Another week has flown by and I feel I’m getting the hang of it.  I have been able to get into a routine somewhat and really seem to be cruising along.  I don’t think it has gotten any easier per say but I do know what I am doing and kinda operate on auto-pilot.  I am closing in on half way and feel like I have hit a plateau and need to figure out how to get past it.

A plateau can be a frustrating and discouraging place to be.  I find myself wanting to really overeat the things that are good for me to eat.  I no longer struggle to find things to eat, I struggle not to go overboard on eating them.  It is true when it comes to food you can have to much of a good thing.  For me that would be Blue Bell no sugar added Vanilla ice-cream and sugar free cinnamon graham crackers.  I guess I kinda got lazy sticking to the 3 meals and 2 snacks and have gone back to the 3 big meals.  The results I have seen made me a little complacent and not as diligent as when I first started.

So back to the basics, get refocused, get back to my goals and my plan.  I need to remind myself of my motivation and that it is to be healthier and be around for a long, long, time.  I love that I have more energy, feel better, have gone down a size in my clothes.  But more than that I am stewarding what God has given me better and am loving doing more things with my amazing, beautiful wife and my incredible kids.

So back to my meal plan, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.  And I need to take my exercise plan to the next level and that is to include weights.  So far my 30 minutes of walking has become pretty easy and I need to take it up a notch.  I don’t like running so really not interested in that.  I am thinking about playing some basketball, it is a lot of fun and great exercise.  Despite the last name Duncan I am not that good but it is fun to play. 

How is everyone doing?  Any struggles or challenges?  What are some of the things you are doing?  What are some of your tips?  What is working for you and what is not working?  What have you found that works as far as food and exercise?  Remember we are all in this together!

Hang in there!!

Wow, it has been a while since my last blog.  Sorry about that I can’t believe it has gone by so fast.  I have good news and bad news.  Well the good news first, I am wearing clothes I have not been able to wear before, Ever!  Forget about the clothes I have outgrown, why wear a constant reminder that I had not taken care of myself.  I want the new stuff, the reward.  So I strategically had bought clothes too small over the years just in case I ever needed to make a lifestyle change.  Just kidding!  The dilemma is my clothes before the change had been getting tight, I was squeezing into clothes too tight.  Now I have the same dilemma, dropping down a size and squeezing into clothes too tight, just a size less.  I’ll take it.  You know the clothes we all have in our closet that we keep as “Goal Clothes”.  Well that motivation never really worked for me.  In fact over the years I have accumulated “Goal Clothes” along the way that if I could ever get down to those sizes people would think I had been on a 40 day fast living on love and manna.

It has been a big boost to be able to put on clothes for the first time I haven’t been able to fit in.  In my excitement though I left the house Tuesday morning headed to Granzin’s restaurant for my small group with my trusted sidekick Pastor Luke and forgot to take all the tags off.  Pastor Luke alertly noticed that on the back of one of my legs was still the clear 12 inch long sticker placed on jeans to tell the size.  Now if it would have been an advertisement for Tree of Life Church not so bad, but when it has the size of your waist not so good.  I am just glad my waist has stopped trying to catch up to my age.  The thing that has really helped all this happen is not making weight my goal but making healthier choices.  It works!

Ok now for the bad news, I may need to buy some new clothes.  I know some of you ladies may be saying, “So what’s the bad news?  Keep in mind one of my goals in life is to stay out of malls.  The last time I had to was Valentines Day, the actual day itself.  In true Don Duncan fashion I joined thousands of other clueless men on a frightening journey to find that perfect, last minute gift (is there such a thing).  It was like a herd of Wildebeasts running for no apparent reason in no apparent direction.  And yet we knew we all had to cross that dangerous, merciless river full of man-eating, aggressive, and hungry Nile Crocodiles we like to call make-up and perfume counter workers.  I saw many a brave man fall that day. 

In order to be able to get the new clothes needed I will be starting a 90 day challenge having to do with finances.  It’s a good thing I am teaching on faith!  Just kidding we are already doing that, stewarding our finances in line with God’s Word.  There is always room for improvement of course and we have already seen a difference in eating at home more often instead of out.  It really saves money and we spend a lot of meals together as a family.  If I can learn to not eat out, eat less, and eat vegetables maybe I can learn to like the mall?  Who am I kidding, talk about faith to move mountains.

Don’t forget this Sunday we are having free health screening in the Gathering Place.  You will be able to get a card and put your name on it.  Then go to each of the 4 stations:  weight, blood pressure/pulse, body mass index, and blood sugar.  I hope lots of people take advantage of this free opportunity to find out where they are at.  We are truly blessed to have so many health care professionals come out and volunteer their time and even the equipment and supplies.  I am strongly urging the staff to do it and again hope you will to.

Thanks again for all your support and encouragement!  Jessamy, Cali, Camry and I really appreciate and love you all!  Keep going, don’t quit, we are in this together!

So how is it going?  So far so good?  I gotta say I am seeing some results from more energy, less fatigue, and loose fitting clothes.  On top of all that I have found some great things to eat that I actually like and miss exercising when I don’t.  Is there something wrong with me or is that just how it works?  I should have done this a long time ago.  Never the less here I am.

What a weekend though, it was not easy to make good choices.  Friday night Jessamy and I went to the Spurs game,  they lost!   LeBron James put on a show.  Not only was the game torture but being around all the great, wonderful, and heavenly food was torture.  Foot long chili dogs, jumbo size nachos covered in cheese from a can, cotton candy that when you ask the flavor the response is a color - I love that!  The good thing was we were high enough up the vendors didn’t want to make the trip.  I don’t blame them the air is thin at that altitude.  The hardest part really was that I am a comfort eater and after that blowout I was ready to find a buffet.  Fortunately Ryan’s isn’t open that late.

Jessamy spent alot of time at the grocery store reading labels to find the good choices and they are out there.  It takes a little effort to get going but well worth it.  Also Sarah has lots of great info on menus etc…  We have found that some things seem to cost more but  eating at home is easier, saves us money, and has increased our family time together.  Remember that we are making a lifestyle change and that takes time.  Take it slow and steady.  We are in this for the long haul.

So far so good, stay strong!

So I am sitting at my desk trying not to think about how hungry I am.  No luck it’s all I am thinking about.  I have already eaten my healthy breakfast (2 eggs, 2 strips of turkey bacon), my mid-morning snack (cheese stick), my lunch (grilled chicken breast and steamed vegetables), and my mid-afternoon snack.  And yet I am still hungry.  I do have to say that it hasn’t been that way everyday, it just seems to be that way today.  Having those 2 snacks have really helped me be satisfied especially with watching my portion size during meals.  Making a healthy choice is getting easier now since we are educating ourselves and finding some better options and actually stuff I like (which I never thought I would).  The challenge has been not to gorge myself on the stuff I have found that I like.

Make sure that you stick with the plan.  I hope you have a plan, if not you won’t make it.  Even the best of intentions are doomed to failure without a plan.  It is worth it, it works!  I have already seen and felt a difference.  I do have more energy, in fact the other day my daughter Cali and I went out in the back yard and played catch for a while.  We are getting ready for softball and need to spend some time outdoors throwing, catching, and hitting.  I can feel a difference with my energy level.  I know I am not making this about weight but I can see and feel my clothes fitting a little looser.  I am almost ready to try on those clothes hanging in my closet that still have the tags on that I bought and were too tight but decided to keep them thinking that would be good motivation to get in shape.  Wrong!  It never worked.  But now with the right motivation and a good plan and support system things are actually happening.  And by the way, thank the Lord for sugar free fudgecicles!!

Thanks guys for taking the challenge.  Keep going, you can do it!

Ok, so walking into the gym is quite the experience.  I gotta say it can be really intimidating.  All these machines and they seem so high tech you don’t know what to do.  What happened to the bike that had a front tire that looked like a fan?  I walked by the rows of treadmills with acomputer attached to it, I didn’t even know what to do or how to start it until someone pointed out the quickstart button.  I thought wait a minute I want to start slow, really slow not quick.  

Jessamy and I go together which is great.  She likes to try and find 2 treadmills together so we can talk while we walk.  I know, I know, how nice except that usually after about five minutes I can hardly catch my breath to breathe much less talk.  I have a lot of work to do.  But it is rare to find 2 together, sometimes it is a challenge to find 1 open.   I’ve tried the well they are all taken might as well go home.  It didn’t work, Jessamy is tough!  Sometimes I want to go upto people that look like Mr. and Ms. America and say c’mon like you guys really need this, how bout letting me have it. 

So 2 miles in 30 minutes is what Iam doing right now.  The secret I found out is to watch the giant flat screens mounted on the wall so my body may be firming up but my mind is still mush.  I won’t even get on a treadmill unless it is by a tv that has espn on it.  It does make time go by faster which is better than staring at the clock or my watch where time seems to stand still while exercising. 

I had an exciting walk on the treadmill the other day at the gym.  I found an open treadmill next to the tv with espn on it.  The only problem was I forgot my headphones so I was unable to hear what was being said.  I thought no problem, I will just read what crawls across the bottom of the screen.  Sounded good, made sense to me.  The problem I found however was that if you are looking up and to the right and not focused on what you are doing you tend to drift to the right as you walk.  It didn’t take long before I found myself drifting.  While stepping forward with my right foot I set it down half on the treadmill’s rapidly moving belt, and half on the part that doesn’t move at all. 

What happened next was one of the most amazing feats of stretching one may ever see at the gym.  My hope was that everyone was so focused on their workout that they didn’t notice.  That might have actually been the case had it not been for my yelling “whoa” loudly with what little oxygen I had left in me.  Unfortunately it was loud enough to even be heard over all the headphones connected to loud adrenaline pumping, heart pounding music.  And still I press on!  Remember you don’t have to join a gym to walk, just do something and start somewhere.

Keep going, don’t quit!  Take everything 1 day at a time.

We all would agree it’s time for a change, it’s time to make a plan.  No more procrastination, no more putting off what we know we need to be doing.  For far to long we have been living by the theme song, “tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya tomorrow, you’re only a day away.”   No one really looks forward to making a lifestyle change but we all knowit is long overdue.  Tomorrow begins today!

Get out a piece of paper and  set some goals.  Start simple, something that is not unrealistic but something that you can start doing.  Don’t make it all about weight but include that if you like, just don’t let that be what drives you.  I started my change 1 week ago but I didn’t put a weight goal on it.  I’ve done that before and it never has worked for long so I am in it for completely different reasons. 

I began my challenge 1 week ago so I could get ahead start and write about it as you begin your challenge.  I have set goals like exercising at least 30 minutes a day for at least 4 days a week.  So far so good, I have been walking.  Another goal is cutting down on my portion size (Jessamy is really helping with this one) and eating 3 meals a day and 2 snacks, mid morning and mid afternoon.  Again, so far so good although I have had some challenges with my schedule and eating out can be tricky.

Everyone here at home is helping, even my kids.  The other day I asked Camry for a bite of  her mashed potatoes and she immediately turned to Jessamy and told on me.  I am watching my starches and sugars.  The good thing is that during the 21 days of prayer and fasting I gave up sodas and most sweets so that is not too bad, but  I love my starches. 

I have had to look at what I can eat instead of looking at what I can’t eat and that has made the difference.  There are 2 things that are really helping me, one is educating myself on what I should eat and what I shouldn’t and why,  the other is support.  Support from my family and support from many of you who told me you were taking the challenge also.

Keep up with the info on the website and ask questions, lots and lots of questions.  Make sure that you get some support, you can’t do it alone.  Let’s keep up with how things are going and do this together.  Tell me your challenges, tips, ideas, and even when you blow it.  We can do this together!  Start by emailing me and letting me know you are on board and taking the challenge.  Along the way we will schedule a get together or 2 to connect and see how everyone is doing.  Keep checking the website and the blog for updates and new information. 

Take the challenge!