4 Weeks and Still Cinching

     Well, Cortney gave me quite the push on Facebook this weekend.  It's not that I didn't want to update our blog, it's just been crazy busy!....So, our results are pretty good...We feel great, not hungry and to date... well you'll just have to read to find out!  (If I had known that Steve was journaling his feelings each week, I would've done this a lot sooner.)  Getting his notes was the hardest part and then I see that he has journaled each week and put me to shame on that front.  

August 27, 2012-Steve 

     Week two was harder than I expected. My attitude was good at the first of the week but I easily got discouraged because of the engagements that I had to attend.  I had a big luncheon and tour of my facility by 20+ customers on Wednesday and we fed those catfish, hush puppies, fried okra, slaw and banana pudding.  I did partake.  I got only 2 days of exercise in.  I did drink my shakes every morning and took my supplements.  Some nights I had light dinner and a couple of nights I just had my protein shake.  Saturday night was the killer.  My mother in laws 70^th birthday party was at our house and everybody came over.  We ate healthy for the most part, but let me say Mamie’s chocolate cake w ice cream was too hard to turn down. CRAP!!

     Need less to say, my weigh in Sunday morning was scary to say the least.  Well, good news and bad news.  Bad news is I didn’t lose any weight.  Good news is that I didn’t gain any either and I survived a very tough week.  I am back on the wagon again.  I have learned from this past week is that even though you are not perfect and never will be, I can still get back on the horse each day and try to do the best I can.  Again, I am not on a diet and I am not running a sprint.  I am trying to change my bad habits and you just can’t do that in a week.  Wish me luck this week.

 

September 3^rd, 2012-Happy Labor Day, What Labor Day. -Steve

Well, WHAT IS GOING ON????

I know that I have been cutting down on my eating and I worked out more this week than last week and I have gained 3 lbs.  I am back up to 270.  I feel that I might have something wrong with my body.  It has never taken this long for me to see real results and I am a guy so I should be able to shed some weight.  Is my body changing?  Is there something else going on in my body that could be keeping me from losing.  I have to admit, we did have two nights where we were weak but could that have been the reason for the weight gain?    TV is so influential.  It is so bad for me late at night.  Friday night Renee and I watched a Krystal commercial and the next thing you know we are headed to Collierville to the closest one.  12 for only $7.99.  Sounds like a bargain.  Renee had 4 and I had the rest, though I did not eat the top of the bun on the last two.  Will power right?  Exercising MAKES ME HUNGRY!!!!!!  Saturday night we had Lindsay and Adam over to play cards and ordered Pizza.  How can something so good be so wrong.  I guess I am lucky I only gained 3 lbs.  Pray for me.  I have been much better the last 2 days.  No one came over for Labor Day, which is usually a party day, and so we roasted a turkey, had veggies on the side.  Spent today cleaning out all the cabinets of all old and fatty foods and snacks that were still there.  I have to quit sabotaging myself.  I took my cinch bracelet off because I was ashamed to wear it.  I will not give up on myself.  I do want to be happy and healthy again.  Don’t give up on me. I was in such a deep barrel, it is going to take longer than I expected.

 

Note from Renee':  Okay, there's nothing worse than getting "busted out" by your sweet hubby about what you ate.  You have to realize I was really down.  I had been sick for 4 freakin' weeks!  First, it was just a sinus infection, then both ears got infected after all the smoke in Vegas , I couldn't even hear right for 2 weeks after we got home and then add Bronchitus and fluid on my lung.  I was scared it was going into pneumonia and I was trying to do the Cinch Program this whole time....No excuses right!  Then, I woke up that day and found out that after two rounds of antibiotics, steroids and shots that I GOT A FREAKIN' YEAST INFECTION AND THRUSH!  Have you ever had Thrush?!!! It sucks!  So, you understand,  I had to eat Krystal and Pizza and you would've too!  It was strictly for medicinal purposes only.  It was eat that or kill somebody!  Oh, and don't forget I gave up Diet Cokes about 3 months ago too.  And I haven't had any chocolate fun in quite a while. (except Cinch Chocolate Shakes and bars--they're good, just not the same as real chocolate fun).  I deserve a medal!  I'm still sane and I haven't killed anybody yet.

Note from Renee' about Steve "dejunking" the kitchen:   I came in from playing with Kate and Luke in the pool to find this!  Whaaat are you doing?  He said he was "dejunking" the kitchen.  So, I just nodded and kept walking!  Then, it turned into this! Wow! It's nice when you've been married 31 years (as of next Saturday) and you know when to keep your mouth shut.

Now when you see our Shaklee vitamins, just know that I have been taking these vitamins for 20 years and I don't take all of those all the time. There are different vitamins for different problems. If I'm feeling stressed, I take 4 B Complex and in an hour, I'm very happy and calm. If I'm feeling allergies or pain I take Alfalfa. When it's time for bed I take Osteomatrix and Lecithin to help me sleep and help back or muscle spasms. If I feel a cold coming on I take extra Vitamin C, Zinc, Garlic, Immunity I, and Defend & Resist. If I do that right away, I usually can ward off anything. For everyday, I just take the Cinch 3&1 Boost and my night-time stuff I just mentioned and maybe joint health if any joints hurt from excercising too much.   Now some of you know how sick I have been for the past month.  And, I know what you're thinking.(shame on you)....if she was taking all that how could she get sick?  Well, I didn't take it when it first came on and I was focused on the weight loss part and realized later what I did wrong.  I just was trying to keep Steve and I on track and didn't do what I normally do when I felt it coming on.  So, note to self, I am never doing that again!

 

      Does anyone else have a husband who is so wonderful to clean out the kitchen cabinets!  (Don't get me wrong, it drove me a little crazy because some items sat on the counter for 3 days!)  But that old adage of letting someone do things their way was of utmost importance here.  I'm not a freak about the cabinets but it bothers Steve when he opens the cubbards and sees "stuff".  His mind has to have it orderly and I figured that if it helps him not snack, what the heck.  He threw out things I never would have, a whole big black garbage bag full of "stuff".  I just kept blinders on whenever I walked through the kitchen and when he was through, (3 days later, UGH!),  I was very grateful.  Simple and clean and no junk!  Boring, but good.

 

Riding Bikes = Excercise

 

     I know I look a mess in this picture (that helmut strap looks like it's gasping for air-"let me out, let me out, I'm being drowned by chubby cheeks"!) but I am so proud to be able to ride a bike again.  We LOVE riding bikes at the Wolf River Trails.  (After a bad fall, I fractured my back ten years ago, Shaklee helped me heal completely, seriously, and I thought I was gonna be crippled for the rest of my life.  I had two spinal blocks and pain meds, p.t., etc. etc. and after 2 1/2 years of Campbell Clinic I went back to my Shaklee lady and within 30 days I was feeling 70% better and within a year I was completely healed.  I never thought I would be able to ride a bike again.)  It is so invigorating!  I think it was still 100 degrees the day we went but it was wonderful!

      

     I was conqueror of the trees this time because  I distinctly recognized the one that I hit the last time.  Small tree, small victories.  Maybe next time I'll conquer the sand and that hill that takes me by surprise every time.  We've only done these particular trails twice, but I love them.  They run right by the Wolf River and it's so wooded and serene.  I just put in my Pandora Radio, Sara Barielles, and my one ear bug so I can hear Steve call out the turns and which side of the rut to go on.  It is truly bliss!  We also love the green line and riding all over Shelby Farms.  We been trying to get up to 15 miles.

 

September 9, 2012-Steve 

It is Sunday evening and all is quiet around the house.  Today was weigh in day and so I did. But before I tell you about that, I had been weighing myself during the week cause I have really been good this week.  Better than the last two weeks so that’s a plus, right?  I was at church at an activity and was driving off when my son in law Ben started talking to me.  I let out a big frustration sigh because I haven’t lost much more.  He said that he is going to quit the scales for awhile.  This style of living, The Cinch way, is unlike any other diet.  When I would go on Weight Watchers or any other diet,  I would loose quickly because I not only was losing fat, but also I was losing muscle.  Ding Ding Ding Ding.!!!!!!!!!!  A bell went off in my head.  Having my shakes, protein bars and taking supplements, I haven’t felt weak once.  I feel just as strong if not stronger as I did a month ago.  In the past, I would have lost 15-20 lbs. in a month but would be very fidgety and weak.  Luckily Renee and I measured ourselves a few weeks ago and I HAVE LOST 4 INCHES IN MY WAIST AND 2 INCHES IN MY CHEST.  Can you believe it????  These are my trouble areas.  I have lost 2 lbs and back down to 268 but I have lost inches.  I do feel the difference but it didn’t register until Ben (Dr. Boston) explained that to me.  I have had results and something is happening to my body.  If I can continue to lose inches, the weight will eventually come off.  I am so excited.  I have put my cinch “I COMMITT” bracelet back on and am wearing it proudly.

 

Note from Renee':  Steve's results were great right?  Six inches in 4 weeks and 7 pounds.  His challenges are difficult.  Having to eat out everyday is very hard but you can eat healthy most everywhere you go.  However, one of his customers brought 3 dozen doughnuts by the office today.  He put one in his mouth, chewed it up and then spit it out.  I don't know how many calories that is but he's making better choices each week and so am I.   We aren't perfect at it but we are very much aware of how much we were eating.  

     Okay, drumroll,.....my results were great too!  I've lost 9.5 pounds and 11.5 inches all over.  That's almost a foot less of me!  If I can do that being sick just wait until I feel back to normal and lose this cough.  I'm doing that video "Brazilian Butt Lift" and I'm very hopeful, ha,ha.  The guy on there is a freak but he makes me laugh.  Especially with his accent and he sweats like a pig, but so do I trying to do what he wants us to do.  Ask me to show you the Ipenama move next time I see you, it's hilarious and it hurts, so it must work, right?

     I'm still signed up to do the 5k Color Run, October 10th.  I may not have time to work up my Couch to 5K full run (that takes 6-8 weeks), but for me, just going is a challenge.  I hate crowds of people so this is me conquering more of my hang-ups without using Diet Coke or chocolate as a crutch.  (FYI:  If I want a Diet Coke I'll have one but nothing like I used to.  I've probably had 5 in the last two months.   I'm ashamed to admit that I used to have several every single day.  The Sonic girls loved me.  "Route 44 Diet Coke, easy, easy ice and a cup of ice on the side."  I always left a good tip if they got it right.)  Now, I'm drinking lots more water, Crystal Light or Herb Tea.  I think it also helped that I took the Liver Detox to get rid of chemicals and medication residue in my body.    

     So, that's all for now!  I won't wait so long next time.  Thanks for hanging in there with us and please ask us how we are doing!  Are we wearing our ugly orange Cinch bracelets?  Why haven't we updated our blog?  etc., etc.   

 

 

My Cinch Adventure-by Steve

MY CINCH ADVENTURE

As I venture into week two of my commitment to change my life, not diet, but to overhaul the way I look at myself, the way I look at food and the way that I see how what I put into my body becomes a reflection that tells a story.  And for the past 5 years I didn’t like the way the story was taking me.  

I began Cinch partly while I was at the Convention and all the way after we got home last Sunday.  Before I left, I weighed 275 lbs. This morning, I got on the scale at 267.5.   That is seven and one half pounds in the last 11 days.  

The first week of every diet that I have been on has been of course been the hardest but where I have always seen quick results.  The problem was that by the end of the first week, I was either sick, weak, stressed etc. from denying myself of what I like to do most.  EAT.   Heaven knows how many calories I was consuming when I was eating out of control at all times of the day but mostly at night.

I take customers to lunch daily and so I had a protein shake every morning and took customers to lunch, tweeking my menu choices a bit and had a snack bar and shake for dinner with another snack about 9:00pm. 

I put an app on my smart phone called Livestrong and it helps me keep up with my calorie intake along with exersize.  I have stayed within my 2100 calories this past week and I feel fantastic.  I take Vitalizer Gold every morning and that keeps all my insides at an even keel.   

I remember back when I was a teenager, I went out about every night and would get home late and always, my mom would have a plate of food for me to eat before I went to sleep.  It created a habit within my that still resides to this day.  I cant sleep until my tummy is full.  Breaking that bad habit. 

I was with the youth at my church Wed night and we were playing a game, hold to the rod where we blindfolded the youth and we walked them up to this rope that led them thru different temptations, well I had a water bottle spraying them.  I went up to my son, Josh, which was blindfolded, and sprayed him and he said, hey dad.  I said how do you know it was me? And he said that he could hear me breathing.  That was a aha moment that hit me hard.  I have heard heavy people breathe and now I was doing it.  That has got to stop. 

I have shared information about Shaklee more this week than I ever had.  I do believe in their products and it has made this first week more than tolerable.  I am going into the second week invigorated and feel great, not weak or sick.  Gotta go now and eat a snack, not because I am hungry but because I had a shake this morning, red beans and rice with Caesar salad at Owen Brennans and I still have 1,271 calories left today.  After that I am going to ride my bike because I feel good.  See you next week.

The First Week of Our Cinch Transformation-7 Pounds!

We are wearing our "I Commit Cinch Bracelets" until we lose this weight!   Our first week on the full Cinch Program was very much worth it!    We made sure we had our two shakes a day and sometimes I would fix it at night with a lot of ice so it would be like ice cream and we could eat it with a spoon.  We would sprinkle nuts on the top or a whole grain cereal to give it some crunch, counting the calories and it was really good.  It tasted like ice milk.  One time I used greek yogurt instead of the skim milk and it made the consistency much better.  We counted our calories using our apps ("Fitness Pal" and "Live Strong") on our phones following the Cinch recommendations based on our starting weights and logged in our excercise.  We really didn't know what to expect being that we've done the "shakes" before and did lose a little weight but we were committed to really doing it this time.  We put it on Facebook so we knew everyone would be waiting and watching to see how we would do.  Steve took to heart what Dr. Jaime McManus said, "walk a mile a day" plus he rode his bike on the same day.  We were trying to get at least 7 miles in a week to start off with.  A mile a day is very low for us because we were used to walking/running at least 2 miles plus swimming.  I was sick with a sinus infection, bronchitus and a double ear infection.  (I think the smoke in Vegas did me in).  I wasn't able to work out as I couldn't breathe but I was amazed when I got on the scales Sunday morning and had lost 7 pounds!  Wow! I haven't done that in years!  Today, I began slowly easing back into my excercise routine.  The lady who had the biggest impact on me doing this said she only worked out 30 minutes a day and never did one sit up.  Her BMI was very low, she had abs and she looked great.  Not an ounce of fat anywhere.  I am doing this to be healthy but if I can get my BMI down to normal that would be the greatest achievement I could do for my health. 

Transforming in 2012-2013

        Steve and I just got back from our Shaklee Convention in Vegas and we found out that there is a great way to transform our lives, physically and financially.  I know a lot of you may be thinking, "Ugh", they are just hyped-up on convention propaganda, but we saw some amazing transformations, physically and financially, that happened to everyday people just like us.  We saw a guy who had lost 200 pounds in 8 months and his skin was not flapping everywhere.  He won the $10,000.  We saw a woman who won Extreme Weight Make-Over on T.V. using Shaklee and lost over 150 pounds.  We saw a grandmother lose 100, she won a $1000 and then we saw lots of young/old people who went from various sizes 22 down to a 2 and they did it in a slow, methodical, healthy way.  A friend of mine looked amazing and she didn't even look like she had any weight to lose to begin with.  She only worked out 30 minutes a day and did not do one sit-up!  I don't know if we have enough to lose to win any money but it will nice to try.  You tell your story and then everyone votes on it by text.   I began to believe again that I could do this one last time.  We've tried just about everything and it's kind of a joke with our children.  Oh no, here they go again...

        Why do we want to lose weight?  To be healthy and live so we can have fun with all our family.  Please help encourage us as we embark on this journey of healthier living.  This is very scary to me to be so public about this but our overall goal is to help set a better example of what good healthy living is all about.  We learned that if you make your goals more public that you will be more accountable.  So, that's what we're doing.  Let me know if you want to join us!  This is it!

     More to follow about the financial transformations! 

Our "Why"

And then we had the swimming pool moment..., all these hot, young people (and even older people) and then, Steve said, "let's go join the t-shirt group". We were so tired from all the walking, it took us 20 minutes to get to the convention wing and we walked that 3-5 times a day, that when we got to the lazy river, it felt like rapids. Don't get me wrong, we are not lazy. We have excercised several times a week for a while, but this was different. We are just carrying around way too much extra weight. Imagine 65 pounds of potatoes strapped to your back or 55 pounds of hamburger chugs all over your body. Steve is currently 65 pounds over-weight and on 4 different medications. I am about 55 pounds over weight and we are sick and tired of being that way! Aren't you? Why do we do this to ourselves. We have four beautiful children, 3 sons-in-law, and 4 grand-children that we love with all our hearts!  They are our "WHY".

Our "Before" Pictures

We learned that just because you feel okay doesn't mean you're healthy.  We've become more aware that "Father Time" is catching up with us.  (The pictures of our faces really tell the story better than I can write it.)  We have truly been through an extraordinary educational process about how to lose weight and keep it off.  We know that what we put in our bodies will eventually show up on the outside.  Hence, my insistence for my children to eat their greens.  We understand the importance of excercise and are committed to both what we eat and how we excercise.  We are wearing our "I commit" bracelets until we reach our goals.  We were challenged to check out our BMI (body mass index) and discovered that Steve and I both are obese!  That's when we both found out what the term "shock and awe" really meant.  You know those annoying little insurance charts that tell you what you're supposed to weigh, well they are still the normal weight limits for everyone.  I kept hearing on the news that the average woman in America is a size 14 and so I didn't feel so bad because that's what I am, (or sometimes even a 16-I can't believe I'm telling you this--where is my pride?!!!)  I mean, I think we've known that we've been overweight for a very long while but it was hard to look at it and realize that we can't keep going this way.  It's easy to say, "well, I'm just getting older" or "it runs in my family".

These photos showed us just how far we have to go. No "sucking it in", just the real deal. Steve said his eye was droopy and my cheeks look like bulldog jowls! We won't even talk about my saddlebag syndrome!