Day 26 - Indulgence #1

First let me say that those creeps may be the end of me. I thought other things were hard until I tried those. I can barely walk. But this means they're doing something and I love that!

OK, like Sara, I indulged very shortly after receiving Patrick's email on Friday. I didn't think I'd do it so quickly and I really though I'd agonize over the choices. But in the end it was easy. Simon had just arrived back from 8 days away and we sat down and had a glass of wine (1.5 actually) and got caught up. It was great. It took me FOREVER to drink that much wine... I had the first glass over the course of an hour long chat and the half glass with my PCP supper. After supper I had two very small peices of 5-year-old cheddar, which I used to eat in copious amounts before PCP. Good cheese is one of my favorite things to eat so this just made more sense to me than a sweet. I haven't had so much as a sprinkle of cheese since PCP started and I missed it. But, HELLO THE SALT! Was cheese always this salty? Yikes! My palate has changed for sure. As for the wine, it was delicious. I had pangs of guilt while I was drinking it and it actually felt like too much.

Then something really weird happened and I have no idea if it was related to my indulgence or not. At 2am I woke up with out-of-control abdominal pain. The pain was up in my stomach, and it felt like a food-poisoning, imminent vomiting kind of pain. I had sweats, was freezing, boiling... this lasted for maybe 10 or 15 minutes, then passed.... and these cycles continued for 2 hours. I was convinced I was getting some kind of stomach flu or really did have food poisoning. I didn't get sick though and by about 4:30 felt normal again and slept until 9:30. The next day I proceeded as usual with  normal amounts of PCP food and a hard PCP workout. NO IDEA. Was this related to my small indulgence? I am intrigued.

Yesterday Simon did my workout with me. When I was watching him skip I realized what I must have been like on the first day. I have come a long way.

Day 25 - Indulgence

OH THE STRESS!

Does anyone else find the idea of choosing an indulgence stressfull? Will I choose the right thing? Will I regret it? Will I be able to stop?

I will be checking in to see what everyone opts for!

Day 23 - Egg in a basket

I haven't had a chance to work out yet but I'm sure glad it's a lunge day. Not.

Saw this picture and thought it looked so good...



... here's the recipe, a cinch to make and if you eliminate the butter and salt and maybe exchange the sourdough for some nice whole grain bread, it's a PCP fantasy breakfast!

Day 22 - Oh, the bloat

I am so bloated that I could barely eat today and my new diet was a bit of a fail. I got back on track for lunch, my biggest meal of the day, but haven't been able to stomach any snacks and my dinner is all measured out and ready to eat, but I'm just waiting to feel hungry again. When I sit or bend over, I feel this discomfort in my midsection like there's a giant air bubble in there. Everything feels backed up and just generally gross. I was feeling a bit slimmer in my belly until last night... now I feel like a new layer of fat is taking residence over my new abs. WTF?

Tomorrow I am going to try to move my exercises back to the morning. I'm not sure when it's best to do them. Over the last few days I've switched to mid-morning and today it was mid-afternoon. I felt like I was starting to simply procrastinate, though, so want to get back on track.

Questions for Patrick that I will ask here in case these are burning questions for someone else too:

1. What IS the best time of day to work out? I feel like maybe I read this somewhere already... but I can't figure out exactly where.
2. What's up with sweet potatoes? Are they carbs? Are they veg? Are they something that I just shouldn't eat?

That's it for today. Let's hope the bloat goes away soon.

Day 20 - The one about my period

Sorry in advance to the men.

I read Patrick’s email about differences we might notice in our third week of the PCP, and I thought “Great, maybe this month my menstrual cramps won’t knock me on my ass”. And for a day there I thought they hadn’t. But I was wrong. By last night I felt terrible and today has been a write-off as far as getting things done. I’d always wondered if being alcohol-free and increasing my exercise output might make a dramatic difference and this month was a great test for that. Alas, no differences.

That said, I ate what I was supposed to eat and at around noon finally dragged myself outside to start my workout. It went something like this:

jump, jump, trip.

jump, trip, jump.

ju…nope, trip.

trip, trip, trip.

Let’s just say that the human body amazes me. I am the same person I was yesterday and the day before but today every fiber of my being feels like lead. I did the workout and I made it count. It used to be that I would take this day as a “rest day”. It’s nice to know that my body can do it, even if it seems to fight me every step of the way.

Tomorrow will be better.

Day 18 - OMG, NO TRIPPING

Just a quick post to say 850 jumps with NO TRIPS! I still took a few breaks but my longest streak without a break was 250 jumps which was also a first for me.

I attribute this to my new rope that arrived yesterday - it is this Nike rope and I thought it would be too long at 9 feet but I think the fact that it's got some kind of steel cable in it gives it a good weight and I can get into a good rhythym to get it around my body. Anyway just wanted to say for anyone still struggling with their rope (as I have been) that I believe this has totally made the difference for me! It comes in 10 feet too which is recommended for people over 5'11" (180 cm).

(On another note, I may have see a newly formed shoulder muscle this morning!!)

Day 17 - TGIF...

... and it certainly helps that the sun is finally shining today.

First, let me say thanks a LOT for your supportive comments yesterday! I reached out, and you helped... baby steps, right?

Well, fear not, Cookie Monsters, I didn't stray from the PCP! I knew I wouldn't... I wanted to reach for something comforting but venting it out to you all and with my husband later was enough and I was able to let it go. This is one of many setbacks we've had along the way. There may be more and as my husband said to me today "wow, I'm really impressed with how well we handled that yesterday!". Well, me too!

Anyway, I had a great PCP night last night and only wallowed a little in a pot of mint tea. Today, though, I had my first PCP restaurant adventure! I have managed, in the last 16 days, to not eat a single meal out... but Simon was supposed to fly to Florida this morning and his flight was delayed until the late afternoon. We played hookey at the mall and spent a luxurious hour in a book store. It was a great day, and for lunch I had a lovely piece of steamed salmon, some steamed veggies and a large scoop of plain brown rice - I asked for no sauce and was pleasantly surprised that there was also no oil and no seasoning. If I'm ever craving a meal out I know there's at least one place in Buffalo I can go! I didn't have the ability to weigh any of my portions, but by now I can eyeball it pretty well I think it was right on. So, PCP win today!

I haven't posted much on workouts lately. Not much to say. Um, wow, it REALLY makes a difference when you're resistance bands have handles though! I love my new bands and I'm working to find that the sweet spot. I will say that I never realized just how weak my shoulders were. They are definitely feeling the Davincis.

Sometimes we don't know how much we can take until we push ourselves a little.

Happy weekend everyone.