Hello. I'm very sorry but I haven't had access to Internet until now. Safari in northern Kenya is going well with lots of animals spotted and long active days. A longer post will follow. I couldn't be happier to have completed PCP. Many thoughts, final thoughts, have crossed my mind as I stand among strong Samburu warriors and take photos of lion, elephants, villages, etc. I'm eating healthy, working out almost every single day. Today I'm about to go mountain biking through herds of zebra. Stay strong everybody!
Patrick, I could say a lot to you but I prefer to simply say what you do saves lives. I'm a renewed human being, eager to live differently. PCP transformed so many aspects of my life. This was a deeply transformative experience that will last fir years to come. I look forward to KFB! Thank you!
J
Monday, April 18, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Day 89
It's been some time since my last entry. PCP also taught me that making up for such absences with lengthy posts might be guilt-cleansing for the author but utterly boring for the audience.
Of the past 5 days I've spent 2/5 flying to Nairobi and 3/5 in a conference room. The work meeting ended successfully and tomorrow I travel with my wife and father in law to northern Kenya for the next 7 days.
I didn't jump or workout in the airplane but I'm sure eventually a PCPeer will find a way to do it. I would have as indeed I think I found a way to. Chest dips seemed nearly possible except the lady sitting in front of me only had the back of her sit in the upright position for taking off and landing. Creeps would have been possible in the long aisles of the cabin and perhaps even floor jumps. I had an aisle sit and could have done the triceps dips except the person sitting on the other side of the aisle would have seriously objected me placing my feet on his lap. Pull ups and Kung Fu abs using the curtain bar that separated me from business class would have worked in the 1950s, but today's A340 jets have no such bars, just some kind of discrete rails. All other abs were doable but it was rather dark I was afraid of fat passengers walking half asleep to the restrooms stepping on me while enduring through my planks or worse. Lunges are no longer in the repertoire for some reason. I tried pistol squats in the sort of open area around the emergency exit but the flight attendant was really concerned about me using the hatch as support. Fair enough. I asked for a banana before trying all these stunts but was refused the egg white afterwards and all they offer is cream bags when you ask for milk. All the band work can be effectively done but somehow the crew is also paranoid that you are gonna hurt somebody if you let go one end of the band.
OK, so I didn't even try any of this. Honestly, I'm a little shy to do such a thing in front of a crowd without having a scape route available for the next 11 hours. Otherwise, PCP routines can be done above 10,000 feet.
Food wise commercial flights are a disaster. All seems so toxic. I ate tons of fruit before boarding each plane, and accepted the bread, coffee and tea, water, cheese, one banana and then another one, but the rest I simply couldn't swallow.
All these restraints and limits faded in the nice hotel where the conference just took place. I've done my best to stick very strictly to diet although I've had to eye-ball every meal and snack. And I'm writing this after taking a long bath after completing the Day 89 routine!
In anticipation of the end, I want to really thank you PCPeers. It's been a true joy sharing this transformative adventure with all of you. I regret not commenting more on your posts but I did read through them as often as I could following your ups and downs, victories, confessions, conquests and hard work as we are about to stick a flag with a sign that says COMPLETE across our names at the peak of Mount PCP.
We are on our own now and I'm happy to say we couldn't possibly be in better hands. Nobody knows how to take care of us better than we do. When it comes to wellness, we certainly are well ahead of the game.
I will thank you Patrick, but let me do that on Day 91.
Of the past 5 days I've spent 2/5 flying to Nairobi and 3/5 in a conference room. The work meeting ended successfully and tomorrow I travel with my wife and father in law to northern Kenya for the next 7 days.
I didn't jump or workout in the airplane but I'm sure eventually a PCPeer will find a way to do it. I would have as indeed I think I found a way to. Chest dips seemed nearly possible except the lady sitting in front of me only had the back of her sit in the upright position for taking off and landing. Creeps would have been possible in the long aisles of the cabin and perhaps even floor jumps. I had an aisle sit and could have done the triceps dips except the person sitting on the other side of the aisle would have seriously objected me placing my feet on his lap. Pull ups and Kung Fu abs using the curtain bar that separated me from business class would have worked in the 1950s, but today's A340 jets have no such bars, just some kind of discrete rails. All other abs were doable but it was rather dark I was afraid of fat passengers walking half asleep to the restrooms stepping on me while enduring through my planks or worse. Lunges are no longer in the repertoire for some reason. I tried pistol squats in the sort of open area around the emergency exit but the flight attendant was really concerned about me using the hatch as support. Fair enough. I asked for a banana before trying all these stunts but was refused the egg white afterwards and all they offer is cream bags when you ask for milk. All the band work can be effectively done but somehow the crew is also paranoid that you are gonna hurt somebody if you let go one end of the band.
OK, so I didn't even try any of this. Honestly, I'm a little shy to do such a thing in front of a crowd without having a scape route available for the next 11 hours. Otherwise, PCP routines can be done above 10,000 feet.
Food wise commercial flights are a disaster. All seems so toxic. I ate tons of fruit before boarding each plane, and accepted the bread, coffee and tea, water, cheese, one banana and then another one, but the rest I simply couldn't swallow.
All these restraints and limits faded in the nice hotel where the conference just took place. I've done my best to stick very strictly to diet although I've had to eye-ball every meal and snack. And I'm writing this after taking a long bath after completing the Day 89 routine!
In anticipation of the end, I want to really thank you PCPeers. It's been a true joy sharing this transformative adventure with all of you. I regret not commenting more on your posts but I did read through them as often as I could following your ups and downs, victories, confessions, conquests and hard work as we are about to stick a flag with a sign that says COMPLETE across our names at the peak of Mount PCP.
We are on our own now and I'm happy to say we couldn't possibly be in better hands. Nobody knows how to take care of us better than we do. When it comes to wellness, we certainly are well ahead of the game.
I will thank you Patrick, but let me do that on Day 91.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Day 85
WiFi on the plane compensates for airplane food.
My journey to Kenya is now ongoing. I will be arriving tomorrow night in Nairobi. My rope is packed right on top, waiting for me to catch up.
Wish you all a glorious final week. I'll keep my posts short and few from here till day 90 as internet access won't always be possible where I'm going. But I shall put a lot of thought and conciseness into my day 90 post and I'll look forward to sharing our victory. Stay strong!
My journey to Kenya is now ongoing. I will be arriving tomorrow night in Nairobi. My rope is packed right on top, waiting for me to catch up.
Wish you all a glorious final week. I'll keep my posts short and few from here till day 90 as internet access won't always be possible where I'm going. But I shall put a lot of thought and conciseness into my day 90 post and I'll look forward to sharing our victory. Stay strong!
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Day 81
I wished the last days of the PCP could unfold quietly at home. Next Saturday I will take a long flight to Nairobi, where I have a three-day work meeting. The big reward will be a subsequent week-long safari with my wife and father in law which will be fantastic.
As many of you have had similar challenges along the way, I gladly welcome any advice to ameliorate the 20 hour flight, not counting stops and time difference, how to eat on the plane, etc.
Otherwise, working hard, making every rep count, keeping a close watch on grams, trying to sleep well and keep the sudden floods of thoughts about the future on hold to concentrate on each day without anxiety.
As many of you have had similar challenges along the way, I gladly welcome any advice to ameliorate the 20 hour flight, not counting stops and time difference, how to eat on the plane, etc.
Otherwise, working hard, making every rep count, keeping a close watch on grams, trying to sleep well and keep the sudden floods of thoughts about the future on hold to concentrate on each day without anxiety.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Day 77: one PCP cycle a year, but what to do in between?
Aren't we all close to feeling a deep burn in the brain? I feel about PCP as my left leg on rep 7 of the final set of pistol squats this week. Deep muscle burn sends a dual signal to my head, a) a great and pleasurable satisfaction, b) a great and painful yearn to put an end to it. To be honest, this is seldom the case for planks, which send only capital "B" signals.
PCP coming to an end raises so many questions. Certainly keeping the muscles stimulated 4 or 5 times a week with a mild routine that I pray Patrick will gift-wrap for as as a graduation present, will be useful. The hard part will be sticking to it. While PCP has proven me that I can finish what I start, rigurously sticking to the plan and observing strict rules and parameters, it has also proven to me the value of being obedient and accountable to a regimen. Two things that will fade right after Day 90 when the trainer no longer sends instructions and the PCPeers go on with their lives. All there will be left will be our-selves against powerful and antagonising enemies like restaurants and butter, as well as dwellers of our brains like temptation and other propensities to take the short way to satisfaction, gradually undermining and deviating from longer term goals. I confess I have this fear. As much as I feel physically strong, I believe the real test of self discipline is about to start, not to end, as 90 days is nothing compared to the aspiration of life-long commitment to wellness.
Today's question time video was ambiguous. Patrick talked about cycles and gave the example of a professional athlete: three months of intensive training, maintenance, competition, rest and recovery, back to intensive training. This sort of virtuous cycle allows the body to break through barriers and push limits; something that cannot be achieved if we kept on going without some rest. It is comforting to know that we can keep growing our condition if we kind of follow this cycle. Right after I finished watching the video, my initial thought was "good news! It will be easy keeping the muscle I've built". A few minutes later, while I was typing up a report in my office, the thought assaulted my mind "(...) but to keep in peak condition and grow from there, a yearly PCP cycle is inevitable".
And then I thought: Competition is the main difference from us, "normal" people (not so normal anymore, thank god!) and athletes. So, in absence of this incentive, I'm thinking I'll need to seriously pick up a sport, which is not so easy to fit in my routine though also not impossible, or to explore more individual alternatives: I'm thinking Kung Fu Body in three months (?). And then, right after Christmas, do a PCP cycle every year.
Thinking about this made my brain feel like my arms and upper body, specially my back, during those 20 seconds of micro-rest before the next set of pull ups!
The beauty of looking ahead of Day 90 as finishing part of a cycle that I will come back to instead of void, is that it reaffirms the value of PCP, dissipates my fear of the future and let's me know that stopping for "20 seconds" is necessary to keep going. Now the deal is to decipher how to go about the rest of the cycle.
PCP coming to an end raises so many questions. Certainly keeping the muscles stimulated 4 or 5 times a week with a mild routine that I pray Patrick will gift-wrap for as as a graduation present, will be useful. The hard part will be sticking to it. While PCP has proven me that I can finish what I start, rigurously sticking to the plan and observing strict rules and parameters, it has also proven to me the value of being obedient and accountable to a regimen. Two things that will fade right after Day 90 when the trainer no longer sends instructions and the PCPeers go on with their lives. All there will be left will be our-selves against powerful and antagonising enemies like restaurants and butter, as well as dwellers of our brains like temptation and other propensities to take the short way to satisfaction, gradually undermining and deviating from longer term goals. I confess I have this fear. As much as I feel physically strong, I believe the real test of self discipline is about to start, not to end, as 90 days is nothing compared to the aspiration of life-long commitment to wellness.
Today's question time video was ambiguous. Patrick talked about cycles and gave the example of a professional athlete: three months of intensive training, maintenance, competition, rest and recovery, back to intensive training. This sort of virtuous cycle allows the body to break through barriers and push limits; something that cannot be achieved if we kept on going without some rest. It is comforting to know that we can keep growing our condition if we kind of follow this cycle. Right after I finished watching the video, my initial thought was "good news! It will be easy keeping the muscle I've built". A few minutes later, while I was typing up a report in my office, the thought assaulted my mind "(...) but to keep in peak condition and grow from there, a yearly PCP cycle is inevitable".
And then I thought: Competition is the main difference from us, "normal" people (not so normal anymore, thank god!) and athletes. So, in absence of this incentive, I'm thinking I'll need to seriously pick up a sport, which is not so easy to fit in my routine though also not impossible, or to explore more individual alternatives: I'm thinking Kung Fu Body in three months (?). And then, right after Christmas, do a PCP cycle every year.
Thinking about this made my brain feel like my arms and upper body, specially my back, during those 20 seconds of micro-rest before the next set of pull ups!
The beauty of looking ahead of Day 90 as finishing part of a cycle that I will come back to instead of void, is that it reaffirms the value of PCP, dissipates my fear of the future and let's me know that stopping for "20 seconds" is necessary to keep going. Now the deal is to decipher how to go about the rest of the cycle.
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