Saturday, June 14, 2008

For now we see in a mirror,dimly



The above picture was made by a women in Iowa from her front door . The twister touched down and then went right back up....WOW! Just thought I would share for poops and giggles.




So its Saturday night...12:44pm. I am sitting here still trying to wrap my mind around the death yesterday of Tim Russert. I am guessing it will be a few days before I feel better....


I think perhaps one of the main reasons I am upset about him is that it hits so close to home for me ....Many, if not all of you know that my dad died suddenly from a heart attack two years ago and its only been recently that I was diagnosed with some heart problems of my own.


I look in the mirror and see a man who needs badly to lose some weight. To get healthy. It is one of the hardest things I can possibly attempt. Its not something that I take lightly ...trust me.


The United States as a whole is fat. 66% of the nation is overweight or obese. Its a serious public health issue that impacts not only our lives and our families. It also affects our jobs and the overall cost of our health insurance.


Speaking from my own life... I could save $970.00 a year in co-pays and deductibles if I was not taking blood pressure medicines. $970.00!!!!!!




  • I mean come on ...That's a round trip plane ticket to just about anywhere in the USA with some left over for car rentals. Even more if you book on Priceline.com


  • That's a damn nice flat screen TV.


  • That's 6 West Wing Box sets on Amazon.com.


  • That's 108 movie tickets to see anything at the Rave.


  • That's 24 boxes of brew kits from Williams.com making a total of 1152 beers!


  • That's 102 Shrimp and Avocado Salads at Sinclairs.


  • That's one tank of Gas. ...Or Liquid Gold....bout the same !!


I think you see my point....My life could be drastically different if I was in better shape. I will never be a "skinny" guy....Not gonna happen.I am a big guy period but could I stand to lose 50lbs ?? Heck yeah!! 75lbs?? FOR SURE....



Does being out of shape and fat equal failure? I dont think so .....I think its a mix of psychological and environmental factors. I eat late at night because I am up most of the night.....I mean really I typically get about 4 -5 hours of sleep a night....I think one feeds into the other. I dont know really but its a huge struggle ...worse than drinking or drugs. For me anyway....Someone told me after lunch Friday that "we gotta get you healthy" AMEN and thanks for the concern. I really do appreciate it....



I recently read an article sent to me by a friend of mine in Pennsylvania. It was about the heart and how its so misunderstood on many levels. Cardiovascular disease and deaths claim nearly 800,000 lives a year. The heart is incredibly strong and resilient but over time just like many things it can wear out from abuse. It beats 100,000 a day and 3,000 people die daily from a heart related illness. My heart is already damaged from the enlargement and my valve not working properly add onto that high blood pressure,overweight and family history.....well you can see my problem. I am scared to death of becoming part of the above statistics .



So what's next ? Start working out regular at a gym is one of the first moves.....losing weight is the second ....I guess they are really more of a combo cant really have one without the other. I just keep telling myself that I have to pace myself and not set unrealistic goals. Being incredibly human I have waited till much later to turn to prayer on this matter ....And while not a huge fan of Paul...I have found something in his letter to the people at Cornith.



In 1 Corinthians 13:12 it says "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known"

John Wesley says that now we see even the things that surround us. A mirror,(ancient mirrors were often made of highly polished metal and would show a reflection through great distortions) which reflects only our imperfect forms, in a dim, faint manner, so that our thoughts about them are puzzling and intricate, and everything is a kind of riddle to us. But then - We shall see, not a faint reflection, but the objects themselves. Face to face - Distinctly. Even when God himself reveals things to me, great parts of them is still kept under the veil. But then I shall know even as also I am known - In a clear, full, comprehensive manner; in some measure like God, who penetrates the centre of every object, and sees at one glance through my soul and all things. I have prayed and prayed about this and God has placed an answer in my life ....I fully believe that....I could not see the full image in the mirror but now I do . I just had to wait and listen. GAME ON !!

Happy Fathers Day to all the Dads out there ....

PS...Give blood ...the next life it saves might be your own.

7 comments:

Stephanie said...

Hi Jason,

I wish I had your email address, this would be a better email than comment. I lost a lot of weight a long time ago (close to 60 lbs over a year), and aside from pregnancy-related weight gain, have been able to avoid the yo-yoing most people do. I was inspired by a woman on an NBC nightly news special interest article one night. Rather than setting a goal for weight, she decided to be the healthiest person she possibly could for her size. I did the same thing. I decided that if I was going to be 200 lbs (which I was at the time), I was going to be the healthiest 200 lb woman ever. So I made decisions based on what was healthy, not what would make me thinner. This also helped a lot when I began to plateau. Since my goal was to be healthy, not thin, I didn't get as frustrated when the numbers didn't move.

One other thing - don't weigh yourself at first. Give it six weeks, at least, before you step on a scale. It will help you get in the habit of making healthy choices before you get discouraged.

Like I said, I wish I could have said this in an email. It's kind of more than a comment ...

Jason said...

Thanks for the advice ...I really do appreciate it !!

Nick M. said...

I know we say this kind of stuff all the time but please let me know what I can do. If you want to join Gold's I will absolutely be your accountability partner and make you go (I need to be going too but I need a kick in the can just like the next guy). Seriously let me know.

Laura Mielke said...

Excellent post. You are right about America being so blind to its own health demise. Look at our children! I want to scream at parents who are over feeding their kids the wrong foods! My mom asked me once, "You will make your kids eat all kinds of health foods won't you?" "HECK YES I will!!!" My parents did an EXCELLENT job as parents but one area they did not discipline was our diets. I can remember eating Lays potato chips AND Fritos AND OREOS on a plate down by our swing set in our backyard on afternoons after school. SO when I am grouchy at 3 A.M lately because I am having to hear an alarm to remind me to pump breastmilk I think of how good it is for my children and it will be MY responsibility to nourish them as long as they are under my roof.

I also LOVE Steph's comment. LOVE the idea of not being on a diet...just making healthy choices and hopefully my extra 20-30 pounds will come off.

Anonymous said...

I too cried as I watched the beautiful tributes to Tim Russert. Who is going to keep the politicians honest now?

Last week I purposefully did not ask you about your diet because I know that the resolve has to come from you. I'm happy to see you have taken the first step. JMH

The Bean said...

Hey Jason!

Sorry it's been so long since I commented. Laziness I suppose. :) About 6 years ago I lost about 40lbs after having been over weight since age 10. It started with a diet but not cutting things out diet just a eat what I want in limited quantities diet along with lots of cardio exercise. I have been able to keep it all off (except when I'm pregnant, obviously) but it is just as much a struggle for me still as it ever was. It will happen as long as you stick to it and having an accountability partner is KEY. Mr. Bean was mine and I don't know how well I would have done without him.

Besides, you should do it now so you can enjoy the celebration cake you'll be making me in November when McCain wins the presidency! ;)

Eleanor said...

Jason, I lost a significant amount of weight in 2003-2004, and more since then, and if an Old Mom type could be of any help, you can holler.

I strongly suggest one of the simplest (and therefore most overlooked) ways of getting in shape ever -- WALKING. Not strolling, WALKING. Because the muscles involved are "slow twitch," you actually burn more fat than you will running -- walking uses fat reserves; running uses carb reserves. Aside from good shoes and comfortable clothes, and a nice something to listen to music on, there are no monthly fees. Gyms are great -- and you'll get there -- but start by WALKING.

I am a total convert, and therefore a little obnoxious on this point.