Acts_16_31’s BodyBlog

I took some profile pictures today.  There are some changes in there (8 lbs lighter), but it just seems like there should be more progress.  When you look at yourself every day it gets hard to see that your changing….I mean I’ve lost a small toddler in the last few months (in fat that is), but I still look the same in my own eyes.  If you stop by and read this do me a favor and take a look at my pictures and truthfully tell me what you think.  By the way I finally hit 200 lbs!             Blessings…Acts_16_31

P.S. I worked hard to get my mohawk to look that good ;0)

Well I set a goal of reaching 200 lbs by the 18th and I didn’t make it.  As it stands right now I weigh 201 lbs.  Why didn’t I make it? One thing: obsession.  I’m an ‘all or nothing’ type of guy generally and for the last few months have been a little psycho about chewing off the fat around my midsection.  Too much psycho actually.  I’m eating right, exercising with intensity and proper form, etc, etc.  The problem is, at least I believe, is that my body is saying ‘HOLD YOUR HORSES, NOT SO FAST’.  In a little over two and 1/2 months I’ve dropped 29 lbs of fat.  That is almost 3 lbs a week.  That’s pretty decent weightloss.  I’m also seeing an increase in strength and relative muscle size, which obviously has to be offsetting some of those numbers with muscle gain.  There comes a time when one has to be realistic about how much weightloss they can do in a set amount of time and it be healthy and/or not burning up precious muscle.  A few years ago this failure may have deralied and set me back.  But you know what, so I missed my weight goal, but that is not going to stop me from having a healthier tomorrow.  Slow and steady wins the race….and I’m stil just warming up.  Blessings!

Have you ever seen in the movies a horse that is biting at the bit, rearing up on its legs, eyes wild and beaded in sweat?  That horse is ready for some major action, no playing around they mean business.  That’s how I’m starting to feel.  I look at the profiles of all my friends (shout out to all…thanks for all the advice and encouragement) and I think when will it be my turn to give back.  To be able to look back down the track that has cost me blood, sweat and tears and say, ‘I’ve made it, I’m healthy, strong and able to help others’.  Right now I feel like a toddler playing with some dumbbells asking the big boys how they do what they do.  God has blessed me with many things, but I wish He’d hurry up and bless me with patience!  It’ll will happen.  I know in the depth of who I am that I can’t go back.  I’ve tried and failed before, but this time it’s different.  How?  I have all my Bodybuilding.com buddies to help me.  I believe in the power of prayer….so if you don’t mind keep me in yours.  Blessings….P.S. Anyone know how to get rid of saddle sores? ;0)

Okay so I’ve spent a few hours digging and scouring for some fat burning advice and found a few common ones…and some ‘unique’ ones.  I also found a really nifty quote:

“If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health.”
- Hippocrates c. 460 - 377 B.C.

So true isn’t it.  Anyway here are some of the tidbits I’ve found that I’ll break up into the duh’s and the hmmms.  Some of the duhs: drink more water (What? No gallons of Mountain Dew), get 8 hours of sleep (knew that but okay).  On to some of the hmmms: take 1 tablespoon of extra virgin cocunut oil 2x a day with or without food (why? I have no idea), spin around like a 2 year old 5 to 15 times as fast as you can (something to do with hormone regulation).  It can’t hurt to try it I guess just need to put the song ‘I Spin Around’ on my MP3 player!  Any ideas or comments? Feel free to reply!  Until then blessings!

I’ve decided that I need to be a little more disciplined in getting to my goals.  Now, let me clarify that statement.  I’m eating good and I’m exercising hard, but I need to have a more etched in stone plan.  Today is my day of rest and therefore I’m going to take some quality time and read, read and read.  The old cliche ‘knowledge is power’ is missing a verb to make it correct.  It should say ‘knowledge APPLIED is power’.  So this next week I’m going to assemble all the best advice I can muster, sift through it, find the diamond nuggets of truth and then use them to chisel the body I’ve always wanted.  Just a heads up my BodySpace friends….it may be your heads I’m digging into for that knowledge!  Blessings in life and in the gym…Acts_16_31

As a kid my favorite toy was Lincoln Logs.  I’d spend hours and hours building and tearing down structure after structure with them.  If I didn’t like what my ‘building’ looked like I would tear it down and begin again.  It was like the back a shampoo bottle, but instead of rinse and repeat it was buld and tear down.  But you know what not one of those masterpieces lasted very long and today I have nothing to sho for all that work.  Now, what if as a child I made statues.  Granted each would take longer.  The planning would take longer, the work would be slower….but it would be something that lasts…a real work of art.  For years I treated my body like the way I treated Lincold log buildings…tear it down quickly, gain it back.  At the end of things all I had to show was more weight, not a masterpiece.  Now I’m looking at my body like a statue, it’s worth all the work, all the planning and yes, even if I wish it would all happen faster, the wait.  Better building to you!  Blessings!

Well today I got some bloodwork and blood pressure done at my parttime job for a health assesment.  My good cholesterol is 36 instead of 40, but other than that all my numbers are great!  Just need to keep lifting, doing cardio and eating fruits and vegtables.  I can’t imagine what those numbers would have been just over a month ago!  Just another reason to keep doing what I’m doing.  I’m going to post those numbers on my weight room wall and in a few more months get it done again.  One day at a time….

Working in the ministry I hear excuses constantly, especially when I’m counseling people.  We are quite truthfully sinful and we don’t like admiting it, so what do we do?  Blame, blame and blame.  That is how I balooned to Goodyear blimp size.  "I’m too busy…I can’t cook….yada, yada, yada".  It’s easy for a pastor who is overweight as I am (but going down), to preach on sins such as adulterey, lying, etc.  But when gluttoney comes up that is a hard one to swallow.  Did you know that in upwards of 80% of Christian clergy are overweight?  If we beleive that our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit we need to treat it as such!  Maybe those whose lives are spiriling out of control would be more apt to recieve the Gospel message if the messenger’s girth didn’t get the way.  God willing I’m going to get healthy, not just because I want to look good and be vain (I see alot of that on Bodybuilding.com), but so that I can quit sinning in the area of my health.  I encourage you to do the same, to be set free from the bondange of that is just as spiritual as it is physical!  Blessings in Christ….Acts 16:31

Unashamedly, I’m a Rocky movie fan.  It gets my blood racing and motivates me to MOVE.  Everyone has something to motivate them, and this is mine.  Why? Because during my days of youth in the 80’s (listen closely children and you can hear my bones creak), Stallone was the MAN.  Or maybe it has to do with the fact that in 1976 I was born and it just happened to win best picture of the year…coincidence I don’t think so.  Anyway in Rocky III Rocky is getting pummled by the moutain of a mohawk man Mr. T (a.k.a ‘Clubber Lang’).  His trainer makes the statement, ‘He’s getting killed out there’, to which his friend says, "No he’s not he’s getting angry!".  Well…I’m at that point.  I’m getting angry.  At myself for letting myself get so out of shape.  At my weightloss which as slowed down.  But I’m not going to quit…too many rounds into the fight. But what I am going to do is look at the obstacle in front of me (and around my waist) and say ‘You ain’t so bad!’ just as Rocky did to Clubber.  Then I’m going to wipe the floor with it.  If you want to know what I have planned take a look at my favorite article section to get a glimpse.  By all means if you have some suggestions, or would simply pray for me (please) I’d appreciate it.  Opps gotta go the round is about to start…..

I watched this movie last night, and I have to say it got me motivated to hit the treadmill.  Yeah, yeah I’m a sucker for the underdog story, but you know what?  That story is you and me.  The vast majority of our society is overweight.  It used to be that a 250 lb. man was a rarity, but now its a common occurance.  I dare you to go to your local mall and count how many overweight people you see.  Better yet, go to an all you can eat food joint and look at the people going through the lines like plump cattle (if that doesn’t motivate you to lose, well then enjoy your heart attack).  Those of us who are trying to regain, or acheive, a healthy weight are now the underdogs…everything in our society counters our everymove.  So let me ask you are you going to back down from the challenge that is before you?  The goodnews is that us underdogs with heart, like those in Hollywood movies, come out on top.