real food comming soon

Well I found this sign in the window of a restaurant space and I thought it was funny at the time, hilarious now.

I think grocery shopping is so much easier/faster when you primarily visit the produce, seafood, bakery and dairy. 90 percent of the store is off limits/irrelevant. How liberating!

Speaking of food, this big guy is my BFF, Cliff. He was in a real funk when his share of the 1/2 meals ended, week two. But he is back on his game today, enjoying my discarded hard boiled egg yolks each day during snack.

We almost lost Cliff in November (he's an old dude, 15 or so) to a nasty lung infection. We took him home from the vet's and tried to think of something he might like to eat, so we boiled a chicken with some barley, brown rice, carrots, celery, potatoes and green beans, mushed it up and fed it to him with a syringe. Low and behold he bounced back! He has been eating this "soup" ever since and seems much healthier and happier. As I was making his food today it occurred to me that it is very PCP friendly. No salt either. Hmmm, I might have some for dinner. 

The workouts are going great and I am getting more sleep! 7 hours is genius. But I am a bit ticked off at the pull-ups. I can do a few real chin-ups with the hand position reversed but cannot even imagine doing a proper pull up... And my skipping rope broke today. Hardcore or what?! I am finding the abs a bit too... um, easy... so I've added my old ab routine at the end. I am sure I will regret this or drop it at some point.

The last few photoshoots I have done I have noticed how much easier it is to haul my camera equipment, tripods, ladders around by myself. This is awesome!

But the weekend was a challenge with several social outings which resulted in me not eating enough or cheating (as in puff pastry) because I was unprepared and let's face it: WEAK in the company of caramelized onion, dried fig and feta pizza... (on puff pastry).

But I hope everyone is grooving on the sweet goodness of those fruit snacks...

sweet weekend

I did make it through my deadline and "snack attack" last night, but just barely. Somewhere in the wee hours I ate a tiny bit of my breakfast food just to shut my mind up. The bigger cheat was only getting a few hours sleep. Chocolate bar is still intact although I may have to wrap it with duct tape going forward.

Some funny reactions to the new diet Patrick sent. One: I got more snackage added... um, an egg white (not exactly what I had in mind last night). Note to self... careful what you wish for. Also, a friend looked at my food grams and proclaimed, "He's trying to beef you up." Hmmm, I have to admit, the thought has occurred to me.

Had another crazy start this morning but got going even earlier to prep some food and skip. Love it. Up to sets of 250 occasionally. Not always. Sometimes I get to five.

Had boiled egg, sprouted bread, steamed yam and spinach for breakfast. Pear and cinnamon for snack. Lunch was a tuna panini... not the sashimi I had requested (panini sounds like sashimi apparently). I took the cheese off, ate the sandwich with cucumber on the side but felt gross after. Too heavy, mayo and not enough veg. Next time I will not be so polite. To "make up" for getting the sushi wrong, the caterer brought me three chocolate chip cookies as "a surprise" with my coffee. I considered licking them, but gave them away instead.

When I asked for skim milk, another acquaintance said, "Skim? You should be drinking cream by the glass..." I have to say, being relatively slim does not net much sympathy on a "diet". I have started to call it this my chemistry project instead. I have one skinny-fat friend and she gets it. We both want to be lean and mean (strong). I also want to be badass.

Tonight I am finally at my last destination of the day, a retreat on the edge of Porpoise Bay inlet in the Village of Sechelt, BC. on a travel assignment. Along with lugging my camera equipment, laptop, scale, workout gear etc. I packed in all my own food. I will be having steamed prawns, brown rice, spinach and cucumber with potatoes for dinner. Chopped cherries and blueberries with a bit of yogurt later for snack. Lucky! Then I am going to sit in that steamy hot tub and go to bed.

It's official. I am really going to try and get my sleep situation in order. Surrender and follow the "rules".

Happy weekend everyone. Happy eating.

hit me with your best shot

I am having difficulty sticking to the snacking schedule. I mean I am sticking to it, but I am not liking it at all today. I wish I had written yesterday, when I was IN LOVE with my sweet, succulent fruit cup at 3pm. I carried it all the way from a cafe in downtown Vancouver to the ferry terminal (on the bus) feeling very smug and health-nutty. I ate it slowly during the ferry trip, while seemingly everyone else ate french fries. I thought, "Those poor, dear souls, they just don't know what they're missing."

Today is the opposite. This afternoon I opened the fridge and thought: "I don't want a f-ing fruit snack."

So what's the diff? Today I am really behind and facing insane deadlines, so it is prime snack time. Plus, I don't have a nice fruit salad all prepped and ready for me, just plain apples and pears. Besides, I prefer crunchy things and chocolate when I am freaking out about deadlines. Luckily I cleared the cupboards of those temptations save a 99% dark chocolate bar (for serious emergencies only).

I fear I have a lot to do tonight and not nearly enough snackage to get me through it... Plus, I am anxious about upcoming diet allotments.... What if there are less snacks! I have to go back to the city tomorrow and I have no food prepared.... a dangerous situation to be sure.... yes, anxiety driven snacking. My nemesis.

Eeeks. Okay, deep breath. I am thinking... success at the PCP is maybe similar to me trying to be more successful at meeting my deadlines. For both I need ample:

Preparation
Commitment
Focus and...
Coffee!



(and just a few more snacks please)... xx C 

best news I've had all day!

"...even a very thin crust pesto pizza is possible."

(from Patrick's Day 12 email).

you've got to be kidding

Just read Patrick's email. Eight hours sleep? I'm screwed. I think I average six hours, with at least one all-night work frenzy a month. Like tonight is probably going to be, and the first night of the new decree. Jeez. But wait a minute, what time zone/PCP day am I on? Maybe I can start tomorrow! Yes! I am really going to try but honestly I don't know how to carve out that much time to just sleep... good luck everyone.

getting into the swing

Day three of the diet and I am onto it. Note to self: raw greens are an overwhelming choice for the veggie allotment unless you want to drown your sorrows in chopped kale. And carbs don't have to be bread: I am enjoying less bulk of heavier things: cooked quinoa, barley, brown rice.

The workouts have ramped up so I am hungrier too. Usually I gain around 5lbs when I work out, so this will be interesting going forward, as I have lost a couple of lbs so far, likely post-christmas revelry, good riddance. Week two pix are up. I think I look the same, but I feel stronger so it's all good.

Breakfast today was two slices sprouted bread (made from sprouted grains rather than flour) toasted and slathered with roasted squash "butter" (literally, just roasted squash mashed up), sliced hardboiled egg and tomato. Bit of cracked black pepper. Three cups of tea and milk... little piggy. Nice.

I love eating like this (although the amounts are still double my choosing)... sans sugar especially and with the protein, makes me feel even in temperament and clean in body. And the workouts are energizing, once I figured out the pull up thing. Now I just use my stationary pull up bar attached to the door frame, using a chair seat and booster positioned to raise my feet and body.

Hope your week is going well so far too... I am both distracted and sad by world events overnight.

All good wishes.

oh my goodness

Okay, day one of the new diet and oh my, that's a lot of food for me. At first I was like "Yeehaw, bring on the toast..." but by lunch I figured there must be a mistake, my diet has been mixed up with a vegetable-loving linebacker's diet... Now it is nearly midnite and I still haven't eaten my whole dinner allotment, plus I have milk and fruit to consume... This is stressing me out a bit.  

i'd rather dance

This video has been making the rounds, so some of you maybe have seen it, but I had to post it because I love it so much! As a former seven-year-old interpretive-dancer-failed-ballerina I can totally relate (to the geeky little boy in the back). So, instead of drinking and eating my face off at this weekend's party, I am going to get my butt on the dance floor and bust a move... yeah!

Have a wonderful weekend everybody!

having a day

I'm truly appreciating the inspiration of achieving the PCP lifestyle so far, even with Patrick's friendly warning that the crest of the roller coaster is around the corner... After a bit of a crap day that started with my car breaking down (on a bridge, during rush hour... you've got to laugh) and ended with a $1400 repair bill (not funny), plus the bonus of missing my ferry home (triple crap), I am happy to report that I am not at Ya Ya's Oyster Bar consoling myself with half of the ferry misser's "fish n' chips + frosty pint" special... I am at the coffee place having a tea, blogging and looking forward to the 500 jumps tomorrow (what a nerd).

Having said that, as Friday is our last day of half freedom, I'm also planning what kind of culinary mischief I can get up to... but only when I am in a better mood to properly enjoy it.

Tomorrow is another day... Hope everyone is doing great!

feeling groovy

Well, I survived the wine tasting party tonight, but just barely. I could not pass up nursing a half glass of chilled bubbles, um, just to be polite and this very nearly got the party started, but I resisted and put the glass down. The hors d'œuvres seemed exceptionally tiny, so I allowed myself one of several, but not two. I did taste a few other wines: swirl, sip, dump and I managed to make several social and wine tasting faux pas, even while sober.

Happy to report that my shoulder is back to semi-normal. I did my workout tonight in the fitness centre at the hotel where I am staying, but I found the atmosphere to be grim and depressing. So tomorrow I will do the workout in my room! Happy to have this option on the road. Loving it.

shoulder to cry over

A creature of denial, I've been keeping the shoulder situation to myself. But in the interest of sharing, it is searing. I screwed it up last week doing yoga (thank you very much) and I have been slower to recover than usual. It is a chronic, annoying situation that actually starts in my neck and ends in my knee, with the alarm bell of pain residing in my shoulder. Hello downward dog.

Anyway, one of the things I find really helpful as an anti inflammatory is to take capsules of turmeric (often sold as Curcumin). This was a tip offered by a kindly East Indian chef when my knee was wonky. It really worked on my knee, so I am hoping it will solve the shoulder issue and I don't care if I am curry scented.

In the meantime, I am plugging through. Hoping those who have been sick and sore are better soon...

Be well!

showing up for breakfast

One of the reasons I am doing this is to be more mindful about my choices, nutrition, exercise and otherwise.

So this morning I made like that French woman who doesn't get fat, preparing my breakfast and eating "for pleasure". I cut the 1/2 toast into triangles, sliced the 1/2 pear into a fan (dusted with cinnamon!) and folded my flat cooked egg into a neat little origami sculpture. I set the table, sat down and really paid attention to each bite of my meal, rather than scarfing it down at my laptop while checking emails.

It was a really good breakfast.

Day 2 - party strategy

Less antsy about the 1/2 food etc. today. I am ready to get back to healthier habits after a month of holiday parties, workout sloth and little miss piggery. I feel better already. But this coming week will be tricky. Along with some wicked deadlines, I have two events to attend - a big wine festival preview (half sips?) which is work related and a dear friend's party.

The workouts shouldn't be a problem to fit in. But I will be tempted by the food and drink. So I considered cancelling. Too easy. Instead I will try this party strategy: arrive late and leave early!

It sounds like everyone has really hectic schedules and/or lots of travel, kids, pressures, etc. and oddly, it totally helps to know this... so please keep sharing. Because if you can do it, I can do it. I think.

Good luck everyone!

Day 1 - half a mind

As luck would have it, I woke up (day one) absolutely famished. Usually I am pretty indifferent about breakfast. Waking up is more about coffee. But today was all about mindgames. "I mean who eats half a banana with their oatmeal, that's just silly," mind said. "You've bought WAY bigger bananas in the past; just eat the whole bloody thing, who's gonna know?"

And that my friends is pretty much how day one went down for me. Resistance.

Emergency cigarettes (I don't even smoke), McDonald's (never eat there) and tequila shots (maybe once in my life) each very briefly crossed my mind as odd possibilities at various points today... But I was good and totally did as was told (with the exception of halving coffee intake because, let's get serious, that's ridiculous). After reading the blogs it seemed like the other PCPers were not having any problems with the half rations. "Hmmm, maybe you're just a big baby," mind said. That made me want to suck it up and get with the program, big time.

Oh, I did the workout too... so glad we are easing into it, especially given the rations situation.

And having only one (lovely) glass of wine tonight means that I do not feel like eating an entire bag of potato chips right before bed, as per usual after several units of alcohol... I had half of an apple instead. Success!

Thanks so much PCP team... Good Luck... Let's go!

Let's get this party started

Well hello there!
Looking forward to rocking out the PCP with all of you... Although I am feeling a little nervous and exposed (already, eeks). But that is just my inner geekling talking and she's the reason I'm here.
So let's get busy...
All good wishes!