My Dad, Edsel Floyd Thomas, would have been 91 years old today, Sepember 28
if he were still with us but he passed away in April 2011.
if he were still with us but he passed away in April 2011.I really miss him.
I won the birth lottery by having him as my Dad.
He wasn’t perfect but he didn’t miss it by much in my eyes. When I was younger, his rules, discipline, and way of doing things often frustrated me like most young men but as I grew older my appreciation for him also grew. He was a great dad but an even greater role model.
Dad was my “go to guy” when I had a challenge or problem that I needed to talk out. I tend to process things verbally, he knew that and was always a great listener. His advice was sound, when he gave it. Normally he would listen intently and let me draw my own conclusions. He would make thought provoking observations that would help me make decisions.
Once that decision was made, he would say,
“Well get on with it.”
That is so often the key to so many of the problems that we face, the ” get on with it part.”
It was the key to the challenge that I faced in 2017 when I was asked, “What’s holding you back?”
13 days before that question was posed to me, I stared at the digital display on my bathroom scale and 304 pounds glared back.
When I explained to the person asking the question, it was my weight holding me back, the next question was, “Do you know what to do to get the weight off?”
“Yes,” I responded.
That’s where the key is, I knew what to do to lose weight, I just wasn’t doing it.
I know that there are many expert opinions on the very best diet, exercise plan, “lifestyle”, and on and on. But really if you are 129 pounds overweight, couldn’t you just pick a plan and actually stick to it for a week or 2 and see if you got results? That would probably work.
The real underlying problem, the root of my 129 pounds, was that sticking to a weight loss plan wasn’t as important to me as the next tasty morsel of food.
I had to change that way of thinking.
I made it important by posting my scales every day to Facebook until I reached 175 pounds. It only took 252 days to reverse decades of obesity, but I had to be willing to as Dad would say, ” Get on with it.”
The incredible men that participate in the From Fat to Fulfillment Mastermind Group that I facilitate understand this concept and amaze me every day with their “Get on with it” attitude and are literally rewriting their future.
I wish Dad were here for one more of those talks and to meet some of the men that have made a decision and are “getting on with it.”
As each pound falls off these men that they have carried for years, I feel like Dad is saying to them another of his favorite lines, “Atta boy”.
The doing of what to do is likely to never be comfortable.
Comfort is overrated.
Put every aspect of your life on the scale and weigh daily.
Pressing Post as I press forward.
Alan Thomas
I facilitate a mastermind for overweight men that believe that their weight is holding them back from living the future they were destined to live.
It is focused on changing the mindset to shed the weight while creating accountability, and community.
It’s called the From Fat to Fulfillment Mastermind.
If you are interested in applying, send an email to