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I sit typing this at midnight on late-night number 3 of 4 this week. Monday through Thursday are late nights for me and that rarely happens. Typically youth night is the beginning of our workweek, as Tuesday is usually our “Monday,” and therefore we are energized and pumped. This week it was the hardest night (the penultimate is almost always the hardest). I knew this going into it and have been praying that God would make up for my weakness.
This brings me to tonight. God showed up. God showed up in a deep and real and big way. I can’t explain it here, Annie and I spent 1 1/2 hours remembering and discussing and aweing. All I can say is that tonight God worked and ministered,and it was like we were the hand-tools. I don’t write this to tritely convey the fact that I brought God’s message as if I’m some modern-day prophet. In fact, God’s message was brought wholly without me and I actually just got to enjoy it.
The hardest thing for me is that I am always surprised that God answers the prayers like that. I pray that God would speak and work and then act amazed when it happens. I wish I lived as one who merely expected God to show up (when that’s what God wants to do anyway) but even if I never do, it doesn’t change the fact that God showing up is how this ministry thing is supposed to work, and I still continue to be grateful for my part in it.
it appears as though this title is a misnomer as I still have not actually lost any weight. I weighed in this morning again at 267 lbs (even the .8 has stayed the same for my weigh-ins). I went over my calorie budget on Wednesday, I think, but otherwise have been doing pretty well. I’m definitely eating healthier and my workouts are getting better and better, so I feel better for sure.
Additionally the program, coupled with the vitamin B Complex my FIL, Bob, recommended, have really helped me to feel rested and energized when I wake in the morning and mostly through the day. So we are onto a good start in terms of health and wellness, but in terms of weight-loss I’m still staring at that goose-egg. I must continue to remember that this is a long term thing. Thanks for your support.
btw. A very Happy Birthday to my mother in law Patti!
And I’m trying to make you sing
From inside where you believe
Like it’s something that you need
Like it means everything
And I’m trying to make you feel
That this is for real,
That life is happening,
That it means everything…
I’m just trying to make you sing
Can’t express it any better than David Crowder has here
All right, so I decided to collectively title my weight-losing-getting-in-shape posts as The Shrinking JD, so if you are into this, any time you see this in the title you know that’s what its about, if you aren’t into you know to skip it. I will try to post weigh-ins and updates on Fridays, because although Monday would probably be more accurate (you eat and gain more on weekends) I stay off the computer on Monday, so that’s out.
As I mentioned last week, my starting weight was 267 and I weighed in today again at 267. I could easily be disappointed by this but I’m not. we’re looking at the long haul and also, I had weighed myself once this weekend at 274, so hey, atleast I’m not weighing in at that. My goal is still 240lbs and I still have 27 lbs to go to get there. I also have approximately 26 more weeks to do it.
As for my calorie intake, I did pretty well, staying under most days, but I went over twice I think. This app and calorie budget is fantastic, I feel like I’m really able to keep track of what’s coming in pretty well, except days like yesterday when we had a really complex recipe that would have been a pain (maybe impossible) to enter in. Annie is being so great and supportive and she lovingly sends some blog-love over to me. I have had some difficult challenges on days when she is feeling sick and craving some sort of fast food, but so far I’m doing pretty well. I might celebrate a little today, though as it is National Cheeseburger Day, and lunch is calling me to that.
There’s my update. Thanks for all the support and for those who are jumping into this with me. I put some responses on the last post, if you are interested in checking them out. So, there it is, week one of The Shrinking JD is in the books.
Since I have exited college I have noticed something fairly substantial growing. It’s my belly and its no good. I have added about 25-30 lbs to my gut and it is not pretty. Instead of being a sleek and svelte young man like my brother Kenn, I look like a saggy, lumpy man who you would not peg to be physically in his prime. Over the last few years I have tried to begin running regimes and even tried make sure I was bodysurfing alot in efforts to fix this but they have been to no avail (I think it’s because I am wired to get jazzed about lifting weights – I know, hardcore meat-head – and even while running 3 times a week I wasn’t burning enough calories to change anything and I would get disappointed and bummed when my weight stayed the same and would eventually stop)
In college I had fantastic access to a great gym, fitness center weight room and pool and I made use of all them. Since leaving college my access has dropped, even though I have lived next-door to the YMCA for the last 2 1/2 years. We couldn’t afford a membership to the Y, but in January 2009 the Honolulu YMCA instituted its Membership For All program, where every member’s dues are based on their earnings (they also dropped the start-up fee). Additionally, we paid off some lingering debt this month and per Crown ministries decided to celebrate that. So we are now members of the YMCA, I again have access to weights, fitness and pool and after a half a week I am already energized and stoked to do this thing.
So that brings me to why I’m writing. I am going out on a limb and posting my goals and methods here on the blog. It is a bad time to start this (the holiday season fast approaching, my wife is pregnant with baby number 2 and craves Taco Bell and McDonalds – which I usually have to go get) but I am going for it. I downloaded the best app ever for my Iphone, its a free app called “Lose it” and it is keeping track off all my numbers and serves as my personal fitness and diet consultant. This app is seriously awesome for anyone who wants to lose weight or probably even gain weight too.
So as I entered into lose it, I’m a 6 foot, 2 inch, 25 year old man, who weighs 267lbs and wants to weigh 240lbs. I said I wanted to aim for losing a pound a week so this is projecting my finish date 27 weeks from now in the middle of march, right about when we should be having a baby (you see, terrible timing, but its needed). Lose it has given me a daily calorie budget of around 2787 and I enter in my daily foods and exercise and it calculates how many calories I take in over the day.
So this is the start, I will post the before picture, and we will move along on this thing. Its not going to be like the biggest loser, I will define success by losing a pound a week, so it will be pretty boring, but I will keep you updated as we go and will post an after picture later. I would add this: any readers who feel like they want to go for this thing too, we can make this into a group project and we can all share our stories together here, so let me know if you are interested.
I have been very busy lately and have been very bad at blogging. I am sorry to the faithful few who read this and I will work to get something up here soon. Until then, enjoy the coming fall and aloha.
Until then, rock on friends
The Window 