Duncan…..”Shredded Santa” Challenger Spotlight

Duncan…..”Shredded Santa” Challenger Spotlight

Paul- We are half way through the Shredded Santa Challenge and I hear you are doing great so far?

Duncan – Its been fun and tough simultaneously. I’d say three and a bit weeks in I am doing 60% great, 30% ‘good’ and 10% not good! you set out with really high ambitions and then not only do you have challenges in motivation and what I’d call the usual challenges of staying on a diet, but then there’s stuff like traveling for work, treating the kids to pizza and dealing with vacation! So overall I am pleased with how things are going, but really want to close out strong and be 100% on for the last 3 weeks.

Paul- Tell us about the results you have seen thus far?

Duncan – Honestly, dieting has been tough. Eating clean is doable, Paleo in a loose sense is easy, but really focusing and getting into say The Zone diet – which I believe the very best to lose weight – takes some real effort. So for the first three weeks I’ve been 80%/90% Paleo trying to focus on lean meats. But I’ve just not got to the point where I can get going on the zone. I think that might be my 2013 challenge to be honest when I’m through the holiday period! Results-wise, I’ve noticed two big differences. There’s less of me! which is really cool and what there is of me if firmer, also cool. But then the big difference is performance in training. Some things really humble me in some WODs, but over the last few weeks (and perhaps longer really) less and less things are knocking me down in a WOD.  For example on Tues night before I went out on vacation we did the WOD with 1000m row then 42 air squats and 21 toes to bar X3 and then 1000m row. Now I did scale the toes to bar, but I blew through this one in a way which made me feel really proud of not being the last one to finish. So the big difference so far is that through regular and committed training I am seeing improved performance in workouts.

Paul – What expectations did you have going into the challenge, and did you expect to see results so quickly?

Duncan – So I knew this was going to be tough. but here’s the toughest part – and this is some Dr. Phil personal sharing right here – I really enjoy a glass or two of wine when I get home from work (or a workout). Its become part of my unwind process. Cutting that out is tough, especially when its been a stressful day at work or when you’re relaxing watching TV. I honestly set out to cut out alcohol completely during this six week process and have largely done that with beer, spirits (which I don’t really drink), but cutting out wine.. wow. that is tough!

So here’s what I did/am going to do. I opened the challenge in the first week and half completely cutting out any alcohol and definitely saw a big weight loss in the first 10 days. Then I went traveling for work and now on vacation and I’ve been cheating with a bit of wine and the weight loss has slowed for sure. So I get back on Weds 5th Dec, leaving me just 2.5 weeks to be completely clean diet-wise and alcohol free! Basically I’ve broken the challenge down into 2 weeks blocks and am not dwelling on not being perfect the whole time!

I guess the message is we all have some things that aren’t particularly good for us to keep doing when we’re trying to lose weight and my belief is you don’t cut those out of your life instantly especially when there are lots of distractions and temptations. for some its candy or chocolate or bread. and just have to muscle through and reduce and cut out what you can.

Paul – You’re doing so awesome! What tips/tricks/secrets have you been using to achieve your goals in this challenge?

Duncan – The one thing I’ve tried to do is keep training, and train hard. I’ve been doing crazy things on my own like going for a run (I mean c’mon, me running out of my own choice! wow), also got back into swimming again which I’d stopped and then most importantly really focused on my Ruination WODs!

This has meant that on the days I’ve been really good diet-wise weight just flew off me, and on the days I wasn’t perfect, the training helped me not go backwards.

Paul – I hear your going out of town for a few days. What do you plan to do in order to stay focused and still working towards your goals?

Duncan – Luckily I’ve had a while to figure this one as I do travel quite a bit. At first I was really intimidated going into a new box or trying to motivate myself to work out alone (that one is still tough for me). But now I’ve turned it into a great Crossfit World Tour. Since the challenge began I’ve worked out in Toronto and Kauai and would have done Milwaukee too, but work was too crazy. Meeting other Crossfitters and seeing how they train and coach has been great fun.

The final thing I have to say is I got a great partner who has really helped and inspired me. Jeff Haynes is frankly awesome and if I hadn’t been traveling as much would have been able to rely on his cooking skills more I think! But just knowing I don’t want to let Jeff down is a great motivator. He’s done so well as one of the top Masters beasts we have in the gym. I know the final couple of weeks I am going to rely on him in the home straight!
Paul – Great work Duncan, keep it up. We can’t wait to see how you look after the end of the six week challenge.