Ready to Start

You're now well on your way to that fabulous body you've always wanted! You now have your reasons for wanting to change:
Reason(s):
1. I'm unhappy with my current weight
2. My unhealthy lifestyle is impacting my health and happiness
3. I'm afraid if I don't make a change I'll miss out on some blessings, such as seeing my kids grow up and one day seeing my grandkids.

you have your short-term and long-term goals in place:
Goals:
1. I want to lose 30 pounds of fat
2. I want to add 10 pounds of muscle
3. I want my wife to look and me and say "Wow!"
4. I want to see my grandkids grow up

you've noted your starting point:
Current:
1. weight: 230 lbs
2. waist: 44 inches
3. pant size: 40
4. chest: 45 inches
5. shirt size: 2XL
6. biceps: 14 1/4inches
7. thighs: 24 inches
8. calves: 15 inches
9. bodyfat: 28%

and you have charted your daily caloric intake for a week or two:
3500 calories per day

So, the next step is to put a plan in place to help you reach both your short-term and long-term goals.

Phillipians 3:12-13
"¹² Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. ¹³ Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,"

Happy Anniversary

Today is my 19th Wedding Anniversary!

God has truly blessed me with a Proverbs 31 wife. She has been loving, supportive, forgiving, kind, and caring. I do not deserve such a wife and could not have asked for a better one. Thank you sweetheart for all you've done for me and our family. May God richly bless you now and forever. I love you!

Proverbs 31:30
"³⁰ Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,
But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised. "

Know your enemy

Now that you have your reason(s) and your goal(s) for wanting to make a change, what's the next step? You will want to gather some intel! Body fat is your enemy and you need to gather some quality intelligence on this enemy to help you determine how best to attack and defeat it before it destroys you.


Where to start?

First, let's get a better understanding of the problem. You're fat and you want to lose as much excess fat as possible. Chances are you did not get fat overnight, it was a gradual process. Guess what, losing fat is also a gradual process.

But what is fat you might ask? Fat is stored energy. The food you consume is fuel, in the form of calories, for your body to accomplish it's daily activities. Your car is fueled by gasoline but if you try to overfill the tank the excess gasoline spills out onto the ground, sadly your body stores any excess calories as fat.

Everyone has a Basal Metabolic Rate(BMR), it's basically the number of calories you would burn in a day without ever getting out of bed. Based on your lean muscle mass, your metabolism(which in great measure is determined by your lean muscle mass), and your daily activities you burn a specific amount of calories on a given day.

Going forward you will need to know how many calories you are consuming on a daily basis so you can determine your exercise needs as well as adjust your daily caloric intake to help in losing fat or building muscle. The best way to accomplish this is by keeping a food journal, you will need to write down everything you eat or drink with the date and time. There are several good websites that provide free online services that allow you to track your diet, exercise goals and achievements as well as various other stats and information: http://fittracker.shapefit.com, http://www.fitday.com, http://www.myfitnesspal.com, and http://www.mynetdiary.com to name just a few.

It's also a good idea to record your current weight, body measurements, and body fat percentage prior to starting as well as taking a before picture. These will all serve as motivation when you get discouraged(and you will) and also allow you to track your progress. Go gather your intel and write it in your journal.

Happy hunting!

Ecclesiastes 3: 1 ^"To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: ”

Before and After

Thought I would post some before and after pictures:

2007
2009

Getting better but still a work in progress. I guess that applies to all areas of my life.

Hebrews 12:1
"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,"

The Goal

OK, now you have your reason(s) for wanting to make a change, in this case to lose weight, now what? If you are about to begin a journey, it's a good idea to know where you want to end up so you can map out the best course to get to your destination.

Is this going to be simply a weekend trip or will this become a life long journey? Huh? Have you decided to change your life forever or is this just a temporary fix? You see, to permanently lose fat you need to adopt a healthy lifestyle. That's not to say you cannot treat yourself from time to time with things that are not "healthy" but you have to be disciplined and cannot cheat all the time, after all, that's why you're in the shape you are in now.

This is not about some fad diet, there are no shortcuts, tricks, or secrets. To lose fat you must either eat less calories than your body uses on a day to day basis or increase your activity to burn more calories than you consume on a daily basis.


So what is your goal? To lose 20, 30, 50, 100 pounds? To gain 10 or 20 pounds of muscle? To live a healthy life and be in a condition to enjoy the plans God has for you? Take some time to write your goals in your journal.

Have a blessed day!

Proverbs 3:5-6
⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; ⁶ In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. (NKJV)

The Reason

I've been absent from the blogging realm for quite some time. I joined the YMCA a year and a half ago and started working out during my lunch break in an attempt to lose weight and start living a healthier life. I've lost 40 pounds or so during that time. Yesterday a friend asked me to give him some advice on losing weight. I've thought about my reasons and what tips I could offer to someone else and have come up with - Why?

In order to make a lasting change in your life, I think you first have to answer the question, Why is it you want to make the change? In this instance, you want to lose some weight.

Why do you want to lose weight?

Because I'm fat you might say.

OK.

Why don't you want to be fat?

Hmmm...... Now we are getting somewhere. Is it because of some social reasons - an upcoming marriage, reunion, or vacation? Or is your weight hindering your advancement at work or within some organization? Do you want to be thinner to be more appealing to the opposite sex? Do you have health issues or concerns?

There is no right or wrong answer but you need to know why YOU want to lose weight. If you are simply doing it because someone else wants you to lose weight, chances are good you will give up in a short amount of time and fall back into your comfort zone that has made you fat to begin with.

Personally, I have a family history of heart disease and diabetes, I have a desk job and was getting very little exercise. I woke up to the fact that if I didn't make a change now, I may never have the opportunity to see my children become adults and one day see my grandkids.

So take some time to come up with your reason(s) for wanting to lose weight and write them down in a journal so you can refer back to them later as you start on your weight loss journey.

Godspeed!

Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (NIV)

Amazing Grace...and mercy

Wow! Time flies by. It has been almost a year since my last post. I didn't think I would be a daily blogger like some but thought I would post a little more frequently than a few times a year. Just been reviewing some of my previous posts, in some regards it seems like a lot has changed or passed by but I find myself having some of the same struggles and defeats as in years past.

Just to catch up: my oldest two are playing baseball again, my oldest son's season is almost over, my 8 year old is playing travel ball and has four tournaments left, my 7 year old is a pirate right now, my wife and I decided to send our children to a small private Christian school this past year, we had been homeschooling up to this point. The kids seemed to enjoy it and did well. My wife has started a cleaning service and the Lord seems to be blessing it. My job is going well. My friend is still cancer free, and my other friend came back safely from Iraq after a year, he and is wife have since adopted a little girl from South America.

I am truly one of the most blessed people I know and yet I have constant internal battles and struggles, oh to be holy, pure, and righteous. How great is the Lord's mercy, grace, and patience!
The Lord's grace is truly amazing but so is His mercy!


Psalm 145:8-9
8The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. 9The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.

Path of Righteousness?

It's way to easy to get off the Lord's path, to take a detour, shortcut, or go sightseeing. Prone to wander, prone to wander....... Hey, what's that over there......


Psalm 119:1-2
1Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD. 2Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.