For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
Philippians 2:13 NLT

I ended up at a men’s calling retreat at Barry College, in Rome, Georgia. It was put on by Gary Barkalow, author of ” It’s Your Call”. Without going into every detail, a lot came from that retreat for me. A lot.

My favorite question comes to mind, ” So what does this have to do with weight loss?”

Everything.

I probably will butcher this, but Gary shared a perspective on the verse above that I had never considered.

For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.

You have a desire, I know that you do because you are still breathing (the still breathing part is from me)

For God is working in you, Ouch! Working looks like a lot of different things. Some of them are painful. I picture an Arnold Schwarzenegger or a Sylvester Stallone going through rigorous workouts, painful workouts, to get stronger.

The workouts that you may have gone through or are currently going through in your life could be a lot more painful. Losing a spouse, a child, a financial crisis, a divorce, trying to overcome an addiction, or even fighting obesity, these are all painful.

But you know what? Wherever your pain is, that’s where you tend to develop strength, you have to, to survive.

Oh, so God is working in me giving me power?

Yes.

Power for what?

To do what pleases him.

Guess what else.

He gave you your desire.

Think about it.

Pretty cool, whenever you get what your heart is desiring, it makes the Creator of the Universe pleased, happy.

Search your heart for the desire placed there. It may be the center of your greatest battle and in the future your greatest strength.

I think waking up every morning trying to figure out a way to lose my ever increasing girth would count as a desire. Like many of you, I tried everything, the everything was never the problem, it was always me.

The idea for the Extreme Accountability Challenge, publicly facing my biggest challenge, weight, every day has changed everything for me. Is it still hard? You bet. I wanted to eat everything in the house yesterday, but I knew that I had to post my scales this morning. So I fought the beast within me and for the 111th day I won. No cheating.

Now as much as I want this victory for me, my “desire” is for you to lose your weight and get healthy too.

I don’t believe God intended for me or you to carry all this extra weight.

There are so many more desires, so much work, and yes tremendous power ahead for you and me.

Change is rarely comfortable or rarely feels safe.

But…

Remember comfort and safety are overrated.
Get uncomfortable and take a chance and…
Press post then press forward.

175 pounds here I come!!!

I saw this post by Borne last night,

On July 4, 1776, 56 men, knowing that they were signing their death warrants, declared independence from tyranny. Because they would rather die on their feet, than live on their knees. We salute you, and we thank you and all who have come after you and fought for our freedom. Happy Birthday to the greatest country on earth and may God continue to bless The United States of America.

Freedom is never free. For years the idea of losing weight and getting healthy forever, sounded like bondage and slavery to me. There was so much that I would have to give up, all of the so called goodies and treats that I loved. The endless overeating. What I didn’t realize is that I was really giving up freedom to live.

I speak to people everyday that ask “How are you losing so much weight?”
My answer is, I post my scales daily, as I said that I would, until I reach 175 pounds. They ask again, “No what are you doing”, my answer is to repeat.

What I believe they are asking is, “What’s the quick fix, what’s the magic potion.” I am on a great eating program for me, but I had been on it several times before with no success. Because I, like most of the people that ask me the secret formula, really wasn’t willing to pay the price for my freedom from this life of obesity. You see I remember when I was only 10, 25, 50 pounds overweight. Only to get to 129 pounds overweight. I could have changed at any time. But I didn’t.
I put myself into slavery for one more bite. I succumbed to the tyranny of my desires for more than enough. The cost, potentially and probably, years off my life. That’s a high price and one that I will not pay.

I won’t lie, each day has it’s struggles, I want to “cheat”, I want to go back to my old ways of eating, but I will not. When I posted my weight to Facebook, I gave my word that I would persevere to 175 pounds. Who knows, I may go down further in my weight, that will be a conversation with my doctor. I will never return to the tyranny and lies that took me to 304 pounds.

My daughter Ashley, my wife Angie, and I watched the sunrise about a mile from where we live in Fernandina Beach Florida this morning.
I want more of that, not more brownies and cheeseburgers. I’ll probably have some of those foods again, but maybe not, I want whenever is best that will give me more freedom to live.

Freedom is never free and getting there seldom feels comfortable or safe.

Remember comfort and safety are overrated.

Get uncomfortable and take a chance and…

Press post then press forward.

It’s a relatively short word but packed with a massive amount of meaning. It should have a lot more letters and syllables.
The meaning that I assigned the word “hope”‘ in the picture of the scales when I looked down and saw the 304 pounds reading back in March earlier this year and the meaning of the word hope this morning when the scales read 237 pounds. Only a little over 3 months in time but light years apart in meaning.

Hope is so funny and fickle. When you have little or none, you want it so badly, just to hope again to believe that something is possible. When you are sure and have that thing, that dream, desire, “hope” that you have longed for as long as you can remember, hope is something that you want to give away, at least I do.

I “hoped” to be healthy and thin for so long that I actually had lost almost all hope. That’s how I felt when I looked down and saw 304 pounds, completely hopeless.
This morning when I looked down and saw 237 pounds I didn’t need hope any more, at least not much, I have certainty. Hope is not nearly as important when certainty arrives. Even though I still have over 60 pounds of fat to lose, I’m certain that I will get there.

I don’t write any of this to brag or boast, but to offer someone, maybe you, some hope. I sorely needed it that morning of 304 pounds.
I could write and talk about this forever. Let me suffice it to say, wherever you are, whatever your situation, no matter how hopeless it looks, no matter how hopeless you feel. It’s not hopeless.
I could get into all of the logistics and details of how to do this thing or that thing, but without hope, none of it will ever happen. It keeps you going, moving when others have given up.

For me, the answer to getting this weight off, was and is Extreme Accountability, posting my weight loss journey on Facebook everyday. A simple tweek, pushing post to a picture of my scales to Facebook, turned my hope into certainty. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s true.
Don’t lose hope, your answer may be as simple as mine, and right in front of you.
Keep hoping.

Remember comfort and safety are overrated.

Get uncomfortable and take a chance and…

Press post then press forward.

“There is no try or not try only do or not do.”
Says Master Yoda

“It won’t be easy or comfortable but it will be worth it.”
Says me
years after convincing myself that I had tried to lose weight. Really I was not losing weight, I agree with Master Yoda, there is only do or not do.

You and I get to choose, I choose to lose this weight forever, no more pretending to try.

Remember comfort and safety are overrated.

Get uncomfortable and take a chance and…

Press post then press forward.