SIS#15 - I Dodged a Bullet

Self-Improvement Sundays

***14 weeks complete - ahead of pace >48 lbs - Goal 1 was 40lbs, Goal 2 is 60lbs by July 11***

I got an email this week on risk factors for diabetes. I have really felt this disease bearing down on me the last few years as it has so many in North America. I give software support to a Diabetes Education group and I see how the demand for their services continues to grow. No, I haven't had abnormal lab results or anything showing a pre-diabetic condition, but I had a sense that if I hung out at 300 pounds it would eventually catch up with me.

I feel pretty sure that with my steadily dropping weight and dramatically altered diet, I'm in much better shape to avoid diabetes now. I dodged a bullet! Whew! Yes, I hit my 50-pounds-lost mark this week. The crazy thing is that I spent two days at a buffet-laden conference center in Madison and ate out at Famous Dave's and P F Chang's and stuck to my guns the whole way!

I was asked this week where I continue to get food ideas for this new lifestyle. Col says just Google Weight Watchers recipes and there are many options with points already calculated. I highly recommend settling on a group of staples that you like well enough to go back to over and over. I posted many of mine a short while back. You can link to it here.

So my medication list is beginning to shrink. My medical problem list is beginning to shrink. My personal healthcare expenses are beginning to shrink. My concerns about my body in the years to come are beginning to shrink. I am beginning to shrink!

Of course it feels great, and I want to encourage you all to make a healthy choice today!

SIS#14 - 50 Pound Sack of Whatever

***13 weeks complete - ahead of pace >46 lbs - Goal 1 was 40lbs, Goal 2 is 60lbs by July 11***

So, a 10 pound sack of potatoes is pretty hefty, right? A 50 pound bag of concrete mix is much heftier! I'm just a pound shy of NOT having to carry the sack of whatever around with me anymore. My energy levels are much higher and many good things are taking place.

I had a friend tell me today that he's successfully but on 11 pounds that he needed. I can't entirely relate, but healthiness is the issue, right?

I want to say thanks again for a fabulous Facebook birthday. Sure, it's not exactly turkey brats on the grill together, but what a great way to stay in touch with friends all over the continent!

Colleen made a huge roaster of split pea soup with ham today. 3 points a cup...an unbelievably savory bargain! Life's routine has been a bit challenging this week, but I'm still committed to progressing with the weight loss goals. Anyone want to comment on how your challenges are coming?

...for the morning

It's a beautiful morning and my heart is drawn to praise...

Lamentations 3:22-23
Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
     for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
     great is your faithfulness.

[To listen, right click the link and choose "Open in New Window/Tab"]

Lord, I Thank You (Andrae Crouch)

OK, it's another morning everybody wake up
God has given us another day all over the world
Come on...a brand new day...

Lord, I thank You for the morning
Lord, I thank You for the brand new dawning
Lord, I thank You for another day to sing Your praise
Lord, I thank You for Your blessing
And right now my heart's confessing
Lord, I thank You for another day to sing Your praise

New mercies every morning
New mercies, Lord, I seek
Simply because You love me
You're always giving new mercies to me
Every morning when I wake up
I cannot help but see
Your goodness and Your mercy, Lord
Are always following me

SIS#13 - What's Up with the Blogging?

***12 weeks complete - ahead of pace >44 lbs - Goal 1 was 40lbs, Goal 2 is 60lbs by July 11***

Great week! It might actually be my best week of the year so far! Dropping 4 pounds in the 12th week is crazy good. I'm very competitive against the pace I've set, so I relish the opportunity to pad the cushion of my lead over the pace. I'm going with 47 pounds lost, even though my unofficial evening weigh-in had me at 48. Sets the stage for another good week.

So, if you're tracking with me at all, you know that blogging my weight loss has been a key component to my success to date. You all keep me accountable. But perhaps you've had a chance to nose around my links a little. Blogging has become an outlet for me on more than one front.

This blog, Evan of the North, started as Evan's Blog on Facebook only. The idea was to flesh out my life for people. Most know that I'm a devoted Jesus-follower, but how does that look day to day in my case? Lately it's looked a lot like a fitness magazine or a biggest loser spin-off. Many more angles ahead.

I've also got a blog with the intent to encourage us in our daily connection with God: the Humble King Devotional.

Proud Mary - Rollin' with What You Got

It was August of 2002. Colleen and I took a long trek out to Alberta with our little family in the Green Windstar. I can't believe it's been eight years. The main event was my cousin Karen's wedding in Calgary, and it was two weeks of whistle stops all the way there and back to Wausau, Wisconsin. The Rockies were amazing. We spent several days with my parents at a time-share in Canmore, just 15 miles or so south of Banff. I can see the morning clouds on the mountain ranges as if I'm standing on the balcony at this very moment.

And the trip was special because little Jason and little cousin Jayce were just months from being born.

We stopped at each of my sister's homes, Regina, Moosejaw, Edmonton, as well as my parents' home in Rivers, Manitoba. But what I'm thinking of this morning is a passing moment at the West Edmonton Mall. The full size hockey rink was pretty neat, as were the dolphin exhibit and the waterpark. But it was on our walk down "Bourbon Street" (think New Orleans style cafe court) that I heard a simple sound drifting out of one of the restaurants...

Left a good job in the city,

Workin for the man evry night and day,

And I never lost one minute of sleepin,

Worryin bout the way things might have been.

I peeked my head in and paused for a moment. The man had a guitar, a mic, and a drum machine piped through a little sound system in a corner not much bigger than a table. He sounded good, not awesome. He was more into what he was singing than anyone else, but there he was.

Big wheel keep on turnin,

Proud mary keep on burnin,

Rollin, rollin, rollin on the river.

Rollin. He had his guitar and his song, and he was rollin. He'd never be Credence Clearwater Revival, but he was rollin. No movie cameras, no record deals, just a solid rhythm and a skinny middle age man totally in his element.

Paul from the New Testament said it like this: "The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment." (1 Corinthians 12:21-24)

And I'm not always sure we have an accurate picture of how weak or honorable we really are. But we grab out guitars, set up on whatever stage we've been granted, and we keep rollin.

I'll be 42 this week and I think I'm stepping into Life Two. Life has been rich in accomplishments, failures, love, heartbreak, and the continuing goodness of God. And I step outside myself and look at Evan Nehring. I think, "Who are you? What will you be? If you're privileged to lie peacefully on your deathbed some day, on what will you reflect?"

I have plenty of plans and dreams, but part of the plan is to just keep rollin on the river. I am who I am. I'm whatever God made me and whatever I'm becoming. I have worked and prayed and practiced and performed, and here I am. And if I've thought of myself too highly, so be it. If my place is to sing my simple tune to half-interested revelers, so be it.

By the grace of God, we keep rollin.

SIS#12 - Self Improvement Sundays

***11 weeks complete - ahead of pace >42 lbs - Goal 1 was 40lbs, Goal 2 is 60lbs by July 11***

I'll be honest with you, this was a tough week. I didn't lose any ground, but my pace slowed. I weigh myself almost every day, but I take it with a grain of salt since my weight can rise and fall in a couple of days as much as 4 or 5 pounds!  I'll be honest about something else: the blogging has helped keep me on track but I'm not at all excited about the idea of logging in with you all to say that I'm up this week.

That said, I'm sticking to my plan and so far it's served me.

I continue to hear from many of you and your personal challenges you're tackling. The weight thing is a big one and nearly universal in these parts. I've been encouraged to give a bit more detail of my nutrition plan. No problem. I'll do some of that here and there. Please understand, I don't consider myself an expert on anything to do with nutrition and fitness at this point. But it's working so...

The Apostle's Creed

I worked today, Good Friday. No break for a noon service. No early outs. But I still felt reflective as I usually do. What's special about today for me? What awes me? What gives me pause?

This year, the idea that grabbed me particularly was the unique nature of Jesus and the Christian story. Yes, I understand there are hundreds of variations of how Jesus-following is carried out in faith communities today, but it's the ancient bedrock of Jesus' resurrection and "the faith" that captivated me today. And not just because it's old, but because of the reality of relating to my creator and seeing him move in my world.

I played bass in college for the Chorale when we did the Gospel Mass: a black gospel musical rendition of the  liturgy of the Apostle's Creed. It nails some things down. It's not just, "Hey, I'm spiritual and nice to people." Jude 1:3 says it like this: "Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints."


The Apostle's Creed...

---

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:

Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.  He descended into hell.

The third day He arose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.

Amen.