The End: An Interpretation

I've loved all the wrap-up posts that have gone before, but as I hit the end of my personal PCP and tried to think of what to say, the whole idea suddenly became absurd. Still processing what it's meant, what will happen going forward. But the end of these 90 days must be marked, and perhaps the act of trying to do a wrap up will produce something worthwhile.

All my gratitude to my fellow PCPers--those who went before and whose honesty inspired me to try it to; Stu, Nathaly, and Ramiro, who shared the experience with me; and the new teams who are coming up fast and looking fine. Thank you, Patrick, for everything--patience, encouragement, and the project itself.

The Good Stuff

Before.......................................................After

Days: 90
Workouts: 90
Workouts At Night: 3
Days Off Grams: 4, due to vacation
Pounds Lost: 30
Clothing Sizes Dropped: 3
Minutes Spent Cooking, Boring Meals Eaten, Dishes Washed: countless

The pants to one of my suits. They shrank this much by the middle of the project,
I had them tailored to fit again, and then it happened again.
The second photo is an example of elephant butt.

The Bad Stuff

I've made great progress and found my face again (hello, cheekbones!). But there's still that spare tire around my middle, and the wobbly bits at the inner thighs and under arms. It's good to celebrate the end of an extended exercise in willpower, but also annoying. This doesn't feel like a triumphant finish, because I'm still so far from my goals.

Spent some time trying on the clothes I've been hauling around the world because it's been easier to let the moving services pack and unpack them than to weed. Many of my old favorites are too small--within reach, but too small. This means that I have clothes that are way too big, and clothes that are about a month or two away from fitting, depending on how hard I work, and nothing to wear right now. Guess it's time to invest a little money on temporary holding clothes.

The Lesson Learned

What I wanted from the PCP, aside from weight loss/muscle gain, was daily experience in incorporating healthy, home-cooked food into my life. I started as a special-occasion cook, someone who only liked to be in the kitchen as a hobby and thought of everyday food as something you grabbed takeaway, delivery, microwaveable. There were more days than you might imagine possible when a giant bowl of popcorn covered in butter and cheese was my main meal of the day--my own version of the salt-fat overload in manufactured foodlike products, consumed mostly as something to crunch while reading. Meanwhile, trying to plan meals for a whole week and buy all the ingredients for them at once felt exhausting and difficult.

What did I have for dinner last night?

A piece of toast, spread with half an avocado, topped with a sliced tomato and a chicken breast.

I did salt the chicken, and add a luxurious small pat of butter to the cooking oil, but it was healthy and tasty and fast. This is much better everyday food, and the months of practice mean that my steps in making it were swift, economical, practical, efficient.

How do I grocery shop now? Exactly as I should, with the added knowledge that I no longer forget vegetables until they mold. They're an essential part of every meal. And fruit has somehow stepped out of the shadows. It used to feel like too much trouble to wash, slice, get up and grab from the fridge. Now it's a source of pleasure so strong that I still have no urge to seek out dessert.

How do I keep my energy up now? Instead of tea midmorning and soda midafternoon, which used to feel like unbreakable rituals making the workday possible, it's small snacks. They're light, quick, flavorful hits of fruit or yogurt that keep me alert and moving.

The crazy thing, which ties into Patrick's most recent blog post, is that none of this is new or earth-shattering. They're all the most basic of commonsense ideas. But it took three months of unbreakable fidelity to external rules to learn experientially that they work, and that they're actually easier than the alternatives.

It turns out my husband was right all along about working out at home and jumping rope. He's been trying since 2007 to get me to jump--I even tried once to get into a routine, but the tripping pissed me off after several tries and I didn't persevere. It's been clear for a while now that I am a minimalist in working out, and this kind of exercise suits my schedule and level of interest. Although I'll never force myself to do it every single day, no exceptions, again. Anyone else zone out a bit while jumping and then, when the round has stopped, think more consciously about what passed through over those minutes? At the end of my first set on day 88, I was horrified to discover that I'd been contemplating the best way to land so as to hurt or break my ankle and get out of the rest of the day's jumps. They weren't painful, I wasn't tripping, there was nothing wrong except that I just didn't want to be doing them. At least one rest day a week, for mental health.

The Future

The question everyone asks now, including me, is what next?

Probably 40-minute workouts daily, half jump rope, half muscle. Probably my familiar PCP breakfast of oatmeal, carrots, egg, and milk, and the same morning, afternoon, and evening snacks (but I'll spoon the yogurt straight out of the container and eat whole fruits instead of cutting and weighing them). Probably half or more lunches and dinners a week cooked at home. Probably a single beer, glass of wine, or post-meal scotch once or twice a week.

Lots of hiking. Maybe I'll pick up the squash racket again. More collaborative cooking with my husband and less selfishness--he's been generous in making do, so I had enough food for lunches and the occasional night off, but he more than deserves to be eating as well as I do.

(Today's hike--we'd already climbed one hill, and then had to go all the way down
just to climb up again over the Twins in the middle of the frame. The views were amazing.
My legs were stronger than ever, though I still flagged on the second and third ascents.)

It's a journey. This three-month rocket burn has accelerated my fitness, I hope to achieve escape velocity from the old, bad habits. We'll see.

Day Ninety: That's All, Folks

Well, it's 11pm on Day 90. Workout was so fast this morning and felt great. Because I had an important call to make tonight, and because final pictures still need to be taken, I kept strict diet until 9:30, and then had a taste of tom yum and pad thai, and a few sips of an expensive scotch. It's a good night.

I'm still processing the whole experience, and hoping that--when I sit down this weekend to write my wrap-up post--something new will come out of my fingers. Right now, very few thoughts. It's good to relax.

Day Eighty-Nine: Almost There

I celebrated the almost end of the project by going out to watch other people eat Korean barbecue. Sigh. It doesn't actually sting any more, but it's still not really my favorite activity. During the meal, I kept trying to figure out how much I'd be eating and of what. I certainly would have ordered quite a few more vegetable dishes. Hooray for educated taste buds!

Also, today's workout: WTF. I am so looking forward to tomorrow. Go, Fantastic Carrot! We did it!

Day Eighty-Seven: With A Little Help

One of the interesting things on these blogs is how few of us talk much about the support we get from friends. We do tend to talk about our family members, but not so much the friends. I have to say that mine have been instrumental. They've encouraged me, they've listened to me whine, and one of them even cooked a PCP-positive meal for me and offered to do it again (bliss).

Of course, there's the dark side, too. Some people have taken to saying, "When you can eat again, we'll do this; when you can drink again..." It's funny, but trying to gently correct them and point out that I'm not going to reverse all my results by returning to all my former mindless habits falls on deaf ears. In many people's vision of the plan, because the diet was so limiting and because it was such a well-defined time period, that must mean that it's the same as a crash diet.

I've said that I don't actually think I'll want pizza on Saturday or barbecue on Sunday or any of the other fatty delicious things people are planning for me. The plan is chai tea on Saturday morning, brewed with whole milk and plus enough sugar to make the spices pop. On Monday, I'll go to lunch on Wellington Street and get a bowl of noodle soup with fish balls and lots of greens. On Thursday, there's a big Sichuan meal planned. It's strange, but otherwise I don't care to be that indulgent.

(I'm a Tsim Chai Kee partisan. Love those giant fish balls,
flavored with something vaguely fennel-like.)

My near future is up in the air, but should be settled in the next couple of weeks. I've been in the process of getting a next assignment for a few months now--almost since beginning the PCP--and soon it will be over. As the time nears, and the phone interviews heat up, and different priorities compete, and the uncertainty ratchets high, it's a little destabilizing to be leaving the certainty of all these rules and plans for a yet-to-be-charted food and exercise future.

In at least one way, it's a good thing, though. I could really use a drink.

Day Eighty-Six: End Euphoria

I know we're not there yet, I know the toughest workouts lie ahead, I know that afterward there will be lots of challenges to meet. But for right now, I'm high on the idea that there are only three more serious workouts to go, and then I can rest a little.

It's funny, because as usual Stu and I are on the exact opposite page. He's having deep thoughts about the future and seeking out extra ab challenge (and crushing it, yo). I'm working hard, but with my head down, counting the days. He did remind me of something important, which is to focus on the activity that inspired me to start this. It's been several weeks since I've hiked. Last weekend's plans were canceled because of a typhoon in the area that ended up swerving off. The weather was perfect on Saturday, and yet I mostly stayed in and slept. So here's a plan for the future.

First, I am the captain of a team of eight signed up for this charity walk on November 13. It starts at 10:30pm, and ends whenever we finish the 20k. One of our team members fondly imagines that it'll take long enough to have celebratory dim sum in the morning, but I think we'll finish around 3am, even with a slow pace, and head home for some sleep.

The week after, the real challenge starts. As you may know, Hong Kong has four long-distance trails that are pretty well-maintained, and divided into manageable sections. I've hiked the entire Lantau Trail, and parts of the Hong Kong Trail. In mid-November, I'm going to start doing one piece or more of the 100k MacLehose Trail each weekend at least until my family arrives for Christmas. It will encompass gorgeous views of the ocean, vistas down into the beating heart of urban Kowloon, the famous monkey trail (where you shouldn't carry a grocery bag--they recognize the logos and steal those), the highest point in not-terribly-high HK, and lots and lots of stairs. I'm looking forward to attacking them with these leg muscles and this conditioning. Jasper, Bill, if you're free on Saturdays, join us!

Day Eighty-Four: New Ab Exercise

One of our two current homework assignments is to find a new ab exercise. Inspired by my husband, who loves bodyweight stuff and seeks out inspiration frequently, and by Sara's badass homemade incline workout, I went to Ross.



What about that roller exercise at 20 seconds in? Okay, you're right, that's insane. Especially since he's doing it one-handed and with what appears to be extra weight strapped to his back. At any rate, if you're looking for ideas on new bodyweight workouts or homemade exercise equipment, I recommend checking out his site.

Luke owns his book, Never Gymless, and it has a nice, tough-looking but doable ab exercise. Lay on your back with your arms out in a T shape. Lift legs up to 90 degrees. Lower them in a controlled motion to the left, keeping the rest of the body as still as possible. Just before they touch the ground, stop and lift up again to center. Repeat on the other side.

Day Eighty-Three: Rough Week

It was kind of a rough week at work--lots of running around, all three people in my office with computers down from various reasons for two days, etc, which is why no blog posts. All I want to do at night is crash. I sort of solved the eating problem by having caramelized onions and eggs with a piece of toast for dinner three nights in a row, which has the added benefit of being very fast and easy to cook, once you've caramelized a large batch of onions. Although it doesn't taste excellent, having no freaking butter. Scrambled eggs should always be cooked in butter.

Is anyone else a little freaked out about the last week of exercises? Those who have gone before have talked about supersets and how hard they are. I feel like the workout this morning was more than difficult enough, thank you. SEVEN sets of triceps dips!?!

There is a nice little story from yesterday, though. Running late in the morning, starting the workout ten minutes after the drop-dead time, already going to be late to work. All through the workout, I'm telling myself, "JFD. You will be running from now until 9:30 pm and this workout has to get done now. You can skip the stupid time-consuming planks and do 8 min abs tonight." I justified skipping those planks six ways to Sunday, and then, when the workout was otherwise finished, found myself doing a plank, marveling the entire minute and forty-five seconds that it was happening. Only the first one was any good, as usual, and I skipped the last set. But it still felt like a personal triumph.

Finally, the body image stuff. Today, wore new jeans for the first time. They're the same size as the ones I've been wearing recently, but cut to be less forgiving at the waist, and they feel good on. On the other hand, I went to the tailor yesterday to order a formal dress for an event in November, and got charged extra for being an inch bigger than the largest LAG size. Okay, that was more funny than upsetting. I spared a moment to feel sorry for the LAG measuring me, considering her likely fate in Grace's disaster movie scenario.

Day Eighty: No Freaking Appetite

The last two days have been torture. My portions are he-you-ge these days, and nothing seems appealing. Can this still be post-indulgence letdown? Only I don't think indulgence food would be appealing, either.

Yesterday, I didn't pack lunch, and bought a large salad with most of a can of tuna on it and a bunch of dry toast. I only managed half the salad. As I forked up bite after bite, my gag reflex got in the way and made eating any more impossible. In the evening, my husband made buttered toast. It smelled great, and my stomach was growling, but I also felt a little nauseated by it. I'd eaten the citrus chicken and couscous at my bookclub meeting in approximate portion sizes, and added some vegetables when I got home. Yesterday, I was probably way under grams, which means that I got hungry very easily today.

And yet it only takes a few bites of food before I start feeling revolted again. Lunch was just egregiously large, and dinner was another long fight with the gag reflex. This is food that last week was very appetizing to me. I've adopted throwing my hands up in a v in the air at the end of every meal: triumph over giant portions is mine! But what I really want is egg white, apple, milk, like the next generation over there.

Day Seventy-Nine: Post-Indulgence

So the indulgence was really fun, but I have the weirdest hangover of my life. Also, I barely took any photos because I was too busy indulging. I made, as promised, four old favorite recipes. Three delivered, and my husband claims the fourth failed because of a bad ingredient.

1. Maple toasted walnuts: fail; bad walnuts. We've had them before and they were way better. Got consumed anyway, mostly by a friend.

2. Broiled pork tenderloin with garlic and rosemary: great success. I felt they were a little undercooked, but the crew ate so much that there was nothing left over.

(They were just surprised I was taking the picture. The pork was enthusiastically dished and snarfed.)

3. Risotto with gorgonzola and sage: massive success. Except for the guy who gets sick when he eats blue cheese (did not tell me this in response to my pre-shopping inquiry), everyone had multiple servings. This recipe includes two cups of rice, a stick of butter, and a quarter pound of cheese, not to mention the parmesan for garnish. It was everything I was missing and more. I had two small servings and almost stopped there, but the bowl still on the table a half hour after we'd all finished eating called to me and I had a little more. Wouldn't have done it if not for the thought: you can't have even a tiny little bite tomorrow.

(Also salad with oranges and homemade vinaigrette for contrast and greens.)

4. Lemon granita: so, so, so good and refreshing. Hong Kong is "cooling off," by which I mean that we just feel pleasantly warm in our short sleeves and no longer sweat the second we step outdoors. Ices are still in season. This one is just lemon juice, lemon zest, spring water, and superfine sugar. No photo because I was too busy eating. It's powerful, so portions are always small, but I had two.

I know, the only really indulgent thing on the list is the risotto, but there was salt on everything, and sugar in three of the dishes, and lots and lots of wine with dinner. Also, people to have fun with in a casual situation that involves food and drink. We played an impromptu game of Balderdash (I won, of course), and just generally had a great time until I kicked everyone out just before 11.

(See the water pitcher on the table? I drank lots of that, too.)

The fallout today was instructive. I didn't have a traditional headache-y hangover, but did have some rough intestinal effects this morning, probably from all the wine. I had to go back to the bathroom after jumping rope, and back again after finishing the strength exercises. After that, it was pretty normal. There was also strong afternoon fatigue, combined with a powerful revulsion toward food, even as my stomach rumbled. I wasn't able to finish my tuna salad at lunch--the gag reflex was just too strong.

The important lesson here is actually one learned long ago: you don't have to keep on drinking to keep on having fun. Again, I think this was more an effect of the knowledge of no more wine for another few weeks, because pre-project I was really good at stopping at a glass or two. I think it'll be easy to go back to that habit. Also, I always thought of this meal as indulgent (even before), but one of my guests said it was the healthiest thing he'd eaten in the last month. So lesson two is that when I actually cook, I generally cook good stuff. Just need to keep it to only one indulgent thing for a special meal, and a small portion of that.

Day Seventy-Seven: Thank you

Thank you all for the thoughtful, helpful, and just plain funny comments on my last post. You guys make the world a better place to live. Special love to the "graduates" who are still coming back to cheer us on and tell us that post-PCP isn't the end of the world. Ilan, I'd love to read a post on what happens weeks later--do it! Tara, Andy, Stu, Patrick, you guys are the best. Sarah, fine, I do feel stronger. And Grace, you are so so right about LAGS. We would eat them first, because they'd be tastier and easier to take down.

I managed the workout on Friday night, even though I didn't start until after 8 pm, and today's rest-day jump roping. Tomorrow, it's indulgence time. I'm planning to cook, and to make four old favorite recipes. Am curious to see how they'll taste after this period of detox--Patrick said to blow it out, so there will be sugar, and cheese, and butter, and salt. Stay tuned for photos.

Day Seventy-Five: Losing Steam

Well, guys, I'm losing a little steam over here. Part of it is not enough sleep three nights in a row. Part of it is this: I'm starting to accept that I won't be perfect at the end of this thing.

I know: it's a journey. No one's ever perfect. These are the tools, blah, blah. And that's all fine. When I'm an adult, which is most of the time, they're enough.

But it's day 75, I've been working my ass off for months, and when this is over, I still won't want to be seen anywhere in a bathing suit. The results earlier folks got, combined with that weird self-image problem so many of us have, in which we look better to ourselves in the mirror than we do when we catch an unexpected glimpse or in photos, made me think that I could hit the end of this thing looking ordinary. Not ripped, not skinny, just ordinary.

Well, I'll achieve that, sort of, and will be ordinarily chubby. That's certainly better than flat-out fat, but it's not what I wanted. It was an unrealistic dream, seeing as I'm trying to counteract the effect of two and a half years of self-neglect (and some self-sabotage). But the dream is dying hard.

Effect: today I slept an extra hour and didn't manage the workout till evening, which will ripple into tomorrow when I'll need to evening workout again. Also I didn't cook anything last night (nasty but effective bowl of tuna and corn for dinner), which meant that lunch was a huge salad with more tuna and some dry toast. It was a real slog to get through.

The good news is that my husband stepped up. He pushed me to exercise tonight. For the second half of the workout, he talked while I sweated and counted. And then--this is true love--he got down on the floor and did planks with me. Even though I sucked as much as usual at them, I felt less defeated at the end. Afterward, he tag-teamed me in the kitchen so that now I have chicken and vegetables to go on the 10-grain bread I made last weekend for lunch tomorrow. I love him.

Back on the subject of planks, I just don't get them. My shoulders and back hurt like hell, but my abs don't seem to feel them at all. Luke stood up and checked my form and said that I was doing them right. Is there something else I should be concentrating on? I tell myself that there are only four sets of planks left in this thing and then I never have to do them again. But they're the only thing in the workout that I don't understand and that make me feel worse about myself, no matter what I do.

Day Seventy-Two: Vacated

I missed you guys! I'm looking forward to reading everyone's blogs later today. But first: vacation summary, in the form of a report card.

(View from a little boat on the Li River.)

Exercise: A+

Got all the exercises in, with my poor husband covering his ears and trying to catch another hour of sleep while I hopped, panted, and sweated my way around our room. At his suggestion, I jumped without the rope for the last two days in the interest of reducing noise--he tells me that the great Sugar Ray Robinson just swung the rope next to him on each side and didn't bother jumping over it. Major benefit: when pantomiming, there are no trips and no sneaky little 2-second breaks while recovering. It turns out that my jumping at home with the rope again today was much more smooth, too. Final score: 18 minutes of jumping, 1 minute of rest, and one solitary trip in the last set!

On the second day we rented bikes and went tooling around the Chinese countryside. Guilin is famous for its beautiful and oddly-shaped mountains and we got some spectacular views. Left the hotel at 9:30, returned at 4:30, stopped several times in the middle to float down the river, grab lunch, and hike up a hill. The hike was a personal triumph for me--more than 800 steps, and I didn't stop once on the way up to catch my breath. The guys only waited at the top of Moon Hill for a couple of minutes before I hove into view.

(On top of Moon Hill. Wish my arms had more definition already.)

It would be even more exciting except that there were a dozen little old wrinkled Chinese women climbing up almost as fast, toting styrofoam coolers with water and soft drinks for sale, and fanning tourists with one hand as they did. We really admired how hard they worked for a few kuai, but it was tough to get rid of them if you didn't need their services. As we came down off the trail, an ElderHostel group had just arrived and there were ladies trotting toward them from all directions, looking hopeful that this group would spend more freely than we had.

The major negative of all that bike riding: combined with jump rope the next morning, it gave me a major calf cramp that's still a tough little knot down there. On the last day, we spent several hours walking around the city of Guilin, but we went really slow and I was limping.

(But calf cramps don't stop you from using weird public exercise equipment!)

Eating: C-

A passing grade, but barely. I packed all my breakfasts and fruit snacks, but the rooms did not have refrigerators as advertised, so the fruit fermented quickly and my breakfast carbs were nasty by the last day. Dairy in general is pretty scarce, and I managed about 2/3 of my yogurt and dairy component. For fruit, I just ate whole small oranges, apples, a slice of watermelon, etc.

As for lunch and dinner. Well. Sometimes in China you order eggplant and you get peeled, steamed eggplant covered in minced garlic, with no salt and very little oil. Sometimes, you get eggplant that's been sliced, deep fried, and then covered in a thick pork-MSG sauce. (I had both, though I only took a few bites of the fried eggplant after shaking off most of the lovely sauce.) Often you order greens with "xiao you, xiao yan" (small oil, small salt), and you get a plate swimming in salty oil anyway. I confess that I didn't even try hard with ordering the meats--just ate the chicken without the skin, and the fish without dredging it first in the sauce. There was some pork in there, too. For two nights, I ate uninspired dinner salads without dressing. Overall, the first day was sort of transgressive fun to be forced to eat off plan (I did have a bite of fried egg scallion pancake and it was overwhelming and delicious), and the rest were just annoying.

(Catfish that was living 10 minutes before this photo was taken--tasty and pretty PCP-compliant, too.
Oh, and I'd like to point out that there's nothing but tea in my cup on the left.
Aside from a single sip of a great Belgian beer, I avoided the temptations of alcohol.)

Sleep: B

Mostly full nights. Since we went for the cheap flights, there was much arriving after midnight. Got home this morning just past three am, slept 7 broken hours, worked out, and managed a first bite of food around noon.

(A panorama from near the end of the bike trip.)

Overall, a solid B for the trip. It was good to try taking these principles on the road, but I'm happy to be reunited with my scale and with food I have total control over. I don't know if I made any fat-burning progress this week, but the muscles, at least, are still growing.

Day Sixty-Six: The New Normal

Our previous classes of PCPers talked a lot about hitting a new normal and, folks, I think I'm there. It's no longer a negotiation with myself to get up and work out at the drop dead time--now I usually start a few minutes earlier than absolutely necessary. And the food is just plugging along. It feels so much less time-consuming than at the beginning, though I do still spend hours a week in the kitchen.

It's also finally having the payoff I looked for in evening discipline. The last few nights in a row, I've just trotted off to study, instead of collapsing on the couch. And the studying was fun and rewarding, too. Things I've been telling myself for years and not acting on: take 1,000,000.

In the diet, I am so happy to be back to evening fruit. Evening veg was much more difficult and much less tasty. Sugar in the evening, even natural fruit sugar, is more delicious. Am a little annoyed that back day is going to be our first morning on the road; there's no way I'm traveling for three nights with a pull-up bar in tow. Patrick--is it all right to switch that with the previous day workout? Or do you have an alternate suggestion for the kung fu sit-ups?

Day Sixty-Four: Sleeping All The Time

Hey, team, is anyone else still exhausted all the time? I seem to remember previous teams talking about their crazy energy, and how they feel so good, etc. My experience is more exhaustion, including sometimes extreme sleepiness after lunch. And the weekends--wow. I've taken hours-long naps two days in a row, from which it's nearly impossible to wake. Anyone else?

Other than that, I've got a vacation coming up starting Thursday to enjoy and stress over. I think I'll pack complete breakfasts for all four days. I know I can get yogurt, milk, fruit there. Should I pack lunches and dinners as well? Maybe just half lunches and dinners? (The hotels will have fridges, but we might spend hours in transit a couple of days in a row). Or should I take a chance that the hotels/restaurants can provide appropriate food? It's an area that's used to Western tourists and my dinners this week have gone back to protein and veg, so I'm inclined to take the chance.

Those of you who have traveled, especially in China, what did you do?

Day Sixty-Two: Guest Post

A friend of ours has been staying with us off and on for nearly my whole project. He's using our apartment as a base for exploring East Asia from mid-August to mid-November. When he first arrived, I was in week two of the diet, about where the newest class is now. I asked what I should blog about tonight and he offered this comment:

"I think the diet seems like the best thing about it. Not as much eating using these strict rules, but the fact you trained yourself to make good food. Whereas the food in the beginning looked pretty horrible, now it looks like something I would eat. There's some amount of training yourself to make good food that doesn't have to be covered in salt and butter. It's at least more aesthetically pleasing now than it was in the early days."

It's a little ironic that I get this lovely encomium on my cooking skills on a day when I had a pretty gross bowl of whole wheat pasta, tuna in spring water, and corn with no seasonings for lunch, but he's right. Since those early days, I at least haven't been in a position of choking food down, fighting my gag reflex.

In workout news, I think it's a terrible mistake to put bicycles and planks on the same day--WTF? I had no willpower left for the planks and barely managed to stay up for the entire first one. And then five sets? FIVE!? (Patrick: on the planks, is it better to go up-and-down for the whole minute, or once you're down, start over at one minute and call that the next set?) Of course, after getting through that yesterday, today's workout felt like the easiest thing ever.