Tour De Cinch: Week 11 ~ Randy's Christmas Weight Loss Results ;)

Hello and welcome to Week 11 of the “Tour de Cinch”. Hope you had a great Christmas, I certainly did…I got a new Bible for Christmas that I will use as my “church Bible”. We do the big jumbotron at church as I like to call it like so many other churches and, while I love it, I still like to have a good ole Bible in hand to follow along at times, too.

Well there are a lot of things I could share on this last week of the year but since I have limited time I will get right to the heart of this blog. Are you ready to make some changes in the New Year? And for what this blog is about I’m mostly referring right now to lifestyle changes to improve your health and the way you feel (I hope for sure that you will want to make some changes that will draw you closer to God, first and foremost). Have you set goals? Do you have a plan? If so, is your plan new or just another try at an old one? These are just some questions to inspire your thoughts and hopefully motivate you to believe that you can make some positive changes and stick with them. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m no great example of weight loss success but I am proud of the fact that back in 2005 at 298 lbs. I decided that I had to make some changes…got on my bike, rode thousands of miles, learned how to eat reasonably healthy and started a journey to better health (I lost about 93 lbs.). I must also admit that back in late September of this year when I was looking in to the Shaklee Cinch plan, I was a little skeptical based on what I’d learned over the years about weight loss but I decided to give it a try since I needed to get rid of some lbs that I had gained back...man am I ever glad that I did! This was just the plan that I needed to jump start me back to healthier eating and weight and, yes, based on what I’ve learned, I absolutely believe that I can maintain a reasonable weight going forward. If there are any of you that this interests, I would love for you to join me on your own personal “Tour de Cinch” in the coming New Year…let me know and we’ll be glad to help.
So in closing, how did I do this week even after Christmas breakfast, Christmas supper, Christmas trip to Nashville complete with a trip to Logan’s, Maggiano’s, California Pizza, etc., etc. etc…I still lost ½ pound and I am proud of that ½ pound. Total of 19 lbs!! Happy New Year and God Bless till next year. RJ

Week 10 Randy's "Tour De Cinch" Weight Loss Adventure!!

Hello and welcome to Week 10 of the “Tour de Cinch”. It just occurred to me today that I only have one more weigh in left this year. My plan is to do this blog for 12 weeks and then switch to doing the blog bi-monthly but I will still be weighing in ever week and continuing the tour. If anyone out there is like me and loves to follow pro cycling, you know that most cycling tour races are won in the mountain stages. The Tour de France for example is a 21 day race that covers about 2100 miles total, most days the race is about 100+ or so miles long and this is referred to as a stage. Most of the early stages are relatively flat and many times can be won by riders who are not the overall favorite. But when the race hits the mountains, it always separates the best from the rest. I said all that to say this, holiday’s are much like the mountains to people who are trying to maintain or lose weight. All your discipline is tested to the fullest and even skinny people gain the unwanted weight at this time of year. I have been told while doing this “tour” that this is not the best time of the year to be doing this. My first response would be to agree but actually when I think about it, I realize that it actually is a great time to be doing this. The bottom line is this, no matter what dietary changes we make and no matter what method, unless we learn to keep control through all the celebrations of life, we will always have this same problem. That’s not to say that we can’t enjoy food but it will require one to learn moderation at ever occasion. Many diets only emphasis making “the food behave”…on these diets you can, “eat all you want”…as long as it’s some certain food. I have found that the Cinch plan actually gives me the ability to go beyond making the food behave to actually enabling “me” to behave and I think that is really the key to it all. So have I behaved this week? Well pretty much but it is Christmas right…I lost another pound (18 total) and yes I’ve had my share of the delicious, rich comfort foods but I’m getting over this mountain stage. God Bless till next week

Week 9 "Tour De Cinch" :) Weight Loss Adventure!

Welcome to Week 9 of the “Tour de Cinch” and I hope this finds you having a wonderful Christmas time and enjoying your family and friends. I love Christmas and all it means to me as a Christian…the birth of our Savior. There is a special feeling at Christmas that no other time of the year seems to capture and it’s always great to make lifetime memories at this special time.

I love to watch my children as they experience the magic (I don’t use that word much, but it does seem magical) of it all…the Christmas parade, putting up the tree and, of course, our annual trip to the Opryland Hotel to see the lights. This year has been an incredible year in so many ways but yet sad in some others. I lost my father in March of this year and I know they’ll be an empty spot this year (already has been) along with other losses/tragedies that I’ve watched in our community. However, God has been so faithful as He always has been. I guess you’ve probably realized by now that this post does not have a whole lot to do with the “tour” but I just wanted to take this time to wish all who read this a very Merry Christmas (yes that’s how we say it). Please take time this Christmas and consider all that God has done for you...your health, your family, etc. It really is a “wonderful life” and you are a blessing to someone whether you know it or not. Ok, so in closing, how did I do? Lost another pound which gives me a total of 17. Peace and blessings to you. Randy

Week 8 "Tour De Cinch" Weightloss Adventure!!!

Week 8 of the ‘Tour De Cinch” has been interesting…after dropping about 3 pounds over the Thanksgiving holiday, I figured it would be really tough to have any more weight loss this week and I actually feared some gain. However, I was delightfully pleased to lose another pound this week bringing my total to just over 16.0. I am also really starting to notice the benefits of shedding the weight, I did a 13 mile bike ride Saturday and since it was a short ride, (yes, that’s really short for a cyclist) I decided to include some hills (steep, think ski lift steep) and it was obvious that it’s getting easier over what I experienced this summer. It is actually amazing how extra weight negatively affects us, yet you don’t really notice it as you are gaining it. Progress like this really motivates me more that the actual numbers on the scales! In closing this week I’d like to invite all who read this and you’ve been thinking about some changes to consider the Cinch plan. I have found it to be a really great plan that is healthy and doable and probably a lot less $ than most of you are spending on a fast food breakfast and lunch. I’ve used protein drinks long before Cinch and the one thing that would really bug me was the way that most (not all) protein drink companies sweeten their products, most use sucralose (check them out at Wally World if you don’t believe) and that stuff is poison. Cinch uses fructose which is a natural fruit sugar and it tastes great as well. Would love to hear/see some of you join me as we close this year out and begin 2012. Hope you all have a great week. God Bless! RJ

Week 7 Randy's "Tour De Cinch" Thanksgiving Weigh In Results!! :)

Week 7 of the “Tour de Cinch” finds the holiday season in full swing for the Jones Family Experience. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend complete with family, friends and one uninvited guest, the stomach bug. So far my gang has dodged the bullet so to speak thanks to what I believe in part to be our numerous preventative measures and the multivitamins that we and our kids take daily (we Shakalized as we like to say). No, we are not bullet proof but maybe these measures can help you dodge (the bullet) a little better, I think so.
My confession: Now I must admit that with all the festivities I have actually dreaded/feared the Tuesday weigh in day much more than normal this week…and the fact that this is getting posted for all the world (actually there are quite a few of you who are reading this so that’s really why I continue to subject myself to this blog thingy) causes me to consider the big what if…like what if I gain 5 lbs. this week? And, BTW, that would actually be about par for the course for me and a lot of others I’m sure, can I get a witness? So now to the big question, how did the first holiday stage of the “Tour de Cinch” do this week? Surprisingly well! (and I was prepared to give you the bad news), as of last week, I had last a total of about 13 lbs., this week I’m at almost 16 lbs. total. Here’s a few more facts too, I’ve lost a total of about 3” in my waist…I’ll spare you all the details and just tell you that I’ve lost about 10” total between, chest, waist, hips and thighs.
I hope all of you have a great rest of the week and let me know if you would be interested in joining the “tour”. I’m ready for a full peloton of “Cinched” comrades to ride into the New Year with! Peace and Blessings! RJ

Week 6 "Tour De Cinch" rolls into Thanksgiving!!

13 lbs total! YEAH!!!!

Congratulations to another new member of the Tour!! Darby is joining us this Monday after Thanksgiving and we want to welcome her :) Also sending encouragement to "Tour" team that: YES, WE CAN MAKE IT THROUGH THIS WEEK!! Enjoy your family and friends and let your connections with Thanksgiving be stronger than just the feast!!

"In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Be blessed!! Happy Thanksgiving to all...see you next week!

~Randy

Week 5 of Randy's "Tour de Cinch" :) It's getting EXCITING!!

Welcome to week 5 of the “Tour de Cinch” and a very special "Congratulations" to our good friend Natalie who is joining me on this tour. She is experiencing good results in inches and pounds lost, too. I’m most happy to report that I dropped another couple pounds this week. Yah! That puts me right at 12 lbs and several inches lost since the start. I’ve had a lot going this week so when I hit the scales this morning I didn’t know for sure what I’d see. Much of the weekend took me out of my normal routine from a Saturday wedding of a great friend to an all day away from home concert that New Promise Band did in Mayfield, KY. In case you don’t know, I’ve been their incredible drummer for about 20 years and yes I just bragged because no one every brags on the drummer, right?, LOL. I must say though that it was all a “cinch” weekend even though it did involve eating out which if you’re like me, can pose an additional challenge. Speaking of eating out, when I do, I try to go for the healthier items if possible and avoid wasted calories but no, I don’t necessarily count calories. Dar and I attended a series of health related clinics a few years back which focused on portion control and the emotional state of overeating. Since that time I’ve always understood that fundamentally, no matter what diet or eating plan you are on, learning moderation is really the long term solution. The Cinch plan has fit very nicely into this way of thinking and has enabled me to return to the controlled way of looking at eating. Does that guarantee success in the future? No, but it does mean that I’m at least reminded again of how the age old truth of God’s word concerning moderation is still the best answer.

God Bless you all till next week!

~Randy

PS. There are four little reasons in the above pic that give me the desire to be healthy and fit...can you find them?