Weak

Up at 6am ready to rock today's exercises only to find that I inexplicably am completely sapped of any strength - could barely get through one set of reps let alone 4 on all the  exercises....  Just typing thsi blog seems to take a herculian effort.  Is this one of those downwards cycles and i'll return shortly with renewed strength and vigour...?  Let's hope so!

Business as usual

Back in HK and plodding along the PCP path.  Got a couple of yoga studios to try out this week which should complement the exercises nicely.  Gonna take my training gear up to the peak tonight for hilltop workout.  Other than that not much to report -oh, apart from a double yoke in this morning's egg - what a treat!

Mentalist

Lying awake (again) at 5am and the mind wandered onto some of the mental or psychological aspects of the PCP. Ok so I only did one psychology semester at uni, but for the most part it seemed like common sense - at times disguised by psychobabble.

One of the things I like about PCP is that it's based on common sense with clear and rational reasons for doing what we do and eating (or not eating) what we eat, leading to tangible results, and relatively quickly. This is crucial when eating/doing this things we don't like (more eggwhites anyone? and would you like a few more floorjumps to go with that?).

Anyway, back to the mental side.  While I don't doubt that achieving the physical improvements we're seeking is largely driven by diet, the mental aspect of this whole program is huge. One of my main reasons for entering into it was to test myself mentallly.

The PCP is a welcome mental distraction from work and helps put things in perspective i.e. wellbeing comes first.  That said, the program has boosted my effectiveness at work as I find my energy levels increase (I believe that's what they call a win-win...)

There have been the occassional transgressions of 'the rules' (a glass of red here, a bit too much olive oil there, a skipped exercise etc.) invariably followed by remorse.  Turning this it into something positive by telling myself to re-double my efforts and then acting on it rather than saying that the occassional trangressions won't do any harm is a mental challenge and significant benefit of the PCP (assuming the test is passed of course).

If this makes no sense, blame insomnia...

Holiday snaps

The little turd-like thingys in the middle snap are tofu with homemade PCP-conformant condiment...

Lengths

Loving the fact that my cardio is improving.  Where before I used to do 10 or so lenghts of freestyle in the pool before capitulating, I now put in a seemingly endless number of lengths and stop due to boredom, not lack of fitness.

Not being able to get properly stuck into the awesome thai food is a test indeed.  That said, the food they churn out here (apart from the absence of meat) is straight out of the PCP dieting manual:  Steamed veg (lots of colours), egg white omelets with bean sprout salad, kale with garlic and sesame seeds etc etc - you get the idea. Looking forward to seeing what tomorrow's new menus bring...

Pink eggs anyone?

Found these bad boys while out searching for eggs of which there is a shortage due to the recent floods here.  Decided against pink and just got some regular ones from the resort restaurant (3 days in and the Thai staff still giggle over the raw egg request).

Having a good time with the exercises, feeling pretty healthy & relaxed, but still not sleeping well for some reason (hence the blog update at 5:30am Thailand time).

Hope all are well.

A tree branch

I've found to be a pretty effective substitute for a pull-up bar .  Got a fairly full-on daily routine going: PCP regime, yoga (3 times), swimming, massage...beats the hell out of working though!  It feels a little odd to be on 'holiday' and not have a few beers, cocktails etc. but the resort is strictly booze-free.

Ventured into town last night and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted to sink a few cold ones, but settled for a wheatgrass juice - not quite as satisfying but hey...better stick that on this week's thread for any tips.

Good weekend y'all