DAY 90 - stats

PRE PCP

bmi 20.1 / weight 63.6kgs / body fat 18.91%

POST PCP

bmi 18.8 / weight 59.5kgs / body fat 15.15%

Interestingly, these last stats are the same as the my stats at the end of the second month...  um, certainly didn't feel like I slacked off but maybe I did....?

DAY 90 (well almost....)

Having just received our Day 90 email, I’m sitting here wondering where the last 90 days have gone …  along with a few misplaced kilos and inches. I have emerged slimmer and smarter. My physique and outlook have changed forever (unless I get pregnant again – but that’s another blog!)  That’s what I have come to love about PCP; it’s actually just the start of being able to make more intelligent decisions about what food to eat and how to exercise for the long game. I don’t think you can put a price on that but, if you could, it would be a hell of a lot more than I paid to do this program.

And to think I couldn’t stand to hear Nath (hubby) talk about “PCP” in the weeks and months before signing up. I thought I was in relatively good shape. I had exercised for years and, along the way, had some great personal trainers. I didn’t think I would get much more from, what sounded like, a very regimented 90-day detox. NOTHING I did before compares to this, in experience or outcome.

Patrick has a wealth of knowledge that he disseminates brilliantly. The program is stepped up perfectly so you hardly realise the demands of the exercises (until the last few weeks, which are tough.) The eating program gets a little funky in the middle but, on the whole, I felt like I was eating more than I was pre-PCP. Nath and I haven’t been massively adventurous with the food, keeping our choices very simple in a bid to stay as compliant as possible, but I suspect we’ll experiment a little more now. I’m amazed how much my palette has changed, and foods that I thought I would miss (namely cheeeeeeese and chocolate) haven’t left too much of a gapping hole. The same is true of alcohol; without wanting to sound like a boring fart, a drink is now camped very much in the indulgence category rather than the daily one (where it used to be!) and by 'drink', I mean a glass of, not a bottle! It’s reassuring to say the least, and gives me confidence that this is sustainable.

As for the workouts, NOT sustainable, not for me at least! The last two or three weeks saw a big uptick in sets and reps that demanded 70+ minutes. That said, there are elements that I will definitely maintain on a regular basis (skipping and abs) but I think I will focus my resistance work a little more on strength going forward. Whatever happens, I’ve achieved a great level of fitness that I now have the knowledge to replicate if I feel the need at any time.  PCP has been a reset, it’s my new baseline and I can’t be happier.

Patrick…. It’s been emotional, really! There were times when I thought Nath and I had lost our social charisma forever (swerving nights out in favour of some egg whites and apple in front of the TV at about 10pm after the exercises had been kicked into touch, or going out to our local Argentinean restaurant and ordering a plate of vegetables instead of their mouth-watering steaks.) The farting has been out of this world – Nath’s of course, I’m a girl therefore I do not fart! I’m so impressed with the program content and the way you managed it  - hats off to you.  I know I speak for Nath too (as I quite often do anyway) when I say we’ll be very bullish on PCP with anyone who wants to listen – god knows we’ve been chewing everyone’s ears off with it the last 90 days, WHY STOP NOW?

To everyone in our group… what a relief that last email was, after today’s assault on the old muscles?! Is anyone opting to do Day 1/Work out 1 – come on, own up? I’ve found everyone’s blogs very cathartic at times, hilarious at others, but mostly motivational. Thanks to everyone for rounding off a brilliant experience – Brennan… I’m not thinking about Kung Fu, but GOOD LUCK TO YOU MY FRIEND! Oh, and special thanks to Rob, Tracey and Clive, all of whom have made the whole thing a little more personal. Best of luck x

(PS. Final stats and pics to follow)

Day 87 - GIRL POWER

The last few days of superset PCP are proving to be a rather weighty challenge for some in the Davison household. I have to admit to using free weights rather than bands for the shoulder assault today (burn doesn't come close, dislocation might be more appropriate?) and thought I might get it in the neck from Nath as watched whilst tiptoeing his way daintily through the skipping, breaking in the middle to touch up his manicure. BUT NO....  he later huffed and puffed his way through the exercises with the same weight (3kgs), stopping to ask through pained, gritted teeth"Is this the lightest weight we have?" ENOUGH SAID... he's clearly embarrassed. He's currently on  a plane to Hong Kong - Babe... when you read this, might I suggest you get one of the boys to explain the off-side rule before footie kicks off Monday night?

For those of you coming up through the ranks... it's tough, no denying. Since the reps and sets went through the roof a week or two ago I've been concentrating on form. It's meant I've struggled hitting some of the reps but I'm not going to beat myself up. I'm taking a long-term view on the benefits I can continue to reap from living in a much more PCP-compliant world going forward. Wednesday may be Day 90 but really it's the beginning of putting everything we've learnt into real life practice. As for the results of PCP itself, my trainer is coming into the gym on Day 90 (his one day off) to go through it with me and record the ugly truth about what I've done to my body over the last 3 months. Fingers crossed.

I count myself lucky that I've not had to hold down a day job at the same time - my hat off to everyone (including the other Mrs Davison) for getting through such a grueling program. 

Day 86: super-set / super-burn / super-tart

Before she beats me to it, I really did ask my wife if we had any lighter weights than 3kg today. In mitigation I was in mid 5x da-vinci/forward raise super set agony. Insane levels of hunger seem to be a common theme with other tail end PCPers as well I see. I thought we'd kissed goodbye to that scene after week 3. Continue to amaze myself with my skipping prowess - banging out around 180-200 a minute for the 2x9 minute sessions and now only tripping a few times. Weird ups and downs of enjoying the skipping and then not but in general still enjoying the overall exercises and diet and reckon i'll be sticking broadly to a lot of it in the real world..... Its quite binary, for me at least, with one omission/stray on the diet leading to another and starting a vicious cycle of poor quality food, therefore adding a few bad things back in won't really work. Won't miss doing 1.15 of exercises every day but definitely up for 30 mins 5 times a week - await to see what the P has up his sleeve in the way of maintenance plan...

Day 79 - Hugh Jackmann pleeeeeeease

Roller coaster continues... feeling better about things today - ignore the last post. Was defo under the weather last week - boys have colds and I came down with a mysterious rash - and stressed about a talk I have to give at the Royal Society of Medicine next week. Feeling more under control, more positive -  skipping and work out OK this morning.

Just enjoyed our PCP dinner watching Jonathon Ross - can't go wrong with a bit of Hugh Jackmann guest action, how GORGEOUS is he?! Hopefully not too unlike Nath's transformation when we're done with PCP (I can hope) - just need to get a voice coach in for that all important Aussie twang and we're away! Funnily enough, he talked about his eating regime when preparing for his Wolverine roles - steamed chicken and broccoli every two hours from 8am. I wonder if he farts like Nath too........?

Random post I know, just wanted to up the atmosphere on my recently downbeat thread.

Day 75 - how many?

PCP has been a real roller coaster for me and, I say this knowing Patrick has just emailed about being mindful not to move the mental goalposts but, I'm having a tough week. I'm now struggling with the number of sets/reps being set; not meeting them feels like failure, likewise having to reduce my resistance/weight to try to meet them. Of course I know I look better than when we started (fitter, healthier, smaller - whatever) but I visualize progress as a steady upward trajectory. Right now I feel knackered, run down, weaker than I've ever felt (can this be true....?) - but at least I'm not ill. Ummm.... should be punching out far more upbeat posts at this point in the program - fingers crossed for next week.

Day 67... it's been a while

Time is whizzing by - already a week since my last post.

Feeling good about most things - still feeling a little more honed and toned each week, but tired with it too. Not sure why because the workouts aren't really taking any longer.  The increase in sets has been a small psychological hurdle for me - don't know about everyone else but doing 6 sets of 20 odd reps (especially when it's an exercise that you don't particularly enjoy) is boring and tiring. I've decided I absolutely HATE pistol squats but feel they're playing a huge roll in reshaping my legs and arse so shouldn't really bite the hand that feeds me. Also a little unnerved by taking some of the exercises to failure (push up, elevated tricep dip) incase I end up flat on my face or arse - or both?! Apart from that, not too many other grumbles.

On the flip side, I'm loving the skipping with even more enthusiasm. I'm flying through the 5min sets and keeping my heart rate in the moderate zone - something I would never have been able to do at the start. I'm doubling up on the skips - three sets in the morning before the rest of the workout and the same again in the evening just before dinner... figured it wouldn't hurt, especially 12 or so hours apart. I've got the v-sits down to a fine art and I'm using my Bose for the crunches, so all good with the abs. I am LOVING having the old dinner/evening snack set up back (protein with dinner and fruits as a snack) - less about the timing and more about the protein. Nath and I were becoming totally bored with a plate of veg in the evening, there are only so many ways you can jazz it up AND stay compliant! And the other big positive to this whole process continues to develop - I went shopping for some new jeans yesterday and got into some 3 sizes smaller than before, the attendant in the store couldn't believe that the 9-month in the buggy was mine! Bliss.

As we edge through the last few weeks I'm a little anxious about maintaining what we've achieved. I know I said I felt optimistic after Ibiza, and I still am optimistic that we'll be far healthier eaters than before, but I guess I'm expecting to give back some of the physical improvements because I'm unsure whether they can be maintained without the daily workout - does anyone anticipate continuing with the daily work out after PCP???? It'll be a question for Patrick closer to the end - with good eating and a partially reduced work out schedule, what sort of change can we expect to see?

Anyway... a few days left, shouldn't get ahead. Will someone PLEASE tell me they hate the increased sets as much as me - Nath huffs and puffs his way through them and comes away saying how much he's enjoying them (b8stard.)

Good luck for the rest of this week!