PCP: COMPLETE

Day 90

We are finished....and in peak condition!!!!  Ninety days flew by faster than I could have imagined.  Todays final exercise was to pick a workout from the first 2 weeks....well, just to prove a point, I picked Day 1....haha....we've come a long, long way!  Also had my final pics with Patrick today.  Let's see how they come out.....I rarely like my pictures.  I chose to wear clothes from 10 years ago....pre-babies....loved that I could get right into them with no problem, and I felt great!  Tonight we're going to a house party with lots of yummy snacks and much to drink....and believe me....I will be indulging:)

A big thank you to Patrick, Chen, Corry, Jane, Maki and Jodi.  You all have been my support through the last 90 days!!!  It was tough at times to keep to the diet or find the time for exercises, but we did it.....and it was so worth it. 

I feel really great inside with eating healthy and also feel great about how I look on the outside.  I've never been into the "numbers" side of it, but the scale with all it's calculations kept going in the "right" directions.....ofcourse it all shows in how my clothes are fitting.  And more importantly I feel stronger and leaner.  I would recommend this program to everyone who has the determination to follow it through.  My countdown from 10 to 1 talked about what I liked and what I didn't like, and the reason for that was I wanted to show that it isn't easy....but like I tell my kids....good things don't come easy, you have to work for them, and if something is too easy, it may not be worth it. 

At this point, I feel as though I'm in prime position to keep at a certain level of exercise.....and I'm also eating in a much healthier way and I don't see why I can't continue that. Now that I know how to do it,  I plan on keeping the best I can to maintain this peak condition....infact, I would like to continue on with what I can on the program to get even closer to what I consider my true peak condition.  It's very personal with each of us, right?  SO.....good luck to you all with reaching your own personal goals:)

Countdown thoughts #2 - Cheating

Day 89

This is it....the day before the last day! Last day of exercises in our book....wow....what a killer workout! I had to stop in the middle to take care of the baby, but was able to finish of before bed.

This project has been long, well, now that it's just about over it seems as though the 90 days went super fast. I wanted to talk about cheating...you know, going off the diet or not getting to all the exercises on days. Although I know it's all our itent is to not let it happen, but there are times when it's unavoidable especially when lives get busy and the family has needs. Very rarely did I need to eat a meal which I shouldn't have or take a bite of an unapproved item. It was hard at times, but not impossible. The good news it that I always felt a mountain of guilt and then bounced back on track. With the exercises, I missed a couple of days when I was sick, and then once or twice didn't get to complete all the sets due to short of time, but otherwise nothing was ever!

So, yes, you can cheat and eat the wrong foods and skip the exercises, but is it really worth it? Are you getting away with something...NO....you're just cheating yourself! Not worth the guilt and, hey, 90 days is only 3 months.....

Tomorrow is the LAST DAY!!!!

Countdown thoughts - #3 - INDULGENCE TIME!

Day 88

Today was so fun....got lost with Jodi trying to drive to Kawasaki....and then not so fun....my kids didn't get the message they were supposed to go home with Jodi's son and I didn't know where they were for a while.  Luckily it all worked out and we're all safe and sound.  My hubby has been staying in Tokyo this week for a conference and was supposed to come home tomorrow...well, he surprised us and came home tonight.  I love when that happens.

So, no, it's not indulgence time - YET - but I wanted to talk about how important I thought those days were for the program.  We were given the green light at 25, 50 and 75 days.  I tried to vary my indulgences.  First a sweet one, then a fatty one and last a salty one.  With each one, I felt rewarded for my efforts and it helped me to go on.  It was hard picking, and although I picked a certain item each time, I noticed that the salty was definitely most satisfying for me (it was also super spicy, and I love that).  The fatty was alright, but made me feel really guilty.  The sweet just made me feel sick.  Great to know how my peak condition body really reacts to different indulgences!

The only negative about indulging was picking my item to indulge in!  I always wanted to pick the perfect thing.  Not such a bad problem....and with each indulgence, I got quicker at picking...probably because I was so in need of one.  Can't wait for my first post-PCP indulgence - 90 days in.....I know I deserve it!

Only 2 more days to go.....

Countdown thoughts - #4 - jump, jump, jump

Day 87

Ok....before I talk about jumping, let me tell you about shoulder exercises....OMG....today was a killer!  We had 4 different exercises with 5 sets each....haven't we been doing these for 3 months? shouldn't they be easy by now?  I guess not - just happy to make it through them  (well, kind of - had to leave off the last exercise - major failure :)

And this leads into my next thought....about jumping.  I never thought that jump ropes were for adults!  I remember sometime in elementary school when we did "jump rope for heart" and we got pledges for the amount of jumps we completed.  I can't remember how many I did, but I sure know it wasn't anywhere near the average 2000 I do these days!  And to think we started with just 250 a day.  I have come to like it, and honestly a day without jumping in the morning changes me....it's been very effective in getting me into shape and a great cardio that I can do in my home at any time.  Love it! 

Oh yeah, do you remember the song "Jump" by Van Halen....so much fun in the bus during elementary school field trips....although I know he didn't mean with a rope :)

The only part that was hard for me was jumping at night if I didn't get to in the morning.  So, lesson learned....wake up early to jump (sounds easier than it is since I'm defnitely NOT a morning person!).

Only 3 more days to go!

Countdown thoughts - #5 - eggs, your best friend

Day 86

I should have counted the number of egg whites I've eaten while on PCP!!  Yes, it's true that eggs whites are really important for getting into peak condition.  At one point of the program, I was up to 4 eggs a day.  Lucky for me I really liked eggs going into the program!  And I'm glad I still like them coming out of it......

The frustrating part about eggs for me was not not finding them, eating them or liking them.....it was just such a pain to peel them!!!  I got into boiling about a dozen eggs every few days, and just cringed when it came to peeling.  Luckily I had some good days which made up for the bad, and I did come to the conclusion that Costco eggs always went better for me. 

OH....and I am looking forward to my next splurge.....my favorite preparation of eggs.....eggs benedict....preferably served to me in a 5 star hotel while sitting in bed wearing a plush robe and watching a good movie :) 

Only 4 more days to go.....

Countdown thoughts - #6 - consistency

Day 85

Monday morning workout......sorry about the baby being there this morning! Needless to say I wasn't ready for December....and therefore very amazed when the nanny didn't show up! I can't believe time went this fast since we began the PCP.

It's been really important to be consistent while on PCP.....what I mean is that you really need to do all the exercises every day to be effective...and I also think the same time of the day everyday is important too. I found that it was easiest for me to do them all in the morning so that I was done for the day. And the days I didn't do that, I felt out of sorts with myself and felt soooooo much guilt all day that I just kept thinking about it.

Winter....warm beds....dark mornings.....everybody had a hard time waking up early since winter began. This made it hard for me to get myself out of bed as well. I have to admit there were a couple of extremely lazy Saturday and Sunday's where I left the exercises for later and on rare occasion never got to them. It made it so much harder for the next day....and I could tell my energy levels were lower too. Not a good feeling.

Only 5 more days to go......

Countdown thoughts - #7 - eat snacks!!

Day 84

It's Sunday and another PCP coming to an end.  Looking forward to Monday morning workout.....wondering what the last week is going to be like!

In the past weeks I've learned that skipping meals is a no-no....healthy eating consists of 6 meals a day.  Really great concept....keeps the body happy and you're never starving for the next meal.  And having to have fruit snacks was great!!!!  Kept me away from the "usual" snacking that comes out of a bag!

The bad part of this is that if you're a busy mommy then you really have to plan....not only the baby's meals, but your own as well.  There were times when I forgot to have a snack ready and those were the days I just couldn't wait for the next meal.  What I really missed at these times was the ability to eat cheese.  Always easy and relatively nutritious for babies....too much fat for mommy's!  I can't believe I've had hardly (little cheating there....few bites every now and then) had any cheese for 12 weeks!!!!!!  And I LOVE cheese.....ahhhh....and the wine that goes with!!!  

Only 6 more days to go!!