Ok… So 90 came and went.

So you may or probably may not be asking yourself, why hasn’t Jeremiah posted his last post.  There are two reasons:

1. As always I am on the road.
2. I couldn’t find my camera.

So I am going to tell you my story and add shot from someone else because I have that.

Don’t ask me who this is in the picture. I was conferencing last week. I threw some parties and there where lots of people there.  I also take a lot of daily booth photos with the webcam and you can see the slim new me daily.

So lets get real

What did I achieve:

• I lost 15 lbs.  
• I am now a size 33 jeans down from 36
• I am a size 16.5 dress shirt down from 17.5 
• I had to get my glasses tightened.

Overall I am so happy, but there is another side too..

• I wasn’t very good at the social component.
• I traveled a lot more than usual during the PCP.
• I still have not found equilibrium in sleep
• I miss beer like I miss my mom.
• My stomach still needs work.
• I suck at pull ups.

I’m there… I am not there

I have arrived at the end of this a much healthier person, but if you have read my posts you know that I wasn’t out of shape.  I am just not in my goal shape.  That also said if you have been reading my posts you know that I am working on a lifestyle of fitness.  I want to live a simple balanced life.  You see the dirty secret is that I nearly had a mental and physical breakdown in February of this year.

I was under so much stress.  Microsoft had take the last shred of energy I had and beaten it out of me.  I don’t blame anyone, other than myself. I had made choices in my career that put me in a bad job and I worked 16 hour days trying to prove to my manager I was good enough.   So in March at the advice of a friend and my doctor, who both told me I was killing myself,  I quit.  

Yep, I quit a 100k plus job in the worst economy in 50 years. Because unlike most people I do know that it isn’t what I do that gives me value.  My faith, My Family, My health; they all mean more to me than a paycheck. The PCP came at a time when I have been redefining what it means to be me.

I still work hard.  Very Hard.  I also push myself in ways that many people probably don’t.  (I prefer big failures to mediocre successes)  but along with PCP I am working on refocusing all of my life.

What is to be gained?

I have never been accused of humility. I am a ceaseless self-promoter and amassed some relationship and political capital that I have spoiled on businesses and endeavors I have not believed in.  But that is changing. I found work almost right away after leaving MS, but I make time now to meet with my out of work friends and counsel them.   I workout daily to improve my health and as much as I miss the sweets that once were a part of my life they have been exchanged for seasonal fruits and vegetables.

 

I have recommitted myself to my faith and to my family; which has only added to my travels.  See as funny as the picture is above, (this was taken as a part of a friends art project.)  I want to be known for so much more than this.

I have very much enjoyed seeing your posts show up in my Google reader.  Reading them from 30,000 feet encouraged me to jump rope when I landed.   Patrick’s mails have been an inspiration to me and I look forward to re-reading them. The truth is that I don’t know any of you but I was sure pushed by you guys. 

On to the next thing.

So what is next?  I asked patrick last week, Can I start over? I want to do it again from the beginning.  And the truth is I am going to follow the diet week by week again, but I have decide that I was jealous of the personal attention some of you were able to get from Patrick.  So I pinged an acquaintance who writes the Sweat and the City blog at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer about a studio she is a trainer at in Redmond.

So starting tomorrow, I will be getting some weekly one on one attention at ZenRock fitness in Redmond. Jennifer and I have met and I talked about the PCP and where I struggled and she promises to have me doing pull-ups in no time.   They focus on functional training and yoga.  I loved the studio as there is almost no equipment there.  I will be focused on using my bodyweight to keep moving forward.  (Funny where have I read about using my bodyweight.)  I am also glad they have such a quiet place where I can practice my Yoga in a 1-1 setting for a while.

Patrick’s email about checking out fitness centers really resonated with me because I am in and out of the places all over the country when I travel.  Most of the places are sad attempts to capitalize on people not achieving their goals but guilting them into another month.

The outcome

I highly recommend the PCP to anyone, I am really hoping to see Patrick when and if he makes it here to Seattle.  We can do a workout at ZenRock.  There is a pair of Ultimate Ears in it for you.  Has the PCP turned my life around from the nearly broken person I was when I left Microsoft. Nope. It has been just a part of the turn around. I couldn’t have done it all though with out the help of Patrick and your inspiration.

Disturbing food trends

An interesting exercise.

So I was stuck in SFO for a few hours and I wanted to get some exercise.  I took advantage of the few hours and began walking the mile length of the terminal.  I made 10 laps and then ate lunch.  I did ten more laps after that. It was simple, but it just goes to show you don’t need a lot of equipment.  I was carrying a laptop bag which helped with resistance.

Never stop moving.

Jeremiah

Time magazine is full of poop.

There is a some truth in this article, but it left me frustrated.  There are too many fat people who will say hey damned if I do, Damned if I don’t.

Instead of this little story how ‘bout a positive article on the benefits of exercise and diet.

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1914857,00.html

What would life be like.

So I am in the middle of my return flight back to Seattle, and I have been tearing through the book “In defense of food,” by the author of the article that Patrick sent us when we first got started.  So here we are in the middle of our last 30 days and I am thinking about all the things that we have learned and while reflecting on the content of this book I realize that I have had some very concrete examples in my life of the power of food over the nutritionism that has dominated our public heath thinking for the last generation.  

So I decided I would jot them down real quick in a post.  (WOOT! In-flight WiFi. Bitches.)  I grew up in rural North Dakota and my Grand parents were the first generation children of Norwegian and Swedish immigrants.  These immigrants ate a mixed diet of grains and fish prior to moving to the US.  Based on where they live and the traditional foods that I grew up eating on special occasions meat was prized but not abundant.  Potatoes, beets, and rice were the primary food source.  Needless to say they loved meat, creating some very unique preservative methods for fish.  Check out Lutefisk or Pickled herring.

Growing up with my parents managing a restaurant I actually spent a lot of my days as a kid at my grandparents house. Now I am particularly blessed because at 30 years old my grandparents are still alive and as healthy as a pair of 80 year olds can expect to be. But their lives, although not without health problems, have not  been unusually long for immigrant families in my home town. (Our town once boasted 15 Centenarians of Scandinavian descent.)  

I would attribute much of their health and long lives to a couple of factors.

• Activity
• Religious discipline
• Quantity and quality of meals

I am going to discuss each of these in a little detail.

Activity

My grandpa retired in 1994 from the home construction and moving business. Instead of fishing and relaxing he continued to remodel homes, drive van at the local old folks home and began creating an incredible wood working shop in his basement.  He always gets up at the same time and goes to bed at the same time.

My grandmother and him walked places in the summer and have always been a fan of local auctions in the summer.  This is not exercise in the traditional sense, but in a world were most people are sedentary the one activity that was rare was TV. The most notable exception was the evening news and wheel of fortune.

Religious Discipline

It is not my place to tell people how to believe, but it seems with faith traditions there is a discipline for those that truly practice that I believe must have a positive outcome.  My grandparents are the kind of Christians that are rare. They are certainly not loud about their convictions, but the live the practice they believe in. Every morning begins with prayer and before the go to bed they would read the scriptures and pray for each and every member of our very large family.

I think this played an important role by keeping them focused on things that matter (Family, Self improvement, Relationships, maybe other things.)  My generation is so focused on self, ego, and stuff that we don’t enjoy life or each other. 

Quantity and Quality of Food

Growing up, I have participated in every kind of meal at my grandparents house.  I want to describe a couple of things I remember from their meals.

1. My grandparents ate 6 times a day.  Breakfast, Coffee break, lunch, coffee break, Dinner, Coffee.
2. My grandparents ate small portions of meat. (Meat is expensive and they were frugal).
3. Food was often combined into stews or “hot dishes”
4. Vegetables were plentiful and required.
5. Vegetables were almost never the same. 
6. Bread was important to every meal. What else would you dip in your stew.
7. Composting was a regular activity when it was just dumping the leftovers in that bin with the leaves and grass clippings.
8. Growing food is for fun, profit, oh and eating.
9. Rhubarb is poisonous, unless baked in a pie
10. Did I mention Lutefisk?
11. All meals took at least an hour, this includes coffee breaks.
12. All meals meant having discussion like: What are you working on? What do you think of the heat? What do you think of the Cold?  Did you hear who died?
13. Coffee breaks included … Coffee, lots of mixed nuts. I remember copious amounts of mixed nuts.
14. We were never in a hurry.
15. I was always in too much of a hurry.

My grandfather once lamented to me that he felt like a failure as a parent as his children did not drink coffee. While he may have been talking about actual coffee, I have always taken this to mean that he was sad they didn’t stop and drink coffee with them; or something like that.  I don’t know.  But I have decide the key to health and long life is lots of coffee, long meals and food (real food). 

I highly recommend reading this book, because when I think about the way I want my life to be I want it took look a lot more like my grandparents where the thought of nutrients vs. eating foods that were enjoyable and practical almost always landed on the side of the food.

When my project ends what will my life be like?

Jeremiah

This is why I PCP…

Because I could eat lots of these:

http://www.geekologie.com/2009/07/pie_suckers_i_could_probably_e.php

Sugar… Ugh.

So I haven’t had an indulgence or even thought about cheating in weeks.  Last night I was tempted to some twizzlers.  I failed I ate about 8 of them (a single serving).  I woke up this morning and thought I was going to vomit.  I just felt all gross.   Sugar made me feel gross. 

just saying

FOR FUN: Another picture of my niece with thin Jeremiah…

I was not as exhausted as the new mother, but I had only 3 hrs of sleep the night before.

Jeremiah

building a better me!

So I am on the road again, I have been for a week now. I am in the “dirty south”. Ok not really, but I am in Louisville KY.  I came here because a niece of mine was on the way.  Check her out:

Now that is what I call “peak condition.”  She rolled out at a healthy 9 lbs. 11ounces.  Crazy.  So I was woke up early yesterday morning and had to run before I was able to publish the rest of this post. 

I wanted to share some uniquely Louisvillian challenges.

 

I don’t live with Humidity.

In Seattle there is almost no Humidity to speak of so I am not used to working out in a humid climate. There is about a 87-95% humidity in the air here in Louisville.  My first day of jumping rope and exercising outside left me winded and terribly sore.  Oh and as a side pleasurable note, I could not cool down for almost 1hr after my workout.  Sweat, Sweat, Sweat. 

I am countering the Sweating with lots of water, but I promise I am not used to this.  Another side effect of the weather is the heavy pressure on my chest while I worked out. Only about 30 mins into a run with a friend and I felt like I had a cinder block on my chest.  I would love to hear from the rest of the gang if they workout outside in humid climates and how they counter the weather.

Family, Food and the Diet.

Since I am out here in the south and with family I am getting a couple of comments from people:

“My God you look great! Can I feed you?”

“Don’t they feed you in Seattle?”

Family is probably the toughest challenge to keeping on the diet and I have slipped in one regard. SALT!  I can’t seem to find any food out here that is not made by me that is not loaded with the stuff. I didn’t notice it before, but the food is SO salty.  I brought my scale and am keeping on the weighing, but even though I have a lot of support for my efforts I can’t seem to get past the salt. 

I am trying to drink extra water and ask if they presalted things. It is the only solution I can come up with.  As for the rest of the diet, I was chatting with patrick about the eggs whites and the truth is I love them, but I am getting tired of them.   I have no secrets or tricks I am simply  following the plan and sucking it up.

Pointers and shooters. 

I turned 30 last week.  No big celebrations, but I can tell you that I don’t feel 30.  My project has given me greater energy and focus. I regularly shoot at my local gun range in Seattle and one of the things they train you to do is think about taking dead aim.  When you set these kind of Physical Fitness goals you need to take dead aim.  Know what you want and move toward it.

Cheers

Jeremiah.

Kick butt workout.

My workout was great this morning. It is so easy from time to time to forget that we should be enjoying our workouts.  My workout this morning feels like a prelude to a great day.  Just thought I would share.

Jeremiah

A few tricks while on the road.

So I was back on the road last week.  The downside, I was off the grid outside of my handy iPhone. The upside I tried out a few new tricks for managing my project.

Soda.

I admit I haven’t been a fan of sodas for a long time, but even I get a craving every once in a while.  When I get a craving for sugar or snack I had been drinking water to suppress the urge.   So while I was out I had San Pellegrino, every time time I had a crazy craving for a soda.  I picked up a bunch when I landed in California last week and stocked the fridge of the condo I was staying in.   

Place to stay

In picking a place to stay I picked a rental condo that let me have a kitchen.  I made my own food while I was on the road and that is a big help.

Travel Scale

Last time I was on the road had real challenge. If you read my regular blog you probably know that I am a one  bag kinda traveler and traveling with a food scale is very tricky if you don’t like to check a bag.  I have a new find.  This is a salter travel scale and for 25 dollars I was able to keep on track of the diet while I was on the road.  The scale plus a simple bowl makes for easy weighing.  I highly recommend picking up one of these if you travel.

 

Other exercise

I was getting board with jumping rope this week and it was too hot for regular running outside so I found a stairwell.  I did laps running up and down the stairs.  I would run up then down and take a quick break and do it over again.  I timed them and shot to keep low times and did them for 30 mins.  There were 5 floors so it wasn’t too hard, but it was a change of pace for me.   I still did quite a few jumps this week.  

One other note.

Patrick mentioned there weren’t any pictures of me up for a while and I realized I had been loading them to my personal flickr site.  I will move them over to the PCP site later tonight.   Can’t wait to catch up on all your blogs!

Cheers!

Jeremiah

One more thing to avoid…

This popped up in my feed reader today from the Seattlest.com

Artesian gourmet ice cream; I hate being a foodie.

Good little article..

Here is a quick article on diet soda.

http://health.msn.com/nutrition/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100236887

A quick follow-up thought.

Look this has been a multipart journey for me.  I am looking to make health a lifestyle, not an obligation.   If I don’t get all the results over these 90 days, I am ok.   I am training my mind and body and truthfully there are lots of ways to get results “quick”.  I don’t want quick results I want to be better and perform better.  That takes time.   It is a lifetime commitment to my health and physical fitness.  It took me a year to get in shape enough to play hockey again.  I don’t expect to be a ripped Adonis over night.  The damage took years of soda drinking to do why would the fix happen overnight.

Just saying.

J.

Day 35: Results

It seems that results are hard to come by.  I have been sticking close to my diet and only missed one exercise routine, and I have even lost a good bit of weight.  The one thing I really wanted to get out of my project is a reduction in my stomach.  And neither by measurement or visually do I feel like I am achieving much in this area. 

The reality.

I consumed far too much beer on way too regular of a basis over the last couple of years.  I consumed way too much sugar and empty carbohydrates.   I was not skinny when I started this project.  I have hid my weight well and even in my press photos and lots of my pics from at events I look healthy and not overweight.  I am being patient, because we are only on day 36 and every other part of me is reaping the benefit of this project.  My hockey performance is greatly improved and my clothes fit better than ever.  The one thing I want is to take on that belly and get rid of it.  I am pretty sure there is a six pack under there somewhere.

Shopping.

I am looking hard when I go to the grocery these days. It is getting harder to be creative, but it is still good so far.  Given that cooking is one of the ways I relax.  I am not really worried about the food.   I am always open to ideas and trying new things.   If  you have ideas for me let me know.  I have been consuming copious amounts of water and eggs.   I have a new recipe I am going to make this week with Sea Bass and baked sweet potato fries.   I will take pics and share.

Music for the week.

For weight lifting  I decided to mix up my playlist.   I even threw in some Cobra Starship because Jimmy said I should.  (I am still waiting to get recommendations from my other peers.)

Snakes On a Plane (Bring It)	Cobra Starship
The Trapeze Swinger	Iron & Wine
Lovely Day	Donavon Frankenreiter
1998 (Original Mix)	Binary Finary
Ottoman	Vampire Weekend
Shut The Club Down	Girl Talk
El Nino (Matt Darey 12" Mix)	Agnelli & Nelson
Accidentals	Stephen Trask
Silvery Sleds	Army Navy
Above You, Below Me	Badly Drawn Boy
The Chase	Stephen Trask
Good Girls Go Bad (feat. Leighton Meester)	Cobra Starship
Scandalous Scholastics	Gym Class Heroes
What It's All About	Girl Talk
Come Around (feat. Timbaland)	M.I.A.
Our Swords	Band of Horses
Riot Radio	The Dead 60s
Xavia	The Submarines
Loose Ends	Imogen Heap
Cafe Del Mar (Three 'n One Remix)	Energy 52

For jumping of the rope…

Mayday!!!	Flobots
Hostile Gospel, Pt. 1 (Deliver Us)	Talib Kweli
Amazing (feat. Young Jeezy)	Kanye West
Don't Say Nuthin'	The Roots
Come and Get Me	Timbaland
Go!	Common
Gone Going	Black Eyed Peas
Close Edge	Mos Def
Numb / Encore	Linkin Park & Jay-Z
Superstar (feat. Matthew Santos)	Lupe Fiasco
Same Thing	Flobots
Slip Out the Back	Fort Minor
Breathe	Fabolous
In the Mood (feat. Kanye West & Roy Ayers)	Talib Kweli
See You In My Nightmares (feat. Lil Wayne)	Kanye West
Boom!	The Roots
Quiet Dog	Mos Def
One and Only	Timbaland
They Say	Common
Ghetto Rock	Mos Def
Stand Up	Flobots
Cigarettes	Fort Minor

So there you go..

J.

Grape Nuts

Like everyone else I have been trying to be conscious to eat real food.  For me that does me being a little label looker. Not for nutrients but ingredients.  Looking for things where they don’t belong.   I too sense that there is very little in the way of cereal that you can consume that does not contain copious amounts of sugar in them.    So when i was walking down the grocery isle I went back to some old favorites:

Grape Nuts

They aren’t nuts and they aren’t grapes.  But I used to eat them as a part of my routine when I was a kid playing hockey.  It was the kind of meal that stuck with you even with long workouts.  There are sugars in Grape nuts but no sugar.

McCann’s Oatmeal

The stuff is awesome.  It has some much flavor you don’t need to add anything.  I love this 150 year old product.  I first bought the stuff a few years ago when I was going on a camping trip and I was attracted to the metal tin.    Again no sugar added, but lots of flavor.

Missed a workout.

Yesterday was the first day on the PCP I missed a workout.   I overslept and I only had a small window in my schedule because of an event (see pic below). 

The worst part is that I can feel it.  I love routine and the workout routine is a big part of my existence.   Tonight I have my workout scheduled and I looking forward to getting back in the saddle.   I blocked out enough time to spend some extra time on the treadmill as well.

So it is what it is but I thought I would share about falling down. 

J.

Revisiting My indulgence…

So there was no way to avoid it.  I went to Molly Moons on Friday.  I was out on a date and we had gone from street food at a friends restaurant (my guarantee that everything was on plan: call ahead), to the Molly Moons Ice cream shop.  I decided before we went that I would not have the bacon Ice Cream.  I felt there was no way I could control myself and it would probably make me sick. 

So I went with “salted caramel”.   It was some of the best most savory ice cream I have ever had.  But it was salty tasting which meant I only had half a scoop I just couldn’t eat any more.  The saltyness just changed the dynamic and I had to give in.

So here’s to the ice cream.

Jeremiah Andrick

Workout Mix

Ok  so I put some thought into this week’s playlist and I decided to do two playlists one for the Jumping of the rope and one for the weight training.  I found that if I listen to certain music I can jump and perform better than other music.

So for jumping rope this week I am loading up:

The Diary of Jane	Breaking Benjamin
Leave Out All The Rest	Linkin Park
Only One	Yellowcard
Troublemaker	Weezer
Hallelujah (Album Version)	Paramore
The Queen and I	Gym Class Heroes
Hands Down	Dashboard Confessional
Le Disko	Shiny Toy Guns
A Little Less Sixteen Candles, a Little More "Touch Me"	Fall Out Boy
Crooked Teeth	Death Cab For Cutie
Somewhere I Belong	Linkin Park
Bruised (Remix)	Jack's Mannequin
Starstruck	Lady GaGa
Banana Pancakes	Jack Johnson
Run-Around	Blues Traveler
Reach for the Sky	Social Distortion
For A Pessimist, I'm Pretty Optimistic (Album Version)	Paramore
Landslide	Smashing Pumpkins
Flightless Bird, American Mouth	Iron & Wine
Dance With The Devil	Breaking Benjamin
Breaking the Habit	Linkin Park
Way Away	Yellowcard
Phantom Limb	The Shins
Rainy Monday	Shiny Toy Guns
Our Lawyer Made Us Change the Name of This Song So We Wouldn't Get Sued	Fall Out Boy

And for my weightlifting, a little more eclectic mix:

Rocky Took A Lover	Bell X1
Lovesong Of The Buzzard	Iron & Wine
Walcott	Vampire Weekend
Province	TV On the Radio
O Valencia!	The Decemberists
Liar	Built To Spill
Weird Fishes / Arpeggi	Radiohead
Turn On Me	The Shins
Amsterdam	Peter Bjorn & John
Very Loud	Shout Out Louds
The Con	Tegan and Sara
Flame	Bell X1
Chicago (Acoustic Version)	Sufjan Stevens
Rest My Chemistry	Interpol
Heart Songs	Weezer
Little Lover's So Polite	Silversun Pickups
The Greatest	Cat Power
Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa	Vampire Weekend
Boy With A Coin	Iron & Wine
Zero	Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Glósóli	Sigur Rós
I Feel It All	Feist
Eve, The Apple Of My Eye	Bell X1
Chills, The	Peter Bjorn & John
The Crane Wife 3	The Decemberists

So one additional note.  I have been avoiding my scale after the first couple of weeks because I really didn’t see any progress with regard to weight.  So today I weighed myself and I am down just under 10lbs.  Yeah me!

J.

Day 28: exercise and relaxation

Today I really pushed myself and got a really good workout in.  I was driving my way home and my vehicle broke down.  I have two SUVs.  Yes I know….  I have a brand new Jeep Grand Cherokee and I have a old 92 toyota 4runner.  I use the 4runner for going deep in the woods and I always have my bike and workout equipment in the back.   So I drove my 4runner to the gym and on the way back it just died.   :-(  So I spent the first part of my morning Macgyvering a fix for a sliced auxiliary power cable.  (Exercise for the brain.)   Amazing that such a small part can put a car out of commission.

Then I spent my afternoon pulling weeds and working in the yard. One of my least favorite activities plus I keep my neighbors yard up so I had to clean hers as well.

Needless to say I was kinda lazy for dinner I went out for sushi. I have a favorite place that I know very well and I was able to have them measure out the appropriate amount of raw tuna and brown rice.   Nom Nom Nom.

j.

My indulgence (that I won’t be indulging in.)

So real quick this morning I was notified via twitter that the best local ice cream shop in Seattle is bringing back the limited edition ice cream popular amongst geeks and foodies alike. 

Maple Bacon Ice Cream FTW!

I am not sure who this girl is in this photo I stole from Yelp but I guarantee that she is enjoying that maple bacon ice cream. Seriously this is the real deal.  I know that God is real because of Maple Bacon Ice Cream. 

On the other hand….  A single is probably 1000 calories.   So I won’t be having any this time.  Oh well. There is always next year.

J.

Size 36 and things I consumed before…

I went to my closet this week and it is full of diesel jeans.  I like the way they fit and how the denim holds up.   But My closet it is full of size 36.   I figure that I am now at between a 33-34.  The 34 fits a little loose, but the 33 is just a bit too tight.  So while I have not seen as much progress in my stomach as I hoped I am super stoked about the fact that less than a month in and I am contemplating a shopping spree.   

Food… Maybe

On other news…  So before I began the PCP I started taking pictures of food that I was eating along the way to where I am now.   Here are a few pics with explanations:

This is the turkey I made for a special meal. yep that is bacon wrapped around sprigs of rosemary…

Carmel roles…  yeah that was a regular Saturday morning baking session for me…

Raw fish is good for you right?  Probably not covered in spicy mayo sauce…. (oh and deep fried)

Well at least one airline provides healthy snacks (virgin), that is if you are in first class. Oh yeah ignore the 8:00 am diet coke and the cinnamon role.

Same trip as the “healthy airline food”  I ate this… yep that is a famous Double Double. At least it wasn’t animal style.  

Oh and the thing I miss the most is Linda’s Mac and Cheese with Bacon.  Never to be consumed with out at least a Pint of Hamm’s Cream Ale.

And after a night of fun and adventure there is no place better to stop than Dick’s a local Seattle institution.   A bag of four cheese burgers for 6 bucks.  Nom, Nom, Nom…. 

How bout some fresh crab…. Could be good food, but all that clarified butter, oh my.

Honestly I don’t think these things are always bad its just that they make up too much of our diets. I also like the idea that Patrick talked about early on; So much of this isn’t real food.   It isn’t a question of organic vs. not-organic or what the chemical make up is… It really does come down to the fact that the food is factory processed (not my turkey or cinnamon roles they were scratch.) and our bodies were not designed to consume such complex energy sources.  I love food but I want to make sure that more of the foods I love are actually “food”.

During the PCP one of my biggest challenges with foods has been the timing of when I eat.   I am carrying my lunch box everywhere I go but I am really constrained to meetings and my weird work schedule.  I have an alarm on my phone that reminds me to eat through out the day.    I also realized I missed the evening snack a couple of times.  (Sad face here)

I started thinking about how much salt there was in my diet and I realized that I needed to stop using tuna fish in my lunch plans. There is a lot of salt in prepackaged tuna.   I am pre-cooking a lot more meat so that I can have a healthier option that is just ready to go.  

Last week I was really sick following a big conference and starting my new job, but I stayed on plan and exercised, but I can’t help but wonder if the cough drops and cold medicine did'n’t slow my progress a bit.   Anyway I promised a long post to fill everyone in… thanks for all the encouraging notes from Patrick, Sean, Shelby and the rest.  

I don’t know what you all used to eat, but it would be cool to get everyone to think about what in their diet was awesome and what was lacking.

Cheers.

J.

Ok. Sorry I haven’t posted.

I don’t know if you all are aware but i just started a new job. It is a big deal.  It is a major change and my schedule isn’t what it used to me.  Good news…  Diet is working, Exercise is keeping me focused and on task.  Bad news… I have been lazy with the blogging and I have 5 pics to load to the site.   I promise to load them tonight.  

I also did some thinking about diet and exercise and have notes for a longer post. This is just my way of saying I am on track and alive.  I can’t wait to catch up on everyone’s posts.

Jeremiah

My Lazy playlist

So I have been swamped this week from travel and conferences as well as starting a new gig.  So my playlist is more of a grab bag.  I have a playlist in iTunes called “workout”.  Instead of selecting a careful group of energizing tracks I just copied a bunch of albums in this week.  Here is what is shuffling around while I jump rope.

Supermagic	Mos Def
Twilite Speedball	Mos Def
Auditorium	Mos Def
Wahid	Mos Def
Priority	Mos Def
Quiet Dog	Mos Def
Life In Marvelous Times	Mos Def
The Embassy	Mos Def
No Hay Nada Mas	Mos Def
Pistola	Mos Def
Pretty Dancer	Mos Def
Workers Comp	Mos Def
Revelations	Mos Def
Roses	Mos Def
History	Mos Def
Casa Bey	Mos Def
Xtal	Aphex Twin
Tha	Aphex Twin
Pulsewidth	Aphex Twin
Ageispolis	Aphex Twin
I	Aphex Twin
Green Calx	Aphex Twin
Heliosphan	Aphex Twin
We Are The Music Makers	Aphex Twin
Schottkey 7th Path	Aphex Twin
Ptolemy	Aphex Twin
Hedphelym	Aphex Twin
Delphium	Aphex Twin
Everyone Nose (All the Girls Standing In the Line for the Bathroom)	N.E.R.D.
Windows	N.E.R.D.
Anti Matter	N.E.R.D.
Spaz	N.E.R.D.
Yeah You	N.E.R.D.
Sooner or Later	N.E.R.D.
Happy	N.E.R.D.
Kill Joy	N.E.R.D.
Love Bomb	N.E.R.D.
You Know What	N.E.R.D.
Laugh About It	N.E.R.D.
Everyone Nose (All the Girls Standing In the Line for the Bathroom) [Remix]	N.E.R.D.
L.E.S. Artistes (Album)	Santogold
You'll Find A Way (Album)	Santogold
Shove It (feat. Spank Rock) (Album)	Santogold
Say Aha (Album)	Santogold
Creator (vs. Switch and FreQ Nasty) (Album)	Santogold
My Superman (Album)	Santogold
Lights Out (Album)	Santogold
Starstruck (Album)	Santogold
Unstoppable (Album)	Santogold
I'm A Lady (feat. Trouble Andrew) (Album)	Santogold
Anne (Album)	Santogold
You'll Find A Way (Switch and Sinden Remix) (Album)	Santogold
Star / Pointro	The Roots
I Don't Care	The Roots
Don't Say Nuthin'	The Roots
Guns Are Drawn	The Roots
Stay Cool	The Roots
Web	The Roots
Boom!	The Roots
Somebody's Gotta Do It	The Roots
Duck Down!	The Roots
Why (What's Goin On?)	The Roots
In Love With the Mic (Explicit)	The Roots
Din Da Da	The Roots
Zero	Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Heads Will Roll	Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Soft Shock	Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Skeletons	Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Dull Life	Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Shame and Fortune	Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Runaway	Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Dragon Queen	Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Hysteric	Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Little Shadow	Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Soft Shock (Acoustic Version)	Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Skeletons (Acoustic Version)	Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Hysteric (Acoustic Version)	Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Little Shadow (Acoustic Version)	Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Faces	Yeah Yeah Yeahs

I am very excited we start the office yoga next week.  I am very new to yoga so I feel like this will help me get acclimated to it and may be I can take some additional classes later.

Cheers

Jeremiah Andrick

Conferencing and then some…

So my conference was this weekend and I got my exercise in and stayed mostly on diet.  I was getting people registered and a peer asked me if I wanted coffee.  They grabbed the coffee and a donut and I took a bite without thinking. No worries one bite.

On another note. I haven’t lost any weight yet. I feel good and I am seeing a difference in my clothes and in my energy levels.  But my body isn’t changing very quickly.  I assume that will come, but I am really results oriented and it is hard to use energy as a metric. 

I am looking forward to week even though I have to travel to Palo Alto this week.  If you your on twitter you can find me @jandrick.  I tend to mostly share where I am and what I am doing.

What a week…

I am really stoked. I have stayed on plan and have been working out like crazy.  I am a bit under the weather, but I am giving it my best.   I have new pics to load maybe tomorrow.  I start a new gig next week managing the Online Strategy for Logitech.  At 29 years old I am finally close to running a significant portion of a business.  Goal setting is so important to me and my fitness goals are just a part of it.  

On representing a brand…

I hadn’t really thought about it when I started, but from time to time i am part of an event where a sponsor wants us to be seen with their product. I am a bit worried this week because I have just such and event coming up and a energy drink manufacturer would like us be seen with their product.  

My plan is to empty out the container and just drink water, but it brings up all sorts of issues for me.  Is it ethical to represent a product or service this way?  How can I stay healthy and when I am on the road or participating in an event?  Oh and did I mention there will be beer there. 

I am also prepping for a flight to the bay area and food and drinks are a concern. Any tips or tricks for on the road time?

Tired…

Ok quick update:

• Jump 100/100/100/100/100/100
• Legs = 16/16/16/16And
• back = 12/12/12
• SO = 10/10/10  (should have used a medium band)
• TD = 8/8/8
• Shoulders = 10/10/10
• Abs = 12/12/12/12

Additionally today I took a walk to a coffee shop 1 mile from my office and back during mid-day.  Tonight was also Hockey night so on top of the planned exercise I got 50 mins of skate time.

I have a bunch of pics to load, but here I am typing away right before bed so it will have to wait.  One question? Where does everyone live?

Catching up with Shelby.

Look,  I have been reading everyone’s blogs, but tonight when I saw Shelby giving some recipe tips I thought, “Ok…  I can see her Quinoa (very good BTW) and raise her my Copper River Salmon.  Copper River Salmon is a northwest specialty available fresh for only 4 weeks.

To keep myself from all the trappings that go with grilling I went ahead and broiled the salmon.  I used less than a teaspoon of oil before I seasoned the fish with a little bit of cayenne pepper, cumin and dill. Broil it on low for about 20 mins and you will keep it moist and tender.  For two minutes you should turn the broiler on high and you will get a nice finished crust. This compliments the quinoa quite well and with a little lemon juice you won’t need salt.

Weigh the fillet after the cooking to keep it real and on project.

I did a bunch of cooking tonight to make my life a bit easier.  I followed the plan for dinner. Plus I packed my lunch for tomorrow.  Buckwheat Linguine noodles that I made myself and a piece of salmon. 

I packed it with my other meal and snack parts in a container I found.  I also cooked a some chicken breasts with basil and thyme and then packed them into bags by weight so I could grab the right weight by meal.

I also diced up a bunch of fruit and vegetables and also split them into containers by weight.  If this seems a bit much just understand that I am ADD and I need order to make things work.

I would love to know how other people are going to try and make their meals both delicious and convenient.  I really am impressed with the level of detail some of the others are using in their plan. I like the challenge so lets share some recipes and see who can make something memorable while we train.

Jumps: 600
Legs: 4x17
Back: 3x5
Chest: 4x10
Biceps: 3x12
Shoulder: 3x14
Abs: 3x17
Run:  4 Miles

j.

On the food plan.

I decided to do another post tonight because I went through my kitchen and did some measurement to see what foods I could eat that currently live in my cabinet.   Here is a short list of things I found:

Food	Weight
1 Organic chicken breast (After cooking)	100 grams
2 slices whole wheat bread	100 grams
1 packet tuna fish in water	85 grams
1 cup of cherries	80 grams
1 Pkg cucina fresh whole wheat pasta	235 grams

My realization: I am about to start eating a lot of food.

I did a bit of pre-cooking tonight. I will try and share later what I cooked and how I did it.   Just thought I would share what I found.

Day 7: Workout and a few other things

I am really excited today’s workout was great.  I just had a lot of energy today.  I had my last meal last night instead of tonight, because I hate jumping into a training diet after a meal like that.  So today I woke up did my normal Sunday routine and after lunch I went to my local gym.  I started today’s work out with a run.  Sure I knew I would be jumping a lot of rope today, but I just wanted to burn off some steam.   After 30 mins on a treadmill I went and did the jump rope.  I did 75/75/75/75/50/50/50/50. For the first time, I was able to most of the jumps like a normal person, no skipping.  Full on jumping.  

The Playlist:

I decided I would share my weekly playlist for exercising. Last week I listened to a single album the very cool Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse Present: Dark Night of the Soul:

 

For this next week I did an eclectic mix of pop/rock/rap.  Since the exercise is going to get more intense I am putting a lot of music in the list just to keep me moving.  It is a bit more pop filled then I would listen to in my car, but I thought that might help me keep moving.  So without any further pontification:

1	Just Dance	Lady GaGa
2	The Diary of Jane	Breaking Benjamin
3	There's a War Going On for Your Mind	Flobots
4	Heartless	Kanye West
5	Still Here	Girl Talk
6	Remember the Name	Fort Minor
7	Come Around (feat. Timbaland)	M.I.A.
8	LoveGame	Lady GaGa
9	L.E.S. Artistes (Album)	Santogold
10	Poker Face	Lady GaGa
11	What It's All About	Girl Talk
12	Starstruck	Lady GaGa
13	Give It to Me	Timbaland
14	Shut The Club Down	Girl Talk
15	Paper Gangsta	Lady GaGa
16	Anti Matter	N.E.R.D.
17	The Fame	Lady GaGa
18	Breath	Breaking Benjamin
19	Breathe	Fabolous
20	Handlebars	Flobots
21	Ghetto Rock	Mos Def
22	Play Your Part (Pt. 1)	Girl Talk

I am really curious what kind of music gets you motivated. Go ahead and share your tracks. I will try and share each week the 20 or so songs I am rotating.

Yoga and Co-working.

One final thing I am excited about is the co-working space that I work out of is going to begin offering a yoga class in office once a week.  I am looking forward to integrating my office into my project and use it as a catalyst to additional health.

My last meal.

So my phone battery died before I could take any Pics. But I wanted to share what my last meal was.  I was at one of my favorite restaurants:

I shared a starter one of my favorites:

warm bucheron goat cheese
dried cranberries, fireweed honey and lemon thyme

For my meal I had a half portion of:

artichoke ravioli
toasted pine nuts, shaved parmigiano-reggiano and romesco sauce

I just thought I would say it awesome.

Day 6: Jumping rope is not my thing.

 

So I am a little more coordinated than the kid in this video, but not by much.  I am enjoying the challenge of jumping rope, but I am terribly uncoordinated. 

One thing I hope for and want out of a exercise program is the ability to gain more focus and coordination.  Perhaps a few more days of 500 jumps can do it for me.

Jeremiah

Day 4: Starting while at a conference.

Tonight is the first real night in my home since last friday.  I am on the road pretty regularly.  As a former evangelist for Microsoft Live Search (yep, now bing.)  I was out sharing with the search marketing community how to build better sites and market their products.

The big challenge for me this week was to get started on the PCP while on the Road. Saturday I was in San Fran for MakerFaire and Wordcamp. Monday I was back in Seattle, but participating in SMX Advanced.   I also helped to throw a pub crawl on DAY1.  Yes. Business dinners and lots of booze.   I have never been a fan of diets. They just don’t last.   So I started the PCP this week in the middle of doing what I think I do best; Being a social butterfly.  

Eating half was the easy part, the exercise was tough.  If I can make it through this week. I think I can make it through the rest.  I would love to know if you have thoughts on how to stay healthy while on the road. It is my special burden to bear.

First Post: Why PCP?

So here it is my first post on the PCP. This post is partially a test, but it is also where I wanted to talk about some reasons for my participating in the PCP. I have been in the process of getting fit for the last few years. Regular workouts, Regular improvements to my eating habits, but because of my travel schedule and eating habits I am not always able to course correct.

For me, the challenge is an opportunity to do the course correction and move forward with my fitness goals. I think because of the focus of the program and the "tools" involved that I will be able to get to my goal weight a lot quicker than without a plan. Also, I am looking to actually improve how I perform when I am playing hockey, running or just trying to focus at work.

So this is post 1. Pics and more coming soon.