I wish I wasn't the type of person that needed to get hit in the head with a 2x4 before I take action. I really do want to be the type of person who heeds the warning signs that appear when someone else is walking through a challenge and is able to apply them to my own life. I am 44 years old and I have a literal lifetime of warning signs, sounds, flags, banners, smoke signals and alerts that have been going off all around me.
It isn't a news flash that obesity causes a variety of health-related issues. I took health in junior high and high school. I have been told many times by teachers, trainers, coaches, doctors, and nurses that I cannot outrun or outlive poor choices in diet and exercise. As an adult, I have read many books on topics of health and self-improvement that encourage healthy habits and stress the importance of using daily exercise to reduce stress, improve cardiovascular health and increase energy. I have read about the importance of treating food as fuel and choosing clean-burning fuel for my body.
The truth is, the only person I am good at lying to is myself.
"I can start a new plan next week."
"This little piece won't have an impact in the grand scheme of things."
"Now is not a good time to get some exercise in."
"I'm too busy."
"This project is more important."
"I'm too tired to give it the effort it deserves."
"My work travel makes it impossible."
Here's the real data. In January 2018 after my wife called me out about not seeing a doctor on a regular basis, I made an appointment. I knew that I would hear that my weight was a problem and that I needed to make changes. When I arrived at my appointment, I was told that I indeed had Type-2 Diabetes, Hypothyroidism, and borderline high blood pressure. I was prescribed a few meds and a supplement. I was urged to make lifestyle changes and follow up with regular visits to track my progress. I left the office discouraged and a bit depressed. I have been obese, not just "overweight", since junior high. I have tried on several different occasions to lose weight. I held onto one little nugget that the nurse practitioner had given me, that with these meds, I could bring my blood sugar and thyroid levels into balance. That should give me a bit more energy and help my exercise to be more effective.
I left the office determined to make the changes to reverse my course and beat diabetes. I did follow up appointments and additional blood panels to adjust the prescriptions that I was on. I hadn't seen any weight loss, nor had I felt any more energy, but I thought I was trying to trust the meds and process. In all honesty, aside from taking the medicines exactly as prescribed, I didn't make any other changes. No increase in exercise, no meaningful changes to my diet, no attempts to reduce my stress. And then I stopped my follow-up appointments. The nurse practitioner I had been seeing left the practice and it was convenient to just continue with my meds and not seek a new doctor.
Fast forward to January 2019, the pharmacy was unable to fill my prescription. The practice I had been seeing was unwilling to approve it until I came back in for a follow-up appointment. I scheduled an appointment with the new nurse practitioner and had new blood panels drawn. All of my levels had gotten worse and now I required a much more aggressive approach to my treatment. I was referred to Texas Diabetes & Endocrinology. I was embarrassed and felt like a failure. How could I let it get this bad? How could someone who genuinely enjoys healthy foods and exercise be in such terrible shape? What kind of father/husband/son/friend/employee/brother just sits there and watches their health deteriorate like this? How could someone who leads and serves pay so little attention to their own physical health?
This exposes something critical. The battle isn't just with the food I eat or the attempts I make at physical activity. There is a near-constant battle in my mind and spirit! The battle challenges how I view my identity and my capacity to be successful. Some people have the perceived luxury of a former time in their life when they were physically fit. Maybe they participated in sports or had a really physically challenging hobby. These people are on a mission to "get back into shape." I've got no "back" to return to! I am in an unmapped territory for me! And the more I attempt to learn from other peoples' journeys, the more I realize that their map and my map don't look alike.
I'm being honest about the frustrations I feel and attempting to lay the truth out for the light to expose any shadows. I am however highly encouraged and highly motivated to make the changes necessary to improve my life. My goal is not to lose weight, this is just the path that I am using to achieve my goal, which is much loftier than physical fitness. My goal is to be an amazing husband, father, and god willing, a grandfather someday. My goal is to be a thoughtful and generous leader in my community, a valued friend and a trusted partner. I cannot achieve those goals without making changes that ensure my physical existence in this world continues for a very long time. I want to be one of those people who lives a long and prosperous life, who appears at Heaven's gates with a life well-lived. I want to trade in a physical body that has been well-used, scarred with amazing stories, stretched, maybe even a little battered from victories and triumphs, well-traveled, calloused from a race well-run in the pursuit of excellence.
So begins a new chapter in an inconvenient journey. Since March 1st, I am down 12 pounds. I am trying hard to be a model patient and I am learning more every day. I have the privilege of a brotherhood with men that want to help me on my journey. Accountability is so critical to success. And to have men that have the physical expertise to offer is an amazing bonus. It is proof yet again that God did not intend for man to be isolated. Our lives are best in community. And an inconvenient journey is less a burden when you have a team to surround you. If you need community, if you think accountability will help in whatever journey you find yourself on, I am willing to offer that to you. Together we achieve far more, and celebrations are a lot more fun in a group!
It isn't a news flash that obesity causes a variety of health-related issues. I took health in junior high and high school. I have been told many times by teachers, trainers, coaches, doctors, and nurses that I cannot outrun or outlive poor choices in diet and exercise. As an adult, I have read many books on topics of health and self-improvement that encourage healthy habits and stress the importance of using daily exercise to reduce stress, improve cardiovascular health and increase energy. I have read about the importance of treating food as fuel and choosing clean-burning fuel for my body.
The truth is, the only person I am good at lying to is myself.
"I can start a new plan next week."
"This little piece won't have an impact in the grand scheme of things."
"Now is not a good time to get some exercise in."
"I'm too busy."
"This project is more important."
"I'm too tired to give it the effort it deserves."
"My work travel makes it impossible."
Here's the real data. In January 2018 after my wife called me out about not seeing a doctor on a regular basis, I made an appointment. I knew that I would hear that my weight was a problem and that I needed to make changes. When I arrived at my appointment, I was told that I indeed had Type-2 Diabetes, Hypothyroidism, and borderline high blood pressure. I was prescribed a few meds and a supplement. I was urged to make lifestyle changes and follow up with regular visits to track my progress. I left the office discouraged and a bit depressed. I have been obese, not just "overweight", since junior high. I have tried on several different occasions to lose weight. I held onto one little nugget that the nurse practitioner had given me, that with these meds, I could bring my blood sugar and thyroid levels into balance. That should give me a bit more energy and help my exercise to be more effective.
I left the office determined to make the changes to reverse my course and beat diabetes. I did follow up appointments and additional blood panels to adjust the prescriptions that I was on. I hadn't seen any weight loss, nor had I felt any more energy, but I thought I was trying to trust the meds and process. In all honesty, aside from taking the medicines exactly as prescribed, I didn't make any other changes. No increase in exercise, no meaningful changes to my diet, no attempts to reduce my stress. And then I stopped my follow-up appointments. The nurse practitioner I had been seeing left the practice and it was convenient to just continue with my meds and not seek a new doctor.
Fast forward to January 2019, the pharmacy was unable to fill my prescription. The practice I had been seeing was unwilling to approve it until I came back in for a follow-up appointment. I scheduled an appointment with the new nurse practitioner and had new blood panels drawn. All of my levels had gotten worse and now I required a much more aggressive approach to my treatment. I was referred to Texas Diabetes & Endocrinology. I was embarrassed and felt like a failure. How could I let it get this bad? How could someone who genuinely enjoys healthy foods and exercise be in such terrible shape? What kind of father/husband/son/friend/employee/brother just sits there and watches their health deteriorate like this? How could someone who leads and serves pay so little attention to their own physical health?
This exposes something critical. The battle isn't just with the food I eat or the attempts I make at physical activity. There is a near-constant battle in my mind and spirit! The battle challenges how I view my identity and my capacity to be successful. Some people have the perceived luxury of a former time in their life when they were physically fit. Maybe they participated in sports or had a really physically challenging hobby. These people are on a mission to "get back into shape." I've got no "back" to return to! I am in an unmapped territory for me! And the more I attempt to learn from other peoples' journeys, the more I realize that their map and my map don't look alike.
I'm being honest about the frustrations I feel and attempting to lay the truth out for the light to expose any shadows. I am however highly encouraged and highly motivated to make the changes necessary to improve my life. My goal is not to lose weight, this is just the path that I am using to achieve my goal, which is much loftier than physical fitness. My goal is to be an amazing husband, father, and god willing, a grandfather someday. My goal is to be a thoughtful and generous leader in my community, a valued friend and a trusted partner. I cannot achieve those goals without making changes that ensure my physical existence in this world continues for a very long time. I want to be one of those people who lives a long and prosperous life, who appears at Heaven's gates with a life well-lived. I want to trade in a physical body that has been well-used, scarred with amazing stories, stretched, maybe even a little battered from victories and triumphs, well-traveled, calloused from a race well-run in the pursuit of excellence.
So begins a new chapter in an inconvenient journey. Since March 1st, I am down 12 pounds. I am trying hard to be a model patient and I am learning more every day. I have the privilege of a brotherhood with men that want to help me on my journey. Accountability is so critical to success. And to have men that have the physical expertise to offer is an amazing bonus. It is proof yet again that God did not intend for man to be isolated. Our lives are best in community. And an inconvenient journey is less a burden when you have a team to surround you. If you need community, if you think accountability will help in whatever journey you find yourself on, I am willing to offer that to you. Together we achieve far more, and celebrations are a lot more fun in a group!
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