The original title of this post was going to be, “I used to be a fat a@%” but I decided against it. Although the fact I’m telling you, pretty much defeats my reason for not calling it that in the first place. Anyway, I digress.
From the time I was in 5th grade, my weight has been a constant source of frustration. As a result, my self-confidence suffered tremendously and caused most areas of my life to be characterized by fear. Constant fear of what people would say about me, failure, disappointment and simply the unknown.
Ross and I moved from Ohio to Georgia in April of 2005 to launch of Momentum Church. During our first few months here, my weight increased from 210 to somewhere around 230.
With good intentions I purchased a gym membership, but never having been an active person or spent any real time in the gym, my fear of the unknown caused me to never take advantage of the opportunity.
Fast forward several years later, and you will find me now pushing the 240 mark continuing to gain weight and barely fitting into a size 38 pair of jeans. No discipline, extremely poor eating habits with limited, to no physical activity, was taking its toll.
In March of 2008, some pretty strong peer pressure from Ross, landed me in a “Biggest Loser” type of weight loss competition against several other regional pastoral teams.
Enter Debbie Roness. Ross had been training with her for four months and had already around lost around 30 lbs, he assured me everything would be fine. Even with fear welling up in my throat the first day I walked into Bodyplex, Debbie made me feel right at home. With her experience as a trainer and RN, she knew exactly when to push me out of my comfort zone and when to hold back and let me catch my breath.
I’ve often heard the adage, “Until the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change, people will remain the same.” I wish I could say I had a huge wake up call one day and that’s when everything switched. For me however, it was actually a gradual process. Before I knew it, the ten-week competition was over, I had lost 33 lbs. and our team won the competition with a combined total of 62 lbs. lost. I was amazed that for the first time in my life, I had successfully lost weight. This inspired me!
With Debbie’s encouragement and guidance, as well as the tremendous help and support from my wife, I lost another 32 lbs. for a total of 65 lbs. over the next several months. I ran my first 10K on Thanksgiving Day with a time of 1:03:49. I was astounded that I could even accomplish such a feat.
Any of my previous attempts at diets had only ever yielded 1-2 lb losses. Through Debbie’s investment in my life, as well as my family, I knew she was interested in me not just as a client but also as an individual. She taught me that it wasn’t just about a diet to lose weight, but about a complete change of life. She laid out a new eating plan and shared with Charla, healthy and creative ways to prepare meals. This combination revolutionized my life and has caused me to look at my family life, relationships and ministry in an entirely new light.
On March 30th, I will be turning 30. I now weigh 170 lbs., wear a size 33 and am ecstatic to be in the best shape of my life!
Debbie, I am extremely grateful for the health that you have brought to my life and the confidence you helped me find that allowed me to boldly face so many of my fears.
I also want to thank everyone for their support and encouragement on my journey.
Posted in Authenticity, Family
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