As you have noticed, I have been away from my own blog for quite some time. If you are a regular reader – or have tried to be – I apologize. Part of it is life. I did get married in July, am enjoying my new life with my wonderful wife, and have another internet venture I’m working on. But I have promised my friends and readers that I would be honest here. And, the past couple of years have not been easy from a weight loss standpoint.

I haven’t gone anywhere closer to “square one” but have discovered that the journey is certainly more challenging the further out from surgery you get. From a personal and emotional standpoint, I have still remained very happy. But from a health standpoint, I have had my discouragements and disappointments with my weight. My wife and I recently had a talk where we determined that we would be more vigilent and diligent about losing weight together. She knows I was having a tendency to beat myself up over getting lazy.

A couple of years ago (I don’t remember the source but will print it here if I find it), I read an article that talked about the philosophical impact that drastic weight loss can have on people. The bottom line was that there is a definite subconscious struggle in your mind for your body to return to its original condition so to speak. It’s an interesting theory, and I could try and figure out why I’ve slowed down, but I’d be spinning my wheels.

So on to the mental breakthrough I had. About 3 weeks ago, I was at a kind of church retreat, and the speaker was reading from Philippians 3. He read a verse that went off in my head like a rifle shot and I looked up at the title of this section of Scripture and it said “Pressing toward the goal”. The Scripture is not about losing weight, but I felt a strong urge to read it with my weight loss in mind. And this is what I read:

I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you. But we must hold on to the progress we have already made.
(Philippians 3:12-16, New Living Translation)

It was then I realized that I have nothing to complain about. For one thing, there are far worse things happening in the world and far worse things that could happen to me. My God, I’ve still lost 100 pounds. Actually, I haven’t had to go to my doctor in a while and never replaced my digital scale when it fritzed out…so I don’t know the exact number. I had lost 140 at one point and yoyo’d a bit. But my point is…it’s not easy to lose 100 pounds whether you have surgery or not. And I did it.

I still feel great and am enjoying life. It takes reminding sometimes (from myself or my wife or both), but I have to recognize that I have made progress. This is a journey, after all. I don’t know of any real journeys that are absent of road blocks, pot holes, sink holes, traps, and distractions. But by the grace of God, I’m going to make it. And you will too.

If you’re reading this and find yourself in a tough situation on your weight loss journey, just remember to not get bogged down by the setbacks. I know that this is cliched and obvious advice, but it is also a very real lesson. Hold on to the progress you have already made! Or as Rocky Balboa would say, “It’s not how hard you can hit. It’s how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.” Keep moving forward. Damn the torpedoes.

P.S. – You’ll notice that this site has changed as I’ve moved it from Blogger to WordPress. I am still bringing over the old content (video, pictures, etc) and there are already new features here that I will continue to develop. But I am back!