Day 93 - The Good, the bad, and the hungry

It's been 3 days since my Peak journey concluded, and I've been trying to wrap my head around it all. What a crazy trip this has been. I think the best way for me to summarize the past 90 days is by simply breaking it down.

I figure I want to end on a positive note so I'll start with...

The Hungry

- I realized I have a bit of something I like to call "Food Anxiety." It's basically me freaking out about hunger. Like I mentioned throughout, I don't just get hungry I get "HANGRY". I absolutely hate this feeling and try to avoid it at all costs. It was a bit difficult at times for me to control this because my food allotment was controlled by someone else. I found the 2-3 week period where I was only alloted an egg-white and a banana/ apple for dinner really, truly difficult. I was definitely hungry, but I can't help but think that some of it was just mental. Like I was anxious that it wasn't enough so, it wasn't. I wonder if my results would have been different if I had followed it more closely.

- On the other hand, there were many, many more times throughout that the amount of food I was alloted was much more than I thought I could consume. I learned that it's not really about quantity but quality. I found out I could eat a ton of food and not gain any weight, or better yet fat, if it was actually real FOOD (fresh veggies, fruit, lean meats, fish and brown carbs).

- In the end I came to love yogurt! Ok, ok... I still hate Greek yogurt but the regular plain kind is quite good if you add a chopped up strawberry and a tiny bit of honey.

- I go through about a 1/2 gallon of skim milk a day. I absolutely love, love, love milk!

- Even after 90 days of consuming a crap load of egg whites, the first thing I wanted the morning of day 91 was, you guessed it, an EGG. Breakfast might be my new favorite meal of the day.

The Bad

- Time, time, time, time and more time. If there was anything that I underestimated prior to starting this journey it would be time. Time to cook and prepare all the food. Time to workout. Time to blog. Time to prepare more food. Time to read and comment on everyone else's blogs. Time to train Capoeira. Time to go out with friends and we can't forget about work. The way I got through it all was by just putting my head down and trudge through it. I would try not to think about any of it in advanced. I became my own Nike commercial. Just do it. Like I didn't have a choice. It was 10:30 on a Monday night and I just worked like 12 hours or so and it was time to break out the rope and push through my workout. Ugh...those nights sucked! But, I am proud that I was able to get through it.

- T.I.R.E.D. Jesus, I'm still freaking tired, even after 3 days. I think it wouldn't have been so bad if my schedule and life style actually allowed 8 hours of sleep a night, like Patrick recommended, but unfortunately it was more like 6 or sometimes 5. My body never ever felt like I had enough sleep. People ask what I'm going to do now that the Peak is over and I say I'm going to sleep for the next 90 days. The SCP!!

The Good

- God, I have learned so much about myself and food. I thought I had a somewhat healthy lifestyle prior to this but it turns out I was just buying into a load of crap. America is infamous for selling us "food" with shinny, green labels on them touting "health" and "nutrition". Oh what a bunch of hooey. I could go on for another 80 posts about this, so all I'm going to say is that I have seen the light. I no longer shop the inside aisles in a supermarket. Everything I need is located on the outer perimeters, making my visits super quick. Which by the way is fantastic since I have always disliked food shopping.

- I learned that I do not need alcohol to go out, dance and have fun with friends on a Saturday night. This is HUGE! It's freeing and Sundays are so much more productive and enjoyable.

- I really enjoy cooking! And I'm so happy that the PCP has made me realize that I CAN JUST COOK FOR MYSELF.

- I really enjoy blogging. I think it's time I get my own site back up and running.

- I am stronger! Not only physically, that's right... I can hold a plank for 2.5 minutes and do like 50 pushups in a row, but mentally as well. Now I can have a starring contest with any cookie or glass of wine and win every time. I have willpower of steel and can do anything as long as I put my mind to it. Oh and my final workout...chose day 1...completed it in exactly 5 minutes. Woot!

I plan to continue on this path that the Peak has laid out for me from here on out.

I want to give a giant THANK YOU to Patrick and Chen. You guys have truly tapped into something great here. It has been a transforming experience in more ways than one. I will miss your inspirational and eye-opening emails. I'll miss how excited I got on Thursday afternoons when I knew our new exercises and diets were coming.

To my fellow Peakers. I want to say CONGRATULATIONS! I couldn't have gone through this without all of you. Reading your blogs and seeing your weekly photos have been such a joy and inspiration. You all rock and look amazing! You all should be extremely proud of yourself. I know I'm proud of you. I wish you all the best in the future.

And now....

for the moment we all been waiting for...

drum roll please...

little louder drumming....

but WAIT! First, the before...


(This is actually day 8, because day 1 was a really crappy quality taken with my phone.)

OK...

So now....

for the moment we all been waiting for...

let the drumming continue...

Boo-ya!

I didn't think that I would have the cahonies (sp?) to put up a bikini shot, but after 90 days of hard work and perseverance how could I not.

So here's another.

That's right. I'm a total ASS-KICKING HOTTIE! What, biatch? Kate you ain't got nothin on me. (haha, no just kidding) But, I am pretty damn happy with my results. Except I really, really could use a bit of a tan.

So now it's time for some shout-outs.

Thank you Erica for taking these photos for me. :) You're such a great friend and so amazingly talented.

Also, I want to thank my bff, Zoli, for being there for me and listening to me bitch and moan these past 90 days.

My girl Ginasta for all those nights you hung out with me PCP style and your encouraging words. You are a truly dedicated athlete and I find you so inspiring. Oh and this bikini that you bought me in Brasil. Still ain't wearing the bottoms but, damn those things are just way too tiny. haha

All my co-workers and bosses for dealing with all my hard boiled eggs and my moods. Thank you for not firing me :)

To Ana and Foca, you two are absolutely amazing people and inspiring teachers. I look forward to many, many, more years of learning from you.

And of course Pingo, aka Emily. I would have never of been able to go through this journey and learn so much if it wasn't for you. You really are the ORIGINAL BAD ASS! Da OB ya'll.

And now a little word for all of you out there...

Cancel that gym membership, stop starving yourself and throw out that scale. There is no miracle pill, or exercise DVD that is going to get you to your ultimate fitness goal. It will only come with hard work, sore muscles and a good wholesome diet with REAL food.

Day 90 - The numbers are in. We did it!

It's day 90 people. Day freaking 90. Can you believe it? I can't.

What a journey. What an amazing sense of accomplishment. Well technically I have one more workout to do tonight. Patrick has asked us to choose one from the first two weeks. I'm dying to see how fast I'll be able to get through it. If I remember correctly it took me about 10 min the first time. This time I'll be shooting for 5 :)

No final photo's just yet, and no final parting words. But, I do have some numbers to share.

I'll be back later with some final words and pictures.

Day 89 - Time Differences

I was so SHOCKED when I visited thepeakconditionproject.com this morning and found this:

COMPLETE!

Yay! Well, not just yet, we still have today and tomorrow. I'm guessing that since Patrick is technically located on the other side of this planet that for him and the server in which the Peak is housed it might actually be day 90. But, for me in NY it is only the morning of day 89.

Everyone keeps asking me, how are you going to celebrate your completion? What are you going to eat? Drink?

Seriously, at the moment, and I swear this is the truth, all I'm craving are egg whites, fresh veggies, baked sweet potatoes and an Amy's Bread whole wheat baguette. Haha...who would have thunk it?

I truly feel that the lessons I have learned through this process will stick with me for life.

We are almost there fellow Peakers. Let's finish strong!

Day 87 - Final Countdown

We had a 2 hour long Capoeira song workshop today. It was great, however I'm finding it hard to sing them in my head because every time I start a song it gets interrupted with Europe's 1986 hit, "Final Countdown."

I'll be all like...

Pula por cima do pau o piaba

Que a mare ta cheia

It's the final countdown...do do do do, dodo do do do,

or

Ai, ai, aide

O joga bonito que eu quero ver

Ai, ai, aide

It's the final countdown...do do do do, dodo do do do,

It's driving me bonkers. I think Pingo (aka Emily) had this same problem when she was in the last week of the Peak. So I'm just going to give into it.

do do do do, dodo do do do, do do do do, dodo do do do, do do do do, dodo do do do, do do do do, dodo do do do, do do do do, dodo do do do...

Day 84 - Let the count down begin

Alrighty folks, 6 more days to go.

The last couple of days have been quite exhausting with work, and teaching and capoeira, oh and of course, PCP.

Tuesday night I trained capoeira for the first time in over a week. The academy was closed for spring break. Anyway, I had such an amazing class. I felt so strong and confident and on point. I was able to take down 2 girls, who by the way are much taller than me, with a queda. (It's that leg grabbing take down I talked about before.) They both happened so quickly. Foca said my timing was perfect. I was pretty much shocked myself.

Patrick assigned us the task of checking out a gym. Well, I haven't belonged to one in years. I thought I could take a look at Equinox because it was in the same building as my PT, but turns out my shitty ass healthcare won't cover my appointments until they speak directly to my doctor even though I had a prescription, so I had to cancel all my sessions this week. God damn bastards. Crappy American healthcare system.

Anyway, I don't belong to a gym because years ago I came to the conclusion that they are a rip off. That I could get the same results at home, outdoors, etc. I also, find them dark, stuffy, smelly and covered with germs. All those people sweating all over the machines. Running, biking, climbing to nowhere. Seems a little too depressing for me. I would much rather spend my money on capoeira each month. So much more worth it. And now with everything that I have learned through my Peak experience, I know that my at home workouts are much more productive.

Patrick also asked us to share an ab exercise. Well I have always loved Gilad, ever since his Bodies in Motion days. I used to work out to this dvd a lot before the peak. It's more about toning the core. Here is a clip of it.

Also, the P90x Ab Ripper is pretty awesome too. Going to have to start throwing that back into the mix. Here is part 1 of a 16min routine.

P90X Ab Ripper X Part 1

Day 81 - Progress

The orange progress bar is touching my foot. Woohoo, we are so close. The end is near. I'm so excited!

Day 79 - Indulgence

8:00 am

Woke up to the glorious sunshine

8:30 am

PCP work out. (I jumped last night even tho my PT said not to, so I did the elliptical today)

9:30 am

Cleaned the kitchen

10:00 am

Ran to Natural Land for milk, eggs, broccoli, fresh whole wheat baguette from Amy's bread, etc

10:30 am

Breakfast

11:00 am

Vacuumed and cleaned the rest of the apartment

12:30 pm

Unloaded car filled with 4 bags of topsoil, 3 bags of grass seed, 7 wooden fences, etc

1:00 - 5:30 pm

Dug up flower beds, turned over the soil for the entire back yard, planted bulbs, dug up slate pathway, planted grass seed, etc. Somewhere in there I had my tea time snack.

5:30 pm

lunch - I was STARVING!

6:00 pm nap

7:30 pm plumber came and installed new bathroom sink. Woohoo! About 2 months ago a perfume bottle fell out of my medicine cabinet and left a giant hole in the sink.

8:00 pm snack #2

8:30 pm

Shoulders and back were killing me from the workout and all the gardening. I went and got a 1 hr massage. Ah...as I was laying on the massage table I to started to day dream about my indulgence. (A glass of red wine and Haagen-Daz Chocolate Peanut butter ice cream.)

9:30pm

Ran to 3 different stores looking for the ice cream. (I HAD TO HAVE IT) Nothing else would do. I ended up having to mix my own concoction.

9:30 pm

Drank glass of wine, ate bowl of ice cream while watching Precious. (Amazing movie by the way. So messed up. It made me so made. I just wanted to punch her mother in the face.)

10:30 pm

Went back for seconds. Ate the ENTIRE pint of ice cream. (Never, in my 34 years have I ever eaten an entire pint of ice cream. I usually don't even like all that much. But it was just so good. And since I didn't eat dinner and did a crap load of manual labor all day I was pretty hungry. I knew it wouldn't fill me up, but secretly hoped it would.) The old me would have went for another glass of wine instead of the ice cream. So wierd...it's like I don't even know who I am anymore.

12:00 am

Feeling a bit nauseous but, hungry. I think I might have some milk and an apple. I don't know. Maybe just some water. I am quite thristy. Damn I missed peanut butter. So delicious.

12:30 am

Blog and bed

All in all it was a great day. I wonder if I'll feel sick in the morning. I hope not. I plan on working in the yard again.

Day 77 - Bye, bye jump rope

Physical therapy update take 2.

This new place was WAY more professional then the last. It was recommended to me by a good friend of mine. Thanks G! Anyway, turns out my doctor was right and it is my sacroiliac joint that is causing me problems. Lindsay, my new PT. Had me do all sorts of bends, and walks and what not. Then she began to push at my hips, pull on my leg, etc. At the time it didn't really seem like much. I hardly felt a thing. But, then a couple hours later I noticed that my back wasn't throbbing as much anymore. In fact it hardly hurt. Woohoo this Lindsay is a miracle worker. I am scheduled to go every Tuesday and Thursday until the 29th. There is one little snaffu though, she says I should stay away from jumping rope. That the pounds will undo the good things we are trying to do in our sessions. So tonight I did the elliptical for a half hour. I definitely felt the pain again afterward but it's not as bad as it was.

So, only 2 weeks left and I'm told to hang up the rope. Patrick, what should I do? Is the elliptical a viable fallback?