Made it Back!!

     I had to take a small break from blogging because I had to go to Arkansas. There was not a good Internet connection where I was. I did try to blog at least once, via my cell phone, but that looked like jumble. So I didn't try again. Holly and her family laid her granddad to rest this past week. It was a precious memorial service. Please pray for Holly's family.

     We were going to be back Sunday night, but after 2 hours of driving, the car broke down and we were stranded. We called my father in law who came and helped, but we still had to wait until Monday for my dad to rent a U-Haul car hauler and tow the car back to TN. Oh, yeah here's the funny part. We were driving my dad's car because was still, and STILL is, in the shop! What a week end. We made it home yesterday at about 3:00 A.M. I was pretty tired, that's why I didn't post yesterday.

     I stepped on the scale when I got back from Arkansas and I weighed in at 367.5. I am supposed to be down to 360 by this Sunday. I have about 7.5 pounds to lose to reach my goal. I truly believe that if I focus that I will be able to reach the goal. I will be trying to get back into an exercise routine and eating healthier.  It takes a lot of hard work, but I am convinced that this thing can be won!

WHAT IN THE WORLD!!!!!

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About to leave

      I am going to heading to Arkansas this morning to be with Holly's family. She lost her grandad the other day. Any time we travel it is VERY difficult for me to lose weight. I am trying to mentally prepare for the trip. I usually gain weight when I go to Arkansas. I have no idea what this weekend has in store for us. I may not post much the rest of this week, unless I post on the go, they'll be short. I will be back to posting in the morning's by Monday.
  
     UPDATE!!! I weighed in at 368 this is a 1.5 pound increase from the other day. Of course the 1st night of the fair I ate AWFUL, last night I did good. I stayed in my points for weight watchers, but I didn't eat supper until 11:00 P.M. last night. We'll see what the scale says this morning.

Like it or not, It's Fair

     It's Fair time here where I live!! You know what that means - especially for small towns where we have something to do once a year - LOTS of food!! Last night I worked at the fair and STILL ate a hamburger, french fries, 1/4 of a funnel cake, a fried Oreo, and 2 small packages of peanut M&M's and half a kitkat. Let's say, I'm not looking forward to seeing the scale today. I will have to stay extra focused for the rest of the week. I don't have any of my extra points - I'm on weight watcher's. I actually am at -4 extra points. I will exercise and that will fix that problem.

     UPDATE!!! - I already told you what I ate at the fair last night, but I also had 2 strawberry strudels for breakfast. I also made me a turkey sandwich for a snack, and ate 2 hamburgers, wheat bread, and mustard along with potato chips and some dip for lunch.

     I was planning on sending pictures or something , but I haven't been able to figure that out yet. We'll keep working on it. I will probably be writing a little less over the next few days, Holly - my wife, just lost her granddad. We are preparing to go to the funeral. I will post as much as I can.

Dream the Impossible Dream

     When I was in high school we sang a song that said "To Dream the impossible dream.." That's all I remember, word for word anyway. It also talked about reaching for the unreachable stars, etc. For those of us who are overweight our dream may be as simple as losing down to our "ideal" weight, or just a few pounds would be nice. I am a big dreamer. I enjoy trying to do great things. I also enjoy dreaming of doing greater things. I am never satisfied with what I did, I want to do bigger better things next time.

     What's my dream? right now, my dream is to lose weight and reach my goal that I have set. The good news is, if you are in the same boat as me, our dream is not the impossible one. It is just the difficult, VERY difficult one. So, how do we see the dream come true? We set reachable goals. I have set goals for my weight loss that will, if I reach them every week, will get me to my goal weight of 200 lbs. By the last weigh day of October 2012. I am only losing about 2 pounds a week with very few exceptions. For example my update for you today will show you that I am 366 and my goal for next Sunday weig in will be 364 - only two pounds. I have also started back on weight watchters and will  use that system to my advantage in order to reach my goals.

     In order to help me stay motivated to reach my goals I am setting up a simple reward system that does NOT include food, except for 30 pounds lost. My first reward will be a day to the zoo with my family and me and NO ONE ELSE. This is a big deal for me, I love my family time, especially when we get to spend all day with the kids and watch their eyes pop as they see cool animals! So, in order for me to get to go to the zoo I must lose down to 350.

     Let me encourage you to set simple, attainable goals, and find a weight loss system that will work for you. What is your goal weight? Jow will you get their? What system will you use? What rewards will you give yourself for losing weight? I would LOVE to hear from you!!!

F.O.C.U.S.: S= Single-minded

    Being single-minded is a key aspect of focus. Single-minded is defined as "Having one overriding purpose or goal. Steadfast; resolute". As a Christian I am to be single-minded on the things of God and yet the Bible tells me that my body is the temple of God. I must ask myself, "Is God's temple (my body) worthy of Him and His Holiness, or is it cluttered with garbage (fat). Being as overweight as I am I sometimes struggle with self-esteem. How does this affect my ministry? My life? My testimony? We cannot break up the Spiritual world and the physical world. They effect each other. My spiritual life will cause me to act a certain way physically and my physical life is the thermostat by which we can read our growth in God. So I MUST lose weight, not just so I will feel better, not just for my wife or the kids. It's more important than that. I must lose weight so my life can better glorify God. So being single-minded is more than just on weight loss, it's being single-minded on God and what He wants for me. He wants a pure, clean, well taken care of temple. I have failed miserably in this area, but by God's help I will clean it up!

     UPDATE TIME!!!! I lost a pound yesterday. I now weigh 366lbs. Now I have just listened to a professional who suggest that a person only weigh in once a week. I have also heard it is better to weigh every day (This also from a professional). I have been weighing every day for the past several months, I may start weighing only once a week. I haven't decided. Any comments on this decision is are welcome. Yesterday I did not do as well as I should have. I ate pizza - four pieces that had xtra cheese, pepperoni, and bacon. I also had about six cheese sticks and a glass of milk. For supper I had a turkey sandwich, white bread, mayo, cheese, and tortilla chips with cheese dip. I did not exercise last night- this is the only night I did not do my stepper. So we'll see what happens when I step on the scale today. Starting Monday I will be posting a lot more via my mobile. I will start posting pictures of what I eat as well as other things throughout the day. I will still be writing my morning "devotional" so keep an eye on this blog it will be changing constantly. It's about to go to the next level!!!

This is a test to see if I can post mobile
Pastor Caleb Bowling

F.O.C.U.S.: U= Undeterred

      There will be bumps in the road to weight loss. There will be battles lost. This is where being Undeterred comes in handy. Undeterred is defines as "not discouraged or dissuaded". It is so tempting to throw up my hands and say "I quit!!" However if I am undeterred I will get back on track and stay with it. I must NOT allow things to keep me down, I must go on...undeterred.

      Time for my update!! I weighed in yesterday morning at 367 lbs. I gained 1 pound. This was quite a let down, since I really thought I would lose weight. However, I fought through my discouragement and pressed on. I ate 3 tacos, and 2 bowls of banana pudding - yea I'm NOT supposed to have seconds. This was for lunch. I also had a turkey sandwich with mayo, cheese, pickles, and white bread. After church I ate 2 more turkey sandwiches and 2 chocolate chip cookies. I DID do the stepper for 30 minutes. We will see what happens when I weigh in this morning.

F.O.C.U.S.: C= Commited

     Commitment is a word that most people, it seems, don't like to hear. When a person is committed that means they are going to "stick with it" until the end. Commitment takes hard work, endurability, and toughness. It is tough to stay with something when it is hard. It is easier for me to be committed to watch a movie than it is for me to clean and paint a room. That is human nature. To be committed you have to be stubborn and say NO when you are tempted to give up.

     There is another "C" word I could use here as well. It is companion. Had I not had the encouragement from my wife, friends, and even kids I would have quit a long time ago.Having someone to answer to is a great way to help a person stay focused. This is why I LOVE to hear from you so we can help each other. A companion will help you stay committed. They go hand in hand, for me anyway.

     O.K. Now for my update....Yesterday I lost 1/2 a pound!!! I was pleasantly surprised considering all I ate Monday - see yesterday's post. I am now 9 pounds from my goal for the week. I did a little better - I think as far as eating goes. Yesterday I ate 3 cheeseburgers - the burgers were NOT fast food and they were on whole wheat bread. I also had nachos and cheese - it would probably equally a full large plate full of chips with cheese on almost every chip. I also had a small ice cream cone and some cake. Last night I ate two red baron personal, microwavable pizza's - 4 cheese. I did drink my gallon of water. I also did my 30 minutes of stepping. I feel pretty good about today. I think I will try to take pictures of what I eat - I have read where that helps some people - and I will share the pictures with you - we'll see what happens. Until next time stay F. - Full of Fortitude O - Observant C.-Committed...

F.O.C.U.S.: O= Observant

     Being observant can be a very difficult thing to do. How it is very important that those of us in this war on weight pay close attention to what we eat, how much we eat, and when we eat. We must be careful not to eat too much, the wrong foods, and when we are emotional. I am an emotional eater, I eat when I am depressed, happy, excited, sad, pretty much any emotion I eat(lol). Seriously, I have had a struggle with eating too much.

     Yesterday when I weighed in I weighed 366.5, this puts me now 9.5 pounds away from my goal for this week! Yesterday we had a an appreciation lunch for those of us at the radio station. They ordered pizza. Man was it good. Yes, I ate too much. I ate about 4 or 5 pieces of pizza along with 2 cheese sticks, and some very yummy (a.k.a. very fattening) chocolate bread sticks, I ate four of them - they were smaller. Later, for "supper" I had 2 more pieces of pizza and 4 of the small chocolate sticks. I also drank two cups of Mt. Dew yesterday, the rest of the day I drank water. About 7:00 p.m. I had 3 bowls of honey nut cheerios, with milk - I think it was 2%. Oh yeah I also had about 6 or 7 meatballs yesterday morning. I did not exercise ANY fortitude. I did however walk about 1 mile throughout the day and at about 8:00 I did my stepper for 20 minutes. This is similar to the stepper I use.

Today I will show both Fortitude and will be Observant. I haven't weighed today as of this post I will tell you how it turns out. Not really looking forward to it, but at least I will know the damage.

F.O.C.U.S.: F= Fortitude

    Fortitude, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary means : strength of mind that enables a person to encounter danger or bear pain or adversity with courage. This is a key component to weight loss. It will not be fun, worth it, but NOT fun. A person must be focused and ready for "temptation" to spring it's UGLY head. So I want to take the word Focus and write an acrostic. Today we will look at F.

     F= Fortitude. As we begin on this life changing journey, we must be ready for what lies ahead, in the form of temptation. There will be dangerous pitfalls to avoid, such as that dreadful 2nd helping, eating too much fried foods, eating out too much, or not "having time" a.k.a. don't want to exercise. We must have the fortitude to say NO to the temptations we will face, and YES to the good things which are difficult to do. I can say I want to lose weight, but ACTION is the key. It is time to gear up for battle, because that is exactly what we are in for.

    Now, let me tell you my official weigh in for this week: 365 lbs. My goal is to be at 357 by Sunday. This IS a lot of weight to lose in one week however I believe that this is attainable with A LOT of  FORTITUDE. Now what is your goal for next week? How will you reach that goal?

Off to a Good Start

      O.K. so I was thinking..."What can I do to help me lose weight?" I have formulated a plan that I think will work. I will do this in stages. stage one is where I am now.

1. I have stopped eating past 6:00 p.m.
2. I have some "steppers" at my house. I am using those for 15 min. each day
3. I have started eating a lite supper.

This is step one. Using this step I lost 1 pound yesterday. I am now 363.5.

     Now let me clarify, while I officially weigh in on Sunday's, I weigh in every day. Now I have heard from some that this may not be a good idea, however according to the research I have done people who weigh in every day are more likely to lose weight and manage their weight lose.

      Stage two will begin Monday I will keep doing everything on stage one, but I will add stage two which is

1. add 15 minutes of steppers - this will be 2 X's a day 15 min. in the afternoon and 15 min. in the evening
2. start drinking more water - back to my gallon a day

I will stop there for my stages. and will keep you updated on what I am doing in my next stage.

Back in the Saddle Again

     "Back in the saddle again, back where a friend is a friend..." YES, it has been a looooooong while since I last wrote. I am ready now to get back on subject. I will tell you that I REALLY struggles through the summer. I fell off the bandwagon, but I am once again back in this war!! I was "wounded" but now I have healed and I am ready to lose weight. I will be posting my goals on the next couple days. I am also considering posting pictures and maybe a video every once in a while. I am going to schedule some people to blog on this topic as well.
      If you did well during the summer I would LOVE for you to share your story! I am currently 364.5 lbs. Holly and I have set goals as well as some rewards for when I reach my goal. Oh yeah, by the way Holly beat me in our race! Congratulations. I have a VERY busy schedule so I may be a little hit and miss in my blogging, until I can get my schedule figured out. My new official weigh in day is on Sunday Morning. I will post my official weight on Monday's. So until Tomorrow, I'm going back into the field!!!!