Scripture for thought....

           

                                                   

Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you

remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 

                                                                                                      

John 8:31-32

             This is true for all matters.  Whether you are Christian or not,  knowing the truth about something will truly set you free.  As I've said before, knowing the truth about how the human body functions will set you free to manipulate it and achieve all of your fitness goals!!  So work hard, have discipline, faith, and study about the body you wish to change :)

Calories? Hmmmmmmmm.....

             One of the most common questions that I'm asked about my weight loss,  in addition to what made me start, is what were the most vital aspects of my being successful.  Well,  my plan was actually pretty simple at its root.  It was based on two things.  One was increasing my physical activity and the other was watching my caloric intake, aka, how much food I ate.  I'm going to first discuss the matter of adjusting caloric intake.  Now, let me start by saying that I believe in being well informed concerning any project that you are about to undertake.  Before leaping into a weight loss program, I feel the individual should understand a little about the science surrounding how the body handles, nutrition, exercise, etc.  It takes the mysticism out of the whole thing and also keeps us from blindly following every plan that passes our eye.  You should be well informed on the basics behind the science of weight loss so you will be a more informed customer, patient, or help to someone else.  Ok, lets start by discussing calories.
              We hear a lot everyday about counting calories.  I mention it myself all the time.  How many of us truly understand what a calorie actually is?  Well, in its most basic definition, a calorie is a unit of energy.  It represents the amount of energy that it takes to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree celcius. It is what the human body uses to support everything it needs to purely survive, in addition to added requirements we place on it, aka exercise perhaps? lol.   Now, for our purposes, lets understand that a calorie is a calorie, no matter what its source is.  For instance, which is heavier, ten pounds of  rice or ten pounds of lead?  Well, of course the answer is that they both weigh the same. The only difference is that it will take more of the lighter substance to get to a certain weight than with the heavier substance.  A pound is a pound.  The same stands true for food.  What has more calories,  850 calories of red velvet cake or 850 calories of baked, skinless chicken breast?  Answer:  They're both the same.  The  only difference is that it may take one slice of the cake to get to  850 calories vs about 7 of the chicken breast.  See, there is a difference between the nutritional value of food vs the caloric value of food. The cake and the skinless chicken breast have different nutritional values, with the chicken obviously being more nutritious.  On the other hand they have exactly the same value in calories.   As far as the body is concerned,  its going to handle the calories the same way, whether they come from cake or skinless chicken breast.  I know this can be a lot to absorb so I'll continue in another post.  Stay "posted", lol....



To be continued.....
        

The old me? lol

What led me to finally take off the pounds for good continued....

                     This a continuation of my entry from Sept. 10th.  I had mentioned my discovery of all you can eat cafeterias while a student at the University of Miami.  Well, let me continue.  While a student at UM I definitely took advantage of the ready availability of food, lol.  I'm not going to mislead you by making you think I didn't really eat all that much.  To the contrary,  I was completely out of control to the nth degree.  In reality I knew that even then,  because I would always attempt to get to the Cafeteria when it first opened for breakfast because I was very self conscious concerning other students watching me as I engorged myself.  This is not an exaggeration but my typical breakfast would consist of 2 cheese omelets, 4 biscuits, sausage, bacon, hash browns, 2 to 4 doughnuts, and soda to wash it down.  Oh yeah, I would usually grab two more doughnuts before leaving.  That was only breakfast.
                    That was the time during which my weight began to skyrocket.  During college I could no longer shop in regular stores for clothes and was doomed to the selection found in the Tall and Big Mens shop.  Along with this came a collapse in my social life, admittedly worsened by me due to my being self conscious about my ballooning size.  My daily wardrobe consisted of some green surgical scrub pants and a green sweater.  I mean, I'd wear that every single day because it was all I had that would fit comfortably.  Its funny, when I reflect back on those times I always wonder why I didn't have the strength to make a change in light of my sad state of affairs socially.  You know something?  I actually did, lol.  During my junior year at UM I actually lost about 80 to 90 pounds but sadly gained all of it back by the time graduation came around.  Thats right, I've been the victim of yo yo dieting until my last loss of 160 pounds where I have kept it off for over 10 years, but I digress, lol......



To be continued......

Something to make you go hmmmmmmmmmm....

Scripture...

But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.        Mathew 24:13



Losing large amounts of weight can be a grueling and at times frustrating process but if you are dedicated, disciplined and tough you will see your fitness quest to the end.  I myself ran into numerous problems as I was in the process of walking and dieting my way from 320 to 160 pounds.  I will need a specific blog post to talk about that and I will in the near future.  I can say though that there were many days when I thought that I just couldn't walk one more mile or pass up one more piece of cake.  Fortunately the scripture above, among other things, kept me stubbornly marching toward my goal.  So, when you feel like you're about to quit, meditate on the  above scripture and as Nike says, "just do it!!"

What led me to finally take off the pounds for good continued....

            All of my years in school, PE was always my most dreaded subject.  I can remember always being the last one picked for the sports teams, but once picked was always given the positions reserved for the so called, "fat guy".  For instance, in football I was always placed on the line to block, and in soccer I was always told to be in the goal box.  The logic behind that was the feeling that I would take up all the space in the goal, lol.  All of this is funny now but not necessarily back then:)  One positive result from my childhood experiences is that my physical shortcomings led me to focus my energies into academics.  The lack of social status led me to gain my "rep" via the academic rout.  When I look back, maybe I can at least consider that result from my obesity to be a blessing.

           During my senior year I was blessed to have won a full tuition academic scholarship to the University of Miami.  Once I matriculated I was thrilled to learn  that as a Miami Hurricane I would be the beneficiary of three square all you can eat meals.  Hmmmmmmm,  I bet you're just wondering what happened then aren't you?



To be continued......

What led me to finally take off the pounds for good...

After posting the prior video I thought to myself that this would be a good time to give everyone a glimpse into what made me decide to change my life for good. Most people who have successfully lost large amounts of weight have had an event that really spurred them on to make a change. that's not always true, but I believe it is usually the case, as with me.
             I had alway been heavy, from childhood all the way through a large amount of my adulthood. I suffered from all of the usual hassles that overweight children have to deal with. Names such as Fat Boy, Fat Albert, and my favorite from middle school, Soul Pig, were things I commonly had to deal with on an every day basis. I laugh at those experiences now, but while going through it, they weren't all that funny, lol. It's ironic though that some of the kids that teased me back then have become some of my biggest fans now, and even ask me for weight loss tips, lol. I make sure that I don't pay them back for all of those childhood nicknames though, lol. My school years took a lot of internal strength because as we know, children can be brutally honest with each other so there was no way to hide from my size issues....


To be continued.....

Before and after video....

Scripture...

The things which are impossible with men are possible with God. Luke 18:27

The loss of a large amount of weight can seem like a really formidable task. It is very easy when undertaking such a thing to get discouraged and want to give up. If you have faith in the power of God in your life then have no fear, you will be strong enough to reach your goal if you'll just keep praying and pushing forward. Keep up the good work!

All you can eat restaurants were to me as bars are to an alcoholic, lol....

Scripture...

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God
because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice - the
kind he will find acceptable. Romans 12:1-2 (NLT)



From a Christian perspective if we really believe this verse then we need to offer our bodily sacrifices to God in the best condition possible. We should always try to give God our best. Now what is considered to be the best is on an individual basis but lets always be honest with ourselves. Are we always offering up our best or do we cut back a little and support our state of being with a ton of excuses. Just something to really think and pray about:)

Best initial workout partners: Me Myself, I, and Christ....

Scripture...

(19)Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you
and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, (20) for God bought
you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20(NLT)

As a Christian I had to come to the realization that my body did not belong to me. It had been given to me by God and I had to be a good steward over it. That's something many of us do not take seriously. If you let someone borrow your car and when you arrived to regain it found out they had horribly abused it, you'd be really upset correct? Well, the same thing with God. He expects us to take care of the things that he has allowed us to use, including these bodies of ours:), don't forget that. I'm going to practice this concept right now and am going for a jog. Check back later for more updates:)

Humor break... When over eating lands you in jail, lol.

Scripture...

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.

Isaiah 40:29


On those days when you feel like you just cant get up and work out, or are feeling to weak to resist the call of those foods you know you shouldn't eat, meditate on the scripture above and use it as a spiritual weapon.

Simple but very effective weight loss plan...

Sometimes paid diet plans can be tough, lol.....

Scripture...

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men...

                                                                                        Colossians  3:23


This scripture has meant a lot to me during my quest for weight loss and general health.  Ever since I got really serious about my walk of faith I came to the realization that as a follower of Christ I needed to be a good example for the world as a witness.  When you think about it, we're kind of like advertisement for Christ.   No one wants to join a losing team.  How can we approach non believers and try to convince them to turn to Christ when we ourselves are looking all broken down, unhealthy, and lacking discipline with our diet and exercise.  Lets try to do better than that when we can, so that the non believing world can look at us in curiosity and actually want what we seem to have.  Lets try to put on a good representation for Christ. Lets proudly display all the fruits of the spirit:  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self discipline :).

Be very careful of fad diets and weight loss programs that seem to good to be true...

Tip for the day....

One of the biggest tips I can give for someone who is starting a workout program is to be as self motivated and proficient as possible when beginning. Many individuals when first starting to workout try to find a partner. That's all fine in the grand scheme but you must remember to try as hard as you can to be motivated from within. You don't want YOUR progress to have to depend on someone else. What if they cant workout one day? Will you have the drive to go alone? Maybe not. You yourself have to first want your new life of fitness. Now, if someone else wants to join you in your journey, great. Remember though that if you wind up having to do it alone one day, or maybe always, you must do what you have to do!!!

Look where prayer, faith, knowledge and hard work got me....

In the clip it looks like even Charles Barkley is beginning to see the light, lol...

Scripture...

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self -discipline.

2 Timothy 1:7


When I first started my exercise program I was really self conscious about going to my local park to walk, fearing that people would be talking about me and ridiculing me concerning my size. This scripture really helped me to move forward and be bold enough to not let the judgement of others hinder me from pressing toward my goal:) Even now when I feel compelled to binge on unhealthy foods, I must remind myself that as a believer in Christ I have the spirit of self discipline within me to resist these urges, and so do you:)

Haven't we all been on this fitness plan at one time or another, lol?

The new me....

Just kidding, this isn't really me, lol:)

                                                              
                                              
                                              
              

I'm a nice guy, contrary to what this picture may lead you to believe, lol.  God is good!

Enjoying my new life as a fit individual, truly blessed!

                                                                      

The old me...

 I know you are probably curious as to what I used to look like, well, this is the old me at over 320 pounds with a whopping 56 inch waist.  If you know anything about mens pants sizes, lets just say that I had a V.I.P. pass to every local Tall and Big shop, lol.  Its easy to laugh now but believe me I wasn't really laughing then.  Going clothes shopping was a really emotionally painful event for me back then.  As time goes by I'll be writing about what life was like for me as an obese person as well how things changed as I morphed into a completely different animal;)

Scripture...

For we walk by faith not by sight.

                                  2 Corinthians 5:7

Point to ponder....

I remember someone telling me this one day when I was trying to avoid going on one of my trademark sweets binges: "Nothing taste as good as fitness feels".  Think about it.

My Purpose.....

What can I say?  My purpose here is to attempt to motivate as well as educate anyone out there who is struggling with significant weight issues leading to a desire for weight loss.  I feel that I'm pretty qualified for this mission being that I spent some 30 years of my life as a morbidly obese person.  I've seen it all, the low self esteem,  being teased, the loneliness, the yo yo dieting, you name it, I've been there.  I've also seen life, and it continues now,  from the other side:  the confident self image,  excellent health,  respect from others, and last but actually first, a strengthening in my relationship and faith in Jesus Christ whom I know I owe the new life I enjoy now:)  Ok, I know I know, some of you who are reading this now are probably rolling your eyes and saying "here's another guy trying to shove religion down our throats again".  Well, let me put it to you this way.  Was my method of losing weight based on sound science, yes.  Do I feel personally that I could could have used that knowledge successfully without my faith,  absolutely not.   Look at it this way, a gorgeous Porsche without an engine is pretty useless isn't it?  Same with me and my successful weight loss.  All the knowledge in the world would have been useless to me had I not tapped into faith needed to power it into action.  Ok, enough about all of that.  As I proceed to develop this Blog I'll be giving you glimpses into my past so you'll understand how I got to the point where I finally took permanent action, as well as sound weight loss/health tips, in addition to  my faith walk.  Check back frequently for updates.  I pray that the same determination that it took for me to lose and keep off 160 pounds will serve me to maintain this blog and help those who need a little extra push....