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