So a bit late with the posts... New glorious pics to follow soon and an updated post but feel that an indulgence update is in order...
Went for a selection of small modern tapas extravaganza at a Madrid restaurant run by a Ferra Adria disciple. Amazing stuff, yet it all tasted overpoweringly rich and oily, particularly the cod fritters. At the end the excitement of the indulgence gave way to a severely upset stomach and abdominal cramps as the meal just went straight through my system. My body was quite relieved to go back to the PCP dietary routine....
Wednesday 27 April 2011
Wednesday 20 April 2011
Indulgence
So new indulgence is due and the news is I am not too bothered about it! In fact my wife is far more excited than I am, as this would be a chance for her to drag me out to one of our favourite restaurants for a meal.
Thing is there are 2 things that lead me away from indulging...
1) Paradox of choice: the weight of choice, the slavery of freedom in the capitalist world of endless choices. With so much to choose from, the actual decision process can be a stressful experience that takes away from the spontaneous enjoyment of the chosen treat. Let's put it this way, one of my favourite things of PCP is the evening milkshake...easy egg whites, milk and apple with cinnamon ( or sometimes cardamom powd or ginger powder) and crushed iced all into the blender, EASY! No thinking about dinner, no effort, no trying to be clever or fancy with the meal and yet (possibly as is the post strength workout meal) the most satisfying of the meals of the day ( even though into the other ones a decent level of creative cuisine goes into them)
2) Subconsciouss Guilt: with so much effort into the diet thus far, and the well being high of
good nutrition, the taste of greasy foods and loading the body with refined sugars feels somehow like a step backwards...
On the other hand the freedom to be able to join a friend in some impromptu tapas or a glass wine is an appealing factor. I have realised that what I really crave is the "social spontaneity" factor and the convenience of ot trying to concoct a PCP compliant meal from the cornucopia of oily and salty foods and highly caloric wines to be found in Spanish menus.
That is one thing about miserable and rainy London..the ease with which to find reasonably PCP adaptable choices in restaurant menus and takeaway food outlets.
So indulgence no.2 is still work in progress...but I am surprised by my complete lack of interest or excitement about it.
Still I can see Patricks point of it as an experiment to contrast old eating habits with newer sensations, and to see food attachments for what they really are, rather than experience them as idealised concepts of joy, as memories of happiness and pleasure that do not necessarily stand the test of our new PCP refined palates.
More soon on this, once I have selected my indulgence...
Thing is there are 2 things that lead me away from indulging...
1) Paradox of choice: the weight of choice, the slavery of freedom in the capitalist world of endless choices. With so much to choose from, the actual decision process can be a stressful experience that takes away from the spontaneous enjoyment of the chosen treat. Let's put it this way, one of my favourite things of PCP is the evening milkshake...easy egg whites, milk and apple with cinnamon ( or sometimes cardamom powd or ginger powder) and crushed iced all into the blender, EASY! No thinking about dinner, no effort, no trying to be clever or fancy with the meal and yet (possibly as is the post strength workout meal) the most satisfying of the meals of the day ( even though into the other ones a decent level of creative cuisine goes into them)
2) Subconsciouss Guilt: with so much effort into the diet thus far, and the well being high of
good nutrition, the taste of greasy foods and loading the body with refined sugars feels somehow like a step backwards...
On the other hand the freedom to be able to join a friend in some impromptu tapas or a glass wine is an appealing factor. I have realised that what I really crave is the "social spontaneity" factor and the convenience of ot trying to concoct a PCP compliant meal from the cornucopia of oily and salty foods and highly caloric wines to be found in Spanish menus.
That is one thing about miserable and rainy London..the ease with which to find reasonably PCP adaptable choices in restaurant menus and takeaway food outlets.
So indulgence no.2 is still work in progress...but I am surprised by my complete lack of interest or excitement about it.
Still I can see Patricks point of it as an experiment to contrast old eating habits with newer sensations, and to see food attachments for what they really are, rather than experience them as idealised concepts of joy, as memories of happiness and pleasure that do not necessarily stand the test of our new PCP refined palates.
More soon on this, once I have selected my indulgence...
Monday 18 April 2011
Fading Away
My back is feeling a lot better so have gone mental on my rest day. After my morning jumps I had a long aikido session then after lunch again 2 other sessions of aikido. Have spent most of the day covered in sweat yet with good levels of sustained energy and my coordination and mindfulness the best they have been in a long while. But just wondering if overdoing it on the "extracurricular activities". Just weighed myself...79kgs. Not sure how much of that is water loss, but that is a good 15-16kgs lighter than pre-PCP!!!! Starting to show in terms of vascularity in arms and lower abs area yet somehow the muscles are still looking flat and the abs covered by a stubborn layer of wrinkly skin. Maybe for that extra abs definition need to crack into 8 minutes abs, but so far with lower back injury was way too painful to add any extra abs to those included in the regular curriculum.
My aim for this wek is to start including 8 mins abs daily. As their name fully indicates there is no excuse not to do I guess as is only 8 mins right? Everyone can spare 8mins, right?
My aim for this wek is to start including 8 mins abs daily. As their name fully indicates there is no excuse not to do I guess as is only 8 mins right? Everyone can spare 8mins, right?
Learning to Love Planks
Planks were becoming my nemesis and virtually the only exercise I would fail to complete withintheestavlished rep/time range. However after reading Patricks comment on breathing and planks it all changed. What a difference breathing makes,ansisso ethnic that we do not pay enough attention to. Is an integral part of my aikido and zen practice, yet I still fail to extend it to so many areas in my life! And then with the planks, going from fighting the posture and the tension in the abs, to blending with the posture, becoming one with it breathing into it, slowly and steadily transformed the plank agony into a really enjoyable focused exercise listening to the body and scanning mindfully the body for tension, trying to maintain a state of tensed relaxation or relaxed tension whichever way you may want to look at it....Now planks are my newest friend.
Sunday 17 April 2011
LOADS OF HURDLES, BUT PCP ON TRACK
Sorry folks. Has been a while since I last posted and I promise loads of updates shortly as this time off posting, has been a combination of hectic and frustrating, but in all the turmoil and introspection I have found loads of thoughts regarding the "PCP path" and have found that PCP has given me much needed balance, discipline and grounding at times when I have had to navigate through quite a few significant life changes.
So what is new?
To start with PCP, really moving ahead nicely and smoothly. Finding the flow and the rhythm and starting to see the changes happening at a faster pace, which is very rewarding and helps strengthen the commitment and dedication to the program.
Visceral fat starting to melt away at a fairly good pace, energy levels are steady during the day, an improved general sense of well-being and the most amazing thing...I am sticking to PCP food with rarely any cravings and despite the low carbs intake I don't feel hunger and my energy levels are very good (maybe because I have stuck closely to "brown carbs" given the steady release of glucose that they provide as Patrick highlights in his most rte cent email?).
But as PCP was feeling a smooth enjoyable ride, there is always that has to come along the way to thwart smooth progress..And guess what? I realised that for a "chilled out zen dude" I am terrible at dealing with frustration.
About 2 weeks ago, as a result of a series of bad falls in aikido practice which bruised a bit part of my back, or maybe as a result of some other sort of strain I cannot point at. I could hardly move when I try to get up in the morning. My whole back was in agony, with pain shooting down all the way to the back of my spine. Still I found the determination to do my morning jumps, yet every landing felt as if all my vertebrae conspired to produce the most amount of pain as they compressed every time my feet touched the floor again.
Just as I was seeing the PCP progress unfold in front of my bathroom mirror, and as I was gloating on with how relative ease this substantial transformation was taking place...BOOM here came this back pain to derail things. Still having the perspective of being in an amazing path of physical and mental transformation and sheer stubbornness to achieve the goals I had set at the beginning of the program helped me carry on.
Despite a good massage session with my physiotherapist, and having to reluctantly give my aikido practice a rest (turning my hips or bending my back produce such pain that even I tried to do one of my usual 2-class sessions, after the end of the first one I had to retire to the showers in agony) my back showed few signs of progress.
Still I resolved to carry on no matter what with my PCP commitment and in order to do so, lay off any other activities or distractions to at least trey to keep with the PCP routine...
Any leg exercise was endless suffering, particularly the pistol squats (which were on e of my favourite exercises until then!), the jumps felt like were going to make things worse given the impact on the back (still silly me decided not to substitute them for any other aerobic exercise as feeling that they burn fat like no other thing I have ever done!), other body parts in turn were a relief. Any isolation (rather than compound exercise) felt like heaven as did not involve any strain in the lower back. V sits were the only thing I did not even dare attempt given the strain in the lower back, so have to admit defeat there (instead I substituted them for regular sit-ups where the pain was bearable)
But hey, I did it. I am now enjoying my egg whites, apple and cinnamon smoothie, after having done my workout and having gone for a swim, after an active day of pool cleaning (getting ready for the summer heat here in Madrid) and brisk walking with my brother who was over visiting for the weekend. So my back now feels 95% fine, I am very energised and full of motivation. Even this Saturday morning had a full really good aikido session so think from Monday onwards I will be back in full force, ready to work even harder and add some mor eactivities on top of PCP.
Ahh and the best thing is (on of those examples of how to find joy and purpose out of distress) now I will be blessed with that rare and precious commodity in the highly developed western world: TIME.
Yes one of the things that was stressing me out and making my injury predicament even worse is that at the same time I was going through a critical decision making process regarding the business that I had set up. I had reached a dead end in terms of agreeing a strategic long term growth plan for the business with my business partners and was caught in a very akward position in the middle negotiations with another hedge fund to merge the business and gain critical mass (something to which my partners ended up not being so keen on). So I took the difficult but honest decision to close the business, leave Spain later in the year after my first child is born, and reclaim so time for myself, my wife and this epractices and little things that give meaning to my life.
I am a man of doing things well or not doing them at all. Given the significant sacrifices that the business entailed, and considering that the conditions that I thought needed to be in place to maximise the chances of success were not being met, the right thing to do was to close that chapter, and start LIVING, something I had forgotten about and of which the recent untimely death fo my friend Andy should be a polite reminder...life cannot be taken for granted.
More frequent posts to follow...now that I am almost pain free and starting to have more time. Just need to put my thoughts on order...
Good PCPing to all of you.
Stay strong!
So what is new?
To start with PCP, really moving ahead nicely and smoothly. Finding the flow and the rhythm and starting to see the changes happening at a faster pace, which is very rewarding and helps strengthen the commitment and dedication to the program.
Visceral fat starting to melt away at a fairly good pace, energy levels are steady during the day, an improved general sense of well-being and the most amazing thing...I am sticking to PCP food with rarely any cravings and despite the low carbs intake I don't feel hunger and my energy levels are very good (maybe because I have stuck closely to "brown carbs" given the steady release of glucose that they provide as Patrick highlights in his most rte cent email?).
But as PCP was feeling a smooth enjoyable ride, there is always that has to come along the way to thwart smooth progress..And guess what? I realised that for a "chilled out zen dude" I am terrible at dealing with frustration.
About 2 weeks ago, as a result of a series of bad falls in aikido practice which bruised a bit part of my back, or maybe as a result of some other sort of strain I cannot point at. I could hardly move when I try to get up in the morning. My whole back was in agony, with pain shooting down all the way to the back of my spine. Still I found the determination to do my morning jumps, yet every landing felt as if all my vertebrae conspired to produce the most amount of pain as they compressed every time my feet touched the floor again.
Just as I was seeing the PCP progress unfold in front of my bathroom mirror, and as I was gloating on with how relative ease this substantial transformation was taking place...BOOM here came this back pain to derail things. Still having the perspective of being in an amazing path of physical and mental transformation and sheer stubbornness to achieve the goals I had set at the beginning of the program helped me carry on.
Despite a good massage session with my physiotherapist, and having to reluctantly give my aikido practice a rest (turning my hips or bending my back produce such pain that even I tried to do one of my usual 2-class sessions, after the end of the first one I had to retire to the showers in agony) my back showed few signs of progress.
Still I resolved to carry on no matter what with my PCP commitment and in order to do so, lay off any other activities or distractions to at least trey to keep with the PCP routine...
Any leg exercise was endless suffering, particularly the pistol squats (which were on e of my favourite exercises until then!), the jumps felt like were going to make things worse given the impact on the back (still silly me decided not to substitute them for any other aerobic exercise as feeling that they burn fat like no other thing I have ever done!), other body parts in turn were a relief. Any isolation (rather than compound exercise) felt like heaven as did not involve any strain in the lower back. V sits were the only thing I did not even dare attempt given the strain in the lower back, so have to admit defeat there (instead I substituted them for regular sit-ups where the pain was bearable)
But hey, I did it. I am now enjoying my egg whites, apple and cinnamon smoothie, after having done my workout and having gone for a swim, after an active day of pool cleaning (getting ready for the summer heat here in Madrid) and brisk walking with my brother who was over visiting for the weekend. So my back now feels 95% fine, I am very energised and full of motivation. Even this Saturday morning had a full really good aikido session so think from Monday onwards I will be back in full force, ready to work even harder and add some mor eactivities on top of PCP.
Ahh and the best thing is (on of those examples of how to find joy and purpose out of distress) now I will be blessed with that rare and precious commodity in the highly developed western world: TIME.
Yes one of the things that was stressing me out and making my injury predicament even worse is that at the same time I was going through a critical decision making process regarding the business that I had set up. I had reached a dead end in terms of agreeing a strategic long term growth plan for the business with my business partners and was caught in a very akward position in the middle negotiations with another hedge fund to merge the business and gain critical mass (something to which my partners ended up not being so keen on). So I took the difficult but honest decision to close the business, leave Spain later in the year after my first child is born, and reclaim so time for myself, my wife and this epractices and little things that give meaning to my life.
I am a man of doing things well or not doing them at all. Given the significant sacrifices that the business entailed, and considering that the conditions that I thought needed to be in place to maximise the chances of success were not being met, the right thing to do was to close that chapter, and start LIVING, something I had forgotten about and of which the recent untimely death fo my friend Andy should be a polite reminder...life cannot be taken for granted.
More frequent posts to follow...now that I am almost pain free and starting to have more time. Just need to put my thoughts on order...
Good PCPing to all of you.
Stay strong!
Monday 4 April 2011
Bye bye
Dear bananas, the milkshake will miss you dearly...Dinner won't be the same without you. And as most of fellow PCPers I had been organised and purchased 7 bananas in advance to last me the whole week...
Sunday 3 April 2011
PROGRESS ASSESSMENT
Guess with now over 1/3 of PCP underway is good to reflect of what has been achieved so far, and also, why not, on what either has not been achieved or would like to achieve before completion of the program.
PCP Achievements:
- lost 9 kgs of excess weight thus far. Not that I am particularly bothered about weight, and much of this loss is probably body water. Having been quite fit with big overall body weight, have learnt not to be too focused on a particular weight, but is a quantifiable measure of progress I guess...
- muscle tone has increased somehow, and I can now start to see the shape of my serratus and oblique muscles and a hint of my abs that had been buried in so many layers of fat
- cardio has improved substantially, and now whenever i split the routine I do the jumps twice, on empty stomach in the morn and then with the evening workout
- my overall physical feeling during the day and stamina has also improved substantially
What is left to do:
- level of fat around the waist is still substantial, I sense getting rid of the last bits of visceral fat will be a slow and painful process
- despite the substantially much better tone, my muscles feel sometimes a bit flat, probably the result of low calorie intake and reduced amount of carbohydrates (in my past experience when after carbing down, you load up on carbs again muscles regain a much fuller tone pretty fast
PCP Achievements:
- lost 9 kgs of excess weight thus far. Not that I am particularly bothered about weight, and much of this loss is probably body water. Having been quite fit with big overall body weight, have learnt not to be too focused on a particular weight, but is a quantifiable measure of progress I guess...
- muscle tone has increased somehow, and I can now start to see the shape of my serratus and oblique muscles and a hint of my abs that had been buried in so many layers of fat
- cardio has improved substantially, and now whenever i split the routine I do the jumps twice, on empty stomach in the morn and then with the evening workout
- my overall physical feeling during the day and stamina has also improved substantially
What is left to do:
- level of fat around the waist is still substantial, I sense getting rid of the last bits of visceral fat will be a slow and painful process
- despite the substantially much better tone, my muscles feel sometimes a bit flat, probably the result of low calorie intake and reduced amount of carbohydrates (in my past experience when after carbing down, you load up on carbs again muscles regain a much fuller tone pretty fast
INDULGENCE NUMBER 1
So finally back in Madrid, which for the time being I call home, and it is very nice to be back. London marked my first indulgence, which consisted of not one particular item but just little nibbles at several dishes at one of my old favourite London restaurants: Yauatcha, a very fancy fusion Asian, with modern twists on dim-sum and traditional Chinese dishes. The format, loads of dishes in the centre to share really suited my PCP intentions of not over-indulging and not making too noticeable my restraint (not something that would have characterized my previous visits to the restaurant. The crispy duck did not taste too much better than my PCP version of Galician zorza (paprika and garlic marinated grilled pork skewers, for PCP I substituted the pork for diced turkey and did not use oil in the marinade), the mini venison-filled buns tasted way too rich, but the biggest disappointment came with the alcohol, sipped about two thirds of a passion fruit martini (did not enjoy the taste of alcohol and would have much more enjoyed just the juice) and the wine (a gerwutztraminer, normally one of my favourites of which i could have easily had a bottle on my own, I found to not even taste good, and only managed one single sip, leaving my glass virtually untouched. I went into the restaurant fearing that my culinary desires would be unbridled and that I would not be able to restrain my normally large appetite when faced with some of my old favourites. quite the contrary I managed to eat fairly little, just a very small taste of each course more than saturated, and in some cases overwhelmed the palate (by excessive oiliness, or too much salt), alcohol did not even taste good, and I plainly refused even the temptation of a dessert (quite an accomplishment as that place does some of the best cakes I have seen outside the department stores of Nihon-bashi or Ginza, or any of the Pierre Hermés bakeries....
So looks like Patrick was right, every now and then some foods come to mind as very desirable (serrano ham is somewhat stuck in my mind at the moment) but is good to face this desires, and see with these indulgences that not only the cravings might be plain overrated, but also that they do not feel healthy once you have eaten them and that do not compare favourably with the quality of sustainable energy, and overall good feeling achieved with the PCP diet routine. In fact might have been psychosomatic, but when I woke up did not feel too good and even had a bad headache.
So looks like Patrick was right, every now and then some foods come to mind as very desirable (serrano ham is somewhat stuck in my mind at the moment) but is good to face this desires, and see with these indulgences that not only the cravings might be plain overrated, but also that they do not feel healthy once you have eaten them and that do not compare favourably with the quality of sustainable energy, and overall good feeling achieved with the PCP diet routine. In fact might have been psychosomatic, but when I woke up did not feel too good and even had a bad headache.
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