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(Editor’s Note: Chancellor Bill Richardson made a commitment to a year’s worth of blogs. And this is the last installment of that commitment. But the Chancellor’s Challenge blog will continue. Starting next Friday, Nov. 7, the blog will take on a different character. Members of the AgCenter’s Wellness Committee, which was started last year at the chancellor’s urging, will take turns writing blogs – their experiences in the journey to a healthier lifestyle. Other AgCenter people will join in occasionally, including the chancellor, as will other guest bloggers across the state. Please keep reading and sending your comments via the Post a Comment link.)
Gustav put a chink in the final days of our blog. Like many of you I still have jars of peanut butter in the pantry in the aftermath of the hurricane. I wanted to write one last chapter to the yearlong book.
The blog changed my life in many positive ways with respect to health and healthy lifestyles. I lost weight, greatly improved my blood chemistry, changed eating habits, and made the exercise program a consistent part of my everyday activities. The most rewarding part of the entire experience for me, however, was the many positive comments I received from readers who were motivated to address lifestyle issues after reading the blog. I’m convinced the blog not only saved some lives, but also extended the length of and added quality to the lives of many others. I didn’t find much that was frustrating. A few times, when my schedule got really tight, the writing of fresh blogs rather than a more canned one was challenging.
Where do we go from here? We plan to continue the healthy lifestyles blog with weekly articles. I plan to write occasional pieces and report on my personal continued commitment to the pursuit of a healthy lifestyle. We still have an obesity issue in our state, and we must continue to reach out to many of our populations in their early teens to give them the support and help that they need to deal with obesity and related chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes.
I urge each of you to keep working toward the pursuit of a healthy lifestyle as we have discussed over the past year. I plan to. I hope that over the years we find that this exercise made a difference in our lives and in the lives of others.
Now back to the Gustav peanut butter. Go easy on the usage, and remember all our discussion about portion control. Just because you have it doesn’t mean you have to eat it all at once.
Thanks to all of you for the many positive comments.
My best wishes! | 
