Day 90 and onwards - Sayonara but not goodbye

Almost a week of life off the chain now and I am still struggling with this final post.  No profound insight to share or key nugget of advice to offer future PCPers without coming off as overly pedantic or verbose or both.

To me, the genius of PCP has been the simplicity. Taking something simple (fitness, health, weight loss, physical appearance) - which some people spend endless energy complicating, breaking down into billions of different micro components, exercises, supplements, so that others can (or will) waste billions of dollars on trying to get the promised results - and offering an uncomplicated, but in no way easy, solution for results.

I never imagined that listening to Patrick and Chen would take me from here...

no chinned and surely lookin

to here..

how bout a hug

and here

well you get the picture

in 90 days.  Though initially skeptical with some aspects of PCP's structure - and not easy things to commit to going in - they all played a key role in its completion.  Blowing through all of the bullshit, consider me one satisfied customer Patrick, and one who will continue to spread the gospel long after the euphoria of buying size 32 pants (ironically, now that I am leaving Japan, I can finally buy pants here) has worn off.

By The Numbers -

Weight Going In to PCP - 93 kg
Weight Coming out of PCP - 80.1 kg
Haven't been this weight since I left high school.

Waist Size Going in - 35
Waist Size Coming out - 31.5

Didn't really track the body fat very well but will really focus on getting this down to the mid teens going forward.

My Key Take Aways -

1) My wife Mags is an AMAZING women - not only am I very very grateful for her accepting 90 days of a reclusive, home centered lifestyle, my moods, my picky and onerous diet requirements, perpetual bitching/preaching about the types of foods we eat, newfound vanity, and in general another baby in the house to look after,  she married this guy!  (note - lost all my other fat photos, so will replace this one when I find one i am proud of, strange to say i want to share fat me.)

I LOVE YOU MAGS - THANKS FOR EVERYTHING

2) The human being is a resilient animal - it is amazing how 20 years of bad habits and the accumulation of results therefrom can be reversed in only 90 days.  I am utterly amazed at everyone who has done this.  

3) Life off the chain hasn't really changed me much - not sure if I will sustain these habits, but 75% of my meals since we ended PCP are compliant.  Even stranger, I like them just as much as the non-compliant ones.

4) Sayonara is not goodbye - entering post-PCP life and leaving my job and japan does not mean you have heard the last of me.  I will be there, lurking!

Day 90 - Paydirt

Just finished!   What an amazing three months - thanks team orange crush, team cookie monster, and a special shout to the master of ceremonies patrick.  A lot to ponder for the last post.  Will try to get final blog / photos up by this weekend.

Day .... doble ocho

Landed at 930 am this morning, prepped a good breakfast when i got home, took a quick nap and then had an absolutely phenomenal workout - one of those that you wish you could have every time.  Super sets are the real deal - why do we only get a week of them Patrick?!  Wow my rudimentary plank skills kill me on the v/plank combo - feels like I have a cinderblock tied around my waist.

Passed on a dinner out with friends for a number of reasons, but my primary one was that I wanted to stay home and prep my own food - shrimp soaked in lime juice, covered with paprika and chili sauce and flash fried in a little avocado oil - along with steamed squash, zucchini and broc.  Though I imagine my stomach is better prepped for the real world than many of the other PCPers with all the travel and road based meals, the home cooking feels better in and on my system.  Knowing how the travel and my slipped discipline with it has cost me this last month, may consider a month 3 mulligan when I get settled in come jan/feb.  

88 days in - auspicious number.  2 days left.  Movers come on tuesday, so not a lot of time to enjoy the accomplishment.  About a month ago, all I could think about after finishing was the types, quantities and varieties of japanese comfort food and drink I was going to crush before leaving - now prepping for the exit comes first.  Poses, old trousers shots etc may have to wait.

Day - 85 moving goalposts

Now that I am where I am, I want to be where I am not...I want the six-pack, unclenched; I want the veined arms, unflexed; I want real calf muscles, a guy can dream right - funny how the goal posts seem to move. This project has ROCKED, and I am really happy with where I am on all levels, but I am definitely realizing with less than a week left now that I could have put more into it to get more out of it - especially during this last month.  Missed too many little things like egg white snacks, 8 minute abs (which I started doing on sunday...) or proper stretch sessions to get to "peak condition."  Still, I will repeat the sentiments of many fellow posters here, that these 85 days thus far have really been just the beginning.   That being said, it is also good to know that there is a way back if I ever fall apart and let myself go.

On to the homework assignments:  The Gym

I am probably in the minority here, but I loath the home workout.  It might be that I have limited space, but I like my home to be my sanctuary away from that which I have to do.  I am lazy and the couch is my friend - I wish I could spend more time with my friend and when I see my friend, I get soft.

Anyways, I like working out at the gym and have continued to do 90% of my workouts there throughout this project.  As I was mentioning to Patrick, the types of people I come across at the gym really depends on the time of day that I go.  Early in the morning, there is a group of regulars - some of them in decent shape, some in fantastic shape, and some out of shape - that hit the cardio machines or exercises pretty hard and with purpose to get out of there and on the road for work.  When I go later in the mornings on the weekends or during the afternoons on weekdays, it is a totally different story - a lot of socializing takes place in this place and there is a lot of time between sets - pretty much like my college rec center scene - a place to score not a place to get sore. 

There are also usually 2-3 people a session working out with personal trainers doing some similar things to what we do core wise (with more rest), but also a whole host of other activities.  I used to be one of them (the student not the trainer) and spent more than a JPY 15k a week with a personal trainer without any real noticeable physical results for 2 years.  I can't complain about the time and money spent because 1) it got me on the path to thinking about my health 2) I never addressed the intake component and 3) it helped my chronic back pain.

Still, I do look at the people now toiling through their exercises or pounding the weights and think to myself - I wonder if these people know there is an alternative, one that requires commitment, but is effective and affordable -  it is so easy!  do the PCP!  Easier said than done, though, as it took me several months of trying to tell myself why I DIDN'T need PCP or I COULDN'T do it for whatever bull shit reason (birthday next week, travel, friends party...and on and on) before committing - thanks for the push blo and bill.


Homework #2 - Abs exercise -

The Windshield Wiper - not sure if this has been previously posted...



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CBJRg_67Xc&feature=fvw

No explanation necessary - not sure I can even pull it off, but will give it a whirl when I get back to tokyo and let you all know...

Day 80 - Tangible results

I never really told many people this, but a big part of my motivation for committing to PCP came from a physical exam I took in August of this year.  Aside from the usual finding of being "overweight" and having  "excess visceral fat" was that my cholesterol was off the charts at 260.  Am pleased to say I just received the results from a blood exam I took last Friday (day 73) and my cholesterol is back within the normal range at 192! 

On another note, last night during dinner I actually said "wow, this is some great broccoli" - which to my knowledge I have never previously muttered in my adult lifetime. 

Day 79 - Indulgence III and more

Was in China and elected to indulge on mexican food - kind of sounds backwards, but that is what I did.  Given the difficulty staying on course during business shindigs in China, I elected to roll with it and hit one of my usual Xiamen haunts - Coyote, which serves up surprisingly good mexican food and margaritas.  You said to hit it hard Patrick, so that is what I did.  My colleague and I started with the beef nachos and I went with 2 steak tacos and a fish taco for the main, and a premium margarita to wash it all down - I also ordered some cucumber sticks, just in the spirit of PCP.    All in all, where the other indulgences were fully appreciated, this one was underwhelming.  I won't say it was a letdown, but the taste just isn't quite as I remember it - maybe it was an off night or something.

With the indulgence out of the way, it was still very hard to stay on course (with the exception of breakfast) both meal and snack wise.  Meetings ate into snack time, and my chinese just isn't good enough to be able to order boiled eggs or steamed veggies and fish without salt or oil.  I definitely give my hosts a great deal of gratitude for trying, but I the "grilled assorted veggies" with no salt were actually fried veggies doused in oil, and the "steamed fish" came served in the same manner with surplus chili oil.  I am not sure if the food had anything to do with it, but I certainly felt less energetic than I have over the past few months, and was grateful to get home last night and steam some veggies and grill some chicken. 

Have a four days in Tokyo to recover before leaving for Europe on Monday.  Kind of disappointed that most of my last week of PCP will be on the road, but the time does fly by.  I think if I learned anything with this last indulgence, it is that I have really begun to enjoy the PCP way - something I would have never imagined back when I was forcing myself to stay sane while wolfing down the apple and egg white shakes.  Am really curious to see my habits come the end of December when I am no longer being told what to do.

Day 74 - Late Turkey Day Confession

Thanksgiving dinner - had one, last night (sat), with mixed results.  For starters, it was the first time I have not left a thanksgiving dinner in a tryptophan induced semi-catatonic state of consciousness, as I stayed on point with portion sizes and at least made an effort to indulge in a PCP compliant manner.  My friend had been kind enough to marinate the turkey in citrus, onions and herbs and no salt, so the turkey wasn't the usual thirst inducing main course I have become accustomed to over the decades of indulgence.  I had also brought some PCP compliant veggies (beets), and carbs for myself (whole wheat bread), so the meal itself was pretty much like any other meal over the past few months of the project.  I did make the stuffing (sauteed in butter of course) so it was only appropriate that I have a small spoonful to confirm it as edible.  However, I passed on the mashed potatoes, the cookies, the cranberry sauce and most of the other wonderful, traditional thanksgiving offerings.

The problem for me was the snacking, vino and the dessert.  Like most holiday feasts, the party at this one started well before the meal and the meal was served well after the planned time.  My plan was to eat around 3 and call it lunch then be home by 8-9 for a smaller, late dinner.  However, as 3pm came and went, the hunger pangs came as well and I filled them with raisins and almonds (there was no fruit in the house) and washed it down with sav blanc, then perrier (more than a liter of it).   Still, felt good that I avoided the full platter of home made chocolate chip cookies (I think my wife had 5 or 6 of them to represent) and the chips, cheese, crackers and other appetizers laying around the dining room.  Meal time finally arrived at about 6pm and it did not disappoint - it was great.  I easily had the smallest plate of food for anyone over 4 years of age at the event and felt neither full nor hungry. Then came the homemade pumpkin pie, which I thought I could do without, and didn't even crave - that is until I had a customary bite and liked it.  I followed it up with 3-4 more bites of my wife's plate as it feels better for some reason that i didn't have my own plate, like I wasn't really indulging in it, but merely offering an assist.

Dinner ended at about 830 pm and by the time I got home there was just no way I could put down an afternoon snack, dinner, and evening snack - so I had some grapes and called it a night.  Woke up this morning to see we have a new indulgence - I am not sure this would fully qualify and will need to think about whether or not I want to really go over board with an unhealthy meal this week.

The workouts are going well and I am getting to failure pretty regularly.  Did better on the bicycle and plank this week, but took a step back on the pull-ups.   Was initially having trouble getting 50g of carbs in me before the workout, but can definitely feel the improvement on the strength side when I do.  I also noticed that I can actually eat something shortly before working which is a significant improvement over my old self that would need 3-4 hours of digestion time before doing anything active, that is unless I wanted to vurp it up all over the gym.

On my way to Xiamen, China in the morning for a few days and am not really looking forward to it. Not so much that I don't like the place (I do) - however 1) it is harder for me to stay on course in china than other places - especially the egg/yogurt snacks, 2) I have only a few weeks left in Japan and need most of the time available to get the family affairs/move sorted, see friends, etc and 3) am missing the family more and more when I am away.   Will be dark until Wed night given China isn't blog friendly yet.

Day 73 - Head Fat

My son put a fitted baseball cap on my head yesterday that I hadn't worn in several years because it was too tight and gave me a headache.  The cap now fits even if I tuck my ears in (which I would never do in public) - in spite of avoiding the barber shop since we began this project.  I always thought it was the hat's fault that it didn't fit....

Day 66 - 70 - A couple slips of the lip

Like blo and bill, the week brought its challenges, most of which had to do with the egregious amount of travel involved.  On last week's trip to Germany, I was generally on point with the diet thanks to my wonderful asst, who was kind enough to bring me two hard boiled eggs to work everyday.  As previously noted, the German business dinners had their challenges, but stayed on course - that is until I landed in tokyo at 8 am on Friday.  

After cooking a quick breakfast for myself, I went to the office for what I thought was a token appearance to briefly catch up on some admin, attend a brief transition meeting and then discretely exit stage left for the gym and a late lunch.  However I was blindsided in the professional sense (not quite LT/Theismann but it was definitely a snot shot inducing blow) and spent much of the afternoon trying to understand what happened to our left tackle and reassess the game plan.  Lost my opportunity to eat lunch in the chaos that followed, but managed to wolf down the afternoon snack and get to the gym at 530 for a full, and very therapeutic workout session.  Grabbed a quick, but good PCP dinner and then went to meet my boss and a colleague for a little post script discussion of the days events.  Started with mineral water, ended with a glass of pinot noir.  It felt like a good time to have one and in retrospect, it was - actually, I am not going to lie - I loved it.

Family was out of the country, so I actually got to sleep in on saturday and make up for the lack of sleep over the previous 36 hours, which felt amazing.  Great workout saturday and quick trip to the market for dinner.   Flash fried some shrimp with paprika and taiwan chili pepper after soaking them in lime juice for an hour - it was so good that I cooked some extras for my flight sunday morning to taiwan, as I am getting tired of NOT eating on airplanes.  Made it to taiwan sunday afternoon, and my in-laws were gracious enough to cook a completely compliant PCP meal for dinner - boiled pork ribs (had only one), steamed white fish (they only know the name in taiwanese, so I have no idea what it was), yams, sweet potatos, asparagus, green beans and rice.  I was duly impressed and very grateful for the gesture because salt and oil are two staples of most dishes there.

Got a great workout in yesterday (though I still suck at sit-ups) and my wife and I went to meet some old friends at Nonzero in taipei, which is an excellent organic food place if you are ever in the area - the bell peppers they have there must have alpha veggie complex because they dwarf the offerings here in tokyo and taste much better.  Went with the grilled market fish of the day and the grilled seasonal veggie platter - it was excellent.  Avoided both the beer and vino, and was proud of the accomplishment, even though it really isn't one.

However, after dinner, I had to have something taiwanese.  Given that this trip was most likely the last trip for more than a year, that I had avoided all the things I love - like breakfast buns, sweet soy milk, dumplings (fried and steamed), fried noodles, other dishes like zazhiang mien (spicy pork noodles), mapo tofu, on an on and on - I was dead set on indulging in a taste that I usually get only in Taiwan, and made the executive decision to have some xiao xian cao 燒仙草, which is basically a chinese plant that liquifies into a black soup at high temperatures - it is usually mixed with some mochi balls, softened peanuts and taro balls.  As the soup cools, it coagulates into a jelly - it is great.

This is one of the best places in Taipei to get this on Zhongxiao lane 216

The options - i usually go mochi and taro

finished product ready to eat at the hotel, my photo does it no justice so I also included a link to some better ones.

http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&q=燒仙草&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=60vrTPqsOYSsugPu7OXzAQ&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=6&ved=0CE4QsAQwBQ&biw=1281&bih=611

It was awesome - no regrets.

On other PCP related notes - 

- I am having trouble getting all the daily snacks down due to aforementioned travel.  should be better now that i am home for a week or so

- I still have trouble with plank (my best is three sets of 60 secs), bicycle (my hip flexors give at 45 secs), and situps (hip flexors...)  I guess it means my abs really sucked prior to starting this...

- I am getting better at pull ups - did 8, 6, 6, 4, 3, 3, 2, 2 yesterday and banged out the shortfalls on the incline.  

- said I was going to hot the rope 2 times a day last week and have only done that once thus far. will get better. 

- still can't shake the visceral fat, and actually think I have gained some, so really need focus over the last three weeks.  

- have A LOT to get done given the movers arrive on Dec 14 and I have a business trip from Dec 6-10 - will be an eventful 20 days.  

Day 65 - Food....

Coma.  I got it last night.  Two business dinners and a business lunch in the past 2 days and it felt like I ate way too much food.  Must be the fact that we actually get more of it, but last night was the first time that I have felt stuffed in two months.  Had chiken tikka cubes at lunch with a tomato and onion salad and some basmati rice.  Followed it up at dinner with an avocado/crayfish salad, grilled dorade and some mixed veggies (which tasted like they had been basted in butter even though the waiter said they hadn't).  Took all my will power to pass on the tiramisu as my colleague happily wolfed it down in my face.  Anyway, I know I ate too much protein after the crayfish / partial dorade fillet and felt full, but not catatonic, for the rest of the evening, skipped the evening snack and went to bed.  Woke up today still tasting the garlic from the veggies and penalized myself with an extra 5 min on the rope. 

BTW - all of the eggs, milk, yogurt we are eating can be pretty toxic.

Off for the airport shortly - lot of noise lately regarding terrorism and Germany...

Day 60 - Time flies or so it goes...

While golfing today I began thinking today about the fact that 60 days have already elapsed and thought I would be more eager to get the final 30 behind me.  Instead, I started thinking about what more I could have done during the first 60 days and what more I can do these final 30 days to get the most out of the project.   Obvious starts would be to start on the 8 min abs, the daily stretching, but I was surprised by the change in mentality over the last week.  I attribute it to having back the dinners, which improved the sanity, and finally getting some decent sleep, which improved the energy levels.

Have had some great workouts this week.  Accidently did the squats on Wed so I did the lunges today and noticed that I actually have some Quad muscles.   The creeps still crushed me and my legs were shaking for the remainder of the workout, which hasn't happened in a few weeks.  Really want to lose this last bit of sticky ass visceral fat, which is fighting like hell to stay with me.   I know I need to post some new photos, but the wife is in taiwan for a week, so I will have to do it when (if) I actually figure out how to work the camera timer.

None of my suits fit - almost look like a depression era gangsta - which I guess is the point of this whole thing!  Flying to Germany tomorrow for a week, then to Taiwan to extract the family.

Day 53 - 55 Indulgence #2: It was good.

So after having a couple near melt downs last week diet wise, I was more than ready for Indulgence #2 and some form of life involving an evening meal and one outside the home at that.  My wife and I chose to cash in the indulgence ticket at Kissako, a little french/japanese bistro close to the gratto.  The place has a nice wine list and an interesting menu - most of which is in Japanese, so it is an adventure, but a nice one.  Started off with a glass of the house white - actually, they had several, but I went with the 2006 Nicholas Joly Savennieres, which was good but not quite as good as the 2005 vintage we had previously tried.  

We ordered one set between the two of us and shared most of it, so I am not sure where it clocked in calorie wise, but I more than made up in the calorie department with wonderful, god given libations.  The first course of the evening was a paprika les amuse which was heavenly - I think I could have eaten an entire tub of it, but half of this portion was great start, especially since it followed up with french rolls and pate of an unknown meat.

This was followed by some squid, duck breast and chesnut foie gras on what tasted like ginger bread.  I suck at descriptions of flavors and will therefore save myself the trouble.  All three were excellent. 

and then,  some assorted French mushrooms and a creamy artichoke soup.

My wife separately ordered some marinated squid and peppers, which was good - the picture doesn't do it much justice, but it was nice.

For the main, we went with grilled venison fillets.  Although, I love to hunt, I have never really taken a liking to venison as it usually just too tough and gamey.  However, this was money (probably because they failed to cook it).  I had to swap up the vino to a house red Bordeaux, which I fail to remember though it wasn't anything too fancy - yes I tasted all of these first, but tasting doesn't really count as consuming, does it?

We passed on dessert, and instead went for a nice grappa digestif - the Elisi.  Very nice grappa, and one I would highly recommend if there are any other grappa lovers among us.

The dinner alone would have been a very sensible and responsible use of the indulgence, but I am neither and decided to keep it going and meet up with Blo and crew out on his indulgence for a nightcap(s) at the taproom in harajuku, where I consumed three glorious pints of Baird's seasonal beers - taste so good on the llips!.

I guess I don't quite remember much after that but did feel good yesterday. 


On another, more general note.  I am still struggling with energy levels.  I seem to have none of it late in the days for almost 2 weeks now.  I haven't been sleeping great, but am getting a requisite 7-9 hours a night.  Still, by 5pm everyday, my energy level is sapped and it is a struggle to get through my home routine of feeding and bathing the boy.  My wife is beginning to get a little concerned, as well as annoyed at my increased levels of grumpiness.  Odd urges have also come up from time to time, as I utterly caught myself scraping my wife's discarded Ritter chocolate wrapper for any remaining flecks of chocolate.  I chalk it up to wanting some variety in evening flavors as the apple, egg combo has run its course.  Like so many others here, I need some real food.

Still getting through the workouts with some challenges, but no real complaints.  I seem to have stabilized weight wise at 81-82 kg as that is where I have been now for a week.  Checked my body fat the other day and it still says I am at 19% - I feel like it is much better than that, but I probably made a mistake the first time when it said I was at 18.9% back in  week 2.  

Days 46 - 50

Was told by the staff at the gym Monday morning that I could no longer jump rope in the stretching room upstairs.  When I asked why, i received an answer very common here - because it is "abunai" (dangerous).  I asked if someone had complained, which is definitely what happened, but got no response.  I love it, if I am in the way just tell me to stop or move!  Not a big deal but I still get a laugh at the inability to be direct.

My energy levels have been pretty low this week -  both during the workout and in general.  On the workout,  I am getting through 15 min of rope without rest, but my resistance training just sucked for a few days - didn't feel very strong until this morning, and hope that I am back on track.  BTW, I thought I would be happy to have more leg exercises today until I realized there was an extra set of jumps - that was really intense.  


A friend was in town from london last night and a crew all went out to some teppanyaki - a lot of feed, drink and revelry.  It was super hard to not cash in the indulgence, but I made it through ok.  Note for future reference however, drinking 10 perriers is not good on the gut - almost felt sick when I got home.   

Day 45 - Inflection Point

I have been doing a lot of thinking about the journey thus far through 'the valley' (as appropriately described) and the inflection point at which we have I arrived.  Although only a half way point, I can't help but reflect on the significance of the accomplishments - on both personal and collective levels - thus far. 

Diet - not an easy transition, but looking back, it has been easier than I imagined going into this. The thought of no salt, sugar, processed food, or booze was so frightening at the beginning that I almost talked myself out of signing up for the project.  How the hell could anyone pull this off with a demanding travel schedule, business obligations, family obligations, social obligations, etc - I didn't think I would make it past week 2.  In reality, it has been every bit the challenge I thought it would be, but personally gratifying to learn that it can be done and that I am capable of taking better care of what goes into my body.  Of course doing so is easier when you have someone telling you what to do, how to do it, and a community of empathizing co-conspirators. 

The workouts - I used to believe the only way to get physical results was to run off the calories and pound free weights.  Moreover, I applied the principle that results came from mostly from the output with little focus on the input - for years, I would just up the output to accommodate more input.   If I ate a cheeseburger or drank 10 beers, I ran more, if not, I could do less.  Conversely, if I exercised more, I could eat that cheeseburger.  I thought the system worked - and it seemed to until my mid 30s when the workouts became less frequent and the indulgences more frequent.  I would have never guessed that I could get such great results from merely eating properly, swinging a rope and doing body weight based exercises.  I am in freakin awe at how rapidly my body has responded to just this - how it has for everyone involved in the project - and it is motivating. 

The blogging - putting yourself on display seemed like such a strange concept and ridiculous method to get results, especially from a first time blogger.  Yet taking a photo of your body can be sobering (how did I get so damn fat?).  And the blogging is refreshingly honest. Strange how telling a few friends and a handful of people I didn't know imposes the discipline to stay focused and on course - if you don't share your goals with others, then there is no one that can call you on it when you start to waffle or stray from the path. 

The results - weighed in at 83.2 kg yesterday and am down nearly 10kg in 45 days, which is much more than I guess I had set out to accomplish.  It almost feels like I am playing with the house's money now, which I realize can be a trap.  I know these next 45 days are going to be as brutal on me both physically and mentally as the first 45 were.  Still, as opposed to viewing today as 'the valley,' I'd like to think we are at close to the apex and onto if not the downhill side of this project, then at least a flattening curve - armed with the knowledge of realizing the impact the 'bitter choices' can have on our health and fitness and now focusing making the right ones for 45 more days and beyond!  

Day 43 - Running on Fumes

Alright - need to take my first mulligan on the workouts.  Landed at 7:30 this morning from an 11 hr flight with no sleep, got an hour of face time in at home, a two hour nap and then straight to the office.  Moreover, it isn't looking like I will get out of here soon.  I am utterly exhausted and will need to spend a modicum of time with the family before they retire for the night.  Will hit the rope and abs at home and then double up one of the weekend workouts or do a make up one on Tue.  Hate to bargain with myself like this as I have been militant about getting these workouts knocked out in spite of all the traveling.  I actually feel really guilty about it - and by telling you all, that I will compel myself to get it done, even though this is fully on me. 

Day 41: Ad Out

Was probably a little too arrogant toward the rope and the workout in yesterday's post and got my arse absolutely handed to me this morning.  Bravado replaced by humility, agility by clumsiness, and strength by failure.  After going 4 days without trippin on the rope - trips at 622,  1089 and 1296.  After crushing the pistol/creep combo earlier in the week, I collapsed on the 36th step of set 4 - I could utterly not stand up for about 20 sec.   Bravado on the bicycle? - dismantled 30 seconds in on set 3 - hip flexors just would not cooperate, I did manage to go back for a 4th set which ended in failure well before 40 sec.   Advantage: PCP.  I guess so go the ebbs and flows of the project.

Was granted an involuntary partial egg forbearance when out for a business dinner last evening.  Ordered two poached egg whites (obviously not on the dinner menu) and was denied, so I went with the tuna salad, which happened to come with one hard-boiled egg (didn't know this when i ordered, or i would have asked for an extra one.  Ate about 30-40gr of tuna and called (figured it was better to eat a little too much protein than too little?) it dinner.  Kept the salad for an hour and finished the tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers as the evening snack and called it a night.  Eating out is much more difficult than it used to be, but I am enjoying the results.

Morning run, then on a plane bound for edo tomorrow - am really curious to see what next week's 'real pcp starts today' mail will have for in store for us...bacon perhaps?

Boredom

Saw Patrick's email this morning and will make a better effort to post more regularly, even if I really don't feel like I have much to say.  So here are some random brain dumps, as I sit struggling with the boredom that comes with a solo Sunday in Germany.

- Spending a week away from the family is getting much harder to do.  Thank the tech gods for skype, but BC changes so much from week to week, and it is really hard not having our daily man time.
- Unlike at least one member of Orange Crush, I have nothing against eggs and in fact generally like them.  Still, I would like some alternatives for the morning protein - smoked salmon and capers, cold cuts, sashimi, pickled herring, anything.  The eggs are getting to be overly mundane, especially now that we get them for breakfast and dinner.  On the other hand, all of the hotel staff know what i am ordering before i mutter the first word of the order everyday.
- There are better ways to get your lunch protein than zweibelwurst (raw, minced sausage and onions), and this form of protein should probably be avoided even when in a borderline state of panic for feed.  Not that it tastes that bad, but raw minced pork (yes, the meat we are supposed to avoid) can't be that good for you.
- Been really ambivalent toward the workouts this week.  Went 4 workouts on the rope without tripping, and didn't really feel any sense of accomplishment.  Also, the pistol squat everyday is kind of a bore (though the tendon behind my right knee tells me otherwise), and I think I like partnering it with the creep more than the jump.  I still suck at situps - made 25, 25, 20, 18 today - and have no problem with plank after bicycle, v-sits, and leg ups,  but plank after sit-ups - helloooo pain.  Tony Hawk could probably pull a 720 using my inverted spine as a half pipe from seconds 30 to 40 on set 4.
- Picked an apartment this week for January - place is fat, but in Germany, they come spartan, meaning I have to buy light fixtures, closets, a kitchen and all appliances, etc.  What really sucks is that everything is 240V, and the TV's are  PAL (not NTSC)  which means most everything will have utterly no (or very little) residual value to me if I come back to Japan or move to the US after the year.  Did some furniture shopping yesterday, which is really pointless without my wife, to mentally prep myself for the check that will have to be written for said items.
- Retailers are closed on Sundays in Germany by law, ostensibly to conform with a clause in the German constitution that it should be a day of rest and spiritual elevation.  If religion isn't your thing, drinking establishments and the red light district are open for alternative forms of spiritual elevation, which seems like a contradiction to me.  Still, for a man of PCP prescribed clean living, and with most local friends out of town this weekend, these days are really challenging - managing to get through it without committing ritual harikiri is the goal.
- Apologies if this is TMI, but I thought the healthy living was supposed to make my digestive system more regular?   Been very irregular this week and it really seems like there is a giant input / output disconnect - lots of blow, but no flow, which is kind of frustrating.

Congrats to all for hitting the 40 day mark, and to those veterans with 5 more days to go - I can't wait to be in your shoes!

Motivational Issues

Like the rest of team orange crush, with the exception of AC, I have had my share of motivational challenges this week.  Started for me on Tue when I failed to get up for the morning workout (sick kid all night) and sat most of the day at work dreading the 15 min for skipping rope or 45min jog that awaited me.  Was especially unmotivated given the early flight to Europe on Wed and that I might not get much time to spend with my wife and BC (the little guy).  

However, was lucky enough to beat my family home, which gave me time to bust out the run - for some reason runs are still much more therapeutic for decompressing from a crap day - and I have found that even though I am not running nearly as much, that I still feel good and have had no physical issues completing the 8k.  The mental ones, though, have cropped up and I thought about mailing the run in at 5, 6 and 7k only to push through knowing i would feel guilty about not doing the full 8 i left the house to do.  I consider that progress as a month ago i would have said f#ck it and pulled up short. 

Landed in the furt yesterday and again had no time to workout before the flight, and had to go straight to the office upon landing, so i wasn't able to get it done until later in the night, which sucked given the jet lag and all.  Was crushed to see that dinner has been reduced again!  this time, taking away the banana, so until someone posts a new shake idea, i went with an the apple, milk and two egg whites separately, which was very underwhelming - no that isn't strong enough - it SUCKED.   Missed the evening veggies and went to bed, but woke up today early and feel like I am back on schedule I think as the workout is done and I have nothing to worry about making time for.

On the flight over here, I was thinking about the best way to deal with the time change meal wise. My strategy has been to eat the breakfast at home and get a good lunch en route, which leaves me with about 6-10 hours until my next 'meal' in this case the dinner (or breakfast when i land back in tokyo).  To deal with all the extra time, I have been eating an apple or other fruit every 2-3 hours and then landing and re-calibrating to the current time zone.  It puts me way over the daily fruit allotment, but i am not sure I could last without it.  I am not sure if any of you travel, but would be curious to hear alternative strategies to toy with.

Working to keep it in perspective - that everyone is looking great and better each week and we started this thing to see it through to peak condition and not just good condition, because there are times i know i for one feel like saying that good is enough.

The Bloshake

After three days of unsuccessfully trying to eat the new 'dinners' like a meal, I gave in and went with the bloshake for the last two nights.  Definitely the way to go - the cinnamon is nice, dare i even say tasty?   Was even able to get through the evening veggies this weekend and still feel like I could eat some more.

Was also surprised to hit the scale and see i have broken through the 85kg barrier (84.8) and though I may not much better week to week, I am certainly feeling it.  Feeling very lucid and not exhausted or apathetic, though there is the occasional spell of boredom.  I do wonder how much more PCP speak my wife can tolerate!

30 days down...almost

Been a few hellacious days on the job pushing my mealtimes from regular to sporadic and my sleep from plentiful to a few hours a night.  Remarkably, my energy level has been good and my appetite hasn't generated the usual cravings for late night comfort food such as katsu dons, pizza or yakitori.  Missed the afternoon fruit yesterday and didn't do the banana, apple and egg white dinner until close to midnight, so I missed the evening veggie snack.  The stomach felt really uncomfortable after dinner and falling asleep wasn't easy, also complicated by a sick child and early morning meeting notes running through my brain.

As I was re-fueling at lunch today (third day in a row of assorted sashimi and spinach salad), I realized that my eating habits lately have seemed more clinical and that it isn't just the comfort food that I not craving, but that there has been an absence of cravings in general.  I am definitely enjoying eating, but I have had utterly no cravings for things that I know I like - such as gai pad kaprow, yakisoba, or a bacon cheeseburger.  I know I need to mix it up, but the sashimi hasn't gotten old, but haven't really savored it either.  Speaking of sashimi, does uni qualify as protein and does having some tamago throw me over any daily egg threshold?

Still managing to hit the gym early morning knowing that if I don't get it done, the need to do so will be lingering over me all day.  I am with the consensus that doubling up the legs and abs has upped the intensity and difficulty of the workouts.  I personally dislike the lunges/jumps sit-ups/plank more than the squat/creep leg raise/v-sit combo and am still hitting failure short of the sit-up rep target.

Heartland Redux

Need to start off with a non-PCP topic - Received the definitive word this week from the boss man that I will need to relocate to the furt for (at least) a year - an idea that had been kicked around for a while, but one I never thought would materialize with the immediacy that I am now facing.  It is probably happening so fast that I have not really had time to reflect on the fact that I will be packing up my family and leaving a city that I have surprisingly spent most of my career in - maybe it's ambivalence, but the move just hasn't really set in.  So in some respects, the timing for (over) indulgence uno was perfect (read the email upon landing on Sat morning), even though there were probably better ways to blow the pass.

My wife's mother is always kind enough to come to Tokyo when I am on the road to help with the little guy, and she usually stays for a few days after I get back to help with jet-lag. which allows my wife and I to get a night or two of adult time.  We chose last night for a dinner out and for me to cash in the indulgence ticket.  Making the decision on what to indulge in was harder than I thought as I was craving japanese comfort food like ramen or yakitori, something sweet like creme brule, reece's or chocolate mousse and of course any one of a number of different types of booze.  Not having Jasper's foresight to do a little of everything, I went for a tried and true remedy - vino.  Had three glasses of one of my favorite value whites a grand vins bourgogne (Patrick said 2 would be ok, 4 I would get sick, hence the trio) while my wife and I talked about the things we will miss most in tokyo and laid a preliminary game plan for the furt, all in all a great evening.  The vino tasted excellent - actually, I think my taste buds have improved over the last few weeks without the consistent bombardment of salt and chili pepper.  Could have happily ended the indulgence as planned at that, but fortuitously received a call from a couple mates to meet for a night cap and accepted....one half of a maker's neat (tasted too sugary) and two glasses of pinot (williams selyem) later, my better judgment kicked in and called it a night.  Was up early this am to workout with Blo, and though the indulgence was comparatively little (by historical standards), I definitely felt like crap.  However, I do agree with the other posts that in the greater scheme of things, the indulgence was nice, but relatively un-eventful - happy we got the opportunity, but could have easily made due without it.  I would like to say I won't waste it again, but that would probably be nonsense. 

On the new exercises, I may be in the minority here, but I didn't really mind jumpin and creepin around the gym - those who are lucky enough to watch me in action, however, may have a problem with it.  The plank and v-sits are definitely not easy, but I seem to get through them much easier than the plain vanilla sit-ups.  All in all, I am starting to feel in a much better rhythm at the gym.  Also, I don't know if it is increased vanity or elevated sense of awareness, but I catch myself becoming one of those guys that stares at themselves constantly while working out.  I am beginning to see results, or at least think I am.   Checked in at 86.3kg yesterday, which is down nearly seven from day one, though the visceral area still seems to have a long way to go.

Days 21 - 22 - YoYo

I noticed on the PCP home page Patrick's recent brain dump on eating your water and hadn't really noticed that i had indeed been drinking much less water.  Prior to beginning this project, i would suck down anywhere between 5-8 liters of water a day - typically going through 1.5 cases of volvic (1.5 ltr bottles) a week.  Seemed like I was always thirsty and that the water was not having any impact in suppressing my appetite.  For the past 2 weeks, am at 3-5 liters daily.  A liter or so in the am before working out, but then it is generally a bottle in the morning and one in the afternoon at work.  Curiously, I am not feeling as thirsty even though I am downing 2-3 more coffees than normal. 

Now that we are a quarter of the way through this, week 3 ended well and week 4 started poorly.  Woke up ridiculously early tuesday and took to a run in place of the skips.  It was my first run in about a month and I had previously been going for 30-50k a week since April as part of my efforts to bring the weight back down under the even c-note, so I was very curious how it would feel.  Went for an easy 8k and felt unusually spry - there was some definite muscle soreness from the time off, but my legs felt lighter and the breathing never really got out of control.   Not sure how long I could have kept it up, but felt like i could have pulled off another 5 with no problem.  Meal wise, I ate out for all three, and managed to stay on program (still have trouble ponying up 35 euros for 2 eggs, whole wheat bread, milk and veggies for breakfast at the hotel, but by avoiding my friend mr. booze, I have been feeling unusually flush these days) and was happily in bed by 9pm.

Day 22 did not start well - where I felt spry and agile yesterday, today I was the drunken sailor on shore leave in the china shop.  I was the exact opposite of a 'demon on the jump rope' tripping all over myself every 100 - 150 skips, almost like i forgot how to skip during yesterday's run.  I also fumbled around with my bands way too much during the workout, could barely manage the incline pull-ups and  failed (again) to knock out all the sit-ups (4x25?) getting only 20, 19, 20 and 15 done with what was definitely more than 20 sec of rest.  I guess it was just one of those mornings.  On the exercises, I am not sure how everyone else is faring, but I am just not good on pull-ups and sit-ups - these are my turn to the left.

Day - 20

Just touched down in the village of frankfurt a.m. for a week - not my favorite city, but weather is good, which makes the runs around the main river very enjoyable.  Had a good weekend and even managed to go to a birthday blowout on friday night and not sniff a drink of anything but perrier - though i have taken to smoking more cigars.  Food prep getting better as well and am experimenting with different spices, but think i am beginning to overdo it.  Was very grateful to fish for tossing out the raisin bread suggestion which has made breakfast carbs much easier to consume.   Haven't really noticed many changes physically this week - feel the same strength wise, body functions are still eratic from all of the travel, and i am perpetually fighting jet lag so the sleep has been all over the place.

Day 17

Survived Shanghai, but feel some level of guilt for the PCP infidelity, even as minor (it was just a kiss of baijiu) as it was.  earlier in the week Bill posted some body comp stats from his workout with Patrick that made me curious about my own.  for the last year, i had been avoiding the scale - probably because i set out to lose 5 kg when i hit 94, and ended up gaining 5kg by Feb this year, which put me at my heaviest since my freshman year of college when i played football and was actually trying to gain weight.   So at tonight's workout i finally stepped up to face the music -

Weight - 89.3 kg
Body fat - 18.5%
Visceral Fat - 6 (the guy at the gym told me this isn't a %, but a number on a scale of 1-10 and i assume higher is worse)
Muscle wght - 69.6 kg
bone density - 3.6
B/E calories - 2138

Like bill's comment, when i started this project, 89kg would have been a very satisfying outcome.  however, it is early in the project, there is a truckload of work to be put in and i now feel there is much more to measuring this project's success than the just the ending weight.  still, i guess it is good to have something to measure against and am curious to see these numbers again a month or two from now.

Days 15-16 - Step back

So it turns out that my concerns on the China trip were valid. Last night’s dinner was the multi-course banquet as expected with well presented cuisines (meat, veggies, rice, fish, sea food, hairy crab sperm, soup, fruit, etc) and multiple rounds of bai-jiu (rice wine that tastes like turpentine) toasts. Obviously, remaining PCP compliant was a challenge and I have to admit I didn’t make it, though I did do much better than I have in the past. The trip was for a board meeting of a company we have stake in and last night’s dinner was the first with the company’s new chairman, who hails from a provincial owned investment company that is also a large shareholder. Anyway, these dinners typically evolve into ‘toast and roast’ then ‘drink to sink’ festivities and there have been those nights where I thought I was utterly going to die but had to keep going as a matter of face/pride. Last night’s was certainly more civilized but I did partake in a couple of toasts (bottoms up a small shot of approx 1/3 oz of bai jiu) as it is necessary for guanxi (PCP is hard to explain sometimes). For dinner (I followed Patrick’s advice that it is better to eat than skip) I steered clear of the beef and the pork, ate small portions of the shrimp and fish, sucked it up and took down the crab roe, and ate most of the veggies. Although it wasn’t or didn’t seem like a lot of food, the msg in it was pretty potent and I actually felt like it was too much.

Got back on track this am with the workout (could only do 2 sets of 400 skips on the rope, as my calves are dying) and at breakfast (though they only had whole milk at the state guest house we’re put up in). Lunch was a minor diversion (banquet style, stuck to the fish and veggies, but again lots of msg in the sauces), and I plan on skipping tonight’s toast and roast. I know we have only been hitting these diets for 9 days now and I am not sure if it is psychological, chemical or just guilt, but I didn’t feel really good after the sauce laden food – it feels like it is a little heavier/harsher on the gut and saps my energy levels more.

Another aspect of my trip I found interesting is that you can’t access blogger or any of the PCP blogs from the internet in china (gotta love censorship - reminds me of the song "somebody's watching me"), so I am posting this one through my remote desktop to Tokyo, which is painfully slow. On an early flight to Edo tomorrow and am looking forward to being back for a few days. Am game for an early morning workout this weekend if anyone is around.

Day 14 - Break on thru rope wise

Made it all the way through 800 skips this morning without stopping for a rest - had previously been doing short sets of 250 - 300 with a small break (probably more than 20 sec) in between.  Went to the gym this morning intent on pushing my limits to 400 or so skips, but was able to keep it up to completion (no pun intended) after getting there.  Since stating in yesterday's blog, I would get the make up skips in from Sunday, I did those thereafter; however, I had to tone it back down to sets of 250-300.  As a result, what little calf muscles i do have were pretty tight all day.

For the workout, I did monday's since I was a day behind and note my abs are still real weak, as the leg raises (did them hanging today) are still difficult, as are the basic sit-ups.

Day 13 - Finally home ... for now

Been a few days since i posted, but believe it or not my macbook blew its hard drive last fri (which happened to be exactly one week after the expiration of the warranty).  Anyways, packed up the crew on Sat morning and made way for Tokyo.  The flight from LA wasn't that bad, but i was able to confirm it is really freakin hard to be fully PCP compliant when on a long flight and you haven't had (or made) the time to prep a lunchpail in advance.  Went with the halibut with no sauce and some brown rice on the plane - the flight staff on singair told me the fish had no salt, but probably meant low salt, when compared to the generous portions airlines usually drop on the inflight meals.  Landed last evening and by the time i arrived in the gratto and unloaded the crew, there was really no time (and i had no energy) to workout.  Did the day 12 workout early this am (jet lag is good for morning workouts) and plan to double up the day 13 and 14 tomorrow - at least it is only doubling the jump rope. 

Eating is getting a little easier now that I have a scale and a properly stocked fridge (well not what i would historically consider to be properly stocked as there is a noticeable absence of beers and chu hais).  Have been tossing a bunch of chopped veggies in the wok with sweet basil and other spices which has been really nice, but know that I will need to begin mixing up the veggie rotation or swear off bell peppers forever.  Still getting used to the amount of food - seems like a lot, but i never really feel full or catatonic afterward, not really hungry though either.  On my way to China on Wed and Germany next week.  I am not so worried about Germany, since the germans have great whole food markets and we have a good staff there to help me, but the China trip will be a challenge (it always is, even without the restrictions).  This leads me to a question - is it better to just not eat (to skip a meal or 2), if the only option is not fully compliant with PCP? 


I know i need to get the photos up - will work on becoming fully operational this week.

Days 8-9

If the first few days of diet mode taught me anything, it is that i will need to a much better job of meal planning.  My iron gut has historically proven helpful in India, China and other places of either questionable food quality or 'school the gaijin' food challenges, where flexibility, a sense of adventure and a strong will not to vomit goes a long way.  However, when told to eat whole foods and natural flavors in certain proportions, i have developed an acute case of meal anxiety - first, i (until this evening) didn't have a scale, and was limited to guessing quantities based on labels; secondly, i didn't realize how frequently we would be eating, so i was never really prepared for a meal in advance and, and lastly, i was not properly stocked with enough  breadth to offer any variety in the meals.  Thus, i have wolfed down dry veggies and salads, wholegrain breads, and leftover, unsalted, plain tasting meats for most meals and am really craving some salt, spice, and everything nice.  To top it off, it was my little guy's first b-day today and we had prepared a great wholesome meal (pulled pork, potatoes and pasta salad - with lots of wine, beer, booze) along with a giant cake and homemade vanilla ice cream - my mouth is watering thinking about it and I am still not sure how i made it through the night without even a small bite.  Anyway, will need to work on the meal planning.  Am leaving for Tokyo on Sat and am really open to ideas for enduring the 12 hr flight in a PCP compliant manner...

Regarding the workouts, JBlo and I hit the gym this morning (he came all the way to Flagstaff to workout) and i can confidently say any insecurity i had about my jump roping is gone.

Days 3-7

Hey everyone - apologies for the protracted radio silence but just returned from a very nice break from reality.  Alaska was as advertised on all fronts - the terrain, the wildlife, the vistas, the company (there with college buddies), and the fishing - in this case coho (silver) salmon.  On the way there, I was concerned that the trip could result in an early derailment to the project and that the years of bad habits would be too difficult to shake - how could i know what i would 'normally' eat when the typical fishing trip involves high quantities of snacking on junk food, hearty meals, and more libations than normal - moreover, what would constitute half of that, and where would i work out?  In reality, it wasn't that bad.

Lets just say the meals at the lodge probably keep the local cardiologist busy.  We generally had an early breakfast buffet - in my case, spoon of scrambled eggs and 2 pieces of toast - and left  left for the river(s) between 530-630 am.  Most of the day was spent either hiking in full regalia or fishing.  The lodge was kind enough to pack us lunches (a roast beef, salami, or bologna sandwich, a root beer, orange or cherry soda, a small bag of Doritos, Cheetos or Frito's, and an assortment of bite size candy bars) and I ate only a half of the sandwich and passed on everything else.

Although there was a larger dinner menu, our dinner options were typically the same every night - a rib eye, new york strip or t-bone, baked potato and veggies with salad bar (strangely - both the new york strip and t-bone looked like the rib eye and we only had halibut for one night, as it was end of the lodge's fishing season and they weren't really interested in re-stocking) - so, rib eyes it was.  I managed to eat a very small salad and half of everything else. For the beers, I had much less than what I thought would be half - still probably too many but it was on my conscience.

For the workouts, i endured the heckling of friends and fellow fisherman, and powered through the jump rope and workout every night (only missed one set of sit ups as the cabin floor wasn't too good on the tailbone) when we returned from fishing.  Didn't get the day 6 workout in until arriving in Seattle at midnight last night and followed it up at 5 am this morning at the local red roof inn.   (side note - if you haven't bought a jump rope yet, get a good one, i bought the cheapest (plastic) one and it didn't do so well in the cooler weather)

Strangely i didn't feel overly hungry the whole trip even we were walking 4-5 miles and i was eating very little during the day.  My friends were  kind enough to see there were no scraps and that i couldn't go back for another bite of the apple or rib eye as the case might be.  Still, I actually thought i would be hungrier, but found i really wasn't during the days.    I also thought the food i was eating would make my trip break even in terms of weight at best and was (pleasantly) surprised to find I am 3kg lighter this week.

Am now considering my options for the last night of food indulgence in advance of starting the diet tomorrow.

PS - fishing was awesome...

Day 2 - Call of the wild

Happy to say no hiccups with the jumprope this morning - workout took 18 minutes.  Followed it up with a half bowl of cheerios.  Am now awaiting a flight to Seattle en route to Yakutat, Alaska for a few days.  Do not have any idea what sort of connectivity I will have for the next few days, so I may be radio silent until next week.  This will be a good test as I'll have 4 full days of fishing, which will likely be followed by nights of watching my mates indulging - will  not go to the dark side...

Will post when I can.  Thanks to the veteran PCPers for the comments and the support - I know it is only Day 2, but it is definitely helpful to have encouragement to stay on the right path.

Day 1 - Trial n Error

Done with first workout - everything was pretty straight forward except the jump rope, which I haven't done in probably 20 years.  Bought a 9 foot rope, which was way too long, so the first set involved several fits and starts and some double jumps.  Shortened it a little too much for the second set, and ended up smacking the back of my head every 15 skips or so.  Finally calibrated in on the third set (standing with feet about a foot apart - rope came to belt line on each side), but wasn't able to do any of the three clean from start to finish - hope it gets easier.

Will follow up with the meal summary later today...

Meal summary - not going to say today is indicative of my everyday habits, but when i toss it out there it's kind of sobering -

Breakfast - 2 eggo waffles, pure maple syrup (embarrassing as it is, i usually indulge 4...)

Lunch - played golf with my father and some of his friends today, so this was eat on the run.  1/2 of a pbj sandwich (actually it was a half of a half sandwich at the halfway house on the course), 1/2 stick beef jerky, 1/2 of an apple.  Post golf bet settlements - 1/2 of a beer.

Dinner - 1/2 rack ribs, 1/2 salad no dressing, 1/2 potato w/ butter, 1/2 a bottle of beer.

Felt fairly hungry most of the day and really chewed my food A LOT trying to trick my body into thinking it was more....it wasn't fooled.

Pre-Game

Given I am presently in AZ, I took full advantage of the gained day with a mama's home cookin, pre-game indulgence - two large southwestern chicken and steak fajitas, with sauteed onions and peppers, fresh cut avocado, grated cheese (straight, strong chedda), sour cream and homemade salsa, and of course washed it down with 2 lager beers.  game on tomorrow morning.

Setting Up

No more excuses!  This thing is HAPPENING.