Tag Archives: fitness

Walking On the Right Path

“There is a difference between knowing the path, and walking the path.” -Morpheus (The Matrix).

I initiated a fat loss competition at my church on the first Sunday in January. The purpose was (and is) to motivate people who enter to become more healthy, not just by losing pounds, or even inches, but by losing excess(ive) body fat. According to the Diabesity Institute (diabesityinstitute.org) 60% of Americans suffer from a combination of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Diabesity is the major factor behind heart disease. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine people with type 2 diabetes are two to four times more likely to have a heart attack. Obesity has long been known to increase the risk of heart disease. Therefore, this is not merely an issue of looking better, or even feeling better, but of living healthier and longer. Our church is called Lifewell and our motto is Live Life Well, This fits our mission.

I haven’t lost any fat, in spite of the fact that I have the knowledge and experience to do so. I could be a trainer if I had time and inclination to get certified. However, as Morpheus says in the first Matrix movie, “There is a difference between knowing the path, and walking the path.” See, I decided to take a different route. I wanted to know if I could gain muscle at the same time as losing body fat. Others have done this, but I have not. I followed a six week weightlifting protocol known as German Volume Training. I gained muscle, and strength. However, the reason I didn’t lose body fat likely had more to do with my unwillingness to give up a daily craft beer reward, and being lax in keeping up with my daily food log. The result was too many calories, and a daily interference of alcohol in my liver. The latter inhibits the liver’s ability to burn fat (at least, while it is dealing with filtering the alcohol).

What to do? Be happy with my muscle gain? Buy bigger pants? Wear all of my shirts untucked to hide a burgeoning gut? No, I’m going to re-start. Turns out virtually everyone in our competition voted to do the same. The original plan was to weigh-out on Valentine’s Day. Yeah, there were very few people who left their houses that morning. We live in Texas. February 14th was the start of a very rough week of freezing temperatures and power outages.  Prior to that we had folks dealing with Covid-19. It’s been a difficult 2021 so far. However, as the Bible promises, God’s grace is new every morning. God’s grace is my inspiration to start over, and over, and over. So, I’m not giving up, or giving in. 

The season of Lent is a time of fasting. Intermittent fasting is a great way to lose body fat. It’s also a time of self-denial. Many Christians give something up for Lent. This teaches us to say no to self and yes to God. Life is about seasons. our bodies are designed for intermittent feasting and fasting. The holiday season is for feasting. Lent is for fasting. My plan is to give up alcohol, and to fast periodically, particularly every Friday. This will help spiritually and physically. Health involves the whole person.

This re-start is an opportunity to walk the path I that know: keep a food log, count calories and keep them at around 1700 per day, avoid sugar, starch and generally keep carbs low (around 100gm/day), continue to lift weights, add cardio, and NO ALCOHOL. I’ve done this several times in the past decade and dropped my body fat below 10%, and sustained it for years. 

Today is Day One… again. Easter is 40 days away, and that is our new weigh-out date for the fat loss competition at my church. My goal is to get back below 10% body fat. I am convinced I can do it, but only if I do what I know. That really applies to all of life.

Jesus said something to his followers that is the best summation: “You know these things, you will be blessed if you do them” (John 13:17). Do what you know to be right and true. If not, well, Jesus’ half-brother James said, “Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it” (James 4:17).

Do what is right, always: in health, in relationships, in your thinking, in life.

How Many Calories Do You Need?

Forget BMI. What you need to know if you want to lose fat is your BMR or Basal Metabolic Rate. You can determine the number of calories your body needs each day by determining your Basal Metabolic Rate, then adding or subtracting from that depending upon your goals. You can do the math under #4 below to get that number. First, let’s understand some other important considerations for losing fat.

  1. Calories. Your body burns energy measured in calories. Counting calories is much maligned by many today, but it is still the best way to determine the amount of energy your body needs.
  2. Macronutrients contain different numbers of calories. There are three of these.
    • Carbohydrate 1 gram = 4.5 calories
    • Protein 1 gram = 4.5 calories
    • Fat 1 gram = 9 calories
    • Alcohol (not a macronutrient) 1 gram = 7 calories
  3. Count Calories. Each person burns a different number of calories depending upon their metabolism and activity level. Count your calories.
    • Write down everything you eat in a normal day and add up the calories.
    • Go online or get a calorie counting app for your smart phone. Many of these automatically calculate the number of calories you should take in per day in order to meet your goal, be that weight loss or weight gain.
  4. BMR- Below is the math to figure your Basal Metabolic Rate

A) Females:

Multiply your weight by 10.

Now, add your weight.

Next subtract 2% for every 10 years of life.

Example of 120 lbs 20 year old woman: 120 x 10 = 1200, 1200 + 120 = 1320, 1320 x .04 = 52.8, 1320 – 52.8 =1267.2

B) Males:

Multiply your weight by 10,

Now add twice your weight.

Next subtract 2% for every ten years of life.

Example of a 150 lbs 20 year old man- 150 x 10 = 1500, 150 x 2 = 300, 1500 = 300 = 1800, .04 x 1800 = 72, 1800 – 72 =1728

Activity Adjustment for Both Males and females: 

Add 20% – 40% depending upon your activity level. 20% = couch potato/sedentary job, 30% average, 40% active.

Example of the female above with an average activity level: 1267.2 x .30 = 380.16, 380.16 + 1267.2 = 1647.36

  1. Lose fat.
    • If you want to lose fat, you must burn more calories than you eat!
    • There are 3,500 calories contained in one pound of fat.
    • This means once you accumulate 3,500 more calories than you need, you will gain a pound of fat.
    • Eat less! Cut between 250-500 (no more!) calories per day.
    • Do more! Exercise 30-45 minutes 3-4 days per week, which will enable you to burn at least 250-350 calories per workout.
    • Intermittent Fasting- Stop eating between Sundown and 8:00 P. M. Don’t eat again until at least 13 hours have passed. Vary this: some days go 16hrs, then 18hrs, then 20 up to 24.
  2. Gain muscle.
    • If you want to gain muscle, work out with weights 3-4 times per week and take in more calories than you burn.
    • Add 500 calories to your BMR.
    • Eat an amount of protein equal in grams to your body weight in pounds, up to 1.5 grams per pound of body weight.
    • Consume your largest meal of the day an hour after a hard workout.
    • Drink a whey protein shake within one hour before and after your weight workout.

These statements have not been evaluated by a physician. Always consult your doctor before starting a diet or exercise program.

10 Rules to Losing Fat

  1. Keep a food log & count calories. 
  2. Lower your caloric intake. Calculate what you need to maintain your present weight and reduce that by 500/day. Be aware you will need fewer calories as your weight decreases, and your body will learn to maintain on fewer calories as well, which is why the rest of this list is important.
  3. Count carbs and keep them at no more than 10-15% of your overall caloric intake. One carb = 4.5 calories
  4. Stop drinking sugar water! That means drop the soda, sweet tea, Monsters, Red Bulls and any other drink that is primarily sugar and water.
  5. Stop drinking alcohol. Alcohol inhibits the liver’s ability to convert fat to blood glucose.
  6. Lose the starch and bread. No pasta, no potatoes, no tortillas, no sandwiches with bread. Substitute lettuce wraps for bread/tortillas.
  7. Track your activity, and increase it. Various devices will do this: your phone, Fit Bit, Apple or Samsung watches etc.
  8. Exercise 30 minutes per day 5-6 days per week. Run, brisk walk, swim, karate’, bike riding, weightlifting etc.
  9. Practice intermittent fasting. Stop eating at sundown, or no later than 8pm. Don’t eat anything (NOTHING) until at least 13 hours have passed. Vary between this and 16, 18, up to 20 hours of fasting.
  10. NO CHEAT DAYS. One cheat day can easily destroy an entire week’s worth of work.

Get Lean in 2021

From Sunday, January 3rd until Sunday February 13th I’m running a motivational contest to help folks drop some excess body fat. The person who loses the highest percentage of their body fat will win. So, not raw body fat, but as the amount lost compares to your overall. For example, I’ve balooned to around 16%. If I lose down to 12%, that reflects a 25% drop in my body fat. Someone with 28% body fat would have to drop 7% to equal my loss, while a person with 12% would need to lose 3%. This makes the playing field level, and makes the competition primarily with the individual.

Here’s my plan to drop down to 12% in six weeks, with an eventual goal of hitting 10.

1) Count calories. No matter what diet you’re on, your body requires a certain amount of energy to maintain. Calories are not perfect, but they are a measure of the energy I’m ingesting. At my age and current weight I need around 2400 calories per day to maintain. I use a free app called MyPlate to enter my food & drink. It also estimates my caloric needs based on the goal entered. I’ve overestimated the number of pounds I want to lose per week by entering two (rather than my goal of 1.5). This should help cover for entry and miscalculation errors. At this point I must not exceed 1692 calories per 24 hours.

2) Don’t drink alcohol. I like craft beer and a good margarita. Alcohol inhibits fat loss by keeping the liver peoccupied with transforming it from its toxic state into (potentially) beneficial blood sugar.

3) Don’t cheat. One cheat day will EASILY undo a week of hard work.

4) Intermittent fasting. This makes the lower calorie intake easier and reduces or eliminates insulin resistance. This means as my baseline I stop ingesting calories at 6pm and don’t eat or drink anything but water, herbal tea (night) and black coffee (morning) until noon the next day. That’s an 18 hour fast. To keep it intermittent (somewhat random) I’ll drink a protein drink before morning weight workouts at around 10am, which equals a 16 hour fast. Occasionally (once a week or so) I’ll go until 2pm or 4pm before I take in calories.

6) Keep carbs below 20-25% of overall calories, which equals 85-100 per day.

7) Work out 30-45 minutes per day, six days a week. For me this breaks down as three weight workouts and three cardio workouts. I lift, practice karate, run the treadmill.
This works. I’ve done it. In 2017 I dropped to 5.3% Now, you set some goals and get to work too!

Healthcare and Personal Responsibility

Nobody else is responsible for your choices but you. This applies to your health, your finances, your relationships and any other area you’d like to include. Most people want freedom, but fewer want to take responsibility for irresponsible choices.

Let’s look at the health question as an example. If you smoke (tobacco or marijuana) there are associated health risks. If you eat SAD (Standard American Diet), and don’t take time daily to exercise (walk, jog, swim, bike, train with weights, etc.), then you are a candidate for Type II diabetes and may be dealing with some degree of obesity. The newest term for this dangerous combination is diabesity. If you are dealing with health challenges related to your choices, you are responsible to make changes. Sounds reasonable, doesn’t it?

Sadly many of us are unwilling to see it this way. I want to eat whatever I please. Don’t want to exercise. And when I have a health problem I want to take a pill to solve it, but I’d rather not pay for that. I need free medical care. In reality, nothing is free. In countries with socialized medicine the average tax rate is around 55%. That’s about double what a working adult is paying in the United States right now. Your health insurance may seem expensive, but will a system like this be cheaper for you? For me the answer is no. Since I never go to the hospital and rarely to the doctor, it is grossly unfair for the government take half my salary to pay for others who haven’t taken care of their health.

In addition to this a government run health system would be like, the VA (Veteran’s Administration). Ask a veteran how happy they are with the quality of care they receive. The government would decide whether you deserve treatment. The government would decide whether or not to pay for the birth of a child that they deem unworthy (those with physical challenges like down syndrome). The government would decide whether to provide expensive care to someone a medical board determined not worth the expense. A recent well publicized incident in Great Britain comes to mind, wherein the British government refused to prolong a baby’s life, and then prohibited the parents from taking their own sick child to another country willing to treat it. They went as far as posting armed officers at the doors of the hospital! Why? Because the British government determined the baby would, and therefore should, die. I am not willing to give life and death decisions about my health to any government. Then there is the use of tax dollars to pay for abortions, which I (and others like me) oppose.

In the event all of this talk about personal responsibility would cause you to think I don’t care about those who are sick. You would be wrong. I believe affordable healthcare should be available to everyone. I believe those who cannot afford to go to the doctor should receive help when they are genuinely in need of it. I would give money to make this possible. That doesn’t equate to me going to the ER because I have a head cold, or seasonal allergies. When I was a child my parents took me to the hospital to get my tonsils out, and to the ER because I accidentally stuck a knife through my hand. Now, there is an increasing tendency to run to the emergency room for most anything. If you can afford it, then that’s your choice, but don’t expect others to subsidize such an expensive trip when you could have gone to a primary care doctor.

Some of us have medical problems we didn’t do anything to cause or even contribute to. I am nearly deaf in my right ear. It happened in one day and has nothing to do with my choices. I’d like to be able to afford hearing aids. Currently I cannot. They run between $3,000-5,000 I don’t expect the government to provide them. I would like a more affordable option, however. Currently I don’t have medical insurance, and even when I did hearing aids were not covered. I know others who have serious health problems that they did not cause. I believe these folks should have access to medical care for whatever they can honestly afford. If that resulted in a modest increase in my tax rate, that is acceptable. However, it will also mean necessary reform to our medical industrial complex, especially in the prescription drug sector.

The question each of us needs to answer is, what can I do to improve my health situation? I can change my diet. I can exercise. I can rest. I can be healthy. I am responsible.

Road to a Lean Body

“The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

Translation: It’s not what you think or assume, but what you actually do that matters.

Today I return to the topic of health and fitness. Previously I reported a seven step plan to get lean again in 2020. So far, my progress has been limited because discipline has been sporadic in several areas. I lose some body fat, then fall prey to boredom, indifference, and/or entitlement and cheat on my diet. This has not been terrible, but any cheating inhibits progress, and enough cheating initiates regression.

I have remained rock solid on workouts, however. This has been my saving discipline. I continue to do strength training three days per week, and I’ve continued to run the other three days. The latter is a significant accomplishment for me due to my contempt for running.

I burned up 20 days and am currently behind my weight goal. I have lost some body fat, which is good, just not enough for this much effort. So, what must I do? Return to a stricter diet and more consistent intermittent fasting. My body doesn’t want to lose the weight, so I become voraciously hungry at night. I excuse eating after sundown by telling myself, “Well, it is intermittent fasting, so I can eat at night occasionally.” Or, “I’m working out with weights, my body needs the additional protein.” Most excuses contain a sprinkling of fact. The truth is, I cannot eat like that if I’m going to hit my goal.

I’m 40 days out and motivated to hit a goal weight of 149 by my birthday. When I’m there I’ll measure body fat and determine how much further down to go. Truth be told, I like being lean and skinny. When I’m fatter I become more lethargic. I also hate looking at my gut and love handles, especially when this can be seen through a tucked shirt. Here’s where vanity works in my favor. I WILL LOSE THIS FLAB.

Until next time, I hope you are busy achieving your fitness goals for the new year!

1/11 – 3/11

All right, I just finished a workout, drinking black coffee in the cafe at the gym. Cheated my way into the new year, now I’m motivated to make a change by my birthday in 60 days. I rolled into 2020 with more muscle mass, which was my goal for 2019, but I also have 5-7% more body fat than I want. So, it’s back to cutting down & getting lean. To motivate you and keep me accountable, here is my goal and the means I’ll achieve it.

At the beginning of 2020 I weighed in at 158lbs (I got as high as 161). That’s 12-16% body fat (depending upon which tool I use to measure it). I’ll call it 14%. I want to be at around 7%. If I retain the same muscle mass, that will make my target weight 147, so I’ll work to drop 11 lbs in 60 days. That equals a loss of 1.37 lbs per week, so I’ll aim at losing a pound and a half per week.

Here’s how I’ll achieve that.

1) Count calories. No matter what diet you’re on, your body requires a certain amount of energy to maintain. Calories are not perfect, but they are a measure of the energy I’m ingesting. At my age and current weight I need around 2400 calories per day to maintain. I use a free app called MyPlate to enter my food & drink. It also estimates my caloric needs based on the goal entered. I’ve overestimated the number of pounds I want to lose per week by entering two (rather than my goal of 1.5). This should help cover for entry and miscalculation errors. At this point I must not exceed 1692 calories per 24 hours.

2) Don’t drink alcohol. I like craft beer and a good margarita. Alcohol inhibits fat loss by keeping the liver peoccupied with transforming it from its toxic state into (potentially) beneficial blood sugar.

3) Don’t cheat. One cheat day will EASILY undo a week of hard work.

4) Intermittent fasting. This makes the lower calorie intake easier and reduces or eliminates insulin resistance. This means as my baseline I stop ingesting calories at 6pm and don’t eat or drink anything but water, herbal tea (night) and black coffee (morning) until noon the next day. That’s an 18 hour fast. To keep it intermittent (somewhat random) I’ll drink a protein drink before morning weight workouts at around 10am, which equals a 16 hour fast. Occasionally (once a week or so) I’ll go until 2pm or 4pm before I take in calories.

6) Keep carbs below 20-25% of overall calories, which equals 85-100 per day.

7) Work out 30-45 minutes per day, six days a week. For me this breaks down as three weight workouts and three cardio workouts. I lift, practice karate, run the treadmill.

This works. I’ve done it. In 2017 I dropped to 5.3% body fat. I’m well north of 50 years old now. I intend to stay at around 7% which will make 150 lbs my new high weight, (141 is the lowest I’ll go). My waist will be 29. Watch me work! Now, you set some goals and get to work too!

Physical Training Anniversary and New Challenge

One year ago today I embarked on a project to renew my body. I’d gained flab and lost fitness. I made a meme of Frosty the Snowman with my face superimposed because I looked like a snowman. I don’t look like that today!

I won’t go into all of the details of my diet and exercise program here. If you want to look back at earlier entries in this blog you can discover what I did. Suffice it to say, what I’ve done worked. I’m maintaining less than 10 percent body fat and have gained muscle mass. My waist is at 29 inches. My goal is to gain about 10 more pounds of lean body mass and keep the fat percentage where it is currently. However, I’ve encountered an obstacle: injury.

Over the years, I’ve seen a repeat of the same issue. I’ve gotten myself back in shape and then sustained an injury to my shoulder(s), which results in my not being able to train my upper body. I get disappointed, don’t do other exercise, let my diet go, gain weight, and remain out of shape until long after the injury heals. I re-injured my right shoulder while doing benchpress last week. This is sad because I had gained strength even though I still have a mis-located (broken) collarbone sustained while doing incline benchpress. I’m afraid I’ll have to find other chest exercises. Bench has proven destructive. Yes, I warm up. Yes, my form is correct. 

I’m not giving up, but I am learning. First, I’m not afraid of gaining too much fat, even if my workouts are curtailed while this shoulder heals. Why? I’ve found the golden ticket to fat loss and maintaining lean body mass. It’s called intermittent fasting. You could also call this scheduled eating. I’m not the expert here. You can look it up. Read books by Jason Fung. Watch YouTube videos by Thomas DeLauer and Dr. Eric Berg. What I will tell you is, it works.

Intermittent fasting means I fast periodically for at least 13 hours, up to 24. Typically I stop eating between 3pm and 6pm and don’t eat again until the next day until noon. On the 13 hour fasting days I drink Bulletproof coffee and/or eat eggs, no carbs in the morning. Secondly, I limit my carbohydrate and sugar intake. I eat almost no bread, no pasta, no potatoes, and limit the amount of fruit. Of course, I avoid all sweets, and don’t put sugar in my coffee or tea. Intermittent fasting is easier on a low carb diet. When I eat carbs I’m hungry all the time. When I eat healthy fats, I’m not. The simple reason for this is, when you eat carbs, your body uses that as fuel immediately; therefore, it wants you to keep supplying those carbs throughout the day. When your body doesn’t have carbs/sugar for a longer period of time, it learns to burn fat. This is what happens when someone follows the now famous keto diet.

A keto diet is a good place to start before entering into longer periods of fasting (ie. longer than over night). Once your body is in ketosis, it isn’t craving carbs for fuel. Fasting becomes easier in this state because your body is used to burning fat, and will easily burn body fat in the absence of food. That’s what you’re looking for, at least if you need to lose some flab.

So, I’m injured. I’m disappointed. However, I’m not giving up, and I’m not going to get fat again. Fasting is a discipline often associated with religion. In fact, every major religion practices fasting to one degree or another. Sadly, many Protestants or Evangelical groups do not practice it. We should. It’s healthy, both spiritually and physically. I’ve written about this as well. The reason I bring in the spiritual aspect at the end of this entry is, I believe God’s providential reason for allowing my current injury is to move me away from focus on self and toward increased spiritual discipline, or what the Bible calls training in godliness. The essence of this kind of training is focus on God instead of self. Fasting is one of the spiritual disciplines I want to pursue. There are others.

I’ve just purchased the Kindle version of Richard Foster’s classic A Celebration of Discipline, along with Dallas Willard’s The Spirit of the Disciplines. One year after my physical transformation, I will now focus on training in godliness/a holy life. Basic to this is becoming more like Jesus. I’ve got a lot of work to do. I’m impatient. I’m easily frustrated. I complain often. I’m lustful. Just saying no to these things will not stop them. I know because I’ve tried that approach my entire life. What I need is to learn to say yes to a good and loving God, and that includes saying yes to spiritual training and discipline.

“for, while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” (1 Timothy 4:8, NRSV)

You Can Be Less Fat & More Fit

Fitness is more than how thin you are, but I believe a good start (probably the best place to begin) is with a change in your diet, which results in a leaner body. A lean body is better for many reasons: less prone to heart disease, increased longevity, avoidance of type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, joint problems and a host of other complications which result from hauling around too much body fat every day.

It’s not popular to say this, but neither is it a secret: many people are simply carrying too much body fat. Perhaps you are one of them. Notice, I didn’t say “too heavy.” It’s not about weight; it’s about body fat percentage. The average American carries between 28-40% body fat (and it may be worse today, since that stat is from a study done 15-20 years ago!). That is not healthy. Not at all.

One year ago my body fat was around 23% at a weight of just over 170 lbs. I’m around 71 inches tall. I wasn’t terribly unhealthy, but I was getting there gradually. You see, everything accumulates over time, whether fitness or fatness. In 2012 I had gotten down to 7% body fat, was lifting weights and running regularly. I felt great! Then I broke my clavicle doing incline presses and that slowed the weights down considerably. I was discouraged. I stopped running. My diet gradually got less healthy. I still went to the gym a couple of times per week, but my workouts weren’t enough to burn off the additional calories.

The difference over a five year span was a gain of 16% body fat, which translates to around 20 lbs on my frame. That’s an annual gain of a little over three percent fat, or a mere four pounds each year. Consider, if I had gone another decade I could have been carrying around the high average of 40% body fat. NO THANKS!

I took a look at myself in the mirror at 23% and didn’t like what I saw. I looked like a round, slightly lumpy snowman. I knew what I could look like when healthy and fit. I knew it was going to take some work to get back. It did! I’ve journaled about that process here, so you can look back at those blogs if you’d like. The picture I’ve included in this entry is a screenshot I took this morning from a body fat calculator on my mobile device. To use the app you still need body fat calipers, and, yes, you need to weigh yourself. Currently I weight around 145 and am carrying about 5.5% body fat. Did I mention I’m 56 years old…

If your sex is male, and you’re not an elite athlete, then you should aim for 10-15% body fat. If your sex is female and not competing in some sport, aim for 20-25%. If you need to be leaner for a sport (I am a martial arts instructor), then you may seek to go lower. However, men shouldn’t get below 4% or women below about 9%. You do need some body fat. I am keeping mine between 5-7% because I want to stay at that level of fitness to teach my karate’ class. That, and I like how I look and feel when I’m this lean.

So, what’s the secret? Did I do Keto? Count calories? Fasting? Run an hour a day? Overall friends, although it’s hard at first to apply the self-control, the concept is really very simple: you get fatter when you eat more, and you get thinner when you eat less. You also get fatter when you’re less active, while still eating the same, and you get leaner when you’re more active without increasing the amount you eat. Everything accumulates over time, fitness or fatness.

Duh? Well, why do we read so much disinformation when it comes to this? People want to believe, “You can eat whatever you want and lose the weight!” No, you can’t. Don’t buy it (metaphorically or literally). There are many paths to the goal of losing fat, and there are variables, but the truth is your body carries more fat when it doesn’t burn the excess (yes, I’m going to use a bad word here) CALORIES you’re consuming.

So, do you want to get fit? Start with your diet. You need to establish a healthy diet. If you want less fat, then you need to eat fewer calories. You need to cut out the sugar and starch. You need to schedule your eating.

Next, you need to move more. Find a form of exercise you will do regularly: walk, swim, bike, lift weights, get into an aerobics class, learn and practice a sport like basketball or an art like karate’ or yoga. Aim for 30-40 minutes of vigorous activity five or six days per week.

Do you want help? Coaching? I’m considering doing that for people in the near future, so stay tuned…

From Fatness to Fitness, a Journey

It started on November 8th, and today is February 26th. I was sick and tired of my gut and my “snowman body,” which had accumulated over four years. In early November I weighed around 170 with 19% body fat (according to my smart scale, which may not measure body fat with great accuracy but was my gauge all along). My last weigh-in showed 147.4 pounds. I used calipers and found between 8.38% to 10.12% body fat, depending on the method of calculating. I dropped from a 33” to a 30” waist.

Previous to this I had worked hard and effectively to arrive at the same point. However, everything accumulates over time: fatness or fitness. It all depends on what you’re doing, or not doing in the case of decreasing levels of discipline and activity. I didn’t decide to start being unhealthy one day; in fact, I never stopped going to the gym. Everything happened gradually.

I think I did make a decision to gain some weight, but I wanted it to be muscle. However, I broke my clavicle and was unable to perform any bench presses. This is demoralizing for a guy. I continued to work out, but not very hard, and finally averaged only once or twice a week. I continued to eat a fairly healthy diet, and I didn’t overeat. In spite of this, I gained fat and lost muscle mass. Four years ago I weighed 149, so I gained 21 pounds, or five pounds per year. Had I continued on this gradual increase I would have eventually become obese, and likely struggled with type-two diabetes, which runs on my father’s side of the family.

My vanity kicked in when I stared at myself in the mirror and didn’t like what I saw. Coinciding with this was my decision to return to teaching karate’. I have been an instructor for over 30 years, but had quit teaching or even practicing. I didn’t realize how out of condition I had become. We deceive ourselves when we get older, thinking that everything is pretty much the same this year as it was last, or five or ten years ago. Unlike young people, who naturally grow, when we hit about the mid-twenties we begin to decline, slowly at first, but everything accumulates over time. If you’ve not chosen a disciplined lifestyle of exercise and healthy eating you may be in your late twenties (even younger) and already show significant signs of decreasing fitness.

The last time I started, it was a more difficult journey out of the slough of fitness despondency in which I had found myself. I am happy I didn’t wait any longer to get back into shape. It could have been significantly more difficult to do at this point if I had not already built a fitness foundation. As we get older we have decreased physical capabilities and increased liabilities. In spite of this, we may not realize how far removed we are from the halcyon days of our youth. The result? I go to the gym and attempt to do what I used to 10 or 20 years ago, and discover I cannot. Disappointment may stop me there, or soreness and injury may slow me to a stop later. Then I quit, become depressed, eat more, care less, and put myself at risk for serious physical problems. I learned to meet myself where I am (as opposed to expecting I will be where I used to), and keep moving forward. This motivational strategy has worked to keep me going each time.

I really like being skinny! I have more energy. I look better in my clothes. Since I’ve been going to the gym regularly I’m stronger. Since I’ve been running my cardio-vascular system is healthier and I have more energy. I have more self-discipline in other areas of my life too. Temptation is tough. I was at a birthday celebration at an Asian buffet two days ago and our room was right next to the dessert section. All those beautiful little cakes, cookies and tiramisus were calling to me. I resisted! Why? I’d just purchased new jeans and pants a few hours earlier with waist sizes between 29 and 30. I’m not going to keep myself from fitting into those new clothes! I want to be lean, look good, feel good, have energy and have no self-consciousness about a pooching belly. Half of that is vain, but it’s honest.

In the end, I’m a Christian and a preacher of the Gospel of Jesus. I’m called to offer my body to God as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable, which is my reasonable and spiritual offering in worship. God is worth more than a feeble sacrifice. I want to present a clean, healthy body for him to use. If I am going to serve the Lord by teaching karate’, then I need to be in top condition. If I’m going to keep away from sickness, and disease like Alzheimer’s, then I have to discipline myself to exercise, eat healthy, as well as reading and writing regularly. If I’m going to defend myself or my congregation against the attack of some violent individual, then I want to be as trained and fit as possible to do so. My body belongs to God; it is his temple. I want him to be pleased. That’s worship. That’s the best motive of all.