04/19/17
Day 36
Extreme Accountability Challenge
Total weight loss to date 30.8 pounds

“Comparison is the seed of all discontent.”
A friend told me this years ago. I honestly don’t remember the circumstances but the words are so true. As many of us scan the pages of Facebook and other social media, it’s so easy to get into a comparison mindset. Whether it trips, dinners out, vacations, beautiful homes, scenery, thin waistlines, or a myriad of highlights we see from other people’s lives, it is so easy to go into comparison mode. You’re probably asking, “what does this have to do with the Extreme Accountability Challenge?” Well a lot since you ask.

When this process started and I first posted my “weight manifesto” ( I like the sound of that, “manifesto”, sounds impressive) March 15, 2017, it was for one purpose. Over the last 35 years of my adult life, I had ballooned to 304 pounds, it wasn’t some accident that caused it, my lousy metabolism, or any other excuse that I could tell myself. It was due to one primary glaring reason, I had made thousands and thousands of decisions that turned into a little of this food, a little of that food. 100 calories here 50 calories there and slowly I ascended to my massive size of 304 pounds. Guys it was no accident, it was simply sticking my head in the sand and eating whatever I wanted because I wanted it.

So now how does this comparison thing come into play, well first I am thrilled that so many others have joined me in this journey, my prayers for you are that this will change your life forever and you will enjoy many more healthy days because of participating in the Extreme Accountability Challenge. But understand this I know that weighing everyday we will all have ups and downs on the scales, I want everyday to reflect a weight loss, but my body will fluctuate some every day By the way, I haven’t weighed yet this morning, so I write this with no knowledge of the scales yet today, but I do have this knowledge, I post my scales daily because for me that’s what I need as motivation to stick to my program. That’s the reason I first posted my scales, I want to be thin, I want to fit into normal size clothing, I want my wife Angie to look at me and know that I want to be married to her so badly that the food is not important, she is, so that I can be her only husband not her first husband that died from complications of obesity.

All that said, regardless of what the scales say, I have to behave, and you know what, I did yesterday, and everyday on this challenge. My health coach John Davisson told me what I have to do but it is up to me to do it. Behave. The scales may fluctuate but if I follow my plan and stick to it I know I will succeed.

So, make a plan of what you will eat, it’s up to you, your doctor, whoever, I’m not telling what you should do, but post your scales as a way to be accountable, then every day run your race. If you want success, don’t cheat, if you do you’re just fooling yourselves,( don’t forget,I’m an expert in justifying having something not on my program, I did it for decades). Stop comparing, it’s your race, you may have a little to lose or a lot, I will be here either way, posting my scales daily and running my race., not anyone else’s.

Go run your race and run it like you never have before, you were created by the most creative of all, he created you for more, not more food, more life!

04/18/17
Day 35
Extreme Accountability Challenge
Total weight loss to date 30.6 pounds

When I started posting my weight loss journey on Facebook every day, honestly it was out desperation. I’m 55 years old and haven’t been able to tame this beast of overeating.
Weighing in at 304 pounds and only 5’11” tall when I made the decision that enough was enough, it certainly wasn’t the first time those words crossed these lips. The difference was this time I announced it to everyone that I knew on Facebook and many that I didn’t know. So it’s really happening this time, the weight is coming off, I’m sticking to the plan, but what about all those other times?

Like all the other times, my wife Angie that I met in our 8am Freshman English class at the University of South Carolina in 1980, is on my side. I was only about 155 pounds back then, through our years of dating as I started my assent to 304 pounds, she cooked probably about 20,000 chicken breasts, made countless salads, went on every fad diet with me, even though she didn’t really need to, and didn’t nag me about my weight. Angie just supported me, encouraged me, she never enabled my behavior but I guess she always knew it would have to ultimately be me to change me, no one else could. I wish that I could go back and give her hope that this day would come when her husband would finally turn the corner and get healthy and lose this weight. I wish I had never gained the weight. But aren’t our struggles what make us who we are. Thank you Angie for loving and caring for me like only you can and not giving up on me.
My prayer for everyone of you today is this, first that God would bless you with someone to support you through your struggles like he has blessed me with my Angie, second, that you and I don’t miss the joy of these struggles, I pray for courage and strength for us all, not that this be an easy path, or we might forget and return to our old ways but that we have the courage and strength to persevere through to the healthiest we have ever been.
175 pounds here I come!!!

04/17/17
Day 34
Extreme Accountability Challenge
Total weight loss to date 29.6 poundsOnly down 2/10th’s of a pound!!
I have to be honest I’m a little disappointed. Yesterday was Easter, normally I’m finding my way into the candy, eating a big meal that would be enough to feed a small village in a 3rd world country, then snacking on leftovers until I pass out from a carbohydrate induced coma. Not yesterday, it was picture perfect eating for the guy that posts his weight on Facebook everyday. Planned fuelings designed by my health coach John Davisson, then the big Easter feast. Broiled flounder, asparagus, sauteed spinach, and salad with some no calorie dressing. I was amazing, and all I lost was a measly 2/10th’s of a pound?
That’s what the 3 year old inside of me wants to say, but I know better. First, normally I would be up 2 to 3 pounds, beating myself up today for what I ate on Easter and asking myself when would I ever lose this weight? Here’s another reality, as I’ve said before, I averaged a weight gain of 1/2 pounds per month since I was 20 years old. That’s 8 ounces of fat per month for the last 35 years!
Actually what happened yesterday was that I did everything by the plan, I lost weight at a pace that is 12 times faster than I gained in the previous 35 years and I stayed on plan, no sneaking candy, no ” it’s Easter I can get back on plan tomorrow”, the truth is I did amazing!!
But isn’t that just so telling, when we are heading in the wrong direction it seems so hopeless and fast that we are declining (even though often it’s slower than we think), but then when we make the turn we can’t get there fast enough. It’s this 3 year old inside of me, and probably you as well, that just left the neighborhood for a 100 mile trip with Mom and Dad asking, “ARE WE THERE YET?”
Whatever you’re struggling with, stay the course, the battle is for inches, that you will eventually realize turned into miles.

04/16/17
Day 33
Extreme Accountability Challenge
Total weight loss to date 29.4 pounds

As I write this 33rd post on Easter Sunday 2017, I am struck by how this struggle with weight and so many other areas of life begins with me wanting my way. Ouch! Me. I’m the common denominator of the vast majority of my challenges that I’ve faced throughout my life. We live in a culture that teaches self first in almost every area I can think of. It seems so normal and yes feels so natural to put myself first. I can try to hide it in many other areas of my life but not overeating, wow you can’t hide that one forever.
This idea to post my scales to bring this beast inside of me that wants what I want, when I want it, under control is not the be all end all. It just forces me to confront the fact every morning that I have to control me, there is no gradual hiding my overeating from the day before, it’s exposed every morning of every day to my Facebook friends and probably to many others.

If weight is a problem for you like it has been for me, sacrifice that bite that you aren’t really hungry for, find the self control some how, the 1/2 pound a month will add up. I know everyone else around you is overeating and over weight. Be different, there may be something to live for that you will miss because of those extra bites of food, little by little ounce by ounce, and voila, you are 55 years old and 100 pounds overweight, that’s what happened to me.

Consider the example over 2000 years ago, Jesus didn’t consider himself, he considered you. Talk about self control. I know you’re thinking what does that have to do with posting my weight, everything, it’s about sacrificing what I want now, eating more than I need, for something much more important, life. You see this time we have on earth is brief, ask any 80 year old. Don’t speed it up by being overweight.