Lose a friend lose God? Part III

So, I have talked about the importance of friendships in your relationship with God, and have talked about seeing a glimpse of God in the relationships around you.

In this "episode" I want to talk about a passage in Scripture. Matthew 7:3-6 says:

3"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

I always used to view this as a commentary against being judgemental, realizing that it's hypocritical to judge the faults of someone when in reality, you are full of enough of your own faults. While this is very true, I realized something about 10 years ago having to do with the mechanics of how our eyeballs work.

Experiment time.....try this. You can either gaze into someone else's eye, or stare at your own in a mirror.

This is how the human eye works:

The first step in how your eye works is the light from the outside world traveling to your eye.

The light then enters the eye through the pupil and travels to the cornea.

The cornea then focuses the light upon the lens.

The lens further focuses the light on the retina. The image is flipped over and spread across the back of the retina. The retina then carries the light signals to the brain via the optic nerve.

This is the interesting part. If you look into someone else's eye, in good light, you will see what they see, flipped over. When you see into someone's eye, you can see yourself....tiny and upside down.

Let's get back to Jesus' example in Matthew. Let's just assume you literally had a plank in your eye (and hadn't previously noticed the seering pain that comes with a log stuck in your eye) and you were face to face with a friend and you leaned in close to tell them something serious, then noticed what looked like a speck of sawdust in their eye.

That "sawdust" you would be looking at would actually be a tiny, flipped over mirror image of the pine tree protruding from your own eye. Jesus' point was that when you see something in someone that bothers you, realize that it's just a minute reflection of a large problem in your own life.

Our friends, especially when their character flaws get on our nerves, are Jesus' way of communicating to us.

If I'm not involved in close friendships, I won't have the opportunity to see myself and my faults that God wants me to work on. He uses the lamp of their eyes to illuminate the areas of my life He wants to give me the grace to improve.

Yes, if I lose a friend, I lose that communcation from God, through their eyes. If I lose a friend, I lose God.

Stay tuned to see what C.S. Lewis and Lord of The Rings has to say about finding God in our friendships.

Lose a friend lose God? Part II

Broken legs, babies and moving in the winter.

In Genesis 35:11, just after God changed Jacob's name to Israel, God told him that a "community of nations will come from you" Interesting that he used the word "community". I would actually enjoy studying the Hebrew word used here but all my books are packed in boxes. That would probably only serve to give me some head knowledge regarding community but I think I have a practical knowledge of community.

I think that when there is a void of friendship, there is a part of God that is lost. I know that I see God in the community around me.

I know that I see a glimpse of God when I'm working out and a group of people that have invested in me and my well being are encouraging me to "push through the suck" and attain a level of intensity, speed, strength, endurance that I have previously been unable to achieve.

I know that I see God in little things at work. Like in the sharing of pecans and venison sausage.
Or in more important things, like when a co worker and I break through the realm of "shop talk" and share with one another about personal loss, or former dissapointments and failures in life.

I know that I see God when I see our entire church family love on baby Lucy and baby Chloe (and soon to be Ritchie twins) when they are around.

I know that I see God when I see an entire community gather around our friend Hannah when she broke her leg recently. I see God when I see people organize meal delivery and time to just hang out with her while she is immobile because we don't want someone we love to have to be alone during a difficult time. I see God when I know that one of our friends went to see Hannah and offered to wash her hair for her so she could feel refreshed. Yep, you heard me, washed her hair for her. Pretty awesome friendships that are a reflection of God.

I know I see God in my friends who have offered to give up a Saturday of relaxing with their family to come out in the cold and help us move, because they know this is a move that our circumstances chose for us and we would not have chosen to do on our own and they don't want us to have to do it without support.

I know I see God when I see the gang of children at church running around screaming and being free to act like children.

I have no question I see God in the earth shaking, full sprint, body slam hugs that Alyssa, Savannah and Mercy greet one another with when they see each other.

I think I have a pretty clear idea of community. And I know for certain that if I lost these things, these friends, I would definitely feel a sense of losing a part of God.

Stay tuned to see how an irritated eye and CS Lewis and Lord of the Rings all prove that losing friends contributes to a loss of the nature of God.

Lose a friend lose God?

Friendships have always been important to me. I consider myself a good friend, but, I guess everyone considers themselves a good friend. I think I'm a good friend because Proverbs says that a friend must show himself friendly. I have so many good (quality) friends that, following the logic of this proverb, I must have been given enough of God's grace to be a good friend to them or they wouldn't stick around as my friend.

Recently, in church, our pastor Eric Lerew asked people why they come to church. My response was meant to be somewhat humorous but actually showed a bit of my heart. I said I come to church because without church I wouldn't have friends. It was meant as a bit of self deprecating humour. I do have friends where I workout at Crossfitfire and I do have friends at work as well as old childhood friends I have stayed in touch with (thanks in great part to Facebook). But as I reflected on my answer, I realized that my friendships are very important and do in fact play a very spiritual role in my life.

Several years ago I posted a series of blogs on how disgusted I was with church and Christians. I really was rather irritated and disillusioned with Christianity in it's present state. The real revelation that came to me recently was that this was during a time in my life that I was very disconnected from any real friendships. We didn't have a church family that fostered close friendships, I didn't have a community of like minded people I worked out with, we hadn't discovered the "magic" of Facebook and My Space and at work I was moving from one office to another rather frequently and not establishing meaningful friendships.

This got me thinking and I've come to a few conclusions. I'm going to cut this one short and make this a series so it doesn't become too long and boring, but stay tuned over the next couple days to see how C.S. Lewis, Lord of The Rings, babies, broken legs, moving in the winter and a splinter in the eyeball all play into the importance of friendships in knowing God more.

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. :-)

Sept. 30

Ok, yesterday was eggs with corned beef hash. Can't do that again, the hash has potatos in it so the leftover can went to the dogs.

Lunch was a small cob salad that didn't hold me over until I got home so I grabbed a couple beef skewers at Dominicks on the way home.

Dinner: Culvers where I had a Bunless Burger and 1 french fry. Should have resisted the one fry on principal alone but alas...it was good.

Today

Breakfast: 3 strips bacon and 2 scrambled eggs

Lunch: Delish steak I grilled this morning before leaving for work

Dinner: Steak/bacon chili been cooking in the crockpot all day....looking forward to that one.

Monday I worked out at the Fort and we did Isabel. I finished the fastest but I can't claim to have had the heaviest weight, nor the prescribed weight. Rob the Bruce did it with 50k and I finished with 40k.

Tuesday I went for another run on my "couch to 5k" program. This consisted of a 5 min. warm up walk, some stretches then a 5 min. run/3 min. walk/8 min. run/3 min. walk/5 min. run.

All in, according to walkjogrun.net I covered 2.31 miles.

Today is a rest day as I am working late. Will be at the Fort on Thursday and Friday at the 5:00 class.

Sept. 28th

Ok...not sure how it happened but the scale says I dropped a few more pounds. I am apparently at 25 lbs. lost since early June which would put it at roughly 15 lbs. lost since beginning the 60 day body challenge.

My clothes are fitting looser, I've run out of notches on my belt but I'm waiting to tailor my clothes as I intend to lose a good bit more. I've had a few comments from co-workers and clients alike that I look like I've lost weight so that's always rewarding.

Going to my first "non ramp up" crossfit tonight...hope I don't die.

Diet.

Yesterday:

Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs and orange juice

Lunch: 6 oz. filet mignon

Dinner: meatballs with tomato sauce and salad. (It was another temptation conquered as it was "Italian dinner night" at church. I was able to resist although I did notice another crossfitter eat some cake ahem ahem....not naming names.

Today:

Breakfast: 3 slices bacon and 2 scrambled eggs with orange juice

Lunch: roasted pork tenderloin

Dinner: will be baked pork chops in tomato sauce and sauteed veggies (wow, that's a lot of pig in one day....I imagine I should tone that one down a bit?)

I brought grapes and mixed nuts for a snack although I've really not been hungry between meals. Will probably eat some nuts on the way to crossfit.

Next blog I'll share a little about my experience in Canada.

Sept 26th

My apologies to all my facebook friends. This blog automatically posts there and I'm not sure how to select which ones should import and which ones shouldn't.

On my 60 day Body Challenge I think I'm doing relatively well other than a lack of workouts last week due to work schedule. I've lost 11 lbs. since beginning. The question I have (you crossfitters can help with this) , I have a handle on the allowable foods (at least I think I do), I just am not sure how much I should be eating. I'm going to explore DAILYPLATE.COM tonight and I think it will tell me calorie intake as well as nutritional values in my foods I'm eating. But I don't know how many calories I should be taking in nor do I know the nutritional guidelines...i.e. grams of protein, carbs, fiber etc. What's a good rule of thumb?

Today was:

Breakfast: a few pieces of smoked sausage and two scrambled eggs with orange juice (not from concentrate)

Lunch: Bacon burger without the bun and a small caesar salad

Dinner: (skipped the free pizza my sis in law bought as a thank you for helping her move) and went home and had about 10 oz. of smoked sausage with sauteed yellow bell pepper.

Hope I'm on track?!

I DID IT!!!

So, I'm 21 lbs. lost now so I can give myself that new tattoo. I'll wait until I'm in Alabama in November so I can get the same guy to do it that did my first. Just have to keep it off until then but I believe that won't be a problem as I'm intending to continue getting in shape.

I've done surprisingly well at switching my diet to the "paleo diet" Basically, no grains, no sugar, no dairy, no legumes and no soy. That means I can have meat, vegetables, and some fruit as well as nuts. I like all of that and it gives me a good excuse to grab a steak for lunch. In the last two weeks, the only time I've really ever deviated was one night I had a meatball sandwich and last night I had two soft tacos. Otherwise I've been able to stay on track.

I have only been to crossfit once since I got back from Canada. I've finished my ramp up. I have set aside the money to pay for October at crossfit, I just had a really busy week at work after being on vacation, so the plan is to get at least three days a week at crossfit. My goal is, on the days I'm not at crossfit, to continue my "couch to 5k" training.

Today's workout for couch to 5k was to run for 20 minutes without walking. Gotta be honest, when I saw this workout a few weeks ago, I thought...."aint gonna happen". But guess what. I ran for 20 minutes without stopping to rest today. Pretty proud of myself. walkjogrun.net tells me that I ran 1.75 miles so I know that all you runners out there could smoke my time, but finishing without dying was an accomplishment.

Hopefully, after halloween, I can post my after pics and redeem myself for making your eyeballs bleed when you looked at the before pictures a few posts ago.

Last week in Canada--more weight loss

Went to Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada all last week. Left Chicago Friday evening and were in the park by noon Saturday. We figured to have covered 60-70 miles over the week. Ok, crossfitters.....I think I got my rowing in this week as we were in the canoes from 9 am until about 4 pm every day. When we weren't rowing in the canoes we were hiking with our heavy packs and a canoe on our shoulders up and down the trails through very rough terrain.

The only unfortunate thing is that I couldn't control diet and there were a lot of grains on the trip. Once we left civilization I spent the next day and a half easing back into Paleo diet but am full swing in again.

I lost 4.6 lbs. on the trip and am looking forward to getting back in the swing of things at crossfit.

Pics to follow once I get my computer to cooperate.

Remove all children from the room!

Ok...so they are in...the pics are here. My before pics for the 60 day Body Challenge I'm doing. I'm posting the picture late in the post so innocent children don't accidentally see the nightmare.

First...update. Today was eggs and sausage for breakfast and steak and broccoli for lunch. No dinner yet. Leaving in about 20 minutes to go meet the rest of the guys for our trip to Canada. Going hiking and canoeing in the Algonquin Provincial Park near Huntsville, Ontario, Canada. Looking forward to it, will be gone until late next Saturday. I won't be "officially" working out this week but certainly hope that canoeing will replace Crossfit rowing and long hikes with a backpack and canoe will suffice for box jumps dead lifts and squats. We shall see, my goal is to lose 5 lbs. this week. Not sure what we will be eating daily but I'm packing beef jerky and mixed nuts for my daily snacks. If I lose 5 lbs. this week I will be 1 lb. away from my tattoo weight. I gave myself the incentive back in June that if I lose 20 lbs. I will justify the expense of a new tattoo. In the pic you will see on my left shoulder my tattoo of the Goodson family crest. What I would like to do is just beneath that, create a band with all three of my children's handprints.

Anyway...that's the scoop. Are you ready? Brace yourself.....remove the children

In fact, you may want to cover your eyes and peak between your fingers....I promise, it'll be like a train wreck...you'll look away and then make a weird face and look at the pic again.

No blog updates this week from the wilderness, but beginning again on the 21st....check in for regular progress and check in on me and cheer me on.

another day

I'm finding that eating right really requires planning ahead.

I had my 2 eggs and 2 sausage patties for breakfast

smoked grilled sausage, baked chicken leg, grilled chicken breast, baked fish filet and green beans for lunch (wow...looks like a lot when you write it down huh?)

dinner, didn't plan ahead and ran out of time with packing for the Canada trip so I had 2 burritos and a soft taco from taco bell.


Hmmmm.....that doesn't look so great huh. No workout today either as I've been packing for the trip. Will be hiking and canoeing all week so my goal is to lose 5 lbs. this week. Am packing beef jerky and mixed nuts for snacking during the day on the trip.