Day 93, Giving the Eggs a Rest

I've had just about enough hard-boiled eggs, man. They're a pain to prepare, a pain to peel, and they taste like nothing, but like a bad, eggy nothing.

Plus, the worst part is that they make you gassy. I hate that feeling, especially as I usually find myself in teaching situations where I have to hold the gas in. (which leads me to a question. If you have to fart but you don't, and then a few minutes later you don't have to fart anymore, where did that gas go? Did it go back into your stomach? If anyone has the answer I'd be grateful to hear it)

Still it was important to me to do the entire PCP with nothing that you couldn't find in a regular grocery store. I was so sick of seeing sports clubs and gadget manufacturers taking advantage of people's desire to improve their health, filling their pockets, and offering no real help in return. So I stuck with the eggs, and they worked.

But now that I have reached Peak Condition, I don't need to gain any more muscle and I'm happy to say goodbye to 5 egg whites a day. But I need to keep my protein levels high in order to maintain and refine the muscle that's here now.

So, with Chen's blessing, yesterday I bought my first protein powder. I didn't know what to get so I just picked the mid-price one that said it would maintain muscle. I chose cocoa flavor.



It's pretty nasty and chalky. I'm drinking it mixed in with decaf coffee tonight which helps. But let me tell you, it beats 5 egg whites. I have two scoops after my workout and two before bed.

Day 92, Nacho Disaster

Tonight as part of my 5 day relaxed diet plan I ate some nachos. The idea behind this week is to get away from using the scale and try to eyeball the correct amounts of carbs, protein, and fiber to get me close to what my training meals called for.

Tonight I totally failed! It was almost funny. If I was to eat only 50 grams of carbs it would have been like 10 chips for two bowls of homemade salsa. I also made the error of eating them while watching Shrek 3, so I wasn't keeping very good track of how much went in my mouth.

So, I totally blew my daily salt and carbs figures, and didn't get near enough protein. But I learned a lot about what not to do, and tomorrow's another day. The cool thing is that now that I'm down to minimum body fat I can burn off mishaps like this within 12-15 hours.

Plus, the whole incident reminded me of this commercial!

Day 91. Satisfaction

For the next few days I'm dialing back training and the strict diet. As I've mentioned here a few times there are points when you can feel your body is getting strained, and if you don't take it easy in those periods you end up sick or injured, which sets you back more than easing off for a few days ever would.

I seem to hit these patches about every 3 - 4 weeks. This one comes at a good time as I am finished with the heavy training and have a lot of other stuff on my plate.

So, tonight I didn't worry about my diet and ate a normal sized, healthy dinner or Korean barbeque (with vegetables and tofu of course) in Pita pockets.

I'm not going to lie to you, I sit here a very satisfied kid. I haven't had a truly full stomach past 9 o clock in months. It feels warm and comfortable, and I feel happily drowsy.

It's a wonderful thing to have a good dinner. But we have to realize that it is seeking this feeling night after night that leads to vast overconsumption of carbs and fats right at the time our bodies do the least amount of physical activity, meaning all that food mass goes directly into fat storage. (In fact as I type this I can feel that weird prickly feeling in my love handles that means a new layer of fat is getting laid down right now)

One of the biggest gifts of the PCP is learning that this feeling is nice but absolutely non-essential for wellness. There is more to life than being fat and happy at 10 pm. The other 16 hours of your awake life improve dramatically as a result of tamping down the night eating. Unfortunately the evening is when our fatigue is highest and our willpower is weakest, so no one ever gets to feel the effects of not eating so much after sunset.

Well, you can take it from me, Corry, David, and Sean, it's worth the trade off to wake up bursting with enough energy, motivation and ideas to get you through the whole day.

Day 90, Finished! Kind of...

Well, I never thought I'd see day 90. But here it is. And I can honestly say that I've reached Peak Condition.

Cardio is awesome. I can run as much as I want without getting winded, take the stairs three at a time at the station, and do multiple sets of pretty much any exercise you put in front of me, and double jump the rope until the cows come home.


Physique is right there for you to see. If you haven't looked at Day one or two for a while check out what a difference 90 days can make.


Coordination is fantastic. I can do all kinds of jumprope tricks, block punches and kicks more quickly, execute asana better than ever, and spin the 'chuks with precision.



Balance is great. My center of gravity changed a little bit when I lost all that weight, which threw off my balance for a few weeks, but I've got it recalibrated now. With my body in this condition I can keep my skeletal structure in any position I choose, including this one.


Flexibility is superior, my back and hamstrings are open like never before. My tendons are also working more independently from their attaching muscles (don't worry if that didn't make sense to you, it's only stretch otaku like me who care about that kind of stuff) I'm still spending a lot of time on the groin but I should be at that hanging side split before the PCP ends July 23. More info on my secret technique coming later this week) I achieved front splits only a month into the project but am not totally satisfied with them.



I talked to Chen a lot this week, and we've both decided that this is kind of a stopping point. It's almost sad to say it, but I'm pretty much finished with the training aspect of the PCP. By the way, here's what a usual meeting of the minds looks like:


Of course I'll maintain this condition until the full term of the project, but I don't want to get any stronger and I can't lose any more fat safely.

So, this is pretty much it. Not much next to Bruce Lee but pretty good for Patrick Reynolds!

And it was all done without a single dumbell, gym machine, protein powder, or any other gimmick people try so hard to sell us. Just a jumprope, a resistance band, two chairs, my own bodyweight, and a bunch of eggs.

So, where do we go from here? I'm going to spend the last month of my Project learning and teaching everyone how to make the principles of the PCP work in a regular life, without measuring your grams or keeping a rigid workout routine. In short, I'm going to figure out how to make The Peak Condition Project sustainable.

I'll still do the daily blog until July 23, but I think I'll switch to weekly pictures, since not much will be changing on me from here on out.

Thanks to everyone for your love and support. If this project has taught me anything it's that we are not stuck in our ruts, routines, and roles. I can only hope that one day I will be able to help you change your own life for the better.

So, see you in tomorrow's blog! Phase 3 begins!

Day 89, More Shorts

Yesterday I wanted to buy some new shorts, because I was tired of my old ones falling off me. But I was having a lot of trouble. Somewhere along the way we've lost the "short" in shorts. Everything I was finding looked like this:


I think these baggy shorts styles look pretty stupid, especially if like me you don't have long legs. You can end up looking like Frodo Baggins in his hobbity half-pants:


But finally I found some pairs that actually fit me, didn't flare out like parachutes, and left enough room for high kicks. It was a relief to feel them sit snugly on my hips without a hint of sliding down. Here they are!



And where did I find these great shorts? Well, I happen to have the tag here in my pocket...

Here's my secret...

Ha ha, the kids section strikes again. What can I say? They're the only ones that fit. Plus kids stuff is cheap, and they actually have a straight cut for kids' little stick legs. If you're thinking I'm barely squeezing into these or that I too have become a stick figure, here's a look at the waistband.

The Peak Condition Project works.

Tomorrow big news coming! Thanks to everyone for reading and sorry for posting so many pictures of myself lately. I'm really not a narcissist, I just can't believe how much my body could change and I just want to show everyone that it actually happened!

Day 88, Strength = Flexibility

There is this huge myth out there that as you get stronger you have to trade in flexibility. I think in the back of our minds we have the image of the strongmen whose bulging muscles make them move like automatons at Epcot Center.

Well, I'm here to tell you that belief is false and doesn't make any sense anyway. Here's the proof that it's false:


As I've gotten stronger with the PCP I've been amazed that my yoga practice has improved as much as my physical strength. They've gotten better in lockstep. Here's why this makes sense.

A stretch doesn't ever happen with just one muscle. If a solitary muscle were just floating through empty space (there's a weird image for you) it would of course be impossible for it to stretch. Every stretch requires two muscles working across a joint. So, in the case of the above picture, I say something like, "I'm stretching out my hamstrings" but what's really happening is "I'm stretching my hamstrings by rotating my pelvis to pull up on them while my stationary legs act as a grounding force, with the arms adding additional stability." I wouldn't get through many yoga classes talking like that though (although it's not a bad idea).

So, we have one muscle pulling on another one across a connective joint. Now let's say through some training you make that muscle stronger. Guess what? The next time you do that stretch it will feel deeper, simply because you have more raw pulling power. It's like having an extra person give you a hand as you deepen your pose.

Then why do those bodybuilders move like that? Simply because they don't stretch enough. As you gain muscle, you are actually shortening the muscle fibers. Over time you'll get nice and pumped, but if you don't spend some time each day stretching deeply, you'll also get rigid and tight.

So strength training needs to be matched with flexibility training. But most people just don't know how to stretch properly and end up doing some half assed standing leg stretches for 5 mins before hitting the iron. This is one reason I make my videos, to educate people on the principles of stretching, not just the form.

Why is it important to be flexible? You can think of flexibility as the lubrication in an engine. Without it, no matter how powerful, the engine just won't work well and will break down quickly. Having open, flexible joints and connective tissue allows you to avoid injuries and heal them faster if you happen to get one. Circulation improves, and your body can deliver antibodies and endorphins where they need to go more efficiently.

Not to mention the fact that a flexible body does what you want it to do. You are able to place your skeletal system just where you want it, without having to fight internal forces and frictions. This is an invaluable asset if you are playing a sport or studying a martial art, and makes daily life much more pleasant.

There is so much information online about stretches and yoga, there's no excuse not to give it a try. You'll be amazed at the ability of your body to rebound even after years of inactivity.

As for my stretching, I am deep into my secret technique to accomplish hanging side splits. It's pretty crazy stuff, and I can't wait to share it with you all once I've managed a version that satisfies me.

Until then, have you done a backbend today? You gotta do those, everybody. How many hours a day do you spend with your spine curving towards a screen, a meal, a steering wheel, or a newspaper? All that forward bending deserves at least a few minutes in the opposite direction everyday. This isn't rocket science people!

Day 87, Daily Photo FAQs

If you've been reading my blog I'm sure you've also browsed through the Flickr stream on the right side up there. I thought I'd address some questions that have come up about the photos.

1. Why do you do the same pose every day?
I thought it would be the easiest way to see what's really changing. Plus, when it's all over I'm going to make a time-lapse movie and we can all see the transformation happen in just a few seconds.

2. Some days you look bigger and stronger than other days that come after them. What's up with that?
A few things. Sometimes it's just a matter of lighting. When I take the photo at night (due to a one-off scheduling conflict) I turn on the overhead lights. Those cast a lot of shadows which make the muscles look more defined.

Other times I take the picture after a tough workout and my muscles are pumped up a little bit. Some days I'm forced to take the photo "cold".

And lastly, I'm still not very good at flexing. Before the PCP I thought bodybuilding competitions were kind of a joke, but now I know how hard it is to make certain muscles flex at the right amount for best effect. Some days I get a good one, others, I totally mess it up and look weaker as a result.

oops, screwed another one up...

I try to throw in some photos from other angles in the blog so people can get a better idea of my progress.

3. How do you feel when you look back at the earlier daily photos?
It's weird, I look at those pictures and I totally remember thinking, "damn, you're looking pretty good there Patrick." I didn't really give much thought to improving my physique.

I was watching a Bruce Lee clip one day and it just occurred to me. "You don't look anything like that. You act like you're in good shape but you still suck your gut in when you go surfing. If you keep fooling yourself like this you're going to wake up a 45 year old man with a beer belly and jowls and it'll be too late." And I just decided to change. It was like, a 5 second process.

So I hope this sheds some light on the photo taking process. It's actually quite a deep topic. Everyday we see pictures of fit, beautiful people selling us stuff. The Daily Photo has made me realize that what we're actually viewing is the following:

• Winners of the genetic jackpot

• who are paid to spend hours a day on their appearance and physique

• in a picture taken by a professional, with the best cameras, make-up, and lighting available

• and the picture we see is the very best out of hundreds taken at that one shoot.

We all know this intellectually but we still see the image and compare ourselves to it, and find ourselves wanting. It's a pretty insane situation but something in human nature just can't help it I guess.

But try to remember it the next time you see something like this.