Day 30-31: getting tougher!

Not that much to say except that it seems to take me more will power to get the workouts done when I wake up. As much as possible I want to get them done first thing in the day. Somehow in the week ends it is slightly more difficult as I could leave myself the choice to do it anytime in the day. Having said that, workouts are done for the week end.


To me I call the tough part jumprope + legs. The rest seems easier. Even the abs; they hurt like hell towards the end but it's easier for me to get them done. Floor jumps are really a pain to go through. 


I am kind of dreading the rest of the week where I'll have to wake up at 5h30 but other than that, all ok. Still hanging in there!

Day 28-29: Fully Indulged!!

Here we go, first indulgence done! So I had more or less half of this:

and it was good! Didn't need more than half but enjoyed it!


New set of workouts,.... pthymdsarace (no one understands swearing non french french right??). Basically it means, ok we are getting started. Just had the evening shake as well,.... hum I think I'll need to find a solution for the egg white but other than that all ok.


See you tomorrow buddies!

Day 27: 1/4 indulged!

Ok so still struggling with the indulgence timing. Anyhow I gave it a tiny try today and had a small fork of a chocolate cake. That's what I call 1/4 indulgence. It didn't feel that good so I stopped there. Still have 3/4 to go!!

Day 25-26: Indulgence Anxiety!

Almost end of week 4 and first indulgence. Somehow it doesn't really come as a good news for me. We got the mail yesterday morning and I still didn't get my indulgence treat yet. First issue is, I don't know what to get. Which is clearly weird because 4 weeks ago I would have craved for something sweet sooo easily. Second thing is, I am clearly fearing the consequences of this indulgence on my body's envies. I was somehow doing just fine with my diet. I love fish, I love veggies. I love all the food that we are eating. I like healthy food. I just took really bad habits with time and realized in the past weeks that it was not that hard to get rid of momentum cravings. So now the indulgence mail comes and I am like,... ok but what do I want?? Chocolate cake? not really,... cheesecake,... not really,... pizza,... not really! Just maybe something more savory really good,... but then again, what ??? It's weird, I never thought that way. Again a few weeks ago I would have jumped on so many things. So what should I get and when? And what if, if I eat something different now, it makes me want some more? It's the whole control thing that is freaking me out a bit. Anyway I figured that I would give myself till the end of the week end to get my indulgence. Maybe by then I'll know what I want.


Workout wise, it got tougher this week. Floor jumps,... Ok so I wanted a demo to make sure I was doing them right. When I started to feel my legs after maybe 8 jumps, I thought I didn't need a demo right away. I was probably doing them well enough if it was hurting me that much. I personally find creeps much easier. I can go through the sets without suffering that much. All in all, I look ridiculous jumping or creeping like this at 5h30 in the morning but feeling like a fool doesn't kill for sure; if it did I'd be dead for a long long time.


In the past weeks I saw on the scale and felt in my clothes that I got thiner but I never actually felt it in my body. Well I start to feel it now. And start to feel some parts of my body in a different way as well. Hip crease are different (I just noticed that). That's good. Because that part I clearly want to change.


About Patrick's last email on the entourage's behavior, I must say I cannot really complain. I don't feel judged or don't feel negative energy around me but also, I know we are supposed to talk about it a lot, but I actually only mentioned the PCP to people I feel close to. That might help. The mail also made me realized that I think I was a bit negative as well when my friends were telling me about the PCP. It seemed to painful in terms of organization (the weighting food part). I feel bad about that,... Sooorryy people!


Voila voila, so well am holding on ok so far. I just need to go through this indulgence thing. I guess I just do not trust myself enough and not sure whether I'll be able to stay in control,... I hope the indulgence won't bring the worst out of me! We'll see.

Day 23-24: Keeping up!

New week and new set of exercises. Pretty exciting! Although clearly things are getting tougher and tougher. I thought it would be easier to get around the PCP duties in the week end but it is not necessarily the case. Somehow I got used to my weekdays pace and in the week ends it actually requires more organization and will. 


The over 1000 jumps are done within more or less 15min I would say.But I think I will switch my rope soon as my arms are still the first part to suffer. I got used to it but probably when we'll have more and more jumps to do I don't want to be stopping every 200-300 jumps to rest the arms rather than work on the cardio. We'll see.
The rest of the workout is going ok. Although the whole new shoulder workout makes clearly my upper arm and shoulder burn. I also realized that for the shoulder workout I do not manage to get my breathing right: I inspire when lifting the arms (when the effort is intense) and expire to release. I am trying to control this but it seems opposite to natural for me on this exercise.


The food part is going ok. Again, a matter of organization but as long as this is fine I do not have any cravings and plus enjoy what I am eating. Funny thing is that now in the morning I am hungry! When I never used to be.


Sunny day here in HK,... let's enjoy ! 

Day 22: Week 4 to break my camera,...

Ok well good news: Week 4 Pics uploaded. Bad news: it costed me my camera!! pffffffff

Yesterday I had to go and buy the light elastic band to do the davincis. And even with that one it is more than tough to keep the arms straight during the set! The rest is ok,... clearly feeling it but doable. It's more a matter of time. As much as I can I'd like to keep the whole training in the morning. At least it keeps my evenings free!


I had my first non carbs dinner. Again it's doable. I am looking forward to the breakfast though. That's the part I like the most!


That's it for me for tonight!


Good 4th week everyone!

Day 21: Loved the early email!

And especially the sentence 3 weeks done, 9 to go. 1/4th already! And it feels good. I also liked the last paragraph before the diet bit. I realized that I managed so far, despite the fact that I moved around etc, to fully stick to the diet, with not one cookie eaten in three weeks!  And true, cravings are out of my mind,... for now! Remember that little smiley yesterday claiming for cookie? Well it actually hardly ever come and knock on my stomach's door, when it used to knock at least a few times a day with an "s" at cookie"!


Anyway so that's pretty cool. We'll see tomorrow the results with the pictures and figures. 


I must say though, I enjoy the tiny sweet touch of the morning where I put a bit of honey in the yoghurt. 


Anyway ready to kick off the new week. I think I'll need explanations on the jumpfloor and all these stuffs but we'll see.

Day 20: My body says,...

Hey Patrick, how does it work when my body says

Shall I listen to my stomach then? If only,....


Well to be frank the stomach isn't asking for much,... weird. Maybe I am sick!


Anyway all good. Push up on the toes are tough. Killing my arms, chests and stuffs.


Tomorrow last workout of the week yeii!

Day 19: PCP -> Psychosomatic Consequences of Protein

Haha didn't you love Patrick's mail for day 19? I did!


Ok so here it is:


- skin: thanks! PCP made me so much younger, I look like a teenager with pimples all over my face! Seriously, why did Patrick not send this mail on day 18?? I booked an appointment with a dermatologist yesterday (and I am not kidding). So first point,... CHECKED

- BM,... ok I had to look on the internet (from work,...) what BM meant, although I had an idea. So now BM is in my work's PC history,... Anyway, I am not going to go to much in details on that one but let's put it this way: CHECKED!


- Flexibility: that's an easy one: I went to yoga and,... CHECKED


- what's next,... ah yeah libido: hey that one is for men, we girls are always, or almost always in control. Come on Echo Men, free your mental space!! (I am happy I found that argument, I don't have to open up on my libido)


- Inner Strength: I like that one. Although I'd like to look good AND make it in my career. Anyway, CHECKED!


- veins: about time I read that one, I was going to take an appointment to get an varix operation (kidding,...). I noticed though that my arms and calfs veins are bigger. CHECKED


- new parts of the body: errr,... fat in the chest is the first one to burn! Hey that's clearly unfair! I haven't found any new parts in my body yet,... Patrick if you are God, I don't need a new part, I just need two slightly bigger parts if you know what I mean,... Come on, I've been wise, I've done all the workouts, ate all the food, you can do that for me, can't you? UNCHECKED!!!!!


Aaaaaanyways, I am kind of losing it this evening, but I must admit, 90% of what is in that email is actually true for me (missing 10%, make it 5 in each please, getting it???).

Other than that, all good, Me and my PCP are living happily ever after. But ... to be continued,... ... ... 


Mood of the day, obviously

Day 18: PCP committed!

Uff,... Long day!! After 12 hours flight (eating one meal PCP compliant - made at home) I ran to Park and SHip to do my first official PCP grocery shopping in Hong Kong. It was kind of fun. And then, as I hadn't done my workouts yet I ran home, cleaned all the fruits and veggies and started to jumprope etc etc. And then, as I hadn't cooked so far as my mum was doing it for me back home, I started to cook these eve's dinner, tomorrow's breakfast and lunch. Once that was done, I started to weight everything and pack my bento boxes! And finally, I am blogging.


I just hope I'll be fine with the jetlag. Other than that, not much so see you tomorrow!

Day 16-17: End of Holidays

Not that much to say in the past two days. I am going back to Hong Kong tonight and I am sure it will be a complete different story once back there as I'll have to go grossery shopping and prepare all the food on my own. On the other hand I may have less temptations as well. I was dreading these 10 days of holidays being in France, seeing friends etc, but overall I am pretty happy about the discipline and the results. I hope I''ll manage to do even better for the coming 70 days.

Workout wise, I start to really feel Patrick's point on the fact that by the time we get to the end of the sheets, each muscle have already worked and exercises get tougher. The last two sets of abs are a bit painful. And funny enough, they are killing my legs as well! Breathing right really helps to finish the sets (assuming I am breathing right,...I learned how to breath looking at this guy).


I don't sweat that much during the skipping (I am in France though and morning time we have 15 degrees!) but by the time I finish the legs my face is dripping!

Okey bento boxes will be ready for the flight (that's a pleasure as I hate plane food).

See you all from Asia again!

Day 14-15: Frustration kicking in?

Not easy these last two days. I am still enjoying my holidays in Paris but would definitely make it easier if I could also enjoy restaurants with my friends,...  I have taken my bento boxes everywhere with me and consumed them and only them but I must say I wish I could order a pizza with my friends. I guess it will be slightly easier once I will be back "home" (Hong Kong home) and will get my usual habits back; i.e. eating on a desk etc,... far less temptations.

Also I know we are eating a lot but I am moving the whole day and I do not feel full all the time,... on the contrary,... I go through hungry phases during the day, which I find quite worrying knowing that we are supposed to eat a lot. Normally in these past two days I would clearly have gone for a cookie or two,... I did not and for the first time I missed them,...

I haven't done my daily workout so far and I usually get it done in the morning so it will take me a bit of courage to get it done today. But I will I will,..

Good news of the two days is: I got to hang out horse riding which was of course cool!! When we all took a coffee cookie break (which is summarized to a coffee beak for me) that was not as much cool of course but well, I still enjoyed what I could! And that's how I looked,...

Day 13: Finally "Home"!

Sooo much easier when you just handle your diet to your mum and she cooks it all or prepare bentos for you! I am loving it! Plus it tastes good. And Iam pretty sure that she is not cheating and putting oil salt and stuff in the bento. Anyway, it really takes the "what where to eat problematic" out of my head so I'll make the most of it till I go back to Hong Kong.

The workout it going ok. I feel this muscle burn thing mostly at the very end of the abs, the very end of the legs and the triceps dips. What is tough is to think that it will always be hard as you'll always push your limits further,... anyway that's just how it should be.

That's it for today. Let me just find a little illustration,...

Ah here you go: that's not my real bento, just an idea,...

Day 12: ...

Yesterday I left you guys before dinner,... well maybe I shouldn't have,... We headed for indian and Indian Food is not really PCP food, is it?? I was trying to get rid of the curry and eat just a few peaces of the chicken but although I did not go in the restaurant's kitchen I am pretty sure that the chicken is not oil free,... So again, I just try and go for less quantity, ate a bit of chicken leaving the sauce aside, a bit of rice and veggies. I definitely eat less than before that way but I am not complying fully with the diet. 

Result, this morning I was starving! I ate my egg, milk and my veggies, which I hope did not contain too much fat, but funny enough didn't get the carbs,... I didn't find any plain one and thought that it was better to not eat any rather than go for a croissant, or shall I say an ENGLISH CROISSANT which is even worse, (sorry sorry English fellas,... french stupid sense of humor). But hey if I may, don't get pissed but this is NOT a croissant :)

It will be a bit of a long challenging day on ex-PCP aspects but after that I will be back home (Paris) for a couple of days and will make sure to eat exactly what I have to.

Exercise wise,... I am disciplined on this. I get onto it every morning. Sometimes I get lazy and end up skipping in a flat but at least I am doing it. The only thing that bothers me is: I know that my right knee is a bit fragile and reminds me every now and then that I have to treat it properly, but with the skipping it reminds it to me every day now. I am trying to skip more on the left leg but it's not a perfect solution. I hope it will get used to the effort,... 90-12=78 days to go still!

The workout series take of course longer and longer. I am not sure of how I will handle this once back home in Hong Kong (the term "home" starts to be confusing,...). Theoretically I wanted to exercise in the morning before going to work, but 5h30 am... really?? Anyway we'll see.

Have a good day guys!

Day 11 - Traveling and PCP-ing,..

Hi all,


Ok so now I am in London and really I am trying hard to stay connected to the diet precisely. And it is not easy. I haven't failed so far but it requires a lot of organization and when I "have" to eat out I am not as precise as I should be,... Well this is a bit frustrating but other than that I think I am doing ok.


I realized one thing though. I read Patrick's post on the "eat your water" thing and thought I'd go for rice for example instead of bread. I am not sure that my reasoning is right but as rice is boiled in water, it probably contains more water and also 150g of cooked rice carbs is also less quantity than 150g of bread carbs,... Well as a result, I got a bit hungry today. Hunger fades with time but the previous days I felt like I had a lot of food but my lunch seemed a bit small today with my cooked rice,...


Exercising wise, I am sticking to it every day. The heavy rope really starts to make my arms suffer. I do not trip but I have to stop every 100-150 jumps for a few seconds to give my arms a rest. 


Back home tomorrow so the rest of the week should be much easier food wise!


Traveling Smiley for today:

Day 9-10: Discipline

Soooo, this week end was the wedding week end in south of France. You know what this means right? Saucisson, foie gras, cheese,... ... Torture!! But guess what? I have been pretty wise, even very wise. Not only I did not eat any of these succulent dishes but I also tried to respect as much as possible my diet. It was not that easy I must say as it is hard to stand up in the middle of a wedding and say "hold on, where are my veggies!". I realized veggies were not served that much. So of course it was not a big deal to get my 100g of carbs but for the veggies or the non fat protein,... Not exactly the same story! I managed to stick as close as possible to the diet and must say ate more veggies when I could etc but overall it was ok. At least I did not lose it on sugar and deserts which is kind of already a victory for me.

I did the exercises during the two days as well and the skipping wit the heavy rope starts to be painful for the arms.

So all in, I am quite happy about my discipline. I got pretty hungry as I did not eat that much (instead of eating the wrong things,.. I went for the eat less option). Plus the wedding of the two ex pcp-ers was great fun so nice socializing and pcp-ing two days!!

Day 7 and 8: First week done! Now it beginns!

Well well well, I saw this week's workout sheets and I find them pretty scary! Even just the jumprope part is pretty intense! I have done my first workout and I confirm,... not as easy! I am not sure I am getting the back workout right at the moment but I think I am also lacking a bit of equipment at home for that one. Well the toughest is to come: I am flying for a wedding this week end and I'll stick as much as possible to the diet plan but it might not be as precise and disciplined as it should be. So far so good though; till mid day the diet is working ok. 


On day 7, here is what happened: I offered myself a little bit of a treat as it was the last day of "eat whatever you want", right?
So here you go:

Leaving half seriously?? Patrick you just broke my heart!

Well, I'll be honest for a second. I was actually fine with just half of the cake. Seems weird for me but I had enough,... hard to believe but true! So somehow a good news. It will take a bit more to break my heart actually.

Anyway, I hope I'll be able to behave this week end food wise.
My interne connexion might be limited but I'll see you all soon in a couple of days.

Enjoy the real start everyone!

1 to go!

Ok One day to go and week one will be done!


I am on holidays and flying to france so will have allll the time to do the workouts.
Food wise, it will be much tougher.


So here is an example oh what i WON't eat:

What a shame... ... ...


Anyway, I am not giving myself a choice!


I am somehow happy to have just the skipping to do tomorrow although 500 jumps is am sure harder than what we did the previous days.


Anyway we'll see!


Talk to you from Paris soon!

Started Tripping!

Fiuuu,... 70 jumps in one set, not that easy!! I tripped a couple of times and my arms are getting tired too. There are more and more sets for each exercise and it starts to get pretty demanding for me. 


The day was pretty low on food. And I am feeling quite well. My biggest meal was I think breakfast, which I (only) realized is hard to cut in half as I was not taking any before. I would say that I need one now, if not I'd clearly be starving at 9am! I am sticking to the half soup half salad lunch, and well had half a carrot cake for a snack. Dinner was actually really light, I did not have time plus I'd rather save time for my sleep so just a few words for you guys and then I'll go to bed.


I am flying to France tomorrow night and it's clearly going to be challenging to not eat any cheese, saucisson, all these kind of stuffs if you know what I mean,... But well it's part of the game so my mind is set on being very disciplined. It will be ok,... hopefully.


Just the smiley of the day,... it's kind of cute and it reminds me the first thing I'll be doing tomorrow ! 


Have a good eve all!

It's a matter of control.

Quite a physical day today!


I woke up at 6am to do my workouts and clearly it's not the best way to wake up. Still I went through the series,... I confirm that I do not like lunges! And realized that we started to do 4 series instead of 3,... 


I then had breakfast and when I eat I feel like having REAL food : veggies, meat, which I believe is not too bad. Lunch was quite healthy too, with quantities cut to half. It's not too hard to eat only half of the plate but it's weird to throw away the food. As Patrick said, I've always been told to finish my plate. But I guess it's just a habit to take. I am still a bit hungry in between meals, but I feel like it's real hunger instead of cookie hunger so I had a banana for a snack in the afternoon. Also, I knew that I was heading tonight for my last personal training session at the gym so I figured a banana was ok.


For now, the morning workouts do not take too long but I am not sure that after a few weeks I'll manage to do both the morning workouts and the personal training session even if it s only once a week.


Dinner was reasonable too. Half a soup and half the main. I keep on repeating myself but it is true: satiety comes fast,... it's a matter of control. I feel like I could copy this sentence though to paste it in the coming weeks!! Then I'll be like "yeah right, easy to say!!". Anyway, I quite enjoy saying it now as I can so I am going to repeat it once more: it's a matter of control.


Oh, forgot the Smiley of the day (we are still smiling right??)! That's me (again,... sorry, maybe a bit self centered,...), looking all proud exercising,... hope it will last!

And hey last point tonight before I go to bed. In case I haven't told you, "It's all a matter of control". Twaddling?? Yeah well, better get used to it, I am not THAT old but I do that a lot.


Have a good evening fellas!

Hunger kicking in!!

Hunger woke me up!! And this clearly never never happens! It's the week end and it's a bit hard to say whether I am precisely cutting half of the usual food but I am certainly eating less per meal. Usually in the week ends I would have a big lunch early afternoon and I would skip dinner but today I had breakfast, lunch, and am hungry for dinner. So quantity wise on the total of the day, am I eating half of the usual? I'm not too sure as I am having three moderate meals instead of a big one. But I am eating more healthy,... clearly. 
Still I am hungry! And it's true,... this hunger vanishes quickly after a few bites but I think about my stomach much more often than usual. Or should I say my stomach is manifesting itself more! It's funny because it makes me think that I am usually not very hungry, I just eat because I like to eat. That's an unconditional truth about me: I like to eat!!


Another truth is,... I start to feel a bit of soreness in my legs. The workout still doesn't take me much time,... roughly 15min, but by the time I finished the sit ups, my abs were starting to burn a bit. Same for the arms for the last 10 jumps of each set. Hum,... I quite like doing the workouts though,... for now.


Well, I am still in a smiley mood so here you go, Hungry Smiley,... ...

And don't worry,... for the ones who are sick of my smileys, it shouldn't last for too too long :) 


Have a nice Sunday everyone!

Keep up the Smile!

Let's keep the Smile theme and make the most of it because I have the feeling it's not going to last for very very long.
So here you go:

That's probably pretty much how I look during the first 10 jumps of the first set. Today I did the workout early morning and again it did not take me more than 15min but to be honest I don't find it very easy. It might not take long but I can surely feel it in my arms and legs already (not sure whether it is normal but that's how it is,...)! 


I first missed the "per leg" mention for the lunges, so, as I wasn't sure, I thought I'd be a good girl and go for 10 a leg. After 20 per leg, I thought "oh c'mon can't be per leg, 20x2 makes 40 and it's more than what I should do"! I had a look again at the sheet and then I thought ""(per leg)",... ah ok great, so it is supposed to hurt already,... ...".


One tip for you guys: you know what is the good part in printing out the workout sheets? It 's that you get to throw them away daily, and when you do, you feel like you've done something. I am thinking that on day 40 I'll probably be tearing each sheet in 100 little peaces everyday before throwing it away!


Anyway the pile of 7 days sheets is now down to 5 so that's already a good news.


I still need to figure when is the best time to do the workouts. I thought early morning was best because I seriously have doubts about my suffering abilities after work in the evening but it's not like my body was feeling really tonic and light at 6am,... ... my feet are probably not jumping more than 2mm over the rope,... ...


Food wise,... yeah yeah,... half thing,... not really fun. Not that hungry (maybe sometime in the day I get hungry but then if I focus on something else it's gone) but not really funny,....


Mmmmmhhhh,... smile starting to fade already?? No no, can't be! 

First school day,...

Feels that way doesn't it? Prepared the backpack, stuff it with the essentials (ie jumprope, and soon the bentobox I guess,...), choose the favorite gear and,... here we are,... day 1! Excited - new friends, new challenges, learning ahead -  but also - knowing that you'll suffer along the way, and at the same time not really knowing what to expect - a bit insecure. Yeah,... definitely feels like the first school day! 


And you always do things well on the first day! You underline the titles, check your handwriting,... Same same,... I printed out the daily sheets for the whole week and went through today's exercises without too much pain. But I can already feel that it will soon get much tougher.
Diet wise,... the half quantity plan worked ok today. But again, excitement always squeezes your stomach a bit,... it somehow helps at the beginning I think.


Anyhow, first day complete! 
Let's face the coming 89 days with a SMILE too!