My Weight Loss Journey - 70 Pounds Gone

I have reached a milestone. It has now been over a year since I lost 70 pounds and have maintained that loss.

I guess that is a big thing. Many people who lose a lot of weight end up gaining it back. That is especially true of fad diets or diets that don't come with lifestyle change.

The posts following these comments are my story. They give a glimpse into my life during the time I was losing weight and some of the things I learned. No fad diets, no 30 pounds in 30 days, and nothing for sale. It is something anyone could do.

In the past year I have continued to track what I eat. While I was losing weight I was very strict in my tracking. Everything I ate was written down. That helped in many ways. I learned a lot about different foods and it also helped me resist the temptation to eat whatever is nearby. I am more liberal now. I have a limit of calories I eat and track each day and there is some room for snacks that I don't write down.

"Counting calories" carries a lot of baggage for some people. They want to lose weight but don't want to do something that sounds oppressive. Many weight loss programs boast that you don't have to count calories. The thing is, it's really basic math. If you take in fewer calories than you burn, you will lose weight. The opposite is also true. By tracking what you eat, you can see what direction you are going to go. You can't wish away calories. Studies show that without tracking, people highly underestimate the amount of calories they are consuming.

While I was losing weight I would weigh myself each week on the same day and at the same time. Every week I lost between 1 to 2 pounds. I knew it was going to happen because my food tracking predicted it. I now weigh myself every day and use an app that shows the trend of my weight; if I am staying the same or going up or down. The trend is what really helps. Because of different factors I may show a weight fluctuation of several pounds from day to day. The average shows where I am really at.

As far as exercise goes, I love to ride my bike and go on walks. The calories I burn are also tracked and balance out what I eat. If I burn a lot through exercise then I know I need to add more healthy fuel to my body. I also do regular strength training with a set of resistance bands. They cost less than $20 and there are many exercises that can be done with them.

My life has drastically improved since I lost weight. I feel so much better, have more energy and feel better about myself, at least the outside part. I never want to go back to where I was so I am willing to maintain habits that will keep me where I need to be.

The battle is not over. I cheerfully admit that I have a problem with food. For me it is probably an addiction. Unless God frees me from that I will always have to battle food lust and bad eating. For better health I will gladly do that.

The last thing I want to say is that if you want to lose weight you need to do it for you and for the right reason. I was challenged with that at the beginning of my journey. First of all I wanted to please God and second I wanted to live a healthy lifestyle. I also knew that it was going to take supernatural help from God. With those motivations I knew I could expect success. My journey wasn't tied into what other people felt about me and whether or not they supported what I was doing. I wanted to be a better person for me and for God.

I hope my story helps you. Here is the path I traveled. If your browser supports it, each post will open a new tab or window.

Here is my story from beginning to end:

I lost the sack of cement

How’s That Working For Ya?

Lose It for Life

Food Journal – Do I have to do this?

Breakfast, Sleep and Weight Loss

Predictable Weight Loss

My small God

Losing Weight - The good and bad

Obsession

Appearances

Ultimate (bad) Breakfast Platter

Thanks for reading.

Philip

You Can't Outrun Your Mouth

Psalm 91 - What if it were true?

This psalm should force a crisis of faith. It is so blatant in its promises that we either skip over it, deny it or find ourselves wishing it were true. But who of us experiences it?

Let's read it before I go on:

1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
5 You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.
8 You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked.
9 Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place— the Most High, who is my refuge —
10 no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
12 On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.
14 “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name.
15 When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

Are you with me? Does it seem too good to be true? Maybe what we need is a theologian to explain how it doesn't really mean what it says of that it was for a different time or for someone else.

Or could the problem be with us? Maybe we are not dwelling or abiding or making God our refuge. Maybe we are not trusting. Maybe we don't need Him to cover us because we have good insurance or a great security system. Maybe we don't hold fast to Him or call on Him when we are in trouble.

Could it be that what is required is complete faith and trust? Think about this from Mark 6:5-6: And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He wondered at their unbelief.

So the promises of Psalm 91 are true but our unbelief keeps them from us. We want to try before we buy. We want to believe halfway and see if God comes through but He usually doesn't work that way.

So if we want to read Psalm 91 and be able to recall how it has been true in our life then we need to live a different kind of life. We can't trust by percentages or have a backup plan. It's all or nothing.

We find ourselves in the same place as the father of a demon possessed son. In Mark 9:23 Jesus said this: All things are possible to him who believes. The father honestly responded: I do believe; help my unbelief.

Pray that unbelief would be gone and then trust with full abandon! Life will be drastically different.

Philip

Reasons Why the English Language is So Hard to Learn

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
2) The farm was used to produce produce.
3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4) We must polish the Polish furniture.
5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10) I did not object to the object.
11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
13) They were too close to the door to close it.
14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
18) After a number of injections my jaw got number.
19) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
20) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
21) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

Let's face it - English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat.

We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices?

Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend. If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it? If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people: Recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell? How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which, an alarm goes off by going on. English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all. That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible. PS: Why doesn't "buick" rhyme with "quick"?

I don't remember where I found this.

Philip

October Baby

The first thing I should say is this isn't a review of the movie October Baby. It is what is happening to me after I saw the movie.

I saw it twice this weekend. Once was an earthquake and the other a tsunami.

To back up, the soil of my life was tilled up earlier in the day Friday before I saw the movie the first time. I am a member of the Samson Society and have been for over four years. One of the distinctives of the society is that we walk with another man in what we call a Silas relationship. It's not an accountability relationship but an opportunity for self-disclosure.

Another distinctive of the society is that everything said in a meeting or in the Silas relationship is held in strictest confidence. You can bare your soul and it's not going to get spread around. It's an opportunity to peel off layers and to practice confession. It's a safe place.

Some misunderstanding people see it as a place of secrets but it is really a place where the deepest truths can be told. Once that is done there is room for healing, growth, reconciliation, restitution, and restoration.

So back to Friday: I met with my Silas for some deep work. There were some things I needed to reveal to him. It was the most shameful part of my past. It is the kind of thing that would bring an end to most friendships. I feared that once he knew the truth about me it would change everything - in a bad way.

But what I knew in theory needed to be learned in practice. It was an opportunity to see again what an amazing thing the Samson Society is and what transformation a Silas relationship can bring.

We are a group of men who realize our brokenness and that we can't fix ourselves. But we know that God wants to fix us as we walk in community.

So, I reveal myself to my friend and it is not the end. He isn't sitting on some high horse looking down on me. He is walking beside me as I move forward. The soil of my soul has been tilled and is awaiting new growth.

After talking for hours we were both empty of words. We had a few hours before the meeting that night so I suggested we go see October Baby. Nothing could have braced me for what was to come.

I was adopted at three months. Even so, I always felt I had a good home. I'm also heavily involved in the prolife movement. October Baby deals with abortion, adoption and also the dynamics of fatherhood and family life.

I can't even explain why but the movie tore through my soul - in a good way. There were probably many things that stirred in me but one that is particularly raw is the question of if I am wanted. Do people care if I exist? Could I go missing and no one would notice? I have always had problems in relationships, feeling like I am an imposition and that I am taking up time that someone doesn't want to give.

I saw the movie a second time on Saturday with my family. The devastation was far deeper than Friday. As I look at it I think I am seeing that I have a closed door on my emotions. It seems wrong to admit I have feelings. It feels wrong to express that I need someone or something from someone.

Recently I was trying to do the questionnaire to see what my love language is. I couldn't complete it because it seemed so imposing on someone else. I had to identify what I needed from someone. It seemed wrong and selfish.

So I close myself to others even when I know that is wrong or irrational. I have been fighting it but it's hard.

So October Baby tore me apart. I welcome it. I don't want to be what I am now. I am raw.

Philip