By day an Associate Professor in Physical Therapy at Marymount University. By night a husband to my beautiful wife Julie, a dad to my wonderful daughters Cara and Emma. A servant of Christ trying to build the kingdom.
On Sunday we showed a simple video that we compiled to highlight what 210 in 2010 is all about. We hope that you will catch the vision and be inspired to get involved in sponsoring a child through Compassion International.
If you are interested in becoming a sponsor then please visit http://www.sponsorshipchallenge.org/210in2010 and select the child that is on the left hand side. You can follow the links to find a child that you want to sponsor and then follow the instructions.
Last Saturday saw the culmination of the twelve week long Gold's Challenge, which I joined back in January to provide some encouragement and accountability for me with my challenge. When we started this adventure they took a series of measurements and a couple of photos. This past Saturday they took more photos and re-measured me. Do you want to know the scores so far?
Ok, so here is where we have come.
Initial weight = 314lbs -:- Present weight = 267lbs -:- total loss = 47lbs
Measurement around stomach = dropped 7 inches in girth
Measurement around waist = dropped 3 inches in girth
Measurement around thigh = dropped 3 inches in girth
You want to see some photos?
Here we go
NOW THE MOST EXCITING NEWS SO FAR!
This challenge has not been a simple weight loss adventure - it has a much more important challenge - to see 210 children sponsored through Compassion International. On Sunday April 18th at Mt Oak Fellowship we had our Compassion Sunday services. I had asked Compassion to send em child sponsorship packets for children in El Salvador who are in need of sponsors. They sent me 70 packets.
We held our two services, with the wonderful David Burke as our guest speaker and through the grace of God and the generosity of our congregation, 69 out of the 70 packets were taken home by people with the intent of sponsoring these children.
THAT IS AMAZING!!!
I am sure that there may be a few packets returned next Sunday, but our congregation has been inspired and they stepped up this past Sunday to rescue children from poverty.
If all 70 of these children are sponsored then I am 1/3 of the way to achieving my sponsorship goal. WOW! That is amazing.
When I started this challenge I set my sights big - lose 100lbs and inspire 210 people to sponsor children. I am nearly half way there on the weight loss and 1/3 of the way there on the sponsorship. This is a time for celebration, but also a time to push through to the end and see both goals met.
If you would like to support this cause and sponsor a child then follow this link (http://www.sponsorshipchallenge.org/210in2010) and take a step towards rescuing a child from poverty today.
So, regular visitors to this site will notice that I exchanged the Compassion International banner from the top of the page with a GREAT SPONSORSHIP CHALLENGE picture. This picture is also a link to my Sponsorship page. How cool is that
The Great Sponsorship Challenge is a new web site that Compassion International have set up where people, like me, who are trying to inspire other folk to sponsor kids can go and register to sponsor a child and know that their sponsored child will count against the appropriate challenge. I set my self a goal of getting 210 sponsors and so far I know of 1 who started already, but many others who are interested in sponsoring children.
If you attend Mt Oak Fellowship then you will have the chance to sponsor kids on Saturday April 17th and Sunday April 18th if you attend our FAMILY FUN NIGHT (Saturday) or church services (Sunday).
If you DO NOT attend Mt Oak, or you know you wont be able to attend either of the two dates in April then you can now go to my Sponsorship Challenge Site and select a child and begin the process of rescuing a child from poverty.
What an amazing opportunity we have to change the world, one life at a time.
So, what say ye?
Is it time to save a life and rescue a child? Sign up today.
Well, it is about time! It has been a very busy two weeks that have kept me away from my blogs - and there are so many things going around in my head that I hope I have the strength in my arms to put down here in print.
Now where were we when we were last together? Ah yes, I had just made it into the 270's region and had stepped into a new frontier. Well, my progress has continued and I have reached the last bastion of the 70's with my most recent weight reading as 270.2lbs. Only a day or so before I will cross that new frontier and enter the 260's. Wow, haven't been that slim since some time last century.
Ok, so news updates. I received 60 packets of information on children that are in need of sponsorship through Compassion International. If you are seriously interested in sponsoring please drop me a not back on this blog - I know that Heather couldn't wait and has already begun sponsoring her child. It is going to be an amazing next few weeks as the reality hits the road and people step forward to rescue a life. It is going to be an awesome month.
Saturday April 17th will be our FAMILY FUN NIGHT at Mt Oak when we want to invite everyone to come out and have a good time playing carnival games and learning more about child sponsorship. On Sunday April 18th at our 8:45 and 10:30am services we will spend our time together hearing more about Compassion and of course, there will be an opportunity to sign up and sponsor a child.
This is the time when I really want to encourage people to step up and talk about sponsorship to their friends and lets get these kids taken care of.
I will write a new blog about a new training experience that I took on tonight - Body Pump! I have never met Les Mills (the guy who came up with Body Pump and RPM) but after this evening's session I am sure that he must be wanted in many countries for crimes against people's muscles. I ache - but you need to check back tomorrow to read about that.
This quick post - a reminder to get the kids sponsored.
It was a decade of wide bottomed trousers, plaid pants, big hair, and even bigger soles on your shoes. It was 10 years where music transitioned from the ethereal sound of bands like Yes, or Asia or even Major Tom by Bowie through to the steady beat of the disco era and John Travolta strutting his stuff on Saturday night fever to the outrageous anarchy of the punk bands.
The 70's were a decade of transition, a decade of change, a decade that many look back to with nostalgia and many more look back to and try to forget. The 70's for me were a decade of transition when we made the move from rural Indiana to Belfast, Northern Ireland. When I made the move from the US public school system to the NI school system. It was a time of change.
Right now I have entered a new 70's phase - a decade that I haven't seen in a long time. The 70's I have entered is the 270's - pounds that is. I mentioned last time that I have dipped below the 280lb mark and it is official, this is the week I will reside in the 70's and maybe just for a little while next week too. I dont want to stay here too long though, while the 70's were fun, they were nothing to match the 60's and the wild time that was had by one and all then. So I am headed to the 60's, I am headed to a place I have not been in a long time.
Hi faithful followers, and fellow fat losers. That is - losers of fat, and not losers who are fat - that would be rude. Anyhoo, my beautiful wife and I took a break last week from everything - kids, work, church, Maryland, electronics - everything but each other and took ourselves out to Las Vegas for a few days. I was really looking forward to having this free time with Julie but I was a little concerned that the saying of 'what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas' wouldn't quite apply to the calories we would consume and I didn't want what I ate in Vegas to make the plane journey back to MD with me.
One thing that this challenge has definitely done has made me much more conscious of what I eat and how long it will take me to sweat those calories off, so 4 days of eating out in restaurants and the like could have been a set back. Having said that, I am the one who is in control of my arms and hands so if I dont put it near my mouth then I wont eat it. We stayed at a beautiful hotel (without a casino) with a fully kitted out fitness center - and I made sure I got a work out in at least on 2 of the days we were there. The other days our exercise consisted of walking, walking, more walking, climbing stairs, walking some more, climbing down stairs followed by a last little bit of, yup you guessed it, walking.
The highlight of our trip for me was the day we spent at the Grand Canyon. Wow! That is one impressive hole in the ground! As I stood at the top looking to the canyon floor some mile or so below me I was drawn to the notion of how good it must be to be able to walk down to the bottom and look up at the rim towering above you. We were only there for a few hours so that wasn't possible - plus the amount of snow on the trails would have made for an interesting decent. I did hear myself say though, "You know, it would be a great guy's trip some time to come out here with some good friends and hike to the bottom for a a few days and hang out by the river." The words were out of my mouth and I was a surprised as my wife that I was even considering the possibility of walking the 7-8 miles of trails down the 1 mile vertical decent to the canyon floor. But maybe next year that will be an option. Anyone want to come?
So, getting back to the challenge - well, to my great delight what I ate in Vegas was passed in Vegas and I didn't bring any extra of me back to MD - in fact I lost a pound while I was out there. Today when I stepped on the scales I achieved another milestone. Today's weight was 284.5lbs - that is only 1/2 a pound away from a total drop of 30lbs, and 3.5lbs under my driver's license weight - my 10 year old driver's license which is up for renewal in October.
So after a week of quality Julie and me time, a week when we reach another target and a week when I have been contacted by people from all parts of the country (thanks to the Catalyst podcast and blog) I am ready for the next few weeks. I am ready to reach the 40lb drop and the 50lb drop. I am also looking forward to the Compassion International Sunday when we will hopefully see a lot of children sponsored.
For those of you who have been following this challenge from the beginning, you will know that the inspiration for me starting this challenge came from a conference I attended in October 2009. I watched a young man recount his story of how as a young boy he was a sponsored child with Compassion International and how his sponsor faithfully wrote to him, encouraged him, supported him and now he was in training to return to his home village to help the people there. Moments later they brought out his sponsor and 10,000 people melted along with Jimmy as he openly wept with gratitude and thankfulness for this stranger who had supported him.
So fast forward to today and I am driving in my truck heading back from clinic listening to the podcast from the Catalyst team - Brad Lomenick and Ken Coleman - when they go to a piece where they talk about e-mails people have sent in. Ken begins to read an e-mail by an Associate Professor from Arlington, VA - IT WAS MY E-MAIL!!!
You can listen to the segment here I could not believe it. They want to put my Challenge on the catalyst web site and help me find the 210 sponsors!!! Unbelievable. Thank you God - this is going to be an awesome experience.
should really be done on a bicycle. (Jason's proverbs)
You know, our society screams at us everyday. Most of those screams we ignore or tune out in the hope that insanity will not beset us, but there are some screams that are louder, more attractive, and packaged more prettily than others. Those screams are the numerous weight loss advertisements and pitches for the right product for you.
I wonder as I watch the latest celebrity to strut their stuff on 'Jenny Craig' why we never see them sweating their butts off (literally) in the gym. Why we don't see the camera shot cut to a sweating blob attempting to get one leg in front of the other before the treadmill ejects him (or her) off the back of it and into a wall. You know you would laugh at that, but would it sell you the idea of what weight loss and good health is? I doubt it. It is much better to think that we can write a check, wait for the mail carrier to deliver a box of food to our door that we are then rationed on until the next delivery. Didn't something like this already happen during the great wars? The only difference in these rations is that of course you need to go and buy the main ingredients for your newly acquired diet before you assemble the pieces.
Why is it so difficult to limit the amount of things we put in our mouths? Is it really more difficult than that? Isn't there a simple philosophy that is you want to lose weight then don't eat more than you are willing to burn off. Before anyone gets their knickers in a twist and explodes over their keyboard about the importance of balancing the major food groups accurately (coffee, chocolate and cake - any type of cake) I understand all that stuff - even the conflicting information which Al Gore's invention provides into our homes.
What I have noticed is that the self-discipline of restricting calorie intake seems to be too difficult for many to cope with as they abdicate responsibility to Jenny or others to package their food, prepare it and eat it. This abdication allows us to blame someone else when it doesn't work - when our results are not what we see on-screen but are much more typical. We follow someone else's plan so we can blame them for our failure. It's the American dream.
So let's flip this thought of taking responsibility to the whole point of my endeavor this year - to see children rescued from lives of poverty and given a chance to have access to food, shelter, basic healthcare and to build up and support these families as they raise these precious little children.
Have you considered sponsoring a child through Compassion International? What has stopped you? What argument have you used to abdicate your responsibility of being in the top few percent of wealthy people in the world and yet not willingly sharing some of your wealth to support a child who struggles just to eat every day? Check out Compassion International's web site and see what this group is all about. I am supporting them because they work with local organizations to support entire families as they support these precious children.
Are you willing to sponsor a child and make a difference? Are you maybe not in a position to support a child long term, but maybe could give a one time gift to support the work of Compassion? Don't listen to the arguments that will rationalize why you need to spend your money on food that your diet says you shouldn't have anyway. Take some time and make a donation. GO TO THE DONATE LINK ON THIS BLOG AND HELP THE CAUSE!
Greetings FAT man followers. We have reached the second week of my challenge and things are progressing pretty nicely. This week however has been an upside down food week as our church has been fasting all week and I have been drinking water since Saturday night. I have had a little honey in hot water, cos lets face it, hot water is nasty on its own.
When you restrict your calorie intake the body searches for sources of fuel and you burn fat, when you obliterate your calorie intake your body goes into starvation mode and actually stores fat. However, spending the week fasting and praying was much more important that worrying what fuel source my body would choose to burn.
This phase of 210 in 2010 is all about publicity - at least all about reaching out to as many people as possible to try to inspire them to either sign up to sponsor a child or to pledge $100. I have been blessed by the numbers that have joined the cause at 210 in 2010 Cause and even more blessed by the $225 that have been donated already. I know it is early days yet but I am urging all of my friends to inspire their friends to not just join the cause but to participate in it.
Next week begins a lot of very hard work for me as I begin to drop the pounds and hopefully a little work for all of you as you recruit more people to join the cause. You can add the link to this blog and the link to the cause at the bottom of your e-mails as part of your signature. So every time you send an e-mail the people you write to have a link to see how they can make a difference.
I am a fat man. I am fat in the physical sense of the word. I am fat in the spiritual sense of the word. I am fat in the economic sense of the world (especially when you look at global economics). There is no getting around it, I am a FAT man.
So what can I do about that?
In early December I was consumed with a thought, a thought that to be honest I really didn’t like the thought of. I have been struck by how FAT I am – in all senses of the word and how much of a difference I could make by becoming a little less FAT. I thought about how many people I may be able to influence to join me in decreasing their FAT-ness too. That is when 210 in 2010 was conceived.
Recently my wife and I have been reading through Compassion International’s web-site and considering sponsoring a child who is most definitely not FAT, by any definition of the word. I have been struck by the thought that me decreasing my morning coffee and donuts would be sufficient to provide care, education, health and really a new life for a little child somewhere on this earth. If I were to become a little less FAT, I could actually make a difference in the life of a child, who would grow into an adult and bring their own children into the world. I could affect a generation or more of one family, by simply becoming less FAT.
So sponsoring a child as a family was step one, but step one was not the only step. Step two was a challenge – a personal challenge that I am undertaking but hopefully an inspiring challenge that will grip your heart so much that you will join with me and make a difference too.
THE CHALLENGE
The first part "210 in 2010" is my personal part of the challenge – the second and/or third parts are your parts, should you be inspired to join me:
Part 1: By 20-10-2010 (20th October 2010) I aim to weigh 210lbs (which will be a drop in weight of approximately 100lbs).
Part 2: If 210 people promised to donate $100 (essentially $1 per pound of me lost) to help the work of Compassion International that would be a gift to them of $21,000.
Part 3: If 210 people promised to sponsor a child from Compassion International then that would be 210 lives that would be transformed, 210 families that would be rescued, 210 new generations of people who would be lifted from abstract poverty and provided the basic essentials of health care, education, food and shelter.
If we collectively sponsored 210 children and donated $100 by 20th October 2010 then what a tremendous impact we could have globally.
So, there are 291 days until 20th October 2010.
Are you up for the challenge?
Here is a video of a child who was sponsored for a number of years getting the chance to meet his sponsor recently at a conference in Atlanta Georgia. There were 10,000 people witnessing this event that day and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. What a gift this would be for someone.
Here is the Compassion International web site. Please go through and review their policies and practices and make sure you are comfortable with their work before committing. Once you are ready to commit then the process for sponsoring a child is easy.Will you make a difference today?
Posts
