Big Weight Loss News

I have so many things to write about but the subject that everyone is asking me about is my recent weight loss.

Here's the deal:

At the first of the year I made the decision, for a myriad of reason, that I very much needed to lose weight. I looked into everything from a gym membership to surgery. None of these were in any way viable for me and my situation.

It was at that time when Lynn noticed a friend of ours that was loosing weight rather quickly. After some inquiry I got the name of a doctor in the Waterloo area. We made an appointment and I began a "Very Low Calorie Diet".

Here are the details: 400 calories a day, a prescription appetite suppressant, 30 mins. of exercise a day with the following stipulations; no sweating, never short of breath and able to carry on a conversation while exercising. That is about the extent of the diet.

When I started I was right at 250 pounds with my goal to reach 175. That goal was realized within 3 months. So I moved my goal to 160. I reached 164 and wanted to be far more physically active than I had been, to which Lynn demanded that I must put more fuel in the tank. A move that I was in agreement with and so I moved to more of a maintenance mode. As of this morning I'm tipping the scale at 172 and I feel great!

Here are a few changes that I have experienced since March 1, 2009: I lost as much as 86 pounds. I'm off all diabetic meds, high blood pressure meds as well as no longer using my cpap machine! Dropped from a pant size of 46-48 to 34-36, dress shirt size 18 1/2 neck to a 15-15 1/2, T-shirt size XXL down to a Medium . Finally, I began about 2 weeks ago to prepare to run in my first 5K this fall!

It is about this point when folks begin to ask about what really motivated me to do this and lose all the weight...as I mentioned earlier the reasons are many and varied but I will write about them in the very near future.

One last thing ... I know that some of you will have questions, please feel free to ask! Nothing you could ask would be more awkward that the person who walked up to me as said, "You look great...You got cancer?"

Pastor Steve