Day 30, Nathaly: I PASSED MY DEFENSE!!

OK -- non-PCP topic today, but REALLY big news in my personal life:  I PASSED!!!!!

I had been super worried about this because I hadn't given my graduation studies committee much by way of progress reports.  Pretty much, every time I emailed them this summer, it was to ask to re-schedule my defense (literally 3 times..).

Anyways, not only did I give a really good presentation, I impressed them enough for one committee member to suggest strongly that I consider publishing my work!!  I mean, for realz?!  I was floored, I have been all day.  I allowed myself one non-PCP treat (a Mexican wedding cake cookie), and was again surprised by how un-fulfilling it was.  I mean, for someone who has always associated reward and celebration with food treats, this is HUGE (hmm..  maybe there are some PCP lessons to be learned from this blog post, afterall!).

Anyways, I've got until September 17th to institute their revisions (including some additional stakeholder analysis -- UGH) and then, i'm officially a MASTER.  Of what?, you may ask. Well..  that remains to be seen, I guess. lol  The degree will read Master of Science in Natural Resources (concentration in Ecological Planning). And, for the first time, I'm thinking I may just be able to live up to the title..

Now to try to have one last week of summer before starting an internship after Labor Day!
Lake Champlain:  here I come!

Tigger, too!

Day 28, Nathaly: Lazy Eating

So, the need for convenience has cracked me several times this week, but never like today when I broke down and just microwaved a couple frozen hot dogs leftover from pre-PCP days.  Not good, not worth it, but it was that or get on my bike to the local supermarket and, frankly, I chose the road taken by most Americans everyday and it's probably gonna show on the scale tomorrow morning.

I'm trying to atone by eating a frigging pound of sugar snap peas.  these things are fantastic, but dang does deliciousness get old when it's force-fed. gonna have to keep working on getting up earlier on the weekends -- these 4pm lunches kinda suck.

Wish me luck with the weigh-in!

Day 26, Nathaly: Exercising after a small break..

hey folks,

Thesis writing has been a drag, but I haven't wandered too much off-course from the PCP. I skipped jumps on Monday and then was SO utterly exhausted from the workout (and i'm guessing the stress of sending off my project report that afternoon) that I knocked out hard that night.  The following day I didn't get as far as I wanted on finishing my literature review, so I decided to take the day off all exercises in a last-ditch attempt to finish the literature review before we took the day off for our anniversary.  I also didn't measure anything that day -- I just ate as was simplest, keeping to the rest of the diet rules.  I'm pretty sure I under-ate quite a bit Tuesday, but since then, I've gotten back on track.

Getting back on the workouts was tough.  Jumps yesterday were exhausting and then the new exercises certainly provided fodder for some serious self-reflection ("why am I doing this again?" "do i really care that much?" and other such musings..).  I think I was only able to make it through the planks b/c Ramiro was there urging me on.  I hated him and loved him for it, but with his advice, I made it to 23 seconds before collapsing on the 3rd set (don't worry about it -- I always made sure to put in the total of 30 per rep).

Anyways, the week is chugging along and the big day is getting closer.. I'm still struggling to get my literature review just right (stupid perfectionism) and diet food is tasting better.  So, I'm just gonna keep chugging along and taking it one day at a time.  It's day 26.  Kim, Stu -- can you believe it?

Oh! Quick Q:  is anyone else experiencing some join pains?  I was struggling with that through most of the workout today -- achy knees during the creeps, pain in the left elbow during the shoulder press and, weirdest of all, stiff fingers during the pull-ups..  What's up with that?  Maybe it's all the sitting in front of the computer. (Hence the lack of blog posts -- we'll get back on track!)

Cheers all!

Day 25, Ramiro: Success!!!

First and foremost, today is our three year wedding anniversary! I took a day off work, Naty took a day off her Master's project and we vegged. Usually we'd celebrate by going out and treating ourselves to a fancy dinner, but seeing as we can't eat most of the things out there we stayed in. We cooked up some pasta and steamed some mussels with garlic. It was really good. Naty and I have been concerned we'd stray from "the way" this week, but i'm happy to report we've made it through today unerringly. Of course, we did get to enjoy a couple treats..

Our indulgences experience was odd. I expected to be disappointed by my 400 calories of chocolate fudge brownie (my favorite Ben & Jerry's flavor). I still enjoyed it, but the taste was definitely different -- it was really really bitter, very strange. Naty had some triple creme brie and a bottle of Woodchuck hard cider. She experienced the same level of extra sensitive tasting and also thought it was odd. All and all it was a good day.

P.S. I'm back on track with the jumprope, I discovered that I needed to keep my A.D.D. mind on something else entirely so that I wouldn't "over think" my skipping. I now jumprope to the sound of the Rat Pack. Whatever works, right?

Ramiro

Day 20, Nathaly: I feel like cheating

Hey all,

Ever since I got out of the routine by going home for the weekend, I've been fudging with the rules a bit.  On top of that, it's only been three weeks and I've lost 5 lbs, so I figure -- at this rate, why even bother doing the harder exercises?  I could get away with adding a sprinkle of salt on this, a little mayo here, a dab of butter there, right? Add to both of those thoughts the fact that I defend my thesis in 8 days and am very much anticipating the most stressful week of my life (thus far) and it all spells very alluring rationale for not following the diet and/or exercises to the T.

SO -- I'm reaching out to you all for some support.  What I know I need for me to stay on track through the next (excruciating) week is some serious rationalization of why this is worth doing.  Know thyself, right?  I'm a thinker and I'm a worrier by nature.  I'm also a giver & a nurturer so I don't really value taking care of myself as the reason for this 3-month experiment. To offer a bit of perspective on this last thought: Ramiro and I are nowhere near starting a family, but one of the main reasons I want to develop healthier habits is that I'd like to be ready for motherhood well before taking that step -- emotionally, physically, financially, socially. (looking nice in a bathing suit would be nice, too). Hence, the last couple years have been about finding a career path that really means something; paying off debt in an efficient way; adopting socially & environmentally responsible practices and learning to be happy with me.  It's more about being the right person than about reaching my "peak".

This leads me to the next thought I've been struggling with.  Thus far, this program is so über-scripted and Patrick-is-Guru (no offense, dude -- you're a cool guy, we chose this and you've got a great record of success) but I'm not sure I'm actually learning how to incorporate some of the important life lessons I'm seeking.  One of my biggest problems before Day 1 was emotional eating & the weighing of foods has left emotional eating out of the question both b/c it's not allowed and b/c I haven't really been hungry with all this food.  So, here's the problem:  I don't feel like i'm actually listening to my body yet.  I'm not eating when I'm hungry; I'm eating what and when Patrick says I should.  So, I'm really hoping this will develop over the course of the next 80 days. Has that happened for others?

Next, this is not a life-long endeavor for me. I value the beauty of eating good foods too much to keep nuts & beans and chocolate & ice cream out of my life forever. What happens when Day 91 comes along and I start eating my beloved cheeses again?  What happens when I finally choose to adopt vegetarianism? I plan to continuing doing the exercises forever more, but 80% of this program is diet, so.. is it worth being so hard on myself for three months if I know it's just going to end.  In other words, why not fudge?  Why not use this time to simply learn to go with less of ______?

Another thing that will make this week difficult is exactly the topic of Kim's last post:  convenience.  If I have to write for 10 hours straight, I can't stop to steam the veggies.  And if I'm hating every minute of that writing, I most certainly do not want to hate my meal. So -- another rationale for cheating a bit.

Given how tough it's been to get back on track after going home for the weekend, I don't wanna have a lax week and then struggle to get back into the thick of things after my thesis defense on August 30th (send positive thoughts my way from 1-4pm that day, please!!).

OK -- it's a long post b/c it had to be.  Thanks for reading and help me by sharing:
1. rationalizations I can adopt
2. easy, simple recipes that are actually enjoyable
3. ways you get yourself through the hard times

THANKS SO MUCH, PCPers!

Day 18, Together: Veggie Stains & Muscle Pains

A rainbow of swiss chard leaves stained our tilapia kinda purple yesterday.  Meanwhile, Ramiro says that every time he burps it smells like carrots.  (What a nicely packaged veggie -- portable, small, light & orange! Our favorite color). We're experimenting with different veggies, and each have a couple of favorites:  Ramiro loves broccoli & carrots because of their ease of consumption (he just eats them raw) and i'm into a zucchini & eggplant kick.

Muscle pain.  Lunges are deathly.  Not taking a beak in between sets it literally impossible for us.  The pain!! Will showed Ramiro a pistol lunge & it kinda scared me -- this program gets harder?!  It was enough to scare me into delaying jumps for 3 hours this morning, but I got them done.

Confession:  we both skipped our jumps yesterday (we might have influenced each other in that regard..).  I tried to make up with it by biking up the hill to campus today.  Ramiro managed to hurt his left leg from jumping rope, which is actually an improvement considering that before he only felt  it on his right leg, so maybe it's evening out.  He's doing the walking replacement for another day until that heals up enough for him to go back to the rope.

Nothing really else to report.  We've both just barely managed to get back into our routine, so here we come, week three!

Day 15, Nathaly: Going home for the weekend

My sister's baby shower was this afternoon.  Pretty much everything there was out of the question and I didn't have my trusty scale to bring me back to true PCP form.  So, I struggled to both gauge the right amount of food (I pre-weighed meals using last week's gram allotments and there's been a slight shift) AND fight the temptation of everything before me at a typical family gathering.  So, I've decided to let the pictures speak for themselves in the latter of these struggles.  The following images are all foods I deprived myself of this weekend -- I'm pretty proud of myself for not giving into the simple excuse of "just one bite"!

WARNING: The following images may make you salivate for all the wrong things. Keep reading at your own risk.

my sis grinning as she prepares plates of junk food at a park BBQ after my nephew's victorious little league game.  Nothing like a hot dog & some soda on a hot august afternoon.

mom's flan-cocho: half flan, half cake, drizzled in sugar-syrup. she made it for some friends that came over for dinner &  games Saturday night.  I've never had it before -- this was definitely the hardest to resist. 

pre-lunch snacks at my baby shower table.  moving from the back forward, cheese & crackers & tuna dip; tortilla chips & salsa, potato chips & "health food" exotic vegetable Terra chips; leftovers from someone else's beef empanada (2nd hardest temptation of the weekend); and sprinkled all over the place are decorative "it's a girl!" Hershey's kisses (the bulk of my neice's un-supervised lunch) and soft dinner mints.

 a friend enjoying a lovely slice of red velvet cake. Classic soul food dessert from Harlem! One of my favorite desserts. oh man -- I even considered grabbing a piece to store in my freezer until October 31st.. lol. decided against it as I still have a 6-hr drive back to VT to overcome.

My preggers sis showing off one of the prize baby bottles filled with sugary goodness. This one is full of gummy bears, one of my favorite stress-eating treats -- not too messy and not nearly as sweet as jelly bellys, satisfactorily chewy without the jaw ache, and can be stretched for fun (ideal for both it's distraction value and stress-relief properties).

So -- there you have it. Tomorrow, I have to contend with all the highway drive-thru's, also.  I'll be driving up to VT alone and much more likely to stop for breaks meaning temptations at the store. (at least during the trip down, I rode with a couple ladies who could keep me entertained).  In truth, it wasn't as terribly hard to just say no, but the only reason I could make it through was that I know this program isn't a forever diet.  Maybe that's dangerous talk, but I can't bear the thought of never having a buttered slice of toast again.  How I dread that dry toast..  haha.

I'm proud to have made it through these last couple days in one piece, considering all the sources of temptation. Ramiro's doing pretty well keeping things going up in VT, as well.  I can't wait to get back home and away from all this deliciousness -- back to the beauty of garden sungolds (our favorite variety of cherry tomato) & the Wednesday veggie truck.

Day 12,Ramiro: need more food!!

It's amazing to me how quickly my body stopped complaining about the sudden abundance of food and started grumbling for more. I'm hungry and that's very odd considering I'm eating twice as much as before. Snickers bars are a bigger threat than I would have suspected. I haven't buckled under the pressure yet....yet. All the exercises are coming along nicely even the dreaded jump rope is on its way to being tamed. Small worry though: I feel all the workouts in my shoulders, even the jump rope, very curious. Naty's leaving for the weekend and we depend on each others support a lot so it will be a trying test to keep focused. Usually when she goes out of town I start a Ben and Jerry's and scotch movie marathon that ends promptly on the minute of her return. Yes, I'm 27.  Read 17.
stay tuned.

Day 10, Nathaly: dieting

Day 10 -- we've made it this far!  Can we keep this up for another 80 days?  It's not gonna be easy, but I think so. For me, the biggest bonus to keeping straight on the diet is knowing there's an end in sight. :)

Truth is, the diet is less hard than I would've thought.  I think it's 'cuz of all the eating - it's helped reduce my emotional eating cravings, but i'm really missing the salt.  Gonna have to jump on that lemon/vinegar/citric acid thing Kim's been talking about.  Will also recommended using lemon pepper -- so i'm gonna pick some of that up tomorrow along with a gallon of milk (we're going through that pretty quick!), some bulgar wheat & quinoa (new!) and more lean meat.

I've been enjoying eating local, in-season veggies (mostly zucchini right now) & fruit (heirloom melons and tree-ripened plums!) and have reached out to folks in my grad student community about getting my hands on some lake fish.  A friend is delivering some filleted white fish for me on Thursday (a by-product of her research!) and another has even offered to teach me to fish.  Fun fun :)

Ramiro and I have both noted that the program is (inadvertently?) helping shape our lives closer to what we consider "grown-up" life to be:  treating our bodies right with healthy foods and regular exercise, having regular sleep patterns, regular showers and even less of the dog begging at the table.  These seemingly-simple things are actually pretty big adjustments for us and we're glad to make them, so that's a definitely plus!

OK -- it's almost 10pm and I've gotta join Ramiro in finishing up our fitness routine.  Keep those recipes coming, folks!  Today I marinated 1/4 inch slices of eggplant & zucchini in balsamic vinegar and pan-seared them at high heat.  Very yummy.

Day 8, Together: Nathaly hates Kale, Ramiro hates breakfast

Too much food....  We got up at 11am.  BAD choice.

Ramiro ate so much he started talking gibberish about the little men in his stomach responsible for digestion frantically looking for the manual on broccoli (a virtually unknown substance to them).

Nathaly did NOT enjoy the act of eating for the first time since the age of 12. Kale is totally out of the question for the rest of the PCP, unless we can figure out a way to get it to soften.

Week 2, Day 1. Definitely the hardest day of the program.

Day 6, Ramiro: So far, so good

So, two days ago I hurt myself jumping rope which sounds silly and reads silly and when I type it, it makes me feel silly. Regardless, that's what happened and I limped to work the next day.  Besides that over-eager snafu, things have been going fairly well. I know that I can still drink for this week, but decided on my first day to skip drinking altogether for the time being. On the optimistic side, everything else is going fairly well. Push-ups are getting easier quickly and lunges, although still a torture technique in my mind, are well within my physical means. Exercising with Nathaly is a big plus. Our mutual supervision has so far I think been the key to our early success. Transmission complete.

2 more things..

#1 Ramiro and I have thighs!  (I mean, I think I can see some definition that wasn't there before -- on day 6!  woohoo squats!)

#2 Carrot cake (one of my all-time favorite desserts) has kinda lost it's touch.  I ate my half cuz I thought I really wanted it -- it's almost like I didn't want to regret not having eaten it a couple weeks into the hard-core dieting stuff.. (kinda like the rib-eye - see previous post).  But even a couple bites in, I knew I wasn't really feeling it.  And now I can't get the taste of the thick too-sweet icing off my tongue.  Eck.  I could've gone with some blueberries instead, I think.  Truth is, I probably could've gone without dessert, but old habits are hard to break. Truth is, this isn't hunger.  It's another beast altogether..  It's all mental.  Maybe it's punishment eating -- I know Ramiro thinks that's a little ridiculous, but maybe some of y'all out there can sympathize?  I didn't get much writing done today, so I'm being a little bad to myself by eating something unhealthy...  OK -- I'm not saying that's what happened, but maybe there's some truth to this nagging suspicion that this is one aspect of why I over-eat.  UGH -- i'm pressing "publish post" but I might regret sharing all that later...

Day 5, Nathaly: What is lean meat?

Hi all,

Apologies for being out of touch for a couple days. The first week is going pretty well over all -- the half portions hasn't been nearly as difficult as I imagined, given how much I've always detested dieting. We've been doing OK with the exercises. I am still doing table push-ups and Ramiro kinda f*cked up his right calf jumping rope, so he's been instructed to take a *brisk* 30-min walk until he feels up to jumping again. I don't think either of us realized how important this jumping rope thing is.. We live on the 3rd floor in an old house with hardwood floors -- awesome, but creaky so you gotta find the perfect spot to jump without being über-annoying. I haven't approached the downstairs neighbors yet, but that conversation is bound to happen soon..

So, I got a ride to run a few errands today and took advantage of the opportunity to go out to one of the bigger grocery stores around town (as opposed to the local coop). I asked Patrick what sort of stuff should go on my shopping list and, as per his instructions, bought lots of fruit, a bunch of single-serving yogurts (and one of those awesome-but-pricey Greek yogurts) and then got kinda stumped in the meat department.. (Patrick -- I'm gonna wait til the Saturday farmer's market to stock up on local veggies & eggs).

So here was the question I stood there asking myself: What exactly makes a meat "lean"? Is it just that it's low in fat? (Turns out, YES -- it's just that simple!) I guess I expected everything to be labeled "lean!" and was just looking for that. In the end, I only found that word on a package of ground turkey and had to end up asking the guy at the butcher counter. I bought the turkey, some 85% lean chunks of steak, a package of chicken breasts and some shrimp (don't really know about this last one, but I really like this stuff and my friend just brought me some homemade pesto which goes great with pasta & shrimp.. Well, I've got a sneaking suspicion pasta won't be an option next week given the lack of carbohydrates in Patrick's suggested shopping list.. I hope that doesn't last too long!).

OK -- so, now I'm starting to get REALLY sad that I didn't order that rib-eye I really wanted when Ramiro took me out to eat at this new place, Farmhouse Tap & Grill a couple weeks ago. I love fatty meats and was really looking forward to enjoying an order of one of my favorite meals, mofongo, on my next trip home, but I'm pretty sure the key ingredient (deep-fried pork rinds) is gonna be a big no-no. DANG. Anyways, I can certainly live without it for 3-months (it's usually a special treat now that I don't live in the city anyhow), but going without bacon for that long is going to make life hard indeed... I'm honestly starting to look at my fridge and say, what should I make before Day 8 rolls around so I don't have it sitting around staring at me in the face over the next 3 months..? lol. Hot dogs & leftover mac & cheese tonight. Well.. I guess just 1 hot dog (as I would usually eat two or more).

OK -- I worry Kim & Stu are gonna get bored reading the same ol' story for every post, so a prize for those who stuck it out to the end! Check out this cool resource I found on lean meats. I gotta go re-connect with some of those hunter friends..

Over & Out!

Nat

Day 2, Ramiro: The Sequel ....

Thirteen successful skips of the old rope in a row!! Can I hear a round of applause!! Progress is being slowly beaten out of those two sinister handles... Today was tough, but I expected that. Half meals are going to be a pain tomorrow. There is a noticeable spike in hunger pains now that im switching my body off of snooze mode. Not much else to report except that there's no need for water in torture techniques........Lunges......thats all I'm sayin.

Day 2, Nathaly: 1/2 snacks make me happy

Here I am, 10:30pm on the evening of day 2 and I'm, surprisingly, not hungry.

I've been hungry 8 times today, but I only cheated twice. Once by finishing my slice of toast along with lunch and a second time by having a couple chunks of cheese & crackers off a friend's late afternoon snack. Pretty good, I think, especially since 1/2 a slice of buttered toast (delicious locally made 7-grain, may I add) is a pretty meager breakfast. I tried to do stymie the urge to jump on a hobbit-like portion of second breakfast by eating 1/2 of a Saturn peach (I love local VT foods in the summer!), but even that couldn't keep me from snarfing the rest of the slice of toast as a supplement to my kind of pathetic-looking 1/2 slice of pizza.

The goat cheese wasn't an indulgence based on hunger, but rather caused by that lifelong urge to never throw away food, so I've been good about only serving myself the correct amounts of food right from the outset and trying my best to eat slowly to stretch out the lovely experience of eating for as long as possible. I snarfed dinner a little too quickly, but it was 8:30pm by the time we managed to get rid of our guests and get to the exercises.

Anyways, a pretty good day overall, I think. The 1/2 snacks thing definitely helped get me through the time between lunch and dinner. And that reminds me of a victory -- no maple creemee on my way home from the office! I'm trying my best to reduce my sugar and sodium intake, as per Patrick's suggestions; taming my sweet tooth will be a huge part of this journey.

OK -- Thanks SO much to the all you PCP community folks who are out there lending your virtual support and being such great examples -- such a boost! Thanks y'all!

Day 1

Hi fellow PCPers!

Ramiro & I have decided the simplest way to do this shared blog is to write as individuals and then shove it together. It's probably not the most entertaining form to read, but it's a start. It makes sense for now since we'll each be going through our own personal struggle as Ramiro's looking to bulk up and I'm looking to slim down.

Ever since we made the decision to do this program, I keep thinking of myself as one of those little terrifying garden creatures in The Little Mermaid who sold their souls to Ursula.. Towards the end of the film (after Ursula is killed and the souls are released) you catch a glimpse of mer-couple made up of a chubby mermaid and a skinny merman (a little like Ramiro & I) who presumably were unhappy enough with their self-image to sell their souls. My low self-image has brought me to this step, akin to selling my soul -- DIETING. DUM, Dum, duuummmm! The horror.. (j/k - lol)

Surprisingly (considering the set-up) the eat-only-half diet didn't go so badly today. I think the months of calorie-counting in my last failed weight-loss attempt helped me through today. I was curious enough to go to my old favorite website for calorie-counting and learned that eating 1/2 of what is normal for me is actually me eating on-track for weight loss. (Way to call it, Patrick!)

The hardest part was that I enjoyed a picnic dinner at an outdoor concert, so measuring 1/2 wasn't quite as simple as splitting a breakfast sandwich and a quesadilla lunch with Ramiro. But, I was lucky to be eating with a dietitian-in-training who was kind enough to put the baguette and butter away after I had enjoyed my share.

Day 1 exercise wasn't so bad, actually. I impressed Ramiro with my jump-rope abilities, but struggled through the press-ups. I've never in my life been able to do a single one (or pull-up, for that matter), so Ramiro suggested I start against the wall and work my way to a full push-up, but then the wall version was a little too easy! The next step up (or down?) was to use a table, but that was too hard, so I could only do a kind of half-assed version of the "box press-up". Anyways, I'm working along and hopefully Patrick will have some additional guidance and words of encouragement. (If anyone's interested, here's a link I found on working your way up to a full military-style press-up.)

Alright -- I've probably bored you by now. Thanks for being a good audience. Up next, the hubby:

Ramiro:
Day 1.....WoW, I knew I was out of shape but this is scary. Firstly, jumping rope is surprising tricky. Took me forever to skip ten times in a row. Afterward it felt like my heart was pumping maple syrup(awesome). Push ups were easier although disappointing, I remember being able to do like 60 in high school, today I barely finished the recommended number. Squats were actually easy going. My ass muscles definitely let me know that they didn't like being bothered unnecessarily. Over all today was a wake up call. I'm in a lot worse shape than I thought. This realization just makes me want to work harder and im looking forward to the rest of the week. I'm so proud of naty by the way, she rocked on her first day.