Bonus Cardio

I walk to and from work every day. In Sydney, this is often a pleasure, though over the last few months (i.e. PCP), we've had some of the crappiest winter weather I've ever experienced here - though still wonderful compared to Ireland's winters. Given that my pull-up bar and chest-dip bars were also outdoors, this led to some frustrating days.

When it's spring here, it is kind of the greatest city on Earth (in my limited opinion); today was one of those perfect spring days and I was due to work off-site in North Sydney, so I decided rather than taking the bus, train or a taxi, I would walk it. Bonus Cardio!

Oddly Sentimental

I just put some chicken breasts stuffed with roma tomato and basil in the oven along with a pile of vegetables and realised this is my final PCP mass-cooking event. This will see me to the weekend and then I can cook individual meals through Monday. I will be indulging a bit next week and then leave Australia for 6 weeks.

So I'm getting prematurely sentimental about the end of an era.

On the other hand - something the fuck other than fucking bland food for a while! Yeeee haaawww! Fuck the fuck off you fucking chickeney fuck!

Culinary Delights

Favourite food-related discoveries during PCP (aide memoir):

1. Country Valley low fat organic milk is superb. This is the first milk I've had since moving to Australia 12 years ago that actually tastes like milk. Amazing! I doubt I will ever buy any watery crap from a supermarket again and may even visit the farm to personally thank them. Pair this with fresh strawberries for the night-time snack and life seems pretty sweet.
2. Seasonal vegetables are cheap and easy. Whack a couple of trays-worth in the oven on baking paper or steamer and you're good for 3 days (with almost no cleanup required). Over my winter PCP focus has been cauliflower, butternut squash/pumpkin, courgette/zucchini, golden squash and broccolini.
3. Getting a meal with enough vegetables in a restaurant is often nigh impossible. They're buttered/oiled and/or the portion is tiny and/or they cost a bomb.
4. Good quality tupperware is a joy forever (John Keats).
5. It's always worth spending more on quality ingredients but even more so when you're eating plainly. The difference between a supermarket egg and a farm-fresh biodynamic one is huge (especially when eating the yolk).
6. Farmers markets and posh green-grocers rock. Also, as they don't have processed crap, you can't even buy any by mistake. Plus you can add to your smuggitude by convincing yourself you're helping local trade, supporting happier animals and reducing your environmental impact.
7. Cooking a perfect boiled egg every time isn't so hard. 3 minutes on the boil + 5 minutes off the boil with a lid on the saucepan. This makes for easy-peeling eggs and helps avoid the sulphurous deposits at the contact point of the yolk and albumen that can give the eggs and your farts that special character.
8. My dad was/is right and Golden Delicious is the best apple variety. He was also right about cheese and chutney sandwiches and curry being tasty but they're not PCP compliant.
9. Spices are awesome to the plain pallet. It is mandatory to have a selection of these knocking about.
10. Bananas are a waste of money after a major cyclone in Australia.

Afternoon Muffin

For those of us who are still carrying some flab around our midsections, has anyone else noticed how much worse things get through out the day? When I get up in the mornings, my sides are relatively straight and when I see that guy in the mirror, I think "heeyy, looking good".

But as gravity takes its effect throughout the day, the fat evenly spread around the torso all sags down until by the middle of the afternoon, a muffin-top has reasserted itself above the belt-line.

One thing's for sure: final day photos will be taken first thing in the morning!

Last Belt Notch

Belt Notch Day 76, a photo by Noel on PCP on Flickr.

A minor victory - I reached the final hole in my belt. Most trousers still fit somewhat because I had/have one of those belly shelves. It's just that now the overhang and overflow is much less.

So I don't look like a clown, but most pants are a little loose where before they were a little tight. Shirts tend to look worse as they had to have a lot of fabric to cover the gut which is now redundant. Unlike trousers, they make me look like a dude who's recently lost a bunch of weight.

Luckily I'll be in Italy in 2 weeks and can restock my closet somewhat. Taking an empty suitcase!

Plenary Indulgence

It feels like the third indulgence rolled around quite quickly. And what an opportunity - to have a pre-PCP style meal (though limited somewhat in calories). Yeah, I had a few ideas.

I settled on Pizzeria Lucio pretty quickly. Their Neapolitan style pizzas are fresh, made with superb ingredients and are all based on smile combinations of excellent flavours.

The only minor problem was that they were closed when I turned up! Luckily, Lucio's cousin, Mario (this is not a joke) has a similar place and so I got some extra cardio in making my way there.

My friend and I shared an insalata caprese and two pizzas - a salamino (con salame e ricotta) and a margherita con ruchetta e crudo. I ate three slices and had half the bottle of Montepulciano.

It was all excellent. The flavours of the salamino were perfect (though they used to have a salame providore way back in the day who, though unreliable, delivered an even more amazing variety that was super spicy - still this new one is excellent too). The prosciutto was also gorgeous; I haven't eaten any ham since the start of the PCP and this was an excellent reintroduction; certainly not too salty and paired perfectly with the rocket. I know the wine choice was unusual but my companion only drinks red and it all went together surprisingly well.

The conversation flowed, as did a shot of limoncello for a digestif and I slept like a log for 7 hours (which is actually more than I've been achieving lately - I've started waking early in the mornings and not being able to nod back off again as a rule).

I didn't feel bloated or nasty after the meal (which I feared). Perhaps before PCP I would have scarfed down a 4th or even 5th slice of pizza and maybe that minor restraint saved me. In any case I felt more than satisfied.

I did feel a little hazy this morning due to the booze, but nothing too bad, and by the time it came for workouts this evening, I felt fine again.

Indulgence WIN.

The Power of Negative Thinking

My whinge-fest yesterday seemed to clear out some psychological clutter. Everything went much more smoothly today. Only two weeks to go.

Every set, every rep, every gram.

And some food for thought - The Advantages of Pessimism.