dunc3862’s BodyBlog

I was in New York for the weekend with my wife and daughter, along with our "danish daughter", to celebrate my daughters 13th birthday, so I did not get to weigh in.  I veered off course on a couple of meals, but didn’t get into the ditch!  We walked our rearends off, that is for sure.  I did miss two workouts due to the trip, but it was worth it for my daughter to feel special and set apart.  The weight I have lost made a huge difference in my energy levels as well as my enjoyment of the trip.

Here are the weights for my Dad and Bro’s:

Dad was down .8 for a new total of 52.8 lbs.; Matthew was down 4.4 lbs. for a new total of 63 lbs.; and Mark got it back on track with a 4.0 lbs. loss for a new total of 41 lbs.  Bear in mind that Dad and Mark have to loose 65 lbs. and Matthew and I have to loose 114 lbs. by July 1st, 2008.

Well…week 17 totals are in, and here is the verdict for the Duncan boys.

-Dad was down another 1.6 lbs. for a new total of 52 lbs.  He is just 13 lbs. from his goal of 65 lbs.  Dad is walking VERY briskly every night about 3 - miles and has now added some wrist weights as he walks and does all of the funky  arm movements that he does.  I think he has even stopped smoking his cigar while he walks…that is a big step!

-I was down 3.8 lbs. for a new 17 week total of 42 lbs. on the money. It is obvious that my body has responded well to the reduction of points.  Swimming a mile 3 x this week plus 3 x kb workouts certainly doesn’t hurt either.  Matthew and I also got out for a singles tennis match this week as well.

-Matthew was down another 1.2 lbs. for a new total of 58.6 lbs.  He is now starting to run a little, and is debating the Music City marathon in April to be his training goal.  Matthew has perfectly straight legs that look like pillars of muscle, so running is a joy for him.  (My ole knock knee, pigeon toed, ankle turn in legs would break into pcs. if I ran any distance.)

-Mark has started lifting weights again, so he will most likely have some time as his body makes some adjustments.  He put on .8 lbs. for a 17 week total of 37 lbs.  He will be fine making he goal of a 65 lbs. loss. Mark is 32, so he can afford to experiment a little on getting off the last 28 lbs. of his weight.

I also posted some new progress pics.  My 11 year old took the pics, and did a pretty good job.  A picture sure does tell the truth…gotta a long way to go.  But I will continue to "discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached, I will not be disqualified!" 1 Corinthians 9:27  There is a paradox of life that I am continually learning in my life…that you must die to live.  Isn’t it interesting that God made it so that we feel as if we have the most freedom in our lives when we are the most disciplined.  And that when we live as the world tells us with reckless abandonment, and a do want you want make yourself attitude, that we feel the most out of control and boxed in…A little food for thought as we all go into this new week.

In His Grip,

David

I am excited about the weigh-in tomorrow morning! I have stuck to the reduced WW points since I started Tuesday with the lower points.  And I have swam 3 x this week a mile each time.  Got my time down to 39 minutes for 36 laps with no rest.  Will knock out my 3rd KB workout tonight.  Will post update in the morning on the Duncan boys.

Okay, my little brother did show up last night, but my w\o partner intervened and directed him to do a traditional Body for Life upper body workout with my other buddy that was there.  He helped mediate the two ego filled brothers so that no one got hurt.  I have been doing kettlebells for almost a year now, and it wouldn’t be safe for Mark to come in there first time and attempt to do a full scale hard core kb workout.  But Mark got to see me do one, so he now agrees kb’s are not the reason I am not loosing more scale weight.  (I burned 640 calories in 38 minutes of work.)  But we did have a round table discussion about my weight loss, and the "board" agreed that I need to be stricter in my eating.  That is, I need to reduce my point intake some from the amount WW allows me to have.  And they agree I need to clean it up to be very strict for a month or so to get some real momentum going.  (My workout partner did 4 BFL challenges with me in one year, and he and both remember that my body is very stingy when it comes to shedding weight.  On two of the 4 12 week challenges I only lost 10 lbs.)  There is just no margin for error on my food.  I must maintain a 2 lbs. per week loss in order to make the goal of 114.5 lbs. loss by July 1 of next year…If I don’t it will cost 23 people a trip of a lifetime!  I have to kick in into high gear!

Got in a one mile swim yesterday, took me 40:05.  Have a golf tourney this morning and then I’ll do KB’s tonight at my workout partners house.  My youngest brother is planning on coming to give kb’s a try.  We got a little heated up yesterday over our "programs"… so tonight he will come and match me in one of my kb workouts.  After he does it, hopefully he will appreciate the fact that KB’s are a little harder and more of a cardio type workout than he is giving is credit for.  The general consensus with my bro’s and dad is that I need to quite KB’s because they are "keeping" me from loosing weight.  They believe I am focusing too much on building muscle instead of loosing scale weight.  I have tried to explain that the muscle will help me burn fat, and that more importantly, kb’s only builds lean muscle, not bulky muscle like body building.  Thus helping my body become more effecient in burning fat.  I will admit though that my body is very stubborn on shedding weight…we all thought that I would be ahead of Matthew on the scale, but that has not been the case.  Anyway, it is a fact that I must maintain a 2 lbs. weekly loss until July 1st of next year to make my goal weight and keep from costing my entire extended family an all expense paid trip to Italy and a cruise!!!  (Read my first blogs to find out the details!!!)  

I just want us all to work harder on supporting each other instead of talking negative about each other!  That being said, I will get my youngest brother (who is 7 years my junior) to puke in a bucket if he can make it through my KB workout tonight!!!!

Dad lost 4 lbs. since the weigh-in 2 weeks ago for a total of 50.6 lbs.  He is only 15 lbs. from his goal of a 65 lbs. loss. I lost 2.6 lbs. for a total of 38.2 lbs. Matthew lost 4 lbs. over the last 2 weeks for a new total of 56.4 lbs. and Mark (after a great week last week) put on .2 of a lbs. making his total 37.8 lbs.

My dad now admits that once he reaches his goal weight he will need to start eating healthier to get some muscle tone and overall strength back.  He has obviously undernourished himself over the last 4 months.   And it is a fact that the first thing your body will eat up when underfed is muscle.  And as I have been arguing my point when my ENTIRE family says I should cut out the Kettlebells, muscle weighs more than fat, so if you are not eating enough, you will loose on the scale quicker.  My loss is not as great as it would have been, because my brothers convinced me to start taking my free day from work outs on Saturday so that I am not working out before I weigh-in.  This does make sense to ensure a true scale weight.  Therefore, there is about a 2-3 lbs. difference that I had to suck up on this weigh-in to get on track with not working out before a weigh-in.  I am switching my Saturday work-outs to Sunday.

I am going to stick to my KB’s and swimming.  If I get to May 1st and I am not on track, then I may have to make some adjustments.  But as I continue to loose body fat, my body will become more and more efficient in burning fat due to increased lean muscle.  So I am not willing at this point to sacrifice feeling strong and healthy with slower scale weight loss, for the quick scale drops that come from loosing muscle tone.  I will continue to follow my trainers advice.  Speaking of my trainer….for all you KB guys out there or any normal weight lifting dudes for that matter.  He just did 18 sets of one arm C&P with a 75 lbs. KB for 5 reps per arm!!!!!  Give that a try.

Have a great week, and remember to discipline your body and make it your slave!  Corinthians 9:24-27

My weight is finally moving nicely again…I am looking forward to a good weigh in this week.  Sticking to the KB’s 3 x week, and swimming 3 x week.  I am not in the least concerned about not making my weight goal by next July, but I certainly am glad to see the scale moving again.

Dad, Matthew, and I didn’t get to weigh in this week due to a member guest golf tourney in Charleston, SC. But we did eat clean the whole 4 days of the tournament, which I must say was difficult at times.  Mark weighed though, and made a strong comeback from the previous weeks gain, and took off 4.8 lbs. for a new total of 38 lbs.

I do not have any overnight trips planned for the next few weeks, so I hope to make some real progress.  I am starting my 12 kettlebell cycle over today.  The first 4 weeks has a lot of turkish get-ups…I hate 4 sets of 5 getups!!!  I will be posting new pics and weigh in information next week for week 16.  Have a great week!