Emiko: Day 21, Spoken Secrets, Broken Day

I told the first of many coworkers, Juliet, today about the PCP, and she had a really positive reaction. I showed her the blogs and told her briefly about the format of the Project. At slow moments in the shift (which were few) she stopped and read our blog, commenting out loud and laughing. She wanted me to send her the link so that she could keep following along, and assured me that when I was weighing out my food that she never thought that I was 'weird'. It was really great. We left the blog up on the staff computer, and my manager came in and happened to see it too. He said it looked awesome, and emailed the link to himself right there. So, we have two new witnesses to our PCP journey! And there are more to come!

I am enjoying having this little secret, and it is really really neat watching people's reactions, whatever they are, as Adrian and I let the secret slip out into the open.

So, after being at work from 6:30am-3pm, I biked home and collapsed next to Adrian on the couch. We talked and had a good time, knowing it was the only couple of hours we'd see each other today. Eventually I had to rush to start my exercises. Emphasis on start, because that's all I got to do before I left for class at 5:20pm. I only had time for 700 or so jump-ropes, and ended up finishing the rest of the work out after class (past 9pm).

I remember Patrick making a post about having to break up his work out during a very busy day, and for that reason I was afraid it was going to really suck. But I got a good sweat going pretty quick --probably helped quite a bit by crazy heat here in Oakland-- and felt like I got a good work out. So this rushed, broken-up exercise routine went alright, but in the future I will try to stay on track and do my jump-ropes and exercises all in the same period.

We also got our new diets today, and like Adrian said we will be drinking lots of tea. I am sad because I am eating less fruit and meat, which are really the best parts in my opinion. Adrian has come up with a KILLER cayenne-pepper doused turkey burger recipe (I think he put it in an earlier post), and I am in love. But moderation is continually emphasized and further enforced each week with smaller portions, and I am grateful for that reminder.

I am also really excited because it's almost time for the pounds to really start melting off, and boy am I ready!

And HEY! Keep yer eyes peeled! New Flickr photo coming tomorrow of me and Adrian posing like macho men (hopefully with some noticeable changes this time). Aren't you thrilled?!

Either way, good night all. I hope that you get some good rest and, for those of you like Tim and Patrick living halfway around the world and already well into your Friday, I hope you are having a lovely, lovely morning.

Adrian & Emiko: Day 20, PCP: Please Consider your Portions!

We went to the San Francisco side of the Bay Area today and hung out at Adrian's parents house. Adrian got to pick up his bike and we both plan on hitting some of the trails around here this weekend. Pictures are forthcoming! We told both of our parents about the PCP, and they were pretty indifferent except for Adrian's mom, who thinks its really cool (and sent us home with broccolini and half a watermelon).

Mostly, it seems that they think we're naively following a fad of sorts. However, we've seen and felt the results after only 3 weeks, and we really hope that the inevitable progress and change in us will inspire others to think more closely about the food they buy and eat. It takes a lot of care and attention to do this project, and it may seem obsessive to outside observers, but seriously, when you eat the right foods, you feel strong, and when you feel strong, you feel good.

Emiko hasn't revealed the PCP to her coworkers yet, but is planning to this weekend. So far, they seem mostly weirded out when they notice her weighing out her portions at work. But because she hasn't told her coworkers about it, they might think she is being overly controlling.

One of Emiko's coworkers just finished Pre-Med, so it's been easy to talk with her about these healthy changes. But when on the subject of diet, this coworker said that she doesn't really need to portion out her meals as she is not overly excessive, and just eats her fill of good food when she is hungry.

But what does our 'fill' even mean these days? For example, restaurant portions are simply too large for any normal person. A single restaurant portion is probably enough for two or three people. But we condition our bodies to believe that this is how much we need. We have both stuffed ourselves after cleaning our plates, and walked away feeling sick, clutching the space around our too-full bellies. We are relearning and retraining our bodies to understand what a more natural and healthful diet feels like.


We've made the conclusion that most people just don't really feel that being conscious of how much food we put into ourselves is an important consideration. It's kind of like choosing the right car. Driving an 18-wheeler to your McDonald's job is a bit excessive. And driving a Honda Accord to the Monster Rally would be suicidal. It's kind of a weird analogy, but we couldn't think of a good one at the moment. Basically, too much is wasteful, too little is not enough. And it's hard to learn to balance it by guessing. That's why we have to pay such close attention in the beginning and weigh out every gram.

This post took us a long time to write, and we had a fight in between, so if you skimmed it like 'this is dumb,' please read it again. And please consider your portions. They're important!

Adrian & Emiko

Emiko: Day 19, Rest After the Rope

Hello, there!

Today was fairly uneventful, PCP-wise. Tuesday is my heaviest school day, I'm pretty much tied up between 1-9pm, so there isn't much opportunity for recipes or revelations of that sort. Although, Adrian did get us limes at the grocery store the other day, and they are most delicious squeezed over a spicy-turkey-patty, tomato, avocado, whole-wheat-pita wrapped sandwich! mmm! (Patrick is right, PCP round 2 is totally obsessed with food! But all the better for the PCP Cookbook, right?)

As far as exercises went...well, they didn't really. I took my rest day today. I was planning on going through my Work Out 2 exercises, but after finishing the jump ropes I was all outta steam. I got a side cramp about half way through the 1,500 jumps, and had to limit my last sets to about 100-150 jumps. I also kept tripping a lot more than usual, and kind of wanted to make a noose out of that twisted jump rope (as displayed in Tim's Day 18 post...he he). I stretched out in between, swirling my body around and stretching from side-to-side, but that cramping just wouldn't pass! So after finishing with the jumps I went upstairs and called it a day. It is really nice to have a rest day when you need it.

Still haven't settled into a balance between work, PCP, and school. I will begin working less next week which will help, but both the PCP and school feel like full-time jobs unto themselves!

Thus it is time to get to bed. I must get my required 8-hours of sleep, and I still have to finish my drawing hw for tomorrow's class! Hope you all are well out there, and good night!

P.S. Spilled the beans about the PCP to my Dad today, and he was equally unsurprised as my mom!

Emiko: Day 18, Buns of Steel...?

Howdy!

My head is hurting a little with sleepiness, so hopefully I can keep this one short.

I am beginning to gain some confidence that all of this hard work is going to pay off. I can really feel my muscles beginning to grow. Unfortunately, there is still a lot of fat left in my arms, belly and thighs, but there is definitely new strength under the surface and that's really pleasing. I have almost no fat in my calves now, and they are looking pretty toned. Lovin' that! I can't wait to see all those other muscles that are just waiting to be revealed.

After starting these new work outs, I am actually sore again today! It has been a while, and it's kind of awesome to feel sore, because I know I'm forming new muscle. Today my arms were a little sore, but the soreness was mainly focused on the booty (thanks, lunges!). Despite being a little awkward, I am happy to know that my glutes are getting a good work out too.

I didn't max out my workout today, but I came close. Those Side Shoulder Flies are so killer. I still can't make the minimum once I reach the 3rd and 4th sets. I can do the maximum reps of Incline Pull-ups, but I don't think that I can do real Pull-ups yet. I am totally excited for the day when I can do all of my sets doing the real thang.

Not much else to report I think, except that I'm for certain a little hungrier this week. Not having a real hearty dinner is what gets me, but I'm sure that's an important step in losing the weight...which I certainly can't wait to lose! As of today, I weigh 125lbs. This is about 7lbs lighter than I was when I first started the PCP and what was my normal weight for the past 5 years!

I am inspired by Nate to start posting my measurements, so I will try to get those up this week.

Also, I told my mom about the PCP today, and it was totally anti-climactic! I was expecting more surprise, but she seemed like she had already concluded that Adrian and I were up to something. Oh well! Good times.

Goodnight y'all. I wish you sweet dreams and restful sleep. Zzzz....

Emiko: Day 17, A New Yearn For The Burn

Today was the first day since Day 8 (the first day of weighing-out our food) that I really screwed up my diet. I wasn't on track this morning when I first got up before work, and only managed to eat the egg before I left. Once at work, I ate a 100g bowl of Vanilla Almond coconut-flakey granola (yum) with 150ml milk at about 8:30am, and then some carrots, cucumbers and cherry tomatoes with a little baba ghanoush around 11am. All of this space in between my "breakfast" didn't feel right. The Sunday morning shift is the busiest of the week, so I was feeling the pressure to even find time to stop and eat.

One thing I will pause to tell you about is the amazingness of cucumber water! Some of my coworkers and I have become really excited about it, and put a pitcher of it out for customers to drink. I made some for Adrian the other day, and he liked it too. All you have to do is slice some cucumbers, put them in your glass and pour water over them. I like to add a little ice to bring out the cucumbery flavor. It is so refreshing!

Anyways, I should also mention the new, harderrrr exercises! Right before the new exercises came a couple of days ago, I was just starting to feel comfortable with most of the old ones. So of course we are offered a bigger challenge! Yesterday I surprised myself and did really well with the jumpropes. I did a couple sets of 200 or so jumps, then a set of 404 and finally a last set of over 500! I kind of shocked myself with that one. Today's jumps were not so crazy, but I made it over the required 1,500.

I also struggled through a lot of my work out today (Week 3, Work out 2). My shoulders had proved weak weak weak during last week's work outs, but the new Shoulder Press exercise was more manageable. I was really burning by the 10th rep, but I kept sticking it out until rep 15. My face looked like a radish, it was so red. But TRIUMPH! That is all that matters! Similar cases with the Ski Jumper and Leg Ups. But somehow I maxed out all of the exercises! What?!? I was confused when I realized that I had gone to the maximum set of reps for all of them. 

HOW? I thought. But I guess my will-power is getting stronger. I know that I often find myself thinking, "I'll be one step closer to Peak Condition if I keep going!"

Emiko & Adrian: Day 16, Good Snooze and Bad Snooze

So, remember how we mentioned that Patrick wants us all to get at least 8 hours of sleep every night? One would think that forcing ourselves to get that much rest would allow us to wake up refreshed and jumping out of bed. But what we've been doing is more like crawling out of bed. For some reason, the body just says, "hey, I like sleep! I want to keep doing this." *Emiko hits snooze button* Emiko has actually learned how to hit the snooze button while still in REM sleep.

The bad news (or bad snooze) is that the first hour of the day is spent in a groggy haze. We shuffle around in the morning going through the motions, weighing our veggies and peeling our eggs, etc. The lack of energy might also be because we are not seeing the results yet, and it's hard to keep feeling excited every day when we can't really imagine our bodies looking any different.

The good news (snooze) is that despite this lack of energy, we know it's important to continue going through the motions, and we are. We've been sticking closely to our diets, struggling through the exercises, and pushing on.

Adrian found this proverb in Buddhism, A Very Short Introduction, the text we are reading for our Buddhist philosophy class:

"Sow an act, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny."

We both found this quote to be inspiring, and we hope that it's inspiring for the rest of you as well. Every action we're undertaking right now with this new lifestyle is creating better habits, and will eventually strengthen our characters and not just our bodies.

On that note, we are off to bed for another full night of rest! G'night.