So, I've come to the end of the book, but for me: its still the beginning of a life-long journey. This week, I went to the doctor for my annual check-up. My cholesterol was great off my meds, I was doing great overall and I'D DROPPED 10 POUNDS! To be fair, the last time I was weighed was over a year ago, so its possible I'd lost some of that weight before I ever went on the Daniel Plan, but still, these days I am looking and feeling noticeably different. Last night, as I stood in my driveway chatting with some neighbors while we watched fireworks, I saw a neighbor I haven't seen in many months. She couldn't stop gushing about how I'd lost some weight and looked great. Trust me, her compliments will keep me motivated energized for weeks and months to come. As an aside, here's something everyone should do if you aren't already: if you ever notice that someone looks as if they've lost some weight (no matter how slight), make sure to let them know! It really is very encouraging. Now I wish I'd taken some "before" and "after" pictures.
To be perfectly honest, I've been so busy the past few months that I really haven't been exercising all that much. If I had to guess, I'd say that I'm probably only working out 2-3 times a week for 20-30 minutes and I'm not working out anywhere near as hard as I have in the past. Most of the change I've seen has actually been from the change in my diet and in my mind set/attitude.
The final two chapters of the book are just some practical tips: workout plans, recipes, grocery lists and the like. To be honest, I haven't been strictly following those plans: and I don't really plan to. I'd like to keep going with what I'm doing now, which is keeping up my exercise, incorporating one or two new healthy recipes/foods gradually each week, and trying to stick with whole foods as much as I can. I'm happy with my own workout routine: a mix of running, interval training and aerobics, with some waking and biking thrown in. This sort of lifestyle change is a marathon, not a sprint, and I find that like most people: I'm more likely to stick with something if I incorporate gradual change giving myself leeway for the occasional treat.
But the recipes and workout tips are great resources: a lot of the recipes look really interesting and I definitely plan on trying many of them, hopefully I'll get the chance to post pictures and my own reviews on the Facebook page for the group.
I just want to take this chance to say that I'm so grateful to this group, for being the catalyst that brought the Daniel Plan into my life. It has been a blessing to me and of course to millions of others. I've been recommending it to family and to my patients, too. Thanks for following along and for reading the blog. If you have your own stories, recipes and experiences, please feel free to post here or on the Facebook page.
See you all at the weekly walk!
