Days 43 - 46: catching up

Back from a long weekend away and unplugged from work. If I wanted I could have had access to my blog on the go but, to be honest, I just felt like taking a rest from fluorescent computer screens and enjoy the break. I will put up a couple of photos later this week, including the weekly photo.

I'm finding the new diet plan interesting. Having as much of the vegetables portion as I want at lunch feels like training for the post PCP life, when we will have to make choices and eyeball our rations without crutches like the food scale or the diet plan prescribed in advance.

I will make a few confessions:

- I couldn't have animal protein for breakfast, which I replaced with egg whites. Is this OK?
- On Monday we went for a long walk that involved some climbing and trekking. On the way back, I carried my son (he is all better, thank you Molly) on my back hanging from a backpack seat for babies (I will post a photo of this too). When we got back home to our friend's house where we were staying, I was too tired and didn't feel like working out on top of the long day's walk. Skipped the skipping and did half the workout. It felt like enough from a physical point of view, but I still feel like I betrayed myself a bit.
- I'm having mixed feelings about the timed version of the rope jumping. In my case, counting helped me concentrate and have an idea of how much was behind and ahead at any given point. I tried setting the stopwatch on my phone to two minutes but at some point I began to have doubts: how much more do I have to go? Did I press the start button? Will 2 minutes be equivalent to 200-250 jumps? And as I thought about this, I lost my concentration and started to trip systematically, which by now we all know is one of the most frustrating sensations. So, I went back to counting and I'm still doing 6 sets of 250 jumps. I'll try switching to the new method, but the transition won't be as easy.
- The friends we went with are former PCPeers, so it was great food-wise. On Monday, however, we had to buy some braised chicken which we ate by the river upon arrival to our spot (a fantastic hut in the middle of nowhere next to a clean river flowing through a warm, almost desert-like valley). It was too high on salt and a bit oily. I honestly didn't enjoy it very much and noticed right away how hard it was to actually know what it tasted like with so much salt in it. One of our friends became food poisoned and threw up many times after that meal. Not sure it was the chicken though, but I'm glad I didn't eat that much.
- There was a lot of alcohol available during the whole trip. I couldn't resist having a tiny sip of cold beer when we arrived in the hut. Otherwise, I had none and it was weird being around merrier people enjoying cold rum, beer and wine. But then again, it feels excellent to see them hungover and weak the next morning while you are all perky and ready to go.
- The morning egg snack was tricky. In the past four days there was a lot of moving around and driving involved, so in fact only once I did have it as prescribed. The other times, I replaced that egg at breakfast.
- Schedule-wise the trip was a scramble. Worked out twice in the mornings and the rest of the days very late at night. Not easy or smart, because I could feel my body feeling confused, wanting to move in the mornings and wanting to rest at night, but forced to do the opposite. So now I need to get back to a regular routine to feel less tired and more in control.
- I'm doing well except for the side crunches. But I'll keep trying.
- This morning I my weight was 69 kilos. Yes, I know numbers aren't important, but it is great knowing I've lost 8 kilos so far and also that despite the salty and oily chicken and the rather disorganised schedule of the past days, my weight was stable.

When is the next indulgence?