Still Loosing to Win... Barely!!!

Don’t ask me how I’m doing it as I’m not sure but I’m still loosing weight. I weighed in again today and I weighed in right at 490 pounds. That’s 3 pounds since I weighed in last week and 40 pounds since I started two months ago. For that I need to thank God because I know it’s all him because I fell off the wagon way to many times this past two weeks to have done this well!

I had a heart to heart talk with my wife and she agreed not to make any more cakes, cookies, or sweets for a while. I explained to her that having an eating disorder is just like having an alcohol or drug addiction. If you expose someone who is trying to go clean day after day to drugs or alcohol they’re going to fall off of the wagon so to say. They’re going to fall right back into alcoholism or drug abuse.

It’s the same way when someone has an eating disorder. I’ve been fed all kinds of wonderful, great tasting food all of my life and I’ve never been taught moderation. Unlike drugs and alcohol you just can’t go cold turkey and quit eating food as you need food to survive. What you have to do is retrain your body and your mind to eat in moderation and even more importantly, eat the proper foods and drink the proper drinks.

There are foods out there that you can eat all you want and you won’t get fat. However there are many, many more foods out there that you shouldn’t touch with the proverbial ten foot pole if you’re trying to loose weight! For instance anything with refined sugars should be avoided at all costs while fresh veggies such as carrots, celery, radishes, green peppers and such can be sliced up and ate to your hearts content as long as you avoid the fattening dressings!

Right now I’m caught in quagmire of a trap. With our finite resources of us being on a set income every month we can’t afford many of the weight loss foods that I really need to be eating. So what I’m doing instead is watching my helping size and doing my best to eat in moderation.

Another thing that I need to be doing right now is that I need to get into a consistent and steady exercise program. Right now I try to walk two to three times a day. This is really hard on my knees and I’ll be glad when we get the money to get our YMCA membership back so I can do water aerobics as per the doctors orders. My doctor tells me that water exercises burns huge amounts of calories and will be low impact on my tired and arthritic knees. Praise God, I’ll be glad to get into that pool!

Anyway, I hope that by me being public with my struggles, sometime failures, and my triumphs I hope that I can encourage you and others to be successful too!

Be Blessed!!!

BIG SCOTT

Loosing To Win!

On Thursday, December 18 I wrote the following here in my blog. “One thing that I’m going to do to hold my self accountable is to keep putting updates on my blog here. If I make public what I’m doing then I will have a ton more willpower to be successful in my weight loss battle.” I decided wether I lost, gained, or stayed the same I was going to post it here. Besides, who better to hold me accountable then my readers!

Well, I have good news to report. Today was weigh in day and I weighed in at 497 pounds flully clothed. If you subtract for clothing, shoes, jacket & such you can safely subtract another 5 pounds which would put me at 492 pounds which means that over the past two weeks I lost 7 pounds! I just knew that with all of the great food we had during the holidays that I would have gained weight. But no, I lost 7 pounds praise God! That works out to ½ pound per day which is right where I want to be right now.

My goal now is to loose 50 pounds by the start of baseball season in early April so I can start umpiring again! I have really missed not umpiring the past two years and I can hardly wait to get back out there on the ball field! Besides, umpiring is good exercise and we can most deffinately use the extra money!!!

If your New Year’s resoloution is to loose weight let me know! I’d love to encourage you as I loose to win!

Be Blessed!!!

BIG SCOTT

Bipolar Update

It’s been a bit since I’ve wrote on how I’m doing with my bipolar & ADHD. Bipolar is one of those disorders that can be pretty hard to treat. It seems that any medication you take for bipolar disorder seems to have some pretty hefty side effects. The two biggest side effects seem to be messing with your blood sugar and totally messing up your sleeping patterns. Some can also cause you to have a dependence on them, especially Seroquel.

I’ve been on Seroquel now for right at three years for my bipolar. Seroquel is the number one prescribed medication for bipolar. The good news is that it does an awesome job controlling bipolar. The bad news is that the side effects stink! The worst side effect is that if you don’t have diabetes you’ll probably get it. Unbeknownst to me is that apparently for years I’ve been battling borderline diabetes & no one ever caught it. Now I’ve got full blown diabetes and will probably have to go on insulin sometime this month. Yuk!

The second side effect of Seroquel is that it makes an awesome sleeping pill! The bad news is that until you get used to it you have a really hard time waking up in the morning! I got so attached to Seroquel that when the doctor started weaning me off of Seroquel a month ago it really messed me up! To make the withdrawals less offensive the doctor dropped me from 300 mg. to 100 mg. daily. Next week I’ll go off of Seroquel completely.

I’ve got a friend who has been a diabetic all of her life & she was on 400 mg. of Seroquel & last week they took her off of Seroquel cold turkey. Her blood sugars dropped so low that she actually passed out a few times! My last hope to stay off of insulin is when I get off of Seroquel next week that my blood sugars will drop enough that I won’t have to go on insulin, I can maintain my blood sugars with medications (pills).

In the mean time while all of this is going on and we look for new meds that will help I can tell you my bipolar is back, sleep stinks. I either don’t sleep at all or I keep waking up all night long, every 1-2 hours and then I can hardly get up in the morning. I should also mention that my OCD (obsessive/compulsive disorder) is also starting to rear its ugly head, not real bad yet but I do notice it every once in a while!

To make matters worse, Abilify, the new to the market and new to me med that the doctor put me on to replace Seroquel has now just released the same warning about diabetes that Seroquel has. Now I get to look forward to changing meds again! Double Yuk!

The good news now is that the kids all go back to school this Monday so I’ll have time to work with my doc’s to get things straightened out, again!

Anyway, if you happen to think about me when you’re doing your prayers please ask the Lord to help my doctors get things straightened out.

Be Blessed!!!

BIG SCOTT

My New Year's Resolutions

I guess after my last blog I kind of left people hanging. I evaluated my New Year’s resolutions for 2008 but made no mention of my 2009 resolutions. Well here they are, pretty much the same as last year with just a little bit of change and a little addition.

1: Get closer to Jesus. Number 3 last year, number one this year! I figure if I draw closer to Jesus first of all everything else should come easier!

2: Loose weight. Number 1 last year, number 2 this year. I’ve got a bunch more weight to loose! I need to loose at least another 100 pounds this year. My long term goal is to loose a whopping 250 pounds!

3: Get my health back in order. I’m still fighting to get my diabetes in order. My chronic repspiratory failure appears to be getting better by quite a bit but I still have a ways to go there too! Thank You Jesus for the healing there!

4: Do a better job with our autistic son Andrew. As Andrew progresses into his teens he needs me to do a better job of being a father to him and guiding him. Andrew takes more attention then the rest of our kids put together times two and I just need to do a better job. Once again if I loose weight and get my health in order this will become substantially easier.

5: Share Jesus more. Number 4 last year. I really feel this one will take care of itself if I do resolutions 1 through 3. The biggest thing keeping me from sharing Jesus more is simply my health. If I can loose a bunch of weight and not become out of breath so easy I will be able to stand for a longer period of time and do a better job of sharing Jesus!

I’d love to hear your resolutions!

Be Blessed!!!

BIG SCOTT

New Year Already???

Wow! Just like that Christmas is over already! Can you believe that 2009 is almost here? Of course we say this every year don’t we? Is it just me or does time seem to fly a little faster every year. My friend Mark Oelze brought this to my attention a few years ago when he included in a sermon one Sunday about how technology is taking up more and more of our time every year. We’ve got cell phones that are actually mini computers, IPod’s, laptops, email & so on & so forth. Mark made the point that all of this is supposed to make us more productive & give us more freedom but does it really?

It occurred to me today that with the New Year at hand it’s time to start that annual series of promises that most of us make and unfortunately most of us don’t keep, it’s time to once again to make your New Year’s Resolutions! First, before we make new resolutions we should look back at how we did with last years resolutions. How did I do on my resolutions from last year? Let’s take a look. While I grade mine here go back over yours and grade them!

1: Loose weight. Lost 30 pounds. D+ I should have lost a bunch more!

2: Get my health back in order. C+ I made a lot of progress but I’ve got a long way to go!

3: Get closer to Jesus. C+ The first 9 months I did great but I let too many things distract me that last three months of the year.

4: Share Jesus more. A- I’m pretty happy with this one. The Lord opened a bunch of doors for me to share this year & 2009 looks even better!

There’s how I did. Overall an average of C+ which is pretty good for me. How did you do?

Just remember, God wants you to succeed! God wants the best for you! Jeremiah 29:11 says “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

Be Blessed!!!

BIG SCOTT

The Christmas Story

Luke 2: 1-40 NLT

The Birth of Jesus

1 At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. 2 (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. 4 And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. 5 He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was now obviously pregnant.

6 And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7 She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.

The Shepherds and Angels
8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

15 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

16 They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. 17 After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18 All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, 19 but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. 20 The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.

Jesus Is Presented in the Temple
21 Eight days later, when the baby was circumcised, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel even before he was conceived.
22 Then it was time for their purification offering, as required by the law of Moses after the birth of a child; so his parents took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. 23 The law of the Lord says, “If a woman’s first child is a boy, he must be dedicated to the Lord.”[a] 24 So they offered the sacrifice required in the law of the Lord—“either a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”

The Prophecy of Simeon
25 At that time there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon. He was righteous and devout and was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him 26 and had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 That day the Spirit led him to the Temple. So when Mary and Joseph came to present the baby Jesus to the Lord as the law required, 28 Simeon was there. He took the child in his arms and praised God, saying,

29 “Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace, as you have promised. 30 I have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared for all people. 32 He is a light to reveal God to the nations, and he is the glory of your people Israel!”

33 Jesus’ parents were amazed at what was being said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them, and he said to Mary, the baby’s mother, “This child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, but he will be a joy to many others. He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose him. 35 As a result, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your very soul.”

The Prophecy of Anna
36 Anna, a prophet, was also there in the Temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. Her husband died when they had been married only seven years. 37 Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer. 38 She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem.

39 When Jesus’ parents had fulfilled all the requirements of the law of the Lord, they returned home to Nazareth in Galilee. 40 There the child grew up healthy and strong. He was filled with wisdom, and God’s favor was on him.

First Love

I feel the Lord telling me tonight to write on my “First Love.” The NIV Study Bible defines First Love as “The love they had at first for one another and/or for Christ.” This time of year we really need to stop, examine our hearts and see just who or what our first love really is. Is your first love that little baby in the manger or is your first love making sure you get just that perfect present for everyone on your Christmas list?

I don’t know about you but I’ve already got the perfect Christmas gift. That little baby that was born in a manger a little over 2000 years ago has given me everything I’ll ever need. That little baby saved me from my sins and gave me eternal life. That little baby supplies all my needs according to His riches in glory. Paul told us in Philippians 4:19 (Amplified Bible) “And my God will liberally supply (fill to the full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” All I have to do is trust in him.

Who supplies all your needs? Who is your first love? If it’s not the one that was the little baby in the manger we need to talk!

Be Blessed!!!

Big Scott