Day 30 - Sold!!! To the man with the gold jacket from Kowloon

Today has been the hardest day ever....not soi much couse I was tired or de motivated...but because I was meant to be out, with an amazing glass of white wine in one hand and the best buttered lobster tail int he the other....to celebrate the selling of my flat in Happy Valley for an eye watering amount of money.....but all I had was a few miserable eggs and some fruit.....

The work outs are ok, but a little long these days.....Also I realised I do not have 2 chairs at the same hight...so I either need to buy some, go to Yeemans for my chest presses or hike to the peak where they have a little excercise area.....

It seems that my bathroom scales are not willing to play with me anymore, I have changed the batteries twice in the last week and it seems that every time I step on them they battery level is low...so not sure if its the scales that need upgrading or my cats sleeping on them during the day and thus keeping them on and flattening the battery...I will never really know...

One more day then it the week end!!!

Day 29 - Getting serious...seriously tired I mean....

A new week, a new regime.....more agressive and more focused excercise3s and less food for dinner....No food for dinner alsmot.......1 apple, 1 banana, 250ml of milk and 2 egg whites....now that is a culinary challenge if I have ever seen one.....I guess a apple n banana omlette was out of the question....so that left me with an apple n banana milk shake....Tasty, yes, filling maybe, gonna suggest Zuma serves for dinner, maybe not...

As I feel I have cheated ove rthe week end I have decided that week 5 is gonna be punishment week for yours truly....so as well as doing all the excercises I am planning to hike and/or run every night thsi week pre skipping and PCP....this will hopefully make up for the excess calories that I took....

After work went for a wee hike to teh peak, and a lap round Lugard Road....I really am suprised how few people do this hike/run....its like being in the country side, with great views and piece n quiet!!!  Kinda got a bit of an injury so slowed down for the walk down Hatton Rd.  The skipping was HARD....pretty much tripped every 20 skips or so....it was very embarassing as I had a crowd of 9 year olds checking out my moves....and laughing...I felt liek saying "you hike n run then do this, damn it!!"....but then I thought that being so young they probably could do it and still out skip me, so I kept quiet!!  Lunges, ok la, seem to be gettign easier, the jumps also were ok, which has made me wonder if I am doing them right, but how hard can it be to jump ??  Rest went ok, but its getting harder...I added some pull ups....managed to do 2 of the out right ones...need to get these nailed!!! i also did some more stuff like push ups......I want to reach muscle failure on all every day...but just for this week hahahaha

got some pics to post later....

25-26-27 The week end of the 7's...

Now, i would love to say that it was a great week end of sport, no booze and plenty of PCP.....but it wasn't....I am surry Patrick but the indulgence really really messed me up...Now, it would been quite easy to have a no nonsense policy over this week end......no booze what so ever and keep up the PCP...then we got our indulgence....ever since taht mail on friday i have been calculatiing/planning how much wine translates in calories and if Vodka is better than wine in terms of how much I can drink vs calories intake....see for 27 days I did not think booze at all....this week end its the only thing i can think of....Managed not to drink friday with the mission to keep my saturday drinking option open.....Did  not go to teh games so I would not be tempted to drink too soon...Anyway, to cut a long story short....i did drink......I had about 3 glasses of wine and then went out and had 1  or maybe 2 vodka's.....So I CHEATED!!! I am not proud of it.....but that is what happened....]

As per the PCP on sunday.....that did not happen....amazing how a little booze can produce the mother of all headaches....spent all day lazying in bed feeling sorry for myself and quite frankly dissapointed I did not hold up for longer....

Oh well....Gonna do bouble the work out on monday!!!

Day 24 - I am starting to feel a bit worn down....

I think I am heading towards the first wall....I felt pretty good all day yesterday till it came to 6 pm and i was feelign pretty weak, I shrugged the feeling to the side to go and do my skips...I was aiming to do 1100 in 10 minutes or so, in batches of 200 to 400 with just a quick rest inbetween...now that did not happen....in fact I struggled from the first lot of 100 jumps and pushed to make it 200 and thought I will rest when I trip....funny enough I tripped at 202 hahaha....I pushed and pushed but to no avail, 200 in one go was the most i could muster and felt pretty tired and down after.....next I moved on the squats..again a struggle...and I kinda lost count of how many sets I did so I did one more for good measure....

I hgave tried to do the pull ups with a bar attached to the top of the door, but there is no way in hell i can pull myself up...I can with my arm facing me and using the biceps but no way with my hands facing away...i think i'm doing the excercises the wrong way...Will ask Patric about it later....

New Dish last night...Chicken (surprise surprise!!!!) with garlic and Thai Basil....bloddy good when warm a rtad dry once cold....Also new carb...Whole wheat cous cous with added ginger, garlic, onoin and tumeric....makes a fairly bland thing taste some what exhotic, hahahaha

HK rugby 7's this week end, god have mercy on my and keep me from drinking!!!

Day 23 - Let the wight loss begin...

I was getting a tad frustrated by the lack of meaningfull weight loss...Yeeman was suggesting I am not doing the excercises slow enough or that I am somehow not doing things right.Uhmmm iwas thinking she might have been right so I stepped up the skips, faster and with only 1 rest over the 1100 jumps, and i started doing the excercise slower, which I may add bloody hurts a lot more.....Anyway, it seems I lost weight over night...and I am sure its got nothing to do with the extra drive but all to do with sticking to the diet n plans...

Excercise n diet all on track...I did my excercises then went to play a game of 5 a side footy....I have noticed I can run longer and generally I am not as out of breath as I used to be...I put it down to the skipping every day.....I think I am becomming a tandoori chicken addict......its just so damn tasty and flavoursome!!! I think tonight I will experiment with some new styles...

The cravings for sweet stuff has kinda stopped, I think its because during the week i am in a routine that does not involve going into shops or bakeries and hence I do not see the targets of my cravings, and hence no cravings...

Day 21- Hike + 1000 skips....

well, well...3 weeks....well done everyone!! But I have the feeling that its gonna get harder and harder...In a way I am hoping thatis the case as i have not yet noticed a weight reduction...i am sure i am getting firmer and less flabby but I am still keen to break the 80kg mark on my scales...

Went hiking for 1.5 hours last night, the peak was simply fab, seems all the toxic air made its way to Kowloon leaving the peak in pristine air conditions...see pics below.  A special thanks to Martin Haigh for keeping me on my toes and not cutting me any slack as we hiked up!! would not have done it so fast without u, man!!!
After that did my 1000 skips....10.38 minutes...I am quite pleased with that time, now I want to start gettign creative and swapping feet n stuff......will keep you posted...

Food wise, I was starving last night and I had a gut feeling that carbs might vanish for my dinner menu...I made corn tortilla wraps with chicken, tomatoes, chalots, red n yellow pepper n yogurt...damn tasty!! wanted to eat more and more...but Alas I had to stop at just 2 little wraps...    :(

Day 20 - Damn I really miss chocolate, and sweets and Pizza!! and bread....and.....the list can go on and on...

Damn week ends!!! I manage not to miss anythign during the week, I guess its couse I am too busy with work and PCP to actually wonder to my local shop and ogle at all the things I would want but cannot have....I was in a health shop yesterday looking for Quinoa...and the had some liquorice....and I LOVE liquorice....I picked it upa nd was 90% gonna buy it till I saw that fof 34 gr of product there are 14gr of sugar..WTF!! its mostly sugar then...ok back on the shelf it went...but Temptation was there..its allways there..I kinda think that I can eat a chocolate vabr and then burn it off hiking...but then again i think why dont i just go hiking so I get slimmer faster? Anyway...

20 days fo no wine...Its ok now, but week ends are a killer with all  my friends out n about.....I will soldier on!!

Excercises...Lunges are getting better, but I still HATE them....but the skipping is becoming easier and easier and I managed to do over 360 skips without tripping up....I normally stop coz i tripped rather than coz my legs are sore.....but the reason I trip is my legs are tired...so not sure what my point  is...

The rest of the 6 (which i call the PCP ex skipping) were ok, push ups are much more manageble at 8 x3 - can do these every day....

Now onto the food....Yeeman and I are now great Spice fans....went to citysuper yesterday (if anyone can tell me where to buy spices other than the most wexpensive place on earth - I would be greatfull) and got Cumin, ginger, coriander, some un known spice, tumeric, paprika and Cheyenne.....all these came togerthen ina  yogurt marinade for some cod....and I must say, its was flucking good.....even if I say so myself......So we haev decided we are going to be spicing our dinner n lunches up a bit more......Also, sweet potato is now part of the menu....

Today its the 1000 skips.....should be ok...Planning to hike the peak after work and then do my skips with Yeeman afer she finishes work....

Now to the question that keeps coming back every day: whats fpor dinner tongiht,a dn brekki and then lunch again? damn!!!

As u can see one of my cats is keen to join the PCP, buyt the fattest is happy to sit n laze on the sofa...

Day 15 - I have not blogged ina while

Sorry All, been a bit lazy and a bit too shattered after cooking to actually blog...but here goes...

Friday was my company's annual dinner.....and I went and managed not to drink one drop...i was suprised by the fact that I was not as bored as I thought it would be...that said I left at 10.30 and headed home just as the gang was getting nicely oiled up.

The week end was a muted affair, did all my excercises and skips and have not much to report in terms of difficulty a aprt from the fact that those elastic thingy's don't really make my muscle burn...I am gonna try and find some harder ones so I actually feel I am working out...Foodwas easy as I (we) had all the time in the world to make the dishes...ah, I managed to prep about 10 meals of veggies that are not residing happily in the fridge.

Yesterday I decided to go for a hike after work instead of doing the skips, I will do an extra 200 or 300 tonight to make upfor it and keep myself light on my feet ahahaha..

Afte rrthe hike I coul not be arsed to do the skips nor the excercises as it was almost dinnerr time allready...i mustered the will power and did all my excercises and made sure that no more than 20 seconds went by before I did the bnext set...Push ups and sit ups where the hardest....i actually think I am gettign weaker at doing push ups now that iIU am not using weights in the gym...I am sure its all psycological...

Now as per food, I have started to marinate chicken in spices, lemon, garlic and ginger..and so far the results are awsome...still need to perrfect the formula but once I have it, I can wave bye bye to Bombay Dreams's lamb chops (not that I have had any for 16 days now)...

Last night Yeeman bought enought Tuna stweks to feed a small army, so dinneer last night, lunch today and dinner tonight is gonna feature tuna as our main resident protein......I think Ill marinate some chicken for Fajitas at lunch tomorrow.

I have my boiled egg and tonatoes and no whent bread for brekki.....I must say, I hardly miss salt and sugar...but the wine...ah...the wine....

Will try and not be as long between blogs...

Ah, and to all people in Japan: my thoughts are with you!!

Day 9 - No salt, no oil, no butter - No flavour

Well, to say that food is a tad bland is teh understatement of the year........day 8 was the first day of preper diet and I quickly realised taht this PCP is going to take over our lives...between the excercises and all that cooking i find myself switchign off at 23.00....and that is quite late!!!  Between myself and Yeeman we have managed to come up with some interesting recipes but i think it will be some time before I am used to the no salt situation....that said, bland rice has its appeal now...

Excercises are still ok...day 8 was fairly easy, the skips are getting easier too but also increasing....so kinda making them harder at the same time....

Now on day 9 I struggled....those damn lunges....16x4 x2 legs!!! soo damn hard towards the end....I also went to play footy after, and for all my efforts i picked up a little injury on my right leg just under my cheek...making it hard to walk, bend and generally be the gazelle I normally am (not!)...I hope this will not impact my squats today, but i can tell u now, if i feel like this at 6 pm I ain't doing many squats at all...sorry...

I am told of this company that makes no flour bread, gonna try them for next weeks brekki...

http://foodforlife.com/

Day - 7 The 500 that were 150 too many!!

Well, if I said that the 500 skips was easy I woudl be lying.....they were far from easy....I made a big mistake in underestimating the skips and heading to the peak  for a hike after work, in my arrogance I even did a lap of the peak, gently, I told myself, so that i still had legs/ancles and knees for the skips.....when I got to the trusty park on Caine Rd I found I could not do more than 4 or 5 skips in a row....I thought that at that pace it would take me all night hahaha...it gradually got better but i did suffer the last 150-100 and 50...the last 50 were so damn hard....i think i wont be hiking the peak in the next few days.......or 80 or so....

Food has been ok, the constant hunger is becoming like a very annnoying travelling companion that has the only map....U want to get rid of him but u cant if you want to stay on the right path...So me and my buddy "hunger" and progressing well....

Last "proper" half dinner tonight, Yeeman and I are going to hit a Yakitori place for dinner....I will make sure i will saviour ever little morsel.....

Day - 6 a whole week end of no wine...

Well, I guess the hardest part is over for this week at least.......Only the 500 skips left......

I felt quite lazy all day, and hungry....but that goes without saying at this stage hahaha....towards the latetr part of the day I hit Hatton Rd and made my merry way to the peak.....after 10 days of not doing it and the pollution I found it harder than ususal.....I had my skipping rope with me to do some skips at he peak but there were too many people around and i decided to do them in the park near my house instead...

Skips - Ok, not too hard at all
Lunges - Damn they are getting harder - I guess the hike n run before did not help...still mind over body.....
Push ups - not getting easier but not getting harder...4 sets done, last 3 on my knees again...
leg ups - not issues what so ever...

I am now not looking forwards to next week.....difefrent food and harder excercises for sure...

Ah, yeah the Coq au vin....bloody good....but my guess is that its also not part of the week 2 diet...will be polishing it off tonight...or half i guess..

Day - 5 the wolfpack of one is now a wolf pack of two...

So as you will all know my girlfriend Yeeman has joined the group...after days of trepidation and indecision she finally took the plunge and got in touch with patrick and hey pronto so was not only in the program but really into it too...she's hell bent  into doing it by the book...which for someone like me that has been brought up in Italy and was allways told that rules were there to be broken, is scray and refreshing at the same time....i am sure she will keep me honest...but the funny thing is she does not quite realise at at almost twise her size and weight i cannot live on the same portions she lives of, or tries to live of......

Back to the program....Friday night without a drink was not as bad as i thought it would be, we went to the cinema to watch the kings speech (that contrary to my expectation was excellent) and the we headed home to eat half a staek and salad each........now i am guessing that we are allowed to eat as much salad as we want? its good for you right?? at that point i was ready for a few glasses, perhaps a nice bottle of chablis...Ummmmmm...but no...it was not meant to be...

This morning was the first saturday in a long time that I did not accuse the excesses of the night before...felt pretty great....and was a lot more productive.....but still had a nostalgic thought at the fun I had missed....oh well...

As per the excercises, i was fine with the skipping till yesterday but today i kinda suffered a bit, the 70 x 5 got quite messy towards the end with the last set being scrappy......sit ups, ok, no issue, squats also cool, but not so cool with the push ups...last set was HARD...did the last 3 on my knees...

Yeeman and I have been on a mission to get the remainind itams we needed, like bathroom and kitchen scales for her (I would have thought eveyone has one of each at home), the push up bars for her and the elastic thingymagig......ah anyonet hinking of buying this stuff at princes Building dont do it...its like stupid expensive compared to causeway bay.......

Now on to dinner.....I am making Cok Au Vin.....as its prob one of the last meals we can actually choose....so its will be half a portion of that and some red organic rice....uuhhh soo healthy allready...well half...

And now, I could kill a cold beer, a glass of wine, a Martini or even a gin & tonic....but, again, no....its not to be.....

Day 3 - Muesli is bad for you?

Damn, in a quest to have a healthier brekki i went out and bought a load of muesli...that was just before i read Patrick's note on the ideal brekki...so it seems that veggies are the winners.....uhmmmm....the idea of eating roasted veggies on toast for brekki does not appeal to me at all.......so after much consideration i have decided to make some mutli veggie omlette or "ommtaluille" a cross between adn omlette and a ratatuille (not sure of the spelling) to take care of breakfast for the next few days and see how we go...

the half portion eating has not been too great an issue thus far, but its probably because I have not yet got to terms with the idea of simply taking half the food off my plate.....i tend to assume what i have on the plate is half of what I normally eat....that has to change from tomorrow......

As for the excercises, I am not struggling much a part from the old push ups with the push up handels...its kinda harder than a normal push up.....or is it? I don't know but it sure feels harder...and my muscles are getting a tad sore....not that this is a bad thing mind you, but unexpected...as per the skipping, so far its fun...but i am sure this will change very soon...

and on  that note, I am going to check on my ommtatuille and start making some portions for the next few days....oh joy...on a thursday night......sober!!!!!

ciao ciao

Day 1 - what have I got myself into?

So I guess this is the first step towards a healthier lifestyle.....Its gonna be hard to change a habit of 20 years....

I have a feeling that giving up the booze is going to be the hardest thing...