Day Nine

Well, I have to admit, unfortunately, the change from B/CS to Arkansas threw my “diet” off. I am just so used to having snacks and pizza around up here, that I could not/did not resist. I got a little frustrated, and hungry, with nothing planned, so I ate some chocolate, and pizza.

So today I am a little frustrated with not being able to handle even a little 10 day diet. Part of the big change from Texas to Arkansas may be the social interaction extremes. I am blessed with so many friends and family there, to very few here. And part of that is my own doing. It is so easy there, but would/will take more effort on my part here. (I am good at making excuses, and not looking for solutions.)

But even for all that, my weight has fallen to 188.4. Strange. And nice.

Day Four

Weight this evening 191.6

Estimated calories:

Bowl of cereal and milk 150

Excellent hamburger (1/2 pound) 680, 3 deviled eggs 225, strawberries, 46

2 soft tacos homemade (1/3 pound of meat) 450

Total estimated 1351

Yesterday was a busy day. I was able to attend the Community Picnic our church had with several other churches. Just around the corner from my house. I rode my bike there, and played a couple games of football.

I left and went to Waco, where I supervised some neighborhood kids mowing my lawn. Then I went and spent some time with the parents in Coolidge. So I spent the night there and had lunch today with friends and family in Corsicana. Good times.

This has kind of thrown off my “diet” a little. I didn’t realize how many calories beef was, so I ate plenty, not overeating, but not with restraint. I think that is partially showing in the weight this evening.

I leave for work in the early morning, so I have to go pack. Fun times.

April 19, 2008

Day Three

Weight this morning 190.2

Estimated calories:

5 pancakes 225, margarine 75, honey 60, 8 oz of milk 130 = 490

banana 105

hamuburger, lettuce, onion, two packets of ketchup apprx. 680

1/2 can of pineapple 140, banana 105, 5 dry pancakes left over 225

1 can of pepsi (there were no more water after 2 tag-football games) 125

barbeque sandwhich apprx. 400, small bag of chips 160

Total estimated: 2430

Day Two

Weight this morning – 192.2

Estimated calories:

Orange 86

Bowl of oatmeal with milk, and a little brown sugar 200

Bowl of rice 200 and 1 can of tuna 150

Dinner – 3 eggs (scrambled)225 with sausage 100 cals 2 pieces of toast 200 with margarine 60

Total estimated for the day is 1041

Interesting. It is 11:30 at night, and though I am hungry and could definitely eat, I am ok with not eating. I am really interested in finding out if and how much weight I can lose in 10 days.

I am noticing already that I am not as tired. I do not HAVE to have a nap. I still have to constantly be on guard about snacking though. I have one ding dong left and it just calls out my name every time I go into the kitchen. The other hard thing is bread. I could just eat toast, or plain French bread.

I went to the shop in Houston this afternoon, so I was on my feet a lot while there. But was driving there and back. I did not bike today like I should have. I really need to get my legs worked out, as I found out from my bike ride to Hope Group.

Major thought for today was finding out that I do not have to be in Arkansas tomorrow, but that I could, or take the weekend off and expect to be up there Monday. I was really split. Should I be a good worker, and go the extra mile to learn more about my job, as well as make a little extra money? Or should I do what I really enjoy doing and stay and thoroughly enjoy fellowship with church? Or should I take a trip to Waco, and work on my yard up there that really needs the work? As much as I like options, many times three or more options just overload my head.

I think I have it worked out though. This could be really cool. We have a church picnic tomorrow 12 – 3. I totally forgot about this, since I have expected to be gone to work. I wrote it off every time I heard it announced. I could leave just after that, and go mow my lawn in Waco, and then go watch Darby play Baylor with his dad and Ashley who are going! How cool could this be? Possibly even see some other friends while in Waco. And as far as work goes, my coordinator called me as I was wrestling with the work side of things, and said he would call Sunday afternoon, to let me know when to be there.

I am excited about this weekend. Started great with a 2-1 win. Beautiful night for baseball! (Picture from another game. Not tonight's)

Food for tomorrow:

Breakfast: ½ can of pineapple, pancakes

Lunch: Hot dogs or hamburgers as available, try to find some vegetables

Dinner: Sack lunch of hard boiled egg sandwiches, carrots

Day One

Estimated calories:
Orange 86
Bowl of white rice and little margarine 225
½ can of pineapple 140
4 pancakes 350, syrup 100, 1 blueberry muffin100, scrambled eggs 130
Total estimated for the day is 1131.

Not too bad. I read a little on the internet and it said that I need about 2500 calories to maintain my weight, 2000 to lose some, and 1500 for extreme loss, though it did not recommend that.
I just got in from Hope Group, and do not feel that hungry, which is good. I didn’t feel real hungry much today. And part of that may still be processing the quite a bit of food I ate yesterday. I am not shooting for extreme loss, so I feel like today was good. I definitely could have/would have eaten a lot more, but I felt good, and certainly did not have to, or even feel like I had to.

I did get some exercise in as well. I took the bike out for a run to Hope Group. Josh and Kelly were kind enough to give me a ride back since it was starting to rain. It was a good 25 minute ride against the wind.

Plan for tomorrow:
Breakfast – 1 bowl of oatmeal (I usually eat 2 with several pieces of toast)
Lunch – 1 bowl of rice with ½ can of canned chicken or tuna
Dinner – Not sure at the moment, kind of depends on how my schedule turns out.

Misc...

This may be a long post.

I have been thinking and fighting myself and God lately about my way of living life. I know without a doubt that God has called us/me to live life all out, all for Him. He has bought us with a price (His life), and we owe Him our lives. He tells us to love Him with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. I KNOW this, but still have a hard time doing it.

The big things for me are food and sleep. My nemesis: Ding Dongs/chocolate

I could probably eat Ding Dongs all day every day. With my job not being all that active, combined with a lack of self-motivation for exercise, I have been gaining some weight. Not a good thing. Most noticeable was my trip to the state park in Arkansas a little while back.

I was WALKING down to an attraction, not more than 50 yards, and I was huffing and puffing. So out of shape. Not to mention the bulge around my waist. I am up to 194.4 lbs.

This week I have been thinking about it, and have decided to go on a diet. Now I hate diets, but the time has come. An experiment of sorts. I do like experiments. For 10 days I will be logging/blogging my diet. The current plan is to eat half or less of what I usually eat. No soft drinks or juice, just water. No sweets. In the past I have gone an entire year without sugar, so I know I can do it. Why 10 days? Because that is how long Daniel’s diet was in the Bible to show a difference. And I can be a little impatient, and I am anxious to see how much I can lose in just 10 days.

I think the hardest part will be changing my eating habits, especially as I change atmospheres of home and work. I really like a Mountain Dew (or two) with M&M’s driving to Arkansas. And while at work, there is a large, easily accessible stash of goodies, just begging to be ingested all night long.

Part two of the diet will be exercise. I hate running for no reason. Many props to runners out there. I know of the theory of second wind euphoria, I have just never experienced it that I knew of. Perhaps during a game, but that is entirely different. Mind occupied, focus on the ball, not on my lungs and stomach wanting to burst. So I have rented my brother’s cool mountain bike to ride. We will see how this will work out. Hopefully it will work well.

So, to start my diet, I have refrained from breakfast this morning, and I rarely ever miss breakfast. I plan on an orange, and half a can of pineapple for lunch, with a bowl of plain white rice. Tonight I have breakfast at Hope Group, so I will indulge a little, but only ½ of what I would normally eat. That is the plan, I will update on how it goes.

On other more important matters: We got a brief update on Chloe. The endoscopy showed some inflammation, which is what is thought to be causing her to throw up. The treatment plan is to put her on some steroids, and should be seeing some improvement in 3 or 4 days. Hopefully by then she can be taken home. Please also be in prayer for my brother Ben and Courtney as they deal with all this in their first child. I know it is difficult.

Prayer Request

Please be in prayer for my niece, Chloe. She is two months now, but is not gaining any weight. She has been in the hospital for the last week. They think/thought that she was allergic to the milk, but have changed milk twice now. She keeps throwing it all back up. Hopefully we will hear more of what is going on later today.

Thanks.

Tax Time!

I can finally say I completed my taxes before the deadline. As some know that is a HUGE deal. I spent all day Wednesday working on it. And TurboTax online sure helped. Getting a pretty big refund certainly didn’t hurt as motivation either. A few things learned…

Having stuff organized definitely would help.

(Result: Bought and installed Quicken)

Our tax system is way complicated.

I have a lot more to learn.

That to say… I am glad I finally did it. And I should have done it earlier. Could be that much closer to getting out of debt.

Another Update

It has been awhile since my last update. I have been slacking.

Here is a picture of our spring break Bible Camp group.

And another of me discussing things with Landon.

The week went very well. Three of the kids accepted Jesus. And I think they understood. It was quite fascinating to me to be talking to these kids, and to hear some of the misconceptions they have. They are smart kids, they know what is going on, and know a lot of things, but they can also get so many things mixed up. It was so good to see towards the end of the week, the light come on. That a few of them really started to understand who Jesus was, and what He did for us. That was so cool.

So I pray that God would continue to work in these kids lives, and use the time we had with them, in spite of our inadequacies. I know I was not ready like I should have been.

And quite honestly I have been fighting with God since that week. I did not put the energy, time, or prayer into that week like I should have. I knew it, and still did not do it. And I have been struggling with the same stuff the last couple of weeks at work.

God has called Christians and me in particular to live all out for Him. He specifically said to love Him with all we have, heart, soul, mind, and strength. And to love our neighbors as ourselves. I have such a hard time with that. I am so selfish. I want to sleep. I want to eat sweets. I want to NOT exercise. I want to avoid uncomfortable situations.

But He has called me to a higher standard. The highest standard, Jesus. And I must quit comparing myself to others, and live up to the standard He has set for me. I got a reminder of that this week. A gentle reminder once again. He is too good to me.

I was able to have a couple of days off this week, so I made a quick trip to Bryan, then to Coolidge and Corsicana to visit family. God has blessed me with a tremendous family. I head back to Arkansas Thursday and get off Saturday.

Well, that is all for now. More later. I am sure.