Fin

Boom! Obligatory weight loss big pants shot.

Well, I guess this is my final post.  I was really trying to think of something to tie it all together, like a list of things I've learned or something similar, but I have more of a collection of feelings and experiences now rather than a coherent summary statements.  I could say a lot of things, but they would probably only make sense to people that have gone through it.  So I guess I am telling anyone who is reading this and hasn't tried the PCP to do it.  It will change you for the better.

I did learn a lot of things, but mostly about myself.  Some of the most obvious things I learned that would be applicable to everyone include: Losing weight is easy.  Getting ripped is hard.  Diet is the most important lifestyle change you can make.  More important than you can even imagine until you do it.  And it's actually relatively easy, you just gotta stick to it.  Having a support group like Team Cookie Monster helps.  I went on a sugar binge yesterday (a baked a bunch of vegan desserts this weekend in anticipation), got a lousy high from it, felt sick, and couldn't wait to get back to my balanced diet the next day.  When you eat balanced, eating out of that balance makes you feel like crap, and you just want to get right back in that balanced state.  I also spent a lot of time really thinking about what I eat, what I put into my body, how it makes me feel, how it impacts those around me, how it impacts the world at large.  These are all very important points for everyone to think about for themselves, but it's so easy to overlook when you can get so much calorie dense food for so cheap in our society and not have to worry or think about where it comes from.  Really, if we have the need to worship something, it should be the food we eat.  It really is that important.

And to Team Cookie Monster, we did it.  I sincerely appreciate everyone's support as well reading about everyone's successes and lessons learned.

I leave you with me baking, mostly because I like the juxtaposition of the Arm&Hammer box next to my guns.

Day 89

Technically, it's day 90 here, I'm not ready to do my last post, and I didn't have internet access all weekend.  Yesterday's super-set was actually really fun.  I prefer the full body exercises like pull-ups and push-ups, so throwing several full body exercises into one set was pretty much the bees knees.  I also realized of all the things I've learned doing this project, the most important for me can be summed up in one word...vegetables.  I can no longer imagine a meal without fresh veggies, and cannot fathom how I went so long eating so few of them.  Anywho, back to work, full blown last post coming up, most likely tomorrow.

Gym Visit

Since I'm a graduate student, I'm already on campus a huge portion of my life and I'm required to pay fees for our Student Recreation Center, which is code for a fancy gym.  You know, pool, indoor track, weights, the works.  So as part of our homework assignment, I stopped by today.  I don't really hate gyms, but can't say I like them either.  There are always people grinding away on some cardio or weight machine and it really seems like 90% of people there have no idea what they're doing.  We've just been trained culturally that if we put in our time, our lives will be better.  Unfortunately, if you don't work out intelligently or with sincerity, this just simply isn't true.  So yeah, a lot of overweight people on exercises bikes, a lot of dudes that look really strong but also pretty damn fat.  The thing that really bothers me most about gyms, though, is that people drive there.  I realize that some people live far away and want to lift, but it's on a damn college campus.  How hard is it to walk the 5-10 minutes to get there?  Why would you drive somewhere just to run on a treadmill when walking there and back would get you the same workout?  And be better for the environment?

No Title

I think I have finally lost the remaining bit of Thanksgiving, or about the same fat level as before.  So I'm really excited about this week, the final push.  For PCP of course, not for life, I really can't imagine life now without working out regularly.  One technical question about planks though.  Has anyone else had problems breathing while performing them?  It didn't seem to be an issue for me until the last couple of weeks, but sometimes I have to stop them short, not because of the burn, but because I start feeling light headed.  I just can't seem to figure the breathing out now.  Also, the long planks really kill my shoulders, I think I tense up my entire body too much.

Life choices

Another day of PCP.   It's funny, I don't really think of this as a count down anymore, as I know I will continue on with most of these habits after day 90.  Also, I don't think I will have quite reached peak condition for my body after day 90, although I know I'm close.

One of the big reasons I chose this project was because my mental state was really inconsistent.  I thought a major part of it had to do with the work environment I was in, but I also knew I wasn't in great shape and I  definitely wasn't eating well.  I needed to tease out whether it was truly the work or if it was just a body/mind issue.  So I thought if I put in a serious effort to make these changes I would see a vast mental improvement.  Unfortunately, while my body was getting better, I wasn't improving mentally.  So this week I made some major changes at work.  I'll blog more about it this week when everything is finalized, but needless to say a major burden has been lifted and all the mental goodness that comes along with a well-tuned body is finally coming through.  I realize this is kinda vague, so like I said, more details to come.

Another Day Closer

It's so nice to be back eating PCP again.  I definitely gained a little fat over break, but it's already melting away a bit.  Although I think that might have screwed up chances for a six pack by the time our 90 days is up, I'm not too concerned.  This wasn't really about body image for me but about cultivating healthier habits.  It's amazing that we can eat so much delicious, real food and still get more and more trim.