Finding our groove.....

Wow, what a month. January is becoming one for the books. First let me say thanks to everyone who liked, commented or contacted us personally about our food choice/diet lifestyle change. It is amazing how many people really do care about us. I can’t thank you enough.

The main purpose for us making this journey public is accountability. It is working! I just got off of the scales another 4lbs lighter. So I am down from 250 to 232, yep 18 lbs. Praise God! Stacey is at a 9 lbs loss so far and we feel great!

We know that this is a marathon and not a sprint and we know that guys typically lose faster than the ladies. So again, we are happy for a pound a week. Just glad to be doing it together and with the help and support of all of you!

So please keep commenting and contacting us, we need you more than you know. Oh and I am still running my first 5K on February 4th. I have not been running tons but so many of you are committed to running with me that I would never drop out. Gotta love accountability! LOL

Blessings,

dave

P.S. One of the greatest tools we have been using has been calorie count at http://caloriecount.about.com This is an amazing site full of great resources and the app is like having a dietician in your pocket all of the time, check it out!

We need your Help

I am overweight. The funny thing is being overweight has never had any real impact on my overall state of mind.  I mean, I still stay very active. I have been involved in one or two team sports a year almost all of my life and being overweight has never had a negative report on any of my annual physicals. I wake up next to the most beautiful woman in the world and I don’t look in the mirror and hate the guy I see.  I even keep up with my boys and have a great time. So for me, being overweight has not been a real issue. 

From time to time I look around and see other people or I read about obesity problems in our country and I start to wonder, what if I was my ideal weight? How would life be different?

I am no stranger to weight change.  I was a scrawny little guy until around 6^th grade.  I suddenly started packing on pounds and remember feeling terribly self conscience about it.  I also had muscle deficiency in my legs and started a workout program to build muscle and hopefully reduce some of the pain I experienced every night.  So I was introduced to a gym very early.

Over the next few years I began to grow but my weight stayed the same.  By 9^th grade I had shot up a foot, and returned to a slender boy with one exception. Crazy looking over sized legs! By High school I had stopped playing sports but starting hitting the gym with some good friends trying to get my upper body equally proportioned to my lower body.

I said all of that to say this; I am no stranger to exercise and diets. It seems like I have been on some type of program my whole life.  So how I become obese? There is no short answer. I will say that over time your body changes in such a subtle way that you hardly notice the change.  Then you see an old picture and all of a sudden you can’t believe your eyes.

So Stacey and I have started a journey. For one, we needed to figure out what got us here. Why are we overweight? We obviously have to change some behavioral things. Two, we have to make better decisions about how we treat our bodies. In other words, being more mindful of what we eat and what we do in terms of exercise and fitness.

I have lost at least 40 pounds or more at least 3 times before. I have always had success as long as I set my mind to it and planned it all out.  I have done it on a different diet each time. So I have no doubt that I can lose the weight. But this time there is a twist, a little extra motivation for me. We are going to lose the weight as couple. Stacey is going to make the life change right along with me.  Together we are going to reshape our bodies and chance some much needed habits that will lead us to a healthier, longing lasting life together.

So here is my request from you. Please hold us accountable.  Please ask how we are doing. We have a journey ahead and we need to prayer and accountability from as many people as possible. I would never announce a lady’s weight but I can tell you where I am.  About 12 days ago I logged my weight at 250 lbs. Today I logged in at 240. So 10 pounds in 11 days is very encouraging.

I also have a few of my personal goals for myself that I would like to share with you.

Drop 40 pounds by my 40^th b-day (30 more to go by March 9)

Lose 70 pounds overall (so 60 more)

Continue to run and hit the gym w/more frequency

Run a 5K (scheduled one on Feb 5^th w/ the boys and some great friends)

Run more 5k’s

Blog about it and pray for encouragement

So if you read this say a little prayer for us. As always, any journey we embark on is founded on prayer and the hope that God will see us through. Here is to a great 2012!

Blessing,

dave

Giving Thanks

As I woke up this morning with the obvious thoughts about Thanksgiving and gratitude. I really started looking at how we as Christ followers look at the topic.

Here are just a few of my thoughts on thankfulness or giving thanks.............

• Psalms 106 and 107 say "give thanks to the Lord because of His goodness" He has been so good to us. I have noticed that so many of you have posted all over Facebook and Twitter how thankful you are today.... on Thanksgiving. But how about tomorrow, or next week?  Will we still thankful then? It's a choice.
• Giving thanks is an attitude, a choice. One that should be an easy choice for those of us who follow Jesus. Phil 4:6 says that we should "not be anxious, but in everything pray with thankgiving". So pray with an attitude of thanks.
• Col 2:6 says that after we receive Christ that "we should walk in Him, rooted, built up and abounding with thanksgiving".  So as we grow in the Lord, we should be overflowing with thanks and it should totally be obvious to others. Abounding, hmmm?
• Jeremiah 5 says that "people were rebuked for not thanking God for their harvest" So among the people of God, giving thanks was expected and done as a common daily practice for thousands of years.

I have learned that having an attitude of thanks in my prayer life helps me give the glory back to God. He alone is the reason why my life and family are so blessed. When we neglect to give thanks, we fail to recognize God as the source of every good and perfect thing.

So tell Him thanks today.  Tell those people around you thanks, but most importantly remember to be thankful tomorrow and the next day, and the next day, and the next day............................................


blessing,
dave

Favor

So last night I had some time after everyone went to bed to watch some football, quietly alone in my den.  One thing you should know about me is that I am not a "hater". I love the game of football and would watch any team play as long as it is good football.

As I sat there watching the game I saw what looked like a poor and almost laughable performance by a one time collage standout named Tim Tebow. The game was anything but entertaining.  Low scoring and predictable.  But as I got closer to the end of the game I heard the announcer say that as the game gets closer to the end, it would become "Tebow Time". I laid there thinking "really"? He looked horrible.  Then the stage was set, he had to take the team more then 90 yards with under 2 minutes to go. Now, if you are passing quarterback like Brees or Rogers then you can sit in the pocket and light it up. Seen it a thousand times.  But if you only throw a few times a game like Tebow then how are you gonna do it?

Well, he did it. He capped it off with a long run to score the final touchdown himself. Wow!

As I watched his post game interview, stunned and truly baffled at what I had just seen, I starting thinking about God.   Tim has been one, if not the most, vocal Christ follower that I can remember.  He said last night that he was proud of his team and teammates but the most important part of his success is that it gives him the platform to tell people about Jesus.  Yep, he says Jesus on national TV.  Not just last night, but all of the time.  In fact there is even a phenomenon where people are dropping to on knee and looking like they are saying a quick prayer.  And what do they call this? You guessed it, "Tebow-ing"

So all of this points me back to God.  The only possible explanation that I have for what we have all witnessed the past 5 weeks is "favor".  More specifically God's favor.

Proverbs says that we should "diligently seek" it.
It also says that there is "favor among the righteous".
Psalms say that "the Lord will compass the righteous with favor like a shield".
and Job said pray to the Lord that He will be favorable to you

I can not remember witnessing a more overwhelming sense of favor (on TV at least) then what I felt last night watching Tebow speak.  And pray for Tim Tebow.  He is a man who hits his knees everyday like you and I.  If you asked him, I am sure he would appreciate your prayers.  Pray that God is glorified through Tim and that He will continue to be do a work through Tim's life.  Pray for that locker room that the light and hope of Jesus Christ is evident in Tim's walk.

blessings,
dave

Living in the moment

I cannot remember a series of weeks more difficult, challenging or intense then these last 3.  Seems like everything from life to death has happened around me.  I can not remember a time in my life where I have been forced to deal with more emotions, thoughts or fears.  I could easily share the details of a very challenging few weeks but I would rather share some perspective instead.

One of the perspectives that has changed a lot for me is the love of my wife.  As much as I love and appreciate her, I can not fathom how anyone could live a live of heartfelt devotion to others the way she does.  What an amazing, Christ-like example she is.  As much as I may try, I will never be able to match her kindness and selfless giving.  She is such a blessing to this family.  Words just can not express how I feel about her.

Also, I have a greater appreciation for friends.  I am blessed with a few really close ones and I have learned that I have more people in my life who care for me then I thought I did. It means more then they know.

The crazy thing is, when I look back at it, I can see God filling every heartache with some kind of joy, everything impossible with purpose.  His ways are truly higher then ours.

So I realize more then ever that the journey of life is sometimes tainted with misery and loss.  That life itself it meant to be examined, refined and enjoyed like a fine wine.  I have learned not to put off living to next week, next month or next year.  The only time we ever live in is this moment.

Make every moment count!

~ dave