compare it to the food I get in the places we visited. The vegi I eat in the PCP are steamed, mainly carrot, garlic, zucchini, broccoli. In the places we been in it was mostly fresh vegi salads. I found it hard to eat the sizes we should eat within the PCP guideline, it is easier for me to eat it with my vegi. My steam vegi were better than the steams ones we got n some of the places. I think it is also connected to the issue that I am a bit of a control addict, so I like to be in control of what I eat. For now PCP is what I enjoy and keep.

The indulgence was right on time, I did not have anything specific but last night dinner at the resort I decided to simply eat it freely. including dessert and wine. I did not over do it. in the past PCP life I could go for 2-3 serving of salads, 1-2 main course, and 2-3 desserts. this time it was 1 of each and in reasonable size.

I hope to have PIC of progress soon and post it.

Ilan

day 45 Stuck

today was a bad day, all energy level is at low I never experienced before ever.

I think it is not just PCP related, we are half way on our vacation here in Israel, in 2 weeks we are due back, and I have a huge challenge at work to close the year sales as much as possible,

My body did not cooperate with me for the workout and I did not do it today. I am angry with myself, although I know it is to be expected.

Food wise was also not good today, I gave in, my brother and family was there for lunch, and i eat some of my mom usual cooking, the quantities was PCP size but not the cooking my body is used to, I do not feel 100%.

Tomorrow we go for a trip up north to get together with friends of our that used to live also in Japan. I hope to be better tomorrow and be back on track

Day 44 the good and the bad

I was able to weigh myself today, I am 64.6Kg. The day before my flight to Israel I was 66.4. Before that I hoped to be 65Kg. and it was a nice number, and I am very happy with it and the progress.

On the other hand tonight doing the workout my shin were burning like hell during the jumps. It hurt so much that it was hard to walk after, and I was able to do only part of the rest of the workout. I hope to recover by tomorrow.

Food wise all is great,

Ilan

Day 43

Patrick e-mail was right on time and on subject.

While my motivation is still high, I was feeling that the workouts fall into a routine, and that is a danger zone to be in, easy to cut corners.

I found it hard to get to the workout today, but I know once I start it will be OK. starting is a challenge. I managed to drag my corps from bed and start jumping in the afternoon, it was great to do that for 15 minutes straight. the rest of the workout was OK, but today’s motivation was low. it took me more time than usual.

Tomorrow is another day....

Ilan

Day 41 dreams

I had a strange dream the other day. it was about a steak restaurant in Japan, not a specific one but a Japanese style. I woke up at 03:00 from that dream very hungry. I eat a fruit and went back to sleep, but that dream was so real I could see my mind playing tricks on me.

The next day we had took a trip to Friends who rented a new house in the north of Israel. there I went out of the PCP reservation and had a cheese cake for desert. Just could not help it, so I decided to have it but kept eye on the size to be small.

Workout side all is going well, some sets are challenging, and pain full till the end.

Surprisingly I am OK with the downsize of food and dinner being an apple only without the banana. some Cinnamon and yogurt and I am great. The overall feeling is very good.

My mom who was worried at my past situation and was always asking me to lose weight, is very happy, but she keeps on offering me ice cream, and foods. I think you can not overpower the DNA of a mother, i promised her that the next visit I will be more open to her cooking.

Ilan

Day 37 temptations

Today we took my parents to see the apartment we bought to use when we will move back to Israel form Japan (who knows when....) it is 1 hour from Jerusalem. After the visit we sat at a local coffee shop called "Aroma Cafe". it was one of the first to bring in the quality coffee revolution to Jerusalem about 18 years ago.

They have a dish that I used to consume called "Bourikas" it is a pastry with cheese and sesame seeds on top. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%B6rek Aroma cafe also adds inside Egg, pickle, tomato slice and Tahini sauce. it is a calorie and cholesterol boom and I love it.

My dad did not know what to get so we recommended him to try one. He was sitting just in front of me eating it, and I was thinking all the time "I hope he does not finish it all and I can have a bite" but he did finish it all. I think it is the first time I felt real craving and temptation. I think that is he finished just a half I would take the other half and forgo lunch instead, but I am happy he liked it and eat it all.

Tonight instead of jumprope my wife and I walked for an hour together. that was very nice in the cool Jerusalem breeze, I done most of the workout apart from 2 sets, my mother-in-law apartment does not have all the space to do standing ovation and Fly. I done extra push ups instead.

Ilan

Day 35 replacement

Yesterday was a very long day, the afternoon we met with friend and toured the old City of Jerusalem. we visited a small museum showing the way of life in the old city from 18th till early 20th century.

After that we went to the western wall the holiest place to Jewish people. It is said that if you put a note within the cracks of the wall it will reach god. they have a fax service as well..:-)

We continued back to the city entrance via the old market. and at night we saw a show in old tower of David.

Got back home late and decided to do 35 day workout yesterday and Today to do 34th day instead. The legs up were hell, 2 sets I could do with stright legs but the final 2 I stopped few times and was very hard.

Cannt wait to see week 6 menu and workout plan

Day 33 back to usual

Hi Team BadA..

my leg was less sensitive so I tried to do the jumps and it was OK. after about a week without it, finally workout felt like a workout.

Food wise we have been having a few outing to lunch/dinners with family and friends, I try to keep the size and composition of th meal to PCP guideline and seems to be OK.

Ilan

Day 31 back home

Hi PCPers

It was great to see my wife and kids after 6 weeks!

I see that the coming month will be a challenge. Being back home in Israel with all the food not common to Japan, attack the senses, and tests your will power, let alone mom cocking.

Flight we long, very long, I ordered in advance vegi meal, so it was not too far from PCP food.

The first day was recovery, with my ankle I skipped the jumps and swam instead. the rest of the workout was hard. Today I also did not do the jumps, and instead of the floor jumps I done 100 squats. Doing the sets that focus on specific area was hard and painful. tThe leg up was hell towards the end, I scratched myself to the last sets with several stops but finished all 100

I give myself another 1-2 days with out jumps to let the ankle rest than at it again.

Food wise all is well , I do not know why I always surprised, but as Patrick said fruit dinner was surprisingly OK, 1 apple and banana is relatively big.

Day 28 - 4 weeks down

Hi PCPers

Time is flying and I can not imagine already 4 weeks down the road. I will try to upload PICs later today. Although still long time to go, but I find myself thinking of the new way of life after the mark of 90 days.

I was able to locate and buy a good pull up bar to use at home, Same one as Patric has in Yoga Garden. 5 minters to set it up and failure, I would not pull myself even once, strange as I was able to do 1 whole set when I was 2 weeks ago in Partic studio, do not know why. I will need to gradually work it out, I used to be good at it.

Tomorrow I will fly back home and rejoin my family, my wife is vegetarian, and after a few flight I also started asking for vegetarian meal in the flight, I got about 12 hours of flight to get through. I hope to do the workout in the morning before i start to the airport. I hope I will have time to blog.

Ilan

Day 27

Some good news some bad news.

The good ones are, that I weigh myself this morning and I was 66.1Kg, that puts me at getting about 3.5Kg in 4 weeks, I am happy with it and I think it is healthy decrease.

the second good news is that I needed to use the last whole in my belt today. I could used it a few days ago but it would be tight, not it is just right. I did not see that whole in the belt for few years now, it is nice to get reacquainted :-)

The bad news is my ankle is still messed up, when I got back home it got swollen again just like 2 days ago, so no jump rope again, instead I done twice the squats sets, total 8. I will need to see what I can do tomorrow to replace the juprope only workout....?

Ilan

Slow day

Hi PCPers

Slow day today, loads of office, meetings, and conference call I am still in lasting the past 4 hours of the day.

My ankle got back to its original size this morning but was sore to walk, and hell to go down and up the stairs. I think the stress of the jumps and the bang i got in Aikido was too much for it. I did not jump rope today, but done the workout, still did not manage the pull ups and done the incline pull ups instead. I hope to improve next week. Plank was less challenging this time, I think I know what to expect.

Food wise all is OK, and i am still enjoying my steamed vegis. I always think I should try to be more creative in making the food, but what I do is tasty so I do not try new things yet. I am sure I will get board soon and change.

Indulgence, now that is a question, I do not feel I need one, but I understand the thinking process behind it. I will be fly back home to Israel for annual leave this Thursday, join my family that is there already since 6 weeks ago. (I have been alone for the past 6 weeks missing my wife and kids every day, waiting to see their reaction to my change in PCP so far...) I think i will take a glass of red wine in the flight, something I used to do many time through the flights to help me get through the long time on board.

Ilan

Day 25 - swollen ankle

Day 25 - swollen ankle

Got up this morning and my right ankle was sensitive, it was this way for 2-3 days before so I did not give it any attention. I walked today out in Tokyo for 3-4 hours, Going to Meiji Shrine, and about, wanted to test my new canon camera, that was just fine. Got back home to fix lunch worked a bit than done the workout.

Could not finish all the jumprope, but was 95% through, floor jump ( I call them bunny jumps) were a change, but not hard to do, could balance with my hand at my back. Triceps were pain in the last set and I needed to stop and do the last 3. The V sit-ups were hell to balance, when chest went down my legs remain high, when legs went down chest was up, time will sync it in.

After a bit rest done dinner and notice my right ankle is somewhat swollen, sensitive to touch, I hope it will go away tomorrow

65 more days to go

Day 24 - I think i over did it

Today's Aikido practice was with a teacher I never studied before. Watanabe sensei. he just looks like one of the movies old wise teacher, bold with a white mustache. It is said that he mastered the art of controlling the energy (KI) he could throw people without touching them. What I saw in class was very powerfull energy. I think his demonstration partner (the one making the attack) was collaborating in the touch less through, but I could see that unless he flowed with the teacher energy he could be struck down. I will try to go more to this guys class.

My partner for this class was Tamura san, i think he is about 65-70 years old. He kicked my ass to the ground easily, but he showed me a few tricks to improve. However I think I over trained and got a bit dehydrated for the rest of the day although I consumed plenty of water, I felt a bit sick. Only later at night it passed away and I am OK now.

On the way back form the dojo i stopped at the pull up bar I found in a small park, tried to do the sets, but could do just 1 pull up at all. I think my body was not yet recover form the Aikido practice.

Got back home and made up lunch (although it was 18:00 already, well breakfast was at 12:00...), than an hour later I was ready for the workout. The jump rope was OK, although i got my ankle banged by another person in Aikido practice, done the incline pull ups, and the planks. I can see why Patric mentioned we will hate them in time.

Keep pushing
Ilan

Day 23

Had another hectic day at work. started at a customer location 1 hour from Tokyo. Lucky for me I prepared breakfast in advance (Whole flower tortilla, Egg salad and Vegi) so sat nicely before meeting my partner at Starbucks, ordered a ice Americano (burned out taste of coffee) and eat my stuff. When I ordered the coffee I looked at the display of foods they have, i would usually jump at the cheese cake, or Cinnamon cake, but nothing made me just, I was actually waiting to take a bit of what I prepared.

After that meeting, that was very good one, I rushed to the office, finished some admin urgent stuff and eat my lunch (Whole flower pita bread, chicken breasts, and vegi) i could not stuff all the vegi into the Pita, so I carried it around and mixed it later tonight with dinner portion. Had another meeting and rushed to the Aikido dojo. It was a great class, the teacher this time was a young promising teacher maned Suzuki san, he really took every technique and broke it down to it basic steps, always nice to go back to basics, you can check yourself improve by that.

Got back home, done some initial e-mail and work, than of to the workout. Since yesterday my ankle hurt, I was not sure I would be able to do the jumprope. gave it a try and it was OK, I remember that pain from Army service, when we walk miles at a high speed pace, i would be the shin muscle cramp, nice ti see it hurts 25 years later....

Although Partic mention it in his comment, I was surprised how full I felt from no carb dinner. Mind you my dinners before PCP were pizza, or a large ball of Pasta, mainly carbs and allot of them. I was not sure how I would feel without them. I was OK and I was not even hungry in the morning. I like it.

Thank god it is Friday and tomorrow is the weekend. I got some small errands to do and Aikido. I found a pull up bar in a small play garden between the Aikido Dojo and the station I use to get back home. My plan is to do the pull ups there after practice. Will start tomorrow.

Day 20-22 combined

Tuesday was a hectic day, lost of customer meetings all around and outside of Tokyo, Aikido in the middle, and a partner meeting till late night, I could only do the rope jumps, did not do the rest of the workout.

Wednesday was an early start to 2 hours away from Tokyo with my colleagues to a day of golf and internall strategy meetings . I got breakfast prepared but needed to take the lunch and dinner served in the golf club. Took from the menu the closest possible things to PCP food, Protein and carb were easy to manage but there was not enough vegi,

Thursday was the same and now I am back home and after a proper workout, about to make dinner.

Few discoveries:
1. Easier stop eating when decided it is enough, I decided to eat less than half of the rise (estimate at about 80gm) usually I will want more and hard to resist not to eat some more, but now I think I got used to the small serving of PCP.
2. Easy not to drink or to limit to 1-2 sip of wine, before I would really need to fill I have a glass at hand....
3. People are eating less vegi on a normal day, can not believe I used to eat like that...
4. I really miss the workout and jumped at it the minute I got back home. although I was a bit hungry, was easy to decide to do the workout first dinner later.
5. I still suck at pull ups, what else is new.

Now I need to see how I will manage dinner with no Carbs....?

Ilan

Day 19 another one bites the dust

Holiday in Japan, woke up late (also went to bed late). The pain from yesterday did not go away. I could not do 1 pull up today and done incline pull ups instead, rest was OK and hard.

Food is the same, I think at least for myself I am in a routine already, that means that this is a risky time, when things are routine this is where mistakes happen, this is where you might give yourself some slack. need to watch out. 71 more days to go

Ilan

Day 18.2 Pain

The whole day was around pain, cramp muscles, and limited limb extension. Mainly my biceps are stiff.

Nevertheless I done an hour of golf at the range, Wednesday and Tuesday I will host a customer to golf, i just started it 2 years back and needed some practice not to be a complete idiot on the green, was a nice work out and by the time I got back home I was OK to Do the workout.

I am about 2 hours after the workout and my hands are sore.

Hope to get a good night sleep and come out new in the morning
Ilan

Day 18.1

Short post for the morning. PAIN. I knew I would have it but ouch, my back and biceps are in pain from the pull ups of yesterday session with Patric. Hope they will get less by this evening workout time....

Day 17

To start from the end, I am home now after combined Lunch and Dinner (70% of the joint portions), not something you should be doing according to Patric, however the day worked out this way. Got my ass kicked at Patric place this afternoon, for once jump rope was great, I was able to do 400-500 without tripping...

The pull ups were hell, was able to do the first set, but Patric dragged my corps thought the second and the 3rd one. I will need to find a pull up solution for home ASAP. the rest of the workout was good and Patric pointers helped me allot to fine tune the burn right in.

I dropped some 2Kg in the past 17 days, all the internal fat/muscle numbers are improving, but i think more important is the feeling I have. It feels right doing the workout and it feels right eating the things we eat.

This morning I also managed to get to the Dojo for Aikido practice. once you get a black belt you can wear a Hakama, that is the black pants worn in traditional Japanese, it has a string in the front and in the back, I always had problems with the front one, it was too short at the end to make a good knot, I usually have 3-4cm to knot with, this morning it was more 8cm (before breakfast) that is a goo sign.

Ilan

day 16

Did not have a good night sleep in past 2 days, work related issues. Got to bed at 02:00 the past 2 days and I start feeling it. Hope to recover over the weekend and also Monday is a holiday over here in Japan.

Work was quick and I had to do some errands, enjoyed walking in the sunny very HOT Japanese day, the rainy season is over! ( I hate it when it is HOT, Humid, and rainy..)

I managed to get to the Dojo in time for the early class of Osawa sensei, He is the inspiration person on my blog. He is one of the top teachers in the Dojo, actually his father was also one of the great teachers of Aikido. He has a unique style of Aikido I would like to follow, a great teacher, and has a very positive and good energy. I try not to miss his class although is it for beginners, it is still good to go back to basics every now and then.

I considered to 2 classes, but was so drenched after the first one, i know i will not have the energy to do the PCP workout. So i cut home and done the workout.

I was about to write on it yesterday, but Patric e-mail today was on the spot. In yesterdays squats I got up to the point that my knees were still bent and not locked (did not jump into standing from the squat) and look and be hold it BURNED like hell. In today's rowing exercises I also kept the motion into a small and limited extension of the arms, although it did not burn hard it became very hard. I am excited and awaiting the daily workouts, I like it.

Tomorrow I will do morning class of Aikido and go to Yoga Garden in the afternoon to train with Patric. I hope I will survive.

Push harder gang
Ilan

Day 15

I really like steam vegi, this is a new discovery for me. Packed breakfast and lunch to go and rushed to a interesting meeting I had this morning. Got into the office and really waited to eat lunch (Pita, Chicken, and vegi, nothing special) was waiting to eat vegis, you guys do not know how strange it is for me.

Afternoon went for another practice at the Dojo. got home at about 21:00 and done the workout. It was OK and i think because I was still warm from the Aikido practice the jumps were not bad.

Prepared the vegi and eggs for tomorrow, and off to bed,

It is a beginning of week 3!

Week 2 observations

1. I have been having way too many dinners out side of the PCP plan, trying to keep the plan as much as possible, but it is not being in full control like I would want to.

2. Have not been consuming the amount of Milk and Yogurt mentioned, I think I consumed maybe 1/2 of the needed potion

3. Waiting for the training sessions, I like the feeling once you finished

4. Generally a very good feeling, taking action into healthier life

5. The food is not bad!, few years ago, and my wife can vouch for it, I salad was a bad word, now I enjoy the taste of the vegi I use.

Day 14

Week 2 down, done, and gone, bring on week 3

Unlike the past 2 days, today was easier. done the morning workout, 800 jumps, sometimes i could get the rhythm and do 100 , the next tripping every 15-30 GRRRRR.....

Done a quick breakfast, prepared lunch than off to work. finished things quickly and managed to get into the Aikido Dojo (training hall) for early afternoon practice.

The place I practice in is THE center, source of Aikido it is the school of the founder of Aikido (Morihei Ueshiba) and is managed by his grandson today. (I was trying to embed a video, could not, need to learn more). this place has some of the top teachers of Aikido in the world. but not less important is your training partner (changed every lesson) might me someone who trained in Aikido for 20 or sometimes 40 years. Today next to me was one of the main teachers who can to train as one of us in the lesson. I was relieved that someone else was selected by him for today's practice, they were working very hard, and every time there was a throw, you could feel the ground shake.....

After practice i got some watter and walked to the near Shinto temple where i could sit in the shade and have lunch. That is me enjoying my Pita with chicken and vegi. While i was eating lunch the mosquito were having their share, and the Japanese

mosquito's are ruthless

For Dinner I was invited by very good friends of our, that tonight was their last night in Japan and they go back home after 3 years over here. it was Indian restraint and I ordered Vegi tandoori. I eat half of it as it was about the size of what dinner should be.

Got back home and worked to clean my inbox, and push work forward. Tomorrow is a new day and I am waiting to see weeks 3 program.

Ilan

Day 13

Yet another long day. Had to rush and prepare food in the morning for the day, I forgot to put the vegi I did not use in the fridge, since it was very hot today I will make new tomorrow.

Had dinner with my reseller and the former VP who retired recently. it was in the same Spanish restaurant of lest Friday near my office in Akihabara (Tokyo). the conversation was boring at times that made me need to drink a bit, so I have 1/2 a beer and small glass or red wine, i counted them as carb so I did not eat the bread, just some salad and meat. This i hope going to be the last dinner i need to attend until I will take my vacation end of July.

Got back home at 23:30 and done the work out. Rowing was easy even when I used double the band, so i just added another set, done them slow without reaching a relax muscle and at the end felt the burn and the pain. nice.

Jumping rope was OK but tripped every 30-50, I also started to feel my shins burning cramped, so i sat in Seiza for a while to stretch them, tomorrow i plan a morning workout, lets see if I will be able to do the jumps right. and finally i hope to get to Aikido tomorrow night.

Ilan

Day 12

It is 02:00 am just finished a long day at work.

Day started early and I did not have time to do the work out in the morning, I did however prepared breakfast and lunch in advance, so no problem there.

I had dinner with past colleagues and I managed to keep the PCP dinner guideline, I had 1 non alcohol beer though. Got back home at about 0:30 and done the workout, jumping rope was not smooth I tripped every 30 to 50 jumps, but done that, last set of push ups were hard and i managed to do only 9. I usually try to do the max number Patrick is asking us to do...

tomorrow morning need to prepare vegi and another dinner s planed so also a late workout is expected. i wonder how t will be on Wednesday when I will try to so a morning workout after Tuesday night workout....?

Ilan

Day 11

Done the morning work out OK, Jumps were good, but I lost count a few times, I think I jumped more than 700...

Done a quick breakfast, and than off to Tokyo to try to get some pull up solution, did not find any yet. stopped to buy some Pita bread for lunches this week.

Here is what today's lunch looked like. Salmon, vegis, and 1 pita bread. i tried to do some sauce for the salmon using tomato and basil, was OK but I will not win the top Chef competition with it.

Tomorrow as I have a dinner plan with partners,I will try to get into the Aikido Dojo for morning class , that means the work out will be done tomorrow night, need to see how that goes, and I will need to prepare both breakfast and Lunch tonight in advance.

Ilan

Day 10

Last night dinner party was good, I kept my eye to eat only small amount equivalent to what the menu Patric set us up for. drank only ice tea, whey my colleagues got down with some 12 bottles of wine (we were total 7). this kind of social drinking is very common in Japan, i got 2 of these also next week to watch out for.



Woke up very late and will take the day easy. done the work out OK, last set of push up were hard.

By the time I got to make breakfast it was already time for lunch... anyway apart form dinner i got things done and gone with. For some reason my stomach is acting out (Since the last day of Macau) I hope it will relax soon. I also think the body takes time to deal with all these vegi i am consuming, never eat so many health food....

Although I planed to go to evening Aikido practice i skipped it, staid home and watched TV.

Tomorrow is another day....

Day 9

PCP start.

That is us on Macau towor, you can have an open walk abround it at 233M high....

Got in to Tokyo last late night. has a 1/2 dinner at 00:00... and Finlay was able to get to bed at 02:00. Friday will be a slow day.

Day started late. did the workout at 10:00 and not 08:00 like use to. Yesterdays Davinci got my right side of the neck to have cramps, but today's work out was fine and sweaty.

After that i got to the supermarket near my home. got all the veggies I could find, even ones I have no idea what are they (some Japanese unique vegi) the lady at the cash counter looked at me strangely. Usually I buy blue cheese, beer, she never saw me with so much healthy foods:-)

Started cooking and making breakfast and lunch ready. I discovered i can steam, may be done a bit of over steam but things were eatable. Breakfast reminded me of my army service. where we used to mach an egg into a egg salad and add to it greens and stuff, I added some 2 tea spoon of Yogurt and lemon and it was great, better than I expected.

Prepared lunch and i am ready to get off to work. Tonight we will have a party at work in a Spanish restaurant to celebrate a new employ I hired. I will need to guard myself and stick to tea and salad mainly.

Ilan

Day 8

What a work out plan, step up from last week....Jump rope was again frustrating, kept tripping every 30 or 40 jumps. For pull ups i used the hotel business table - was hard on the fingers, managed to do 2 full sets and 1/2 of the last one. Push ups were OK but the last one i done 7 and not the 11 i wanted. Davinci is a killer managed to do the minimum only (i usually strive to do the higher number)

Now down for breakfast, i guess as i will be flying today I will stick with the 1/2 diet for another day and start the real program tomorrow.

day 7

Had a better night sleep but it cost me not to see the match that Holland won...





The jump rope was not good, I i got the rope to tangle at my feet every 20 or 30 jumps, Grrrrrr. But done that and done 50 more jumps as i was not sure about the count....



Food was OK, lunch was a nice fish, but eat 1/2 waiting to see what will the event be for dinner.

Dinner was Peking Duck, I did not eat much but I think it was more than 1/2, drank 1 beer and not 1/2 a glass.. :-)

Relay waiting for the PCPProp starting tomorrow, although I will fly tomorrow and have no chance to steam, 1 day delay should be OK...

Ilan

Day 6 dinner update

We all went to Macau tower a 233M high, we done a skywalk tour, that is we stepped out to a thin balcony with no handle and walked around the observatory , we were tied with a secure rope, it was not as scary as I imagined.

We had dinner just below that floor. A buffet and I think I eat more that the needed 1/2, it was not my usually 3-4 times to the buffet, but i might eat a bit more than needed. not so good but I will just move on to be more care full tomorrow.

I think it is important to recognize a mistake and move on, we have it alot in Aikido practice. sone technique does not work for you the first time, you need o do it again and again, some will be OK some will not, doing it wrong now does not meet that the next throw will not be OK. Actually every aikido technique is executed and the attacker is thrown to the ground, you just learn to get up and proceed.

Ilan

Day 6

Woke up very tiered , did not have a good night sleep. somehow forced myself to start the work out. once i started the jump it was OK and quickly was able to go through the workout without a stop or a problem.

breakfast was a small ball of cereal 1/2 a muffin and coffee, lunch was 1/2 salmon serving and some vegi, but could not resist the 1/2 chocolate cake.

Dinner we will all go for Macau tower for sky walk and dinner there, I hope to return 1/2 full and go to sleep.

been telling anyone I talk with about the PCP program...

Ilan

Day 5 dinner update

Hi, All the APAC team arrived to Macaw and we had a nice dinner all of us together. I had 1/2 a glass of beer, a full salad and 1/2 the size of the steak, could not resist the desert, but took 1/2 and not gone back for another 1 or 2 servings like I used to.

Day 5

Woke up early to pick up stuff i bought in Kowloon, was too still so decided to do the work out when i got back to the hotel.

Eat a nice mozzarella cheese and tomato sandwich and cold ice coffee, while waiting for the shop to open, as you walk the streets allot of merchants offer you a fake Rolex or Guchi bag, even at 09:00 in the morning they are still there, a nag.

Got back to the hotel and done the work out, was great. I am trying to do the squats, push ups and sit ups slowly and in controlled motion, so you can stop the motion if you want it any moment, I find it a bit harder to do but closer to what we do in Aikido practice, where you always do the technique when you have control and balance.

At the company`s Hong Kong office now, waiting to see what will be the plans for lunch before we all travel to Macaw for the APAC event.

Lunch was a Dimsam place near the office, nice short and 1/2.

Ilan

Day 4

Early flight to HK, on the way got a 1/2 sandwich from Starbucks and 1/2 a frapechino, took 2/3 of the flight lunch.

Got into the hotel around 15:00, and done the workout, was OK, thank i waled HK streets for 4 hours, got back to the hotel and thinking on what to do for dinner, not some much in now for the Chinese food, will time to look for something later

Ilan

Day 3

Took the time today to go to Yoga Garden in Yokohama to do the workout with Patrick. that was great! a few pointers in the right direction were just what i needed.

Lunch as salad and 1/2 of pasta.

Tomorrow early weak up as I will fly to HK/Macau for company meetings. I will need to keep my guard on the 1/2 size and avoid beer (hard job when my colleagues are around).

I think this kind of dynamic schedule will test us all on keeping up with them program. it is relatively easy when you are at home/work regular schedule, you can schedule the big stones into your day, but on travel/away you will need to be extra alert to plan and execute it.

Ilan

2nd day update

After aikido practice we went a few Friends for Dinner at a shinjuku Izakaya, it was not as hard as I expected to keep 1/2 a beer, and 1/2 the serving. I think it was not so hard as it is just the 2nd day and craving did not became an issue yet.

Day 2

Good morning PCPers

Work out was OK, last set of push ups were hard and I could feel the pain, I assume I will get used to this pain and like it.

Decided to spend few more minutes before going to work and do breakfast at home instead of buying a sandwich at 7/11,

For lunch headed down to the near by Soba (Nodule) shop, quick and tasty.

Later will be going to the Dojo for aikido practice, with my favorite teacher, who is my inspiration pic of the blog. He has a very fast but small style of aikido, i am trying to imitate, and a very good teacher. After that I will have my first test of self control, few colleagues of Aikido will go out to Izakaya and i will need to keep my guard to do half!

Ilan

Day 1

Although I read some of the blogs of the people completed the PCP program, and know what to expect, I was still excited to wake up this morning and open my PCP e-mail and see the 1st day and 1st week program.



I already prepared the jump rope and the push up handles, so I went straight down to the living room to start. As warm up I used the regular routine we use at the beginning on every aikido lesson, takes about 5-10 minutes of stretching and twisting.



Jumping rope was OK, I managed to do the set relatively without stopping or getting the rope tangled too much. Squats were fine, I remembered you should extend your arms to keep you back straight.



Push ups were also fine, the lest 3 Icould feel the effort, that was nice.



Sit ups were the last to do, I done them rolling my head and torso to the knees, not reaching the knees but the last set I can feel the burn, I think my this will be my PCP challenge.



finished, shower and iI felt good with myself, and could feel some more energy, more than the day before, starting the day this way might be addictive....



Got to work and I will need to see how I deal with the half size eating. So far got half a coffee, and half a sandwich. For lunch it was half of Soba and sesame souse.

Evening I got to the Aikido dojo for practice, 4th time this week. It is a 1 hour practice, and I worked with a good partner, we kept attacking each other and blending at a good rate, alot of sweating.

For dinner I made my quick half size Ravioli.

So far very nice 1st day

Oh Yeah!

2 more days to go!