Final day photos...

Some final day photos of me on a beach in Kerala. Actually these photos were taken on my birthday on 17th December. What an amazing holiday it was and made all the better for knowing I was in peak health!!



Being in India it's always best for women to respect the local custom and dress modestly, even on the beach, hence the lack on bikini here, so sorry, no abs shots!





On one occasion during the holiday, one of the market traders asked me whether I "do karate" and I looked at him confused and said "no". Then he pointed to my upper arms and nodded with thumbs up and said "look strong"! Ha ha! A very cool moment!

The final day

Hi everyone. It's great to read all of your final day posts and it was equally great partaking in the PCP with you all.

This is just a quick final post to let you all know how I'm doing. I've not been anywhere near a PC for a few days as I was staying in a forest in a hill station in southern India for the past five days. It's been totally blissful.

Anyway, day 90 came and went with surprising ease. The exercises has become second nature and I am still skipping about 6 out of 7 days a week. It's so easy to fit it into my travelling day, even with treks and other activities.

The final few days of the PCP were on the whole more challenging that the first few days. Mainly because I had got into a routine which I felt in control of and the travelling, lack of Internet, and being unable to prepare my own food had kind of caused havoc to my routine.

But suffice to say I am extremely proud of myself for completing the PCP and so are those around me. It has given me a new appreciation for good food and has taught me the most effective ways of keeping my body healthy.

Thanks to Chen and Patrick for all your knowledge and mentoring and I would love to do the advanced PCP next year!

I'll be able to get some photos up in a few days time!

Over and out!

Day 85: Namaste!

Just a quick post to say 'hi' to my fellow PCPers, looks like you're all still going strong.

I'm finding it hard to keep to the diet as much as I was at home, I can't get a hold of enough fish portions as most restaurants where I'm staying at the moment don't even serve fish. I think it's because we're staying quite in-land (Rajasthan) and so it's probably difficult to get hold of fish from here. We're also constantly on the move as we're from city to city every two days so routine is tough. But the PCP psychology is still there!!

We're heading to Kerala soon for the rest of the month so that will make things easier to maintain the PCP lifestyle.

Namaste, for now!

P.s. Visited the Taj Mahal today - AMAZING!

Day 74: "Taste bitter now and later...

..will be sweet. Or experience only the sweet then
later will be bitter"

This week I've been growing so fed up with the jump rope. I don’t know why. I don’t know why this week of all weeks. I know I've been really preoccupied these last three weeks with other matters, but they kind of came to a close yesterday. And I was still totally unmotivated to skip today.

So I had an idea.

I grabbed my MP3 player and trainers and decided to go for a run instead!


It's pretty cold outside in England at the moment. I mean, not as cold as it gets in January, but today it was about 9 degrees, with a 12mph wind - not on my side either!

My throat was burning from the cold air and even my teeth, gums and inside my ears were cold! Not surprisingly I didn’t see any other runners this evening.

I know my route well because it's towards, around and back from my local park and, up until about summer last year, I used to run the route regularly. It's about 3 miles long. Last spring I was training for a race at the time I was doing a lot of cardio, weekly including outdoor running.

The weird thing is my run today felt so easy and unforced. My body felt light and totally efficient, my steps and movements were rhythmic. I didn’t even get tired the whole time. And despite the cold air, it was so enjoyable. I felt so alive in the cold.



Last year, and any other time I've trained for a race, I never ever felt this strong.




Now I know I'm really fit!

I can really feel it! Fitter than I've ever been. Fitter, stronger, healthier! I can only imagine how great I'm going to feel in 3 weeks time when I have reached the peak. I can't wait!

The old Chinese proverb rings so true: "Taste bitter now and later will be sweet. Or experience only the sweet then later will be bitter".

We're coming to the end of the PCP now. All the training and diet wasn’t (isn’t) easy. It takes a lot of dedication and consistent motivation. The workouts are every single day without rest and the diet, although highly nutritious and always filling, is simple and basic and often boring. I mean 7 egg whites a day, at one point!

No cake, no wine, no Take-aways - It has been hard.

But, coming to the end of the PCP, it was totally worth it.

Now that I can really see the fruits of my labour, in so many ways, I can totally appreciate that old Chinese proverb.

Day 73: Just to make you chuckle....

I just couldn't resist posting this. Ha ha! I love it.

Day 78: Sprint finale

Well not quite the finale yet, but since I'm off on my trip at the end of the week, this may well be one of my last posts.

Whilst the PCP diet has eased up a bit now, the workout has reached a new height of intensity so it looks like it's going to be quite the sprint finale.

I remember at the outset of the PCP, that I was really hung up on missing out food with strong flavours. I was dead set on making a really tasty PCP friendly tomato ketchup and I also found a good healthy substitute for salt; cumin seeds, which I still advocate and will use as a substitute for salt from now on, whenever I feel I need a bit of a purge.

I remember complaining about having to eat 5 "boring" egg whites a day, thinking up what spices and herb combinations I could add to eggs to make them more palatable.

Now I don't even think about flavour when I eat them. I just eat them, plain and boiled, because I know they're good for me. And that's enough for me to enjoy them now. Well, maybe not enjoy, but appreciate them.



Now, in 12 week of the PCP, my taste in foods has changed, I no longer crave the strong fake, flavours of Marmite, Ketchup and other salty snacks. I'm more than happy to eat simple, natural foods with natural flavours like avocado, porridge oats, berries, apples.

It would now feel improper to add salt to food. The foods that nature provides, each have their own distinct taste and do not need added salt! It's only from eating a diet based on fake foods that we desire artificially strong flavours in everything we eat.



I'm not saying I'd never eat a pizza or take away again, but I've developed a real appreciation for real food now and I no longer have the desire to disguise real food with tonnes of salt, sauces and condiments.

In fact the idea makes me feel a bit queasy just thinking about it.

If I don't get to post again during this project, I just wanted to say thank you to my fellow PCPers, for you motivation, support and funny, thoughtful and inspiring blogs. It has been great taking this challenge with you all and seeing us all change! Good luck to Emily, Jonti, Shelly and Denise - You've done great so far and I can't wait to see the end results.

I also want to thank Patrick and Chen for your guidance and consistent encouragement throughout. This has been a great journey in so many ways and has tested me to my limits and I would definitely come back to do the advanced project.

Although I've still about 12 more days to go until I finish, even at this stage, I am the strongest, healthiest and fittest I've ever been and I have more vitality than I can remember ever having before!

I hope to keep you updating throughout my travels.

Happy holidays and New Year!

Day 71: The Muscle Wall

Oh my goodness!

What is it with this week and the end of last week?

This week and the end of last week seem like a major milestone for my body. I'm finding this week more challenging than any other during the PCP so far.



All of the muscles in my body feel worked to the core. In fact the first thing I feel when I wake up in the morning is muscle soreness. Everywhere.

I've never experienced that on the PCP to date. This week and last seems to have jumped up a few notches in intensity.

My calf muscles are dying! I've resided to walking without bending my knee!!

I can't get out of bed in the mornings. My muscles seem heavy and dense, my body won't let me leave my warm sheets behind. I've never had problems getting out of bed before.

My muscles are stronger than my will right now!


I'm sweating more post workout.

My pre-workout motivation is slacking, which normally takes place in bed as I contempate my alarm snoozer button, and since my muscles are sore first thing too, I'm not surprised by the lack of motivation.

My body feels tired. Shelly seemed to have this last week too.

What's going on with my body??