Like most of us I spend a portion of my time reading posts on Facebook and keeping up with the daily flow of events in the lives of my friends and acquaintances there. Quite a few of my Facebook “friends” are Christians and some of them are even folks I go to church with or live in another part of the world. It seems as if lately there has been an increase of people posting positive and uplifting messages about their faith in Jesus Christ and encourages everyone to copy those messages to their status windows. As I read these messages I can appreciate them and I identify with them. I also realize that while this is being done that there may be some folks that might be confused or disillusioned by the message that is being sent out on Facebook and the reality of what really happens in the real world. I wrote the following response below and thought it was worthy of a blog post as well.
I am looking for the scripture that says something all the lines of “yet by the grace of God go I”. The context of that scripture speaks more clearly to what I am trying to get across but until I find that specific scripture the one in 1 Co 15:10 will suffice.
(1Co 15:10) But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
The spirit of the living God calls us and we chose to follow. He has redeemed us and forgiven us of our sin therefore we should do our very best to put HIM first in all that we do. In our human frailty we struggle through our sanctification process desiring so much to serve HIM but are constantly distracted by the world around us that pulls us in every direction but Christ.
I enjoy seeing all of my Christian friends using FB and Twitter to lift up the name of Christ however I want to make sure that we are transparent with our faith and that we keep it as real as possible. Christian fluff to me is useless and confusing to everyone around us.
It is like my pastor said on Sunday. The church (us) is not known by the world to be a place of refuge or sanctuary. People do not feel comfortable getting help at church because they fear rejection and judgement from the people sitting in the churches. My pastor used the example of how the church loves to beat up homosexuals and jump on the hatred bandwagon but at the same time the church is full of folks who are committing fornication and not honoring the wedding vows before God. No wonder the world thinks the church is full of hypocrites.
We are real people living in a real world with real problems. As Christians the answer to those problems is Christ in us. As Christ lives in us and we draw closer to HIM then His light can shine forth brightly and then God can help us to live the type of lives that will glorify and honor him and then HE can use us as vessels that are worthy of being ministers of truth, compassion and mercy. We need to stop judging others and condemning others for their sins and pay more attention to the sin in our own lives and let God take care of the sins in the lives of others.
Our job is not to judge the sin in someone else’s life but rather to get our lives right before God and allow God to help us to show the Grace and Mercy and Love of God to others. Once we learn how to do that we can lead people to the cross and the power of the Holy Spirit can make the same changes in the hearts of other folks that he has made in ours.
Several days ago I posted an article about the proposed “ground zero mosque” issue. After further reflection I believe that I may have allowed myself to get caught up in some emotional rhetoric over this issue. The link above will shed some light upon how this all got started which I found very interesting. My pastor also had the following to say about this issue.
“The problem is that people keep equating Muslim with terrosrism and they are not one and the same. The terrorsits have been denouced by Islam. The terrorits are an aberration of Islam. I am intolerant of terrorists but it is not fair to blame all folks of a particular religion because of the acts of a few radicals. Intolerance is prejudice when it is misdirected and prejudice is unChristain. If it can be proven that this Muslim Community center is directly connected to terrorists then I will join in being against it but I will not malign a whole group of people because the acts of a few.”
Food for thought….
Obama uses Ramadan dinner to endorse NY mosque OneNewsNow.com.
I keep hearing the word “tolerance” being used to justify “intolerance” of the Christian faith that I hold so dearly. I am not sure why it is so important for this new mosque to be built near ground zero but I certainly believe that it is not only a direct reflection of the insensitivity of those bent on doing it but it also shows me that there is no respect for those souls that lost their lives on Sept 11, 2001 when terrorists flew two jet liners into the twin towers.
I understand that not all Muslim people are extremists hell bent on destroying America. I do believe that there are Muslim extremists just like the idiots that flew the jetliners into those buildings that are living right here in America in terrorist cells waiting for their chance to wreak death and destruction against us infidels.
I wonder how many Christian churches and organizations are lobbying our government officials to ban religious activities of non Christian religions or to change the laws of our land to force their religious ideologies on our way of life? I would guess that there are probably none. I do know that there are organizations that are actively doing everything that they can to subvert what our Christian faith stands for. The Christian church and family unit has been under attack for many years now and the sad fact of the matter is that the church is so apathetic and sleepy that before you know it the intolerance of the Christian faith will be the very thing that will bring more and more restrictions in practicing our faith.
If you do not believe that then how about the hate crimes law that was enacted not too long ago that makes it illegal for pastors to speak out against homosexuality. If a pastor makes negative or derogatory remarks about homosexuality or makes the mistake of saying that the bible says that homosexuality is a sin then he is guilty of hate crimes and can be arrested and put into jail. That is a clear example of how intolerant our nation is of our Christian clergy to be able to speak the truth of Gods word from the pulpits of their churches. Another example of intolerance of Christian values is the battle that rages in America to allow same sex marriage. A group of people are fighting to have the same rights and privileges as those who are a man and woman and married. The institution of marriage is under attack and those of us that believe and honor the fact that marriage is between a woman and a man are labeled as being intolerant. The church needs to stand up and be heard and quit cowering in fear. Why is the church afraid to stand up and let the world know what the word of God says and that they stand behind it with everything they have?
Our world and the beliefs we hold so dearly as Christians is under attack and if we are not careful we will lose our freedom of religion in the name of intolerance. We must be willing to do whatever it takes to protect those freedoms. We must be just as intense in the activities of defending our faith as those people and organizations that are bent on destroying them.
Saying that we are Christians and going to church two times per week and living in our little comfortable comfort zones is not going to get the job done people. The world is happening outside of the four walls of the church and our job is to take the gospel of Christ to the world we live in. Instead of sticking our heads in the sand and living in denial we should educate ourselves on what is happening all around us and get involved in whatever way that we can do be the church of God that God intended for us to be.
I am posting this late but on Wednesday (yesterday) I completed day 12 at Planet Fitness. I ran for 30 min on the elliptical trainer at level 2. I burned 410 calories and ran for 2 miles. I was tired and broke a very good sweat on that session so that was very good. I also spent an hour on the different weight machines and the free weights. Justin went with me and worked out too which is awesome. I am finding that the more I work out and get exercise the better I feel. I feel stronger and more confident and my mobility has increased quite a bit. I can bend and pick objects up off the ground so much easier. I have found that when I get out of the car and walk into the office or across the parking lot at the store that I am not struggling with making that trip. The weight is coming off slowly but surely and for that I am so thankful. My blood pressure is down to about 117/76 which is awesome as well. Once I lose another 10 lbs I will be able to take about 5 pairs of pants to the cleaners and have them taken in 2 inches. Now that is progress folks and even though I have made this progress I have about 100 lbs to go. I can do it and I shall do it. Phillipians 4:13 is my motto when I get on the elliptical trainer. I can do ALL things through Christ who gives me strength.
Today is the 9 year anniversary of our Jessica who has departed this world and stepped into heaven. Our hearts are grateful that she is in a better place but our hearts are also heavy that we only have our memories to look back upon. Jessica would have been 19 years old had she survived the brain tumor and we would whole lot rather have her here on earth to share in those years. There is not a day that goes by that I do not think about Jessica in one way or the other. I still remember her last breath at 2:15 am on August 5th 9 years ago and I also can still hear her say “oh Daddy” when I would make her laugh and smile. Our angel is not here physically but she lives on in our hearts and memories. We love you Jessica Ann and look forward to the day we see you again. You are our sunshine our ONLY sunshine, you make us happy when skies are grey. Hugs from mom and dad. 
Yesterday was day 10 for me at Planet Fitness. I am still doing the same workout routine which includes 25 minutes on the elliptical trainer which is now at level 2 and running between 4.0 and 5.0 mph. The first ten minutes is warm up and then I start to sweat and get my heart rate up to about 155 bpm. The last 15 minutes is where I believe I am starting to burn some calories. If I were to do that for an hour I would burn 780 calories. I will have a long time before I can run on that thing for an hour and I may never do that. I do want to work myself up to 30 or 45 minutes at some point. The more I can do that the more weight that will come off.
Once I am done with the hard part which is the elliptical trainer then I cool down for a spell and allow my heart rate to lower and then I hit the weight machines. Yesterday I tried out the torso machine for the first time with about 40 lbs. The left side of my abdomen seems a bit sore today which means I worked a muscle set that is not used to getting that kind of exercise. I work my upper and lower body with assorted different machines and then I do the bench press and free weights for the curls.
What are some of the benefits other than the weight coming off? My goal is to lose 1 lb per week and thus far I am losing between 1 lb and 3 lbs per week. One of the benefits is that I have lost 2 inches on my waist and my pants are fitting much loser. I figure when I lose another 5 to 10 lbs I am going to be forced to take all my big pants to the cleaners and have them reduce the waist size by 2 inches. I am looking forward to doing that.
Another benefit of regular exercise and eating right is that I feel so much better. I have more energy, my blood pressure is much lower than it used to be and my mobility has increased. My left knee no longer hurts, I can get up and down out of my recliner at home with much less hassle and I can climb the steps on the boardwalk at work without having to hold on to the side rails as much.
I am noticing that as I focus on getting regular exercise and try to build some muscle and cardiovascular endurance that I no longer want to eat garbage. At lunch I go to the general store next door and get their chef salad which is the only healthy thing they have. They have a lunch line where they sell fried chicken and french fries to all the contractors on the island. They have other fried things that is no longer of interest to me because I know that I know it is not good for me to eat and only leads to adding pounds to the body.
I hate the word diet because it reminds me of all the times that I half heartedly tried to “diet” so I am going to use the terminology “eating habits”. I am trying to retrain my mind to realize that if I eat garbage I am going to look like garbage and feel like garbage. Now that I am serious about my regular exercise I no longer feel like garbage and I can feel my body responding to the exercise nicely. When a person feels good it is so much easier to motivate one self to do the harder things such as increasing the work out time etc. My goal is to not eat fried foods and other things such as those foods that are “white” such as mashed potatoes, potatoes in general, rice, pastas etc. I am trying to stick to lean meats and veggies during supper time and at lunch I eat a salad and breakfast which is my worst offender I eat a breakfast burrito. I try to stay away from the biscuit with sausage egg and cheese. I will have one of those per week but that is it.
One other thing that I need to do more of that I am struggling with is to drink more water. I have gotten away from the sugary sodas and now drink either Diet Dr Pepper or Coke Zero Cherry. I need to drink 8 glasses of water per day and I struggle with that. At work I have a 2 quart container in my refrigerator in my office and I have sugar free drink packets that flavor the water so it makes it easier to consume. I guess the mind set is that if the taste is good then I will consume it. I need to get better at drinking that 2 quarts of water each day and only have the canned drink for lunch.
I hope that my blogging about my personal journey as I lose weight will encourage someone else. I weigh 340 lbs so I am no small person. I am six foot tall and big boned so I carry the weight well. At the gym the other day someone guessed me at 280 lbs. I am looking forward to the day that I am 280 lbs and I know that if I keep up the hard work and be consistent then I can get there. I can do it and so can you.
One of the things I love about Planet Fitness is that it is not your typical gym atmosphere where all of the jocks and hard bodies get together and laugh at the fat out of shape people that might wander in. I have seen people that are in shape at Planet Fitness and I have seen people that appear to be in worse shape than I am. The important thing is that we are there trying to make a difference. What is the cost for membership? You pay 10.00 per month and you have access to 90% of what they offer. Full membership is 20.00 per month and neither plan requires a contract. If you need to take time off because of illness or injury you can stop paying and then when you are ready to go back just pick up where you left off.
I know that I have said that one of the benefits of regular exercise and changing my eating habits is that I feel so much better. I feel stronger and more confident. My main goal is weight loss and my motivation for doing this is to increase the quality of my over all health. I have no desire to become Mr Universe even though I did dream last night that I was invited to be a part of that program. I do desire to live a longer and more healthy life so I can be around for my family. One of the wake up calls for me has been to realize that there are not very many old obese people around. The reality of this issue is that if I do not do this now at this point in my life I am a candidate for heart attack and stroke. Both of those events could be life ending or crippling in so many ways. I really do not care to reap those consequences nor do I want my family to witness it or experience the aftermath of those events with me either.
As I say in my accountability forum on Battle Plan Ministries I am starting over every single day. Every day is a new day and I have the ability to chose to eat right and get exercise. It is my choice and I can make the right choice every single day. I invite you to start your own journey and to do the right things. If I can do this any one can do this. The choice is yours.
I managed to go back to Planet Fitness today over at Citadel Mall. I am working on Saturdays now and since I had a 14 hour day on Saturday thanks to a power grid going down and killing electric service on all three islands I decided to rest on Sunday. I started my day by taking princess to work at the Jewish Community Center and then I went over to Planet Fitness and climbed on my beloved elliptical trainer. I have a love hate relationship with the elliptical trainer because I love to HATE it.
One of the reasons I use the elliptical trainer is because it gives me a good aerobic workout in a short amount of time. I am still starting out on level one for my age and weight but in 20 min I can run 2 miles and burn off 250 calories and get a nice sweat going. My heart rate goes from 83 to about 153 in about 10 minutes.
I want to journal my way through my experience because I know how hard it is. I need to lose 100 lbs or more so if you think about it I already carry around an extra person on my back every single day. It is much harder for someone like myself who is obese to go to the gym and have the self discipline to get exercise than it would be for someone that is slightly over weight. I want to be as transparent as I can in my journal so that anyone reading it will not think that I think this is a cake walk.
I have been severely over weight for way too long and as I get closer and closer to the big 50 I realize that the time has come for me to DO SOMETHING about this NOW. I could easily be considered as a contestant on the Biggest Loser and I have to tell you that I do not watch that show because it really seems pretty depressing to me. Maybe it was depressing for me because it reminded me of the fact that I am in those shoes and really have not done much about it. Yes, I have dabbled with walking on and off and changing my diet in the last year and I have lost some weight however I need to do more.
Weight loss is a mental and physical journey but it is also a spiritual journey. I can not lose weight by myself and believe that I am going to have the self determination to do this no matter what. Every time I get on the elliptical trainer within the first five minutes I find myself quoting a verse out of the bible (Phillipians 4:13) I can do ALL things through Christ that gives me strength. I quote that to remind myself that it is through Jesus in ME that gives me the will power and motivation to keep going even when my body is screaming to get the heck off of that elliptical trainer. Every day I ask God to give me the wisdom and knowledge I need to make the healthy choices with what I eat each day.
Weight loss means real life changes. I have to examine how I got this way and figure out what changes to make in my diet, exercise, mind and spirit. My diet can no longer consist of fat greasy foods. I can no longer eat the deserts I want to have and I have to chose to eat better. Eating better will take many pages that I do not have time for in this writing but I promise to revisit it soon. I already touched on the importance of regular exercise and burning more calories than I eat. I already touched on the spiritual side of things and how my faith comes in to play through prayer and using bible scriptures to help me keep on keeping on.
The other part that comes into play is my mind set and attitude. It is hard to go work out in a gym when you are surrounded by hard bodies. You will find out quickly that not everyone is as overweight as I am and most of the folks are trim and slim and seem to have lots of energy. If I am not careful I find myself comparing myself to those people and then I can slip into despair and depression and then my will power and determination goes into the drain. I have to be careful to NOT compare myself to others. I must realize that I am on my own physical, mental, spiritual journey and it has nothing to do with anyone else. Some days that is easier said than done but I am getting better at it. I have to work at having a positive mental attitude and realize that as long as I am making steps in the right direction by eating better and getting more exercise and having a manageable goal of losing one lb per week then I should be happy with myself. Thus far I am back on track and meeting my goal.
My prayer and hope is that someone reads this blog and can find the courage to make that first step which is to realize that the weight will not come off magically. Yes, this is like any other thing in life, it is hard and requires a lot of work and sacrifice. The important thing is that YOU CAN DO IT. Take baby steps and make the changes that will improve your quality of life. One day at a time make some subtle changes and figure out a way to eat better and get more exercise. Your quality of life and how you feel about yourself and the way you look will start to change and that in and of itself will help you keep on keeping on.
Tags: Planet Fitness, Weight Loss
Today was day two for my trip to Planet Fitness in West Ashley. Today was special because my 15 year old son went with me. He told me that he would love to go work out with me if I were to get a gym membership there so that helped to motivate me to make it happen. I am not sure how much camaraderie we will have while we are there but at least his going will get him some exercise and it will give me another reason to go.
I can tell that my legs are still not strong enough to handle the elliptical trainer for longer than 20 minutes but I am determined to stick with it no matter what. I am punching in my height and weight and then putting it on level 1 and going for it. The elliptical trainers all have control boxes you can plug your headset into and listen to the TV’s on the wall or whatever music station you chose. I chose to listen to 100.5 or His Radio while working out. The music helps to motivate me to do what I have to do. After about 10 minute on the elliptical trainer and my heart rate getting up to about 154 I started to develop a good sweat and I could tell that I was starting to get a decent cardio work out. I averaged 3.9 for speed and ran 2.5 miles and burned 252 calories.
Once I was done with the elliptical trainer I got on some of the weight machines and did some light reps. I did some bench press reps and then spent some time with the dumb bells and did curls with Justin. I must remember to take it slow and not over do it. Once I get there I tend to forget that I am no longer 18 years old and if not careful will go overboard and then pay for it for the next couple of days. One day at a time and one step at a time. That is what I have to keep reminding myself as I do this.
Along with regular exercise the other important part of trying to lose weight is nutrition. Katy and I went to Kingstreet Grill on Kiawah today since I had a call from the office that something was broke. When we go out to eat most of the time we order one entree and share it. We got the prime rib wraps and Katy had the home fries and I ordered a side salad instead. I have to continue to eat less and eat right and stop eating garbage. Getting more exercise and still eating junk is defeating the purpose and will only slow down the weight loss process.
Tags: Planet Fitness, Weight Loss
The following websites will help educate you on the South Carolina Gun laws
Sled.sc.gov Sled public access site. Access to gun laws, also renewals
Scfirearms.org grassroots gunrights sc – your state group protecting your rights
Gunblogs.org compilation of news from around the nation
Forum boards – a good source of info on a host of subjects gun related
Glocktalk.com
Opecarry.org
Defensivecarry.com
Usacarry.com
Carryconcealed.net
Carlinashootersforum.com
Gapacking.org (GA side of Grassroots)
Keepandbeararms.com
Gunowners.org (home of gun owners of America)
Jfpo.org (home to jews for protection of firearms ownership)
2asisters.org – geared to the ladies
Corneredcat.com – another forum geared to the ladies
Warriortalk.com – Gabe Suarez site… one of the best gunfighting trainers out there
Usaconcealedcarry.com – excellent member-based org monthly magazine
Several weeks ago we moved from Johns Island over to West Ashley close to the Citadel Mall. I had not realized how isolated we were from civilization until we got moved and we started looking around for different businesses. We are able to walk from our house to several places which is nice.
On one of our trips to the Citadel mall last month my son and I had gone by Planet Fitness to see about membership information. At the time of the visit I could see us being able to add the monthly fee to our budget and I was excited that there are no contracts to sign. I made the commitment to myself and my son that we would be able to go work out there once we got moved.
Today was day one at Planet Fitness and I reacquainted my body with the elliptical trainer and spent 20 minutes on it this morning. I must say that the hardest part of getting to the gym was literally forcing myself to put on my gym clothes, getting in the car and driving there. Once I got to the gym and climbed on the elliptical trainer it got much easier. My legs were not that thrilled with the exercise and decided that after about 2 minutes of exercise that they wanted to stop. I ignored the signals being sent to my brain and drowned them out with music and stayed after it.
My goal is to lose 1 lb per week and keep it off. I believe that if I eat the right things, the right amounts and get regular exercise that I should be able to obtain this goal. I have a friend of mine that I have invited to try out Planet Fitness since I can bring one guest per visit to the gym. I am hoping that he will be able to help me be accountable to my goals and kick me in the rear end when I need the motivation.
