Final week....gotta be strict

Today

Breakfast - 4 scrambled eggs

Lunch - bunless burger and small bowl of chili

Dinner - steak fajitas without the tortilla. steak, green pepper, avocado and hot sauce

No workout today. Ran home, cooked, took my son to Cub Scout Den meeting came home to eat, now helping my son finish his homework. I hate days like this.


Should make it to the fort tomorrow night, Thurs, night and Friday night. Will have to get a run in on Wednesday night and be sure not to let Saturday become a "challenge is over eat what you want to" but stick with the girl that brought me to the dance.

As of Sat. morning I'm down 30 lbs. since June and 20 lbs. since the beginning of the Better Body Challenge. Pants I haven't worn in quite some time fit now, my suits are way too big and I have to re-learn how to tie my ties becaust there isn't such a fat neck to fit around or such a large bulge to have to compensate for in the midsection.

Good changes. Received more unsolicited compliments from people who haven't seen me for a few months...that's always nice.

The plan for tomorrow is:

Breakfast - eggs and turkey bacon (I know, turkey. my wife bought it)

Lunch - Chicken breasts with avocado

Dinner.....hmmm maybe meatloaf or some ground beef browned in olive oil with veggies, garlic onion, spinach broccoli and mixed nuts

Tuesday thru Thursday

Tuesday I had 2 eggs and 2 sausage patties for breakfast

for lunch I had a small 6 oz. filet which left me starving in mid afternoon

I was planning to get to the Fort Tuesday evening but received a call from my very sick wife. Had to go the E.R. and it turns out she had bronchial pneumonia. I didn't have dinner until about 11 pm and the fatigue along with the starvation was too much to resist and I had a nasty meal of taco bell.

Wednesday

I was running late to a meeting with my boss and didn't have time to eat breakfast and didn't have time to eat until 1:00. I had a bunless burger and small bowl of chili.

I had a cub scout meeting with my son at 7 pm and only got to eat after that when I had another bunless burger.

Thursday


Much better day. 3 eggs, 2 sausage patties.

A beautiful grass fed t-bone for lunch

Went to the Fort and destroyed my legs:
Broad jumps, Bear crawls, wheelbarrow, crab crawl
Overhead squats: 3-3-3-1-1-1- 30k, 40k, 40k, 50k, 55k, 55k
Scaled WOD 3 gym lengths of lunge steps, 15, pull ups, 15 sit ups
lunge steps 9 pull ups, 9 sit ups
lunge steps 6 pull ups 6 sit ups
lunge steps 3 pull ups 3 sit ups

Finished in 10:37. Time to progress beyond the black band and onto the green band for the pull-ups.

Dinner I had a half pound of grass feed ground beef sauteed in olive oil with broccoli, sage, spinach and a handful of mixed nuts. Mmm Mmmm good!

As of yesterday morning I'm at 29 lbs. lost since June and 19 lbs. lost since beginning Cross Fit in October.

10/19

Had smoked sausage and eggs for breakfast

jalapeno burger minus the bun for lunch

all grass fed beef meatloaf for dinner

2.25 mile run

10/18 addendum

So, just had my wife take some "almost after pictures" two weeks early. Got to admit, I can see some difference but not as much as I would like. I thought 28 lbs. would have looked a bit more dramatice. Guess I gotta REALLY buckle down these last two weeks.

10/18 update

Yesterday I had 2 eggs and 2 sausage patties for my early morning birthday tradition with my son who just turned 10.

lunch I had a hamburger without the bun and a small bowl of chili

dinner I had chili and 4 small sausage meatballs.

I've found myself cheating on the nutrition here and there and need to curb that. I has some sour cream onion chips and a coke last night also.

Today I had my Sunday morning "date" with my 7 year old son and had a sausage omelet and totally laid off the hashbrowns and toast, but I did have a bite of his waffle.

I ended up not having lunch cause we were so busy getting ready for and then having Karston's birthday/costume party. I only had 3 bites of cake and one handful of doritos. Oh, and about 4 oreos.

Yeah, see what I mean about cheating a little bit?

I then had a bowl of chili around 3:00 made with no beans or corn but with ground beef, smoked sausage and sirloin. Oh, yeah, and a beer.

Will probably have another bowl of chili during the game tonight.

Because of the cheating I was self-motivated to get a workout in so I did 2 rounds of

800m run (slow jog if I'm being honest)
35 air squats

Totally forgot to set my stopwatch.

Will weigh in the morning but I'm not hopeful as I cheated a bit this weekend. I'm planning to get really strict again and go all out these last two weeks of the challenge.

10/16 body challenge update

Ok, I'm down 28 lbs. and had another unsolicited compliment from a co worker today, those are always nice. The bummer is I've only been able to make it to the fort once this week due to work schedule.

I made it for about 10 min. yesterday to pick up my grass feed beef before rushing off to a cub scout meeting. I'm hoping to lose another 2-3 lbs. by the time I weigh in on Monday. I'm also gonna have to look at the website Bill gave me for some Crossfit homework to get some WOD ideas to do at home on the evenings that I can't make it in.

Food:

Yesterday: Breakfast - 2 scrambled eggs and 2 sausage patties
Lunch - a small 6 oz. bacon wrapped filet mignon
Dinner (totally overate due to the stress of the long hours and a small lunch combined with a hectic schedule) Had meatloaf, salad, cole slaw (probably high sugar count) and 5 Buffalo Wings and fell into the old habit of finishing the kids food so I had a few of my son's bbq rib tips. The only victory is that I left the french fries and soup alone.


Today: Breakfast - 2 eggs and 2 sausage patties
Lunch - not sure, probably a bunless burger
Dinner - chicken breast baked in a tomato sauce with some steamed veggies

BTW Bill and Jennie, my sis-in-law in Florida is interested in learning more about crossfit so when she is up between xmas and new year she may come hang out on a Saturday.

Sept 24, 2006

Sunday, September 24, 2006
What are you doing God?
So, we have begun attending a church here in the area that I have known about for some time and always liked their style of ministry. I've been working outside of the church for three years now and have felt that that is just where God has had us for a variety of reasons which have been noted in previous blogs. Now, I'm in a position at work as Financial Advisor which I really enjoy and had to go through extensive work to pass state exams to become qualified for. I'm in a position to make some good money going forward and get my family in a place without debt and actually save some money for the future. Now God begins stirring something in me that makes me think He might be calling us back into the ministry at some time.
This church wants me to take some leadership roles and we have been asked by three staff members to submit my resume. When I started this job, my prayer was that I not get to a place where I was so comortable financially that I would be scared to re-enter the "ministry". Well, we're definitely not comfortable, we're a little behind on the mortgage, can't afford a car I need and my house in Alabama hasn't sold and the tenant is now gone so I have double mortgage to pay. But, it's on the horizon. As soon as the house sells I can pay off debt and with a couple of paychecks be on top for the first time in our lives. Now, I'm the first to say that money isn't everything, but I also believe God wants to bless His people financially, not so we can get more stuff but so we can be more effective blessing other people.
If he calls me back into the ministry am I going to always be behind financially? Last night at church the message was regarding the deceptiveness of wealth. Again, not that money is bad, but we always think if we have enough our lives will be satisfied and that's never the case. Bill Gates, who has earned 50 BILLION dollars began giving it all away in 1998 because he said it wouldn't be good for his kids to inherit it. The only thing that satisfies is being in the center of His will in your life and feeling Him smile at you.
Charis and I were talking about this, and she made the comment that if the salary of being on staff would be equivalent to what my pay is now, that it's a no brainer, we would be in the ministry. But that would be an easy decision and one thing I know about God is that He likes to form character in my life by giving me difficult decisions. So, would I be willing to step back into the ministry if it would be a drastic pay cut. What if I can't imagine how the bills would be paid? We own a house now and the cost of living up here is pretty drastic. What if it doesn't work on paper and God asks us to do it. Is our faith strong enough to obey?
Maybe God will let us sell our house, pay off all our debt and receive a high paying ministry position. Maybe we've learned a long painful lesson regarding the purpose of finances and he can trust us with that. Maybe I get paid well to have my dream ministry position of travelling to be a missionary to missionaries and helping people in the local church find their true ministry passion. But what if that time isn't here? Pray that I can hear Him clearly and respond to Him appropriately.
I don't feel like now is the time to make a change, but I definitely feel God asking me to examine my heart and determine if I can trust Him if He did make that call.

September 17, 2006

Sunday, September 17, 2006
He says it quite well
This is a response to my blog from a member of one of my groups. While I don't promote and governmental commentary, he does make a few good points.

You're confusing those who claim to be Christians with genuine Christians. The people in the U.S. who make the biggest noise about being Christians, and all their Christian values and so on are some of the least Christian people I've ever met. I've only been a Christian for a few years, having been agnostic most of my 50 years. I'd look at the people around me who called themselves "Christians", and think, "what in the world would I want to be like that for?" But Christ does not call us to be like that people who loudly proclaim themselves to be Christians, he calls us to be like him. The Religious Right, who call themselves Christians, bear no resemblance to Christ that I can see, therefore I don't see how we can call them Christians.Not that I'm that great a Christian, either. Being like Christ is a pretty hard thing to do, and none of us do a very good job of it....

I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ. - Mohandas GandhiThe problem with Christianity is not that it has been tried and found wanting, but that it has been found difficult, and left untried. - G.K. ChestertonChristendom has done away with Christianity without being quite aware of it. - Soren Kierkegaard*** I'm not a Christian but desire to love God and ALL people with every fiber of my being. ***That sounds pretty Christian to me.Jim

Old blog from Sept 03, 2006--Christian hater

So, there are some blogs that I posted a few years ago that I wanted to paste into my current blog in order to have a good record of thoughts I had and things I went through. This particular blog was very much posted in a time when I was really tired of the behavior of most American Christians.

The process God took me through was interesting. First, he was patient with me and let me have my bad attitude. He then gently steared me back to the understanding that everything I saw in "those Christians" were the very things about me that God was sickened by.

I'm also going to post the comments that were given back when I first posted this blog. There was some good dialog from many of my friends.

Sunday, September 03, 2006
Am I a Christian?
I realize that I used to be a really good Christian...was really good at being judgemental, thinking I had to be sure that everyone around me followed the rules that I believed were the way a Christian should act. Couldn't accept anyone that didn't "look" or "talk" like a Christian. I've come to realize that I don't really like Christians very much. That's not a real fair thing to say..it's not that I don't like them, I just have a hard time stomaching them. Christianity has become such a religion, a subculture, a weird civilization that is so concerned with not being "tainted" by the world that it has forgotten that it is called to love the world. When people ask me if I am a Christian, I have to tell them no. That I am really in love with God, but not so keen about his people. One of the Great Commandments is that we not take the Lord's name in vain. What that means is that we not misrepresent God's character, and we have all done a pretty good job of misrepresentation. I love God and want to look more like him, and I think I have looked more like him when I'm sitting in a bar with a group of friends playing basketball and we end up talking about God, or about how I'm in love with my wife and have no desire to cheat on her. I think I look more like him when people say "wow, when I'm around you I don't feel uncomfortable, like I have to quit cussing or pray before my meals." They wouldn't feel uncomfortable around Jesus would they? He is the ultimate in loving people and accepting them BEFORE they change. Remember Nicodemus? Jesus said "hey lets hang out" THEN Nicodemus decided to change the way he acted and looked. I don't know, it's a bit of a soap box I guess, I just think Christians have done a superb job of making Jesus look undesirable. I'm not a Christian, but I love God with all of my heart. Isn't that one of only two things he's asked us to do? Love me with all your heart soul and mind and love your neighbor as yourself? Christians are some of the most un-neighborly people I know. It's kind of like looking at a married couple where the husband is the perfect husband. Loves his wife, goes out of his way for her, always puts her first, sacrifices his life to make hers the best it can possibly be. And the wife disregards it, ignores him, takes his love for granted and gives the impression that he mistreats her. I love God an awful lot, but his bride disgusts me and I hope she can learn to appreciate the good man she has. It's like Mick says to Rocky in Rocky III, "But then the worst thing happened that could happen to any fighter, you got civilized" The church has become so concerned with being accepted that it has become civilized and because of it, has become rejected. So... I'm not a Christian but desire to love God and ALL people with every fiber of my being.

Oct 4th

Well....this was my 34th birthday weekend and therefore the first time I've cheated on my nutrition since starting this challenge.


Saturday, my birthday, I had 2 sausage patties and 2 scrambled eggs for breakfast.

I then had to work until about 1:30 but then had some yummy grilled chicken for lunch.

I then met up with friends and family at Joe's Crab Shack in Gurnee. My dinner was actually not a problem, I had broiled tilapia, shrimp and crab meat. I did sneak one of my wife's hushpuppies though.

I wasn't planning to have dessert, but my mother had a huge surprise for me. See, when I was in college I would occassionally work for a family friend who was a wedding planner/caterer. I always loved the chocolate on chocolate cake she would make for the groom's cake. So, at our wedding I of course requested this cake. In the busyness of our reception, I didn't get any of the cake and my sister in law took the leftovers home with her so I never got any and have jokingly whined and complained about it for 13 years now. Well...my mother looked up this old family friend on facebook. She still lives in Birmingham. My mother got the recipe sent to her and made for me the chocolate on chocolate grooms cake for my birthday. So, you see, I just had to have some.

I only had one piece and we ended up giving the leftovers to our wait staff because we all knew if we took it home we would eat it.

So, that was my Saturday cheat.

Sunday:

I took my oldest son to breakfast for some one on one time and had a sausage omelet that of course had cheese in it.

Then, at church I took one bite of birthday cake, but for dinner I had a quesadilla complete with flour fajita.

So, back on the wagon for me. Will weigh tomorrow and see how the progress is coming.

I will say, I am beginning to get compliments from a lot of people so that's rewarding.

Thanks to the crossforters for being supportive and pushing me to finish the WOD's when I'm perfectly content to quit. :-)