Day Seven: I'm Just a Girl

Let's talk about my person of inspiration, my "hero" for the PCP. I chose musician, fashion designer and celebrity mom Gwen Stefani for a few reasons.

She's admitted to having inner chubby kid complex, and how she doesn't just roll out of bed looking like a rock star; she literally works her ass off every day. She does real push-ups during her concerts. She's popped out two pups and as a working mom (sure she has nannies oh and probably a bazillion dollars. But that doesn't mean good parenting gets any easier) she still manages to put on lipstick and fun clothes. She appears to be both confident and vulnerable. And really, who hasn't felt that way?

Day Six: PCP or Bust

Another thing I am realizing with the PCP is you've got to plan ahead, be it the exercise, the food, the blogging or heck the sleep/rest to get all this done.

Yesterday as I was trying to head back to Colorado, I visited a Walmart store in central Nebraska (on a Sunday no less; can you say hell on earth?) to pick up some incidentals that would improve the five hour drive ahead of the kid and I. I picked up some baby carrots, but when I ate them later they tasted like they were washed with soap. I switched to a bag of pretzels. To circumvent the kid's request for Crunchy Cheetos, I got her some yogurt. Color us both happy.

But after the road trip, which got us back home after 11 p.m. MST, it left the fridge looking empty, vegs from last week limp and wrinkly, and my body was stiff from driving and I was so, so tired. I ended up skipping this morning's boot camp to get at least 6 hours of sleep. Did PCP exercises after work (have to say I do really prefer the a.m. workouts; isn't that weird for a night person to admit?) and I'm anxious to see what comes next. Tonight, my lovely neighbor made her killer brownies, and per the usual, offered me one. I took half one and will soon enjoy that on the eve before the start of the official PCP diet. Bring it.

Day Five: Red Glare

Last night I visited with friends at a home BBQ for the Fourth of July. It was a hoot. It was also a challenge.

The kiddo and I were there for about five hours, and I was offered food and boozy drinks often. Sure, I ate my dinner portion (one kabob of grilled chicken, mushroom and zucchini; a five Doritos -- instead of five handfuls -- and one salt-less, butter-less ear of corn, and a glass of ice water) and it was a wonderful meal with loved ones and I felt full, both in tummy and heart.

But when faced with the repeated question of well-intentioned hosts who asked Are you sure you don't need a drink? Are you sure you aren't hungry? I definitely felt the little angel and little devil on my shoulders debating that very issue. Even though my mouth said No, I'm fine thank you for asking, my mind, and later my stomach, struggled with issue. But rules are rules, and I really didn't want to bend the rules less than a week into the PCP. If I thought it was hard now ...

But near the end of the night my very good friend commented on how she was proud of me. And that's the best kind of positive reinforcement if I ever saw it and was grateful that anyone noticed I was truly, really trying.

The exercise routine (jumping rope followed by a series of some combination of sit-ups, lunges, push-ups and squats) currently continue to be the easiest part of the PCP. The mental struggle with food, for me, is the worst. I am realizing that I eat out of habit rather than actual hunger, I eat most of my calories in the evening rather than throughout the day, and that my decreased calorie intake is making me grumpy and very sensitive to things I would not normally get bent out of shape for, like my child asking for her dinner once we got home from school/work (and an insane lady who momentarily stepped into my body and stole my brain instantly thought at this request GAH you selfish child! Um yeah. That was weird.) or how my right contact lens is a little dry and therefore makes me want to lay down and sob on the floor of this coffeehouse right at this very moment and how my brain wants to rationalize that the second half of my morning bagel would make it all go away.

But, I take a deep breath, and I remember this.

Day Four: Exercising My Freedoms

The hardest thing about Day Four of the PCP was trying to find a place with free wifi to write this blog entry. But here I am sitting on the porch of The Mill, Lincoln's other awesome downtown coffee shop. I skirted in JUST as the outdoor barista started to close up shop for the July 4 holiday. But now I get to sit here guilt-free with my small (instead of usual large) coffee. Ahhh.

Seated to my left is a group of young immigrants, possibly from Ukraine or Russia or other eastern European place, talking enthusiastically with some words sounding familiar like salami, sandwich, Chicago and UPS. Or maybe that is my subconscious talking, as I would happily order a salami sammie from Chicago via UPS at this very moment because I am already hungry despite a late breakfast with friends. We ate at one of my new favorite places in Lincoln, bread&cup, which aims to serve local and in season food. It's terrific. I tend to get the 3 Grain Hot Cereal; it's already a small portion, so I added only half of the cream I typically would have, added half the walnuts and skipped the apple butter. And instead of helping my friends eat the giant cinnamon roll, I only had a small bite (you have no idea how much I love love love cinnamon rolls, and with caramel syrup!) Later today I will visit another friend for a July 4 BBQ; last night I was able to decline multiple drink opportunities but I am unsure if today I will be as lucky. I will prevail though!

The exercises continue to be doable, but my left calf is now on fire, which makes jumping rope without tripping nearly impossible; I do find that doing it faster, rather than slower, avoids messing up. Go figure. My calf is just incredible tight and is sensitive to the touch (and even laying down to sleep on it feels awful). I doubt PCP itself is to blame, but just the muscle itself being overworked from the double duty of PCP and boot camp. Oh well. These are the easy days, sweetheart, so suck it up. Happy Fourth of July, America!

Day Three: A Moveable Feast

Pictured to the right is what I packed for my 7-hour drive through Nebraska.

Traded in my orange Crunchy Cheetos for orange crunchy baby carrots (which really helped me through the last three hours of the drive). The sandwich, half left over from lunch would be my half dinner on the road. Two bottles of ice water, two audio books (which were mediocre) and, can't lie, the bananas weren't for me. I hate bananas. Those were for the kid while she stays at The Grandparents, who are lovely and generous people. But the kid DID get a bag of Crunchy Cheetos (see? even she knows the drill when we make a pit stop. Oh wait. Is that bad?), and she shared three with me. Three is better than half a bag, right?

When I pulled into Lincoln, I was STARVING. My stomach had been growling for about two hours. I called a friend, Cara The Marathoner, and asked her what she would get at Amigos. Amigos is a staple of Nebraska dining, and many of my pals who no longer live here discuss cravings for this fast food staple. Now in the four years I lived in Lincoln for college, I ate at Amigos fewer than five times, and I think most of those times it was 1. not my idea 2. massive amounts of booze was preceded its consumption. But suddenly I envisioned myself getting a drive-thru burrito or taco and inhaling it before I left the parking lot. By the time I left the Interstate, I snapped out of it, hit the sandwich shop across the street from Amigos (that's right, I stared that SOB in the face and walked away from temptation) for a simple provolone and bread sammie with mustard, and ate half. I even waited until I got into the downtown apartment I am staying at to eat, and it was good.

I know food will be my personal challenge during the PCP. (Seriously, Mel. It's Day Three. Get a grip!) And then to throw travel on top of that? I already worry how an upcoming trip to Northeast PA (NEPA, as us locals call home) will be: the land of pizza, Yuengling beer, pierogies, funnel cakes, meatballs as big as your head and other delictables from Polish and Italian cuisine. I'm doomed. Must get game plan now.

But I am happy to report that while I am in my Lincoln favorite coffee shop, I was able to resist the second half of my cheddar bagel with veggie cream cheese. But barely. Onto tomorrow!

Day Two: Sick and Tired

It's just after 7a.m. MST here in Colorado, and I've done my PCP exercises for the day; they were very doable and tolerable, especially outside in the cool air and new sun. But I'm definitely feeling the fatigue from two workouts yesterday (PCP and a boot camp I almost done attending) and a head & chest cold that's hopefully on its way out. Is there any advice on how to handle sickness with working out? I took an easy pace and completed every exercise in full. But man, I miss breathing through my nose. My head feels full of cotton, my throat full of broken glass.

I'm heading out of town this afternoon for the Fourth of July weekend. Dropping the kid off at her grandparents in Kearney and I go on to Lincoln, both cities in Nebraska where I went to college and lived for four years. (How does a girl from the Northeast end up in the Midwest? My mom's from Omaha and Nebraska is where those Irish ancestors of mine settled. I keep going back, though, for the friends and my godmother, one of the most important people in my life and a true role model. The free babysitting from the paternal grandparents is just a bonus).

Wondering how being on the road will be with the PCP (another reason for the early exercise today). It's about a five hour trek to Kearney, then another two hours to Lincoln. What are your favorite travel foods? The kid and I are fond of Crunchy Cheetos, but must find a better alternative for snack food on the road today. My jump rope and PCP exercise sheets are already in my purse, so even if I forget to pack a suitcase, I will at least be able to stick with the program. Bon voyage!

Day One, Vol. II: They're All Gonna Root For You

Just finished my first PCP workout in my new "gym" aka the backyard patio.

jumping rope
push-ups
sit-ups
squats

Nice but think I will definitely have to switch to a.m. workouts (the neighborhood is alive, noisy and busy in the afternoons, as it should be; neighbors and my kid wanted to know what was up with me and the jump rope, and I felt like my social hour in the suburbs was missed). I would have done PCP this a.m., but I'm still in the throes of my boot camp, session two, for the summer. I have two weeks left. Which means for the MWFs of the first two weeks of PCP, I will do boot camp in the a.m., and PCP workouts in the p.m. I kept telling myself It's only six days (five now), but truth be told today my body was already tired when I got home from work. Lucky for me, the PCP exercises align nicely with what we do in boot camp. On my non-boot camp days, I'm definitely going to start my day with PCP to ensure nothing at the end of the day gets in my way. Which is saying a lot, considering I'm a night owl.

The first week of PCP "diet" (oh how I loathe that word! I've never been a diet kind of person, and I don't believe PCP is anything even close to a diet. We need something better to call it. How about food solution? cuisine opportunity? fit fuel?): Just eat half. Whatever we normally would dish out for ourselves, eat half. Sounds easy. And it is easy to do ... until you're hungry an hour later. But I really stuck with it, and I realize today might be the easy day of it all.
Small bowl of cheerios instead of large. One morning coffee instead of two; one tsp of sugar instead of two. Five almonds instead of 10. Even half a nutrigrain bar when I was famished on the commute home (this PCP could really make the drive home dangerous for others if I continue to drive hungry). I noticed I really paid attention to my food so I wouldn't snarf it all down and that I could really enjoy the food. And that even with "half" portions, I felt satiated (but not stuffed) which snowballed into really looking forward to and appreciating the next time I got to eat.

Today I had a lot of people ask about PCP, and I was happy to share. Once I got over my embarassment and worry about revealing the blog, it was really awesome to see people outside the PCP are cheering us on, too. Viva la revolucion!