The Pendulum Has Swung the Other Way

Pop quiz. What do these symptoms describe?

• Dizziness or lightheadedness
• Lack of concentration
• Blurred vision
• Cold, clammy, pale skin
• Fatigue
• Thirst

For me, they describe the pendulum has swung the other way.  They are some of the symptoms of LOW blood pressure.

I have been on high blood pressures meds for 10+ years.

Then, about 10 days ago, I started having some of the above symptoms and my daily blood pressure readings started dropping.

Today at lunch time my BP was 78 over 40! (That's less than HALF of some of my bad days.)

I called my cardiologist today to report the average daily BP reading for me the last week and half has been 90/56.  He said quit taking my meds on a daily basis!.  He wants me to check my BP in the morning and if the top number is over 100, take one pill only. If it is below, then do not take the BP meds that day.

What happened?  

There is a direct correlation between my BP dropping and me getting consistent with the Plexus Triplex and Block use daily.

I have used Plexus sporadically for 4 years, but consistently for 4 weeks.

Plexus has been a catalyst to make changes in how and what I eat and drink.  In combination with drinking lots of water, far less sodas and sweets and balancing my system better...I am getting healthier.

I no longer consider Plexus an expense but an investment in:

• my health
• myself
• my future time with my family
• helping thousands of others who will help thousands more find better health and quality of life

Focus on health...the weight will take care of itself.

Go here for more info.

Setting New Goals at age 61

Since I was young, I have always been taller and bigger than most of my peers.

I wore Husky clothes from Sears...was undisputed champ at King of the Hill...the anchor in tug of war contests.

I carried a "few extra pounds" most of my youth, then it got out of control.

The last time I weighted less than 200 lbs was summer of 1973 when I was 17.

How do I remember so exactly?

That was the year my Boy Scout Troop went to Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico.

We hiked and camped for 10 days in the mountains During that time we hiked at least 72 miles as our chosen trail required.  We ate food that was dehydrated and drank lots of water. By the 5th day of our 10 day adventure, we were used to the altitude and could hike 10-12 miles before noon.

When I got back to Houston, I weighed 197 lbs.

I've tried low carb, no sugar, bran focused diets and plans to try to lose weight. All met with temporary results, but nothing lasting.

Then, 4 years ago, I realized my goal had been wrong all along by focusing on weight.

Finally, Jay Jenkins convinced me that my focus should be health not just weight.

I decided this year to focus on doing what I need to do consistently to improve my health. 

1     Drink a gallon of water daily-  not there yet but getting closer. (My favorite way to do this is Sonic ice in a 44oz cup!)

2     Be more active  during work. (It would be easy to sit in front of a computer all day making phone calls, but I set alarms to remind me to get up and move 2-3 minutes every half hour.)

3     Meal plan along with health snacks

4     Exercise 30 minutes daily as my knees an back allow- primarily stretch band exercise I found on YouTube for morbidly obese  (Can't begin to solve problem until I call it what is is)

5     Prayer and mediation to get my mindset right

6     Accountability to my readers on this blog, family and friends

7      Educating myself on importance on gut health to improve overall health and promote weight loss as by-product

8     Joining the 60 Day Trim Up

As I enter the next 61 years of my life, I want to be healthy again. 

As I heard at Super Saturday....I can...I will...watch me.

That's my desire...drive...destination.

I also pray I can show others of my generation it is NEVER too late to improve our health. Let's work to improve our quality of life; nor just quantity.

Who's next?

Why weight?

Pressure...prayer...progress

No one said it was going to be easy doing the 60 day Trim Up Challenge.

First couple of days went well with change in eating habits and using Plexus Triplex and Block consistently. I have a printed check list for keeping me on track each day on my meals, water consumption and products.

This was a week of seeing how pressure would affect me and if it would tempt me to flee back to emotional eating.

Our washer stopped working Monday. We had a service call Tuesday. The visit lasted 45 seconds and cost $65 .The tub in the washer had broken loose from some part that made it less expensive to replace the washer than repair. The washer had been good and faithful to wash our clothes for 11+ years.

Tuesday, we went to buy a washer and paid for it just in time to guarantee Wednesday delivery. YAY. (Clothes were piling up)

Wednesday the delivery guys showed up in a monsoon to switch out washers. We had to pay $79 for delivery and then were told to buy $29 worth of new hoses to get installation.  So be it.

As I was working in my home office,  behind two closed doors I heard this comforting shout, "The kitchen is flooding!"  I thought someone had left the door open and rain was blowing in.

I wish.

The two guys changing out washers had pulled the old washer away from the wall so enthusiastically that they pulled the faucets off the pipes as well!! They did not disconnect the hoses from the  faucets first! So we had hot and cold water pouring into the kitchen.

The delivery guys(amigos) spoke as much English as I do Spanish.  ( I can get what I want at drive through at Taco Bell...usually).

They scrambled outside looking from the street to the house and around the outside of the house looking for the water cut off valve. (All the time in a downpour so bad I expected to see a big boat and animals being paired up).

It was turned off after 10 minutes.

The water was an inch deep in the kitchen.

Then they used every towel we owned to sop up the water.  Then they wrung out the towels on the carport.  (All our formerly white towels now have a soft shade of dirty)

Not stopping there, they grabbed our mop and broom and proceeded to try to sweep the water out the door.

Finally they left with the old washer.

An hour later, their boss, JOSE' called about the HOSES.. ( Read that out loud...you can't make this stuff up.)

He said he had a plumber who would come to our house to repair the damage and get our water back on between 6-8 p.m. We figured 3 hours with no water was bearable.

We were optimistic.

Jose' called at 8:15 to say the plumber backed out but he had a friend who could stop by to fix it.  When asked if it was  a licensed plumber Jose' said no and I said, "No way Jose'!"

I've been waiting my entire life to say that in a real life situation.

The water was out for nearly 18 hours. All our clothes were piled up to be washed.

For those who had to answer the call of nature, we mapped out 3 restaurants open 24 hours a day just 5 minutes away.

Finally, at 9 Thursday morning the a licensed plumber we have used before appeared  He had to go to a parts store to get parts because the delivery amigos had taken the faucets with them!

(Probably still dangling from the hoses that had been ripped off the wall.  I hope they got some scrap metal money for all their effort).

We finally got the water back on around 10:30 in the morning.

It does not take much imagination to guess what two plumbing fixture we tried out first

(Hint...not the newly installed washing machine)

We were relieved to say the least.

I admit we got off track for meals  and had Taco Bell Thursday night.  But God rich in mercy kept me from gaining back any of the weight I had dropped the prior 3 days.

Lessons I learned:

• Be always in prayer
• I found my will weakens in the chaos.  
• I reminded myself He is my strength and my shield.
• We have a tale to recount at family gatherings for years to come
• I grow from being tested not being at ease.

First week report from 60 Day Challenge. Sleep better...more energy...down 7 lbs.

Best battle against emotional eating I can recall was today.

Ended up not going to bed until 2:30 this morning.

Typical Monday with my insurance call center job (I get to work from home!) Good practice for doing the same as I build my business. Then, mid afternoon Diana​ tells me the washer is barely draining water but the tub is not spinning at all. Times prior I would have sought comfort in food...not today. Instead, I reached for a drink...of water. With a couple of gulps, the calm returned coupled with the joy of not giving in. So we will be collecting quarters to wash our clothes at the local laundromat then bring them home to dry. When I go to help, I believe I'll have another drink.

As John 7:37-38 reads, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.

Consistency the Key…

I had a great time last weekend going to Louisiana for Super Saturday, visit with team members and see our daughter Hope on the way back.

The biggest surprise of the weekend was remarkably COLD weather the whole time.  In the Greater New Orleans area, it reached a low as the 20’s at night.

The meetings on Friday night and Saturday afternoon were great. Great products…people…processes. We travelled well to and from and had a great time.

There was however, a problem. 

I put weight back on .  I regained 5lbs in 4 days.

I take responsibility and share with vulnerability.  I did not plan well what I would eat and drink and therefore lapsed back into old habits.  Drive through meals and snacks…sodas instead of water…big portions at sit down meals.

There is another change too.  I’m not going to beat myself up with guilt, shame or condemnation.


You see, I aim for progress not perfection.

So, now that travelling is over, I am back to drinking lots of water daily, planned meals and eliminating sodas.

I’ll post updated numbers when I officially register for the 60 Day Trim Up this weekend.
Keep praying for me on this journey. 

Blessings,
Lee
CEO   Chief Encouragement Officer

465= Glad to be Alive!

I will to post how I am doing on my journey. I will post my weight, what I am doing to workout and some other habits I am building.

You see my weight above..  465 lbs. at a height of 6 foot one inch. People are shocked at that figure.  My body is dense like a bowling ball not fluffy like a beach ball. They say I "carry it well" or "don't show it".

As one who has been big most of my life, I can tell you at age 60 I DO NOT carry it well.

When I get up from a chair or out of bed it is always an adventure.  I have to lean on something with my arms and them try to raise myself to an upright position slowly.

Too fast and my knees will not have had time to stabilize and I'll fall.

Once I am standing up,  I have to get used to the pain in my knees when I begin moving.

A doctor once said my left knee was needing replacing 15+ years ago. He wanted me to wait until I was older.

I am sure it is bone to bone by now.  The right knee is not much better. It is strained by over compensating when I lean on my right knee way when I walk with my cane.

I recently saw an orthopedic doctor and he said he would not do surgery until I was below 300 lbs.! (Thus another reason to get healthy and lighter at the same time.)

Not me but mine look like this.

So, here are some things I am doing to help my knees

• drinking more water- to flush my body and lubricate my joints as I can
• using a product I represent to help with chronic pain and another for nerve health (message me for info)
• using a combination of Plexus Slim, Block, Pro Bio 5 and Bio Cleanse to help with weight management (about $4 a day costs)
• walking more daily without a cane to strengthen my legs
• doing 30 minutes daily YouTube video for exercise that includes leg work  Here's where I am starting.

I'll keep you updated a little more each posts.

Finally, it may be this blog is speaking to your situation  Perhaps your heart is moved by someone who is like you.  I am opening my heart for your help...hope...health.  I am not a male fashion model on the cover of a magazine.  I am a lifelong prisoner trying to lead a jailbreak.  I'll help you find the tools to break out. (Don't look for a file in a cake!) Click here for information on help.

Psst. Pass it along...we're making a break for it!

You can join me between now and March 15 for this 60 day challenge. .

May you know God's incredible, limitless love and grace through Jesus Christ.

Reflections on my first 60 years heading into a New Year.

I have grown in many areas of my life.  Intellectually with two degrees from college, licenses in financial services, author, speaker, hubby, Dad and Pops (Grandpa).  I've been a youth pastor, hospice chaplain, part time pastor and call center customer service rep. I've parked cars,work in food service, fueled, cleaned and towed aircraft, and sales of all sorts.

Spiritually, I gave my heart to Christ at age 19. It's been a great journey and I've learned much from trial, temptation, and triumphs in Christ.

Physically, I've grown too much and there  lies the problem.  I have always been big and now its' what's called morbidly obese.  What are some the the symptoms

• Cannot walk more than 25 feet without getting winded
• Knees that ache continually
• Unhealthy sleep pattern
• Meds for heart, blood pressure, fluid retention
• Limited mobility to walk places with my wife...children..grandchildren
• Inability to walk into hospitals or nursing homes to make ministry visits to pray with and encourage people
• For over 6 months I have to sit on a chair at floor level to preach my weekly messages at church
• My shoulders are sore from the effort to stand up
• My right elbow aches from using a cane to walk with for over 2 years
• Getting tired just performing normal activities, showering, shaving, brushing my teeth
• Having to watch my wife and daughters take out the trash because I can barely walk to the end of the driveway with the use of a cane much less having something in my hands
• Out of control spending with financial pressure from too much food and drinks from drive through windows
• And more...

Something's gotta change. Actually, SOMEONE, I have to change.

This won't be my first attempt, but I am going to do things differently this time.

Here's how.

Spiritual basis- Romans 12:1-2 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Prayer and accountability partners.  This will help me stay humble and bathing in the grace of God in Jesus Christ. 

James 4:6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

I believe there is victory in vulnerability.  2 Corinthians 6:11-13 Oh, dear Corinthian friends! We have spoken honestly with you, and our hearts are open to you. There is no lack of love on our part, but you have withheld your love from us. I am asking you to respond as if you were my own children. Open your hearts to us! 

 I know there may be trauma in transparency, but in Christ there is no condemnation.

Romans 8:1-2 Therefore, no condemnation now in Christ Jesus,because the Spirit’s law of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

My heart's desire is that not only will I be transformed, but that others will respond to God's grace and let Him make them new from the inside out.

I am joining a 60 day Trim Up challenge with Plexus to help me begin the physical and mental part of this process.  

Also, in addition to using some of their products to help. most of my prayer partners I have enlisted are fellow Ambassadors in the company who are also believers.

When Sara Marble messaged me that she believed in me and I should do this.. it was the nudge I needed.

What to expect in this blog in the coming days

• Updates on my progress in pictures, descriptions and tale of the tape and scale
• Open, honest, transparent sharing of my heart- good, bad, happy, sad, spiritual
• Calls to pray for one another in the process.