I had a Sgt. at work last night say to me "I heard you do triathlons?" I told him with much excitement & pride about the Ironman I just completed in November in 14 hrs 36 minutes. He promptly said you don't look like someone who could do an Ironman.
I'd be insulted if it wasn't true. Fact is I'm a big fat triathlete. I complete numerous triathlons every year in spite of having a gut that hangs over my belt & have what my buddies call a "ghetto booty". I mean, I'm only 5'11 and weight 236!!!
Almost 6 years ago I weighed 300 pounds & couldn't run more than 20 yards at a time. Even in high school when I was reasonably fit I was a horrid runner. I was in the slow runners group in the military too. All that changed when I got down on my knees & prayed for God to help me. He threw triathlon in my lap almost immediately. Through Him I've found a healthy lifestyle that assists me in keeping some of my weight off. I've become a good swimmer & cyclist. But most surprising I've become a great runner. In May I ran in a triathlon that I kept up a 6 minute 15second run pace for 5 Kilometers. I then topped it off by keeping a 23.3 mph pace on the 20 Kilometer bike & an 8:30 400 meter swim. That's not me I can promise you. That's a higher power working there.
When my wife & I first got married we tried to conceive. After almost 2 years we were at whit's end. We had tried everything to have a baby. Nothing had worked. One particularly hard day after my wife & I broke down & cried my wife & I got down on our knees & prayed. We continued to put it in God's hands from that point on. A little over 2 months later we found out we were pregnant. Not coincidental timing I assure you. I ask you what is impossible through God? Miracles don't need to be a rare thing. They are possible to anyone who does what Jesus asks of us. I told my Sgt. these things & he asked & I quote "Do you really think God cares about triathlons & who races in them? I mean come on He's got bigger things in the world to be concerned about!"
I don't want to win if my only goal is to win. Even 1st place trophies eventually collects dust & are forgotten. God put me here for Him. To honor Him Jesus said the most important thing is to love God with everything we are & to love others like we love ourselves. So if I win every race & miss that then I've accomplished nothing. I think triathlon is just another way to honor God. God cares about my faith. He cares where my heart is. If I can carry my faith into triathlon then yes He cares about triathlon because He cares about me. He sent His only son to die for me so that I could live for Him. It's not just on the triathlon course I need to honor him. I need to honor Him in my relationships, in my respect for authority, at work, & when I'm at home surfing the inter-net. I'd like God to bless me so much in triathlon that people talk about what He did through me. But that means I have to give Him my best in every area of my life. If I win I'll praise Him, if I lose I'll praise Him. Either way I'll try to honor Him in my actions & my attitudes. Our attitude is the aroma of the heart. If our attitude stinks then our hearts not right. I have resolved to give God everything I've got. Then I'll leave the results to Him.
Cody Hanson
Showing posts with label faith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label faith. Show all posts
January 07, 2009
June 28, 2008
Growing up
My son sat up for the first time today. Last week he weighed in at 20 pounds so he can face foreword in his car seat now. My children are growing up so quickly. To quickly. In each stage I see them in I think to myself "this is my favorite stage." But I'd be lying if I didn't say I missed the last stage with all my heart.
My precious daughter has learned what things are funny. When she sees or hears something funny, she'll laugh or say "that's silly Daddy". She heard someone tell a knock knock joke recently. She came up with one of her own & now tells me it 20-30 times a day. She says "Daddy, knock knock." When I say "who's there" she replies "it's me!". She says this with so much glee I can't help but to laugh. I laugh even after hearing it a thousand times.
It's so wonderful to see them growing up. But I so desperately wish they'd slow down. I do believe my wife & I are lucky that she & I don't take for granted the times we have with our children. We even catch ourselves smiling at one another when our children are having a fit or tantrum. It's not that we spoil our children when they are bad or encourage their misbehavior. It's that she & I are realistic enough to know we will look back at these moments in fondness & miss them.
When my daughter was 6 months old I took her to visit my Grandmother in Hobbs. It was just my daughter & I. My wife was stuck in Santa Fe with work. The 1st day there I gave my princess some food that gave her horrible gas pains. I held her all night as she cried. She cried louder than I thought any child as small as her could. Consequently my daughter & I were both tired & cranky the rest of the trip. But I remember that night as one of the most precious moments of her childhood because in between her crying fits she would wad up my shirt in her tiny little hand & keep hold of me as she slept. If I tried to move or lay her down she'd feel it because she'd have hold of my shirt. So she'd wake up & start crying again. I ended up not getting up or even moving much the entire night. I just held her up against my chest, rocking her gently in my Grandmothers lazy boy chair.
5 weeks ago my son who is 9 months old now started grabbing my shirt & pulling on me until I'd pick him up. He'd sometimes pull so hard he would almost pull himself out of my wife's arms. It's gotten to the point where he's so strong that when he pulls if I don't pick him up right away he'll stretch the collar of my T-shirt. Now most of my shirts have stretched collars. I'm not annoyed by that in the least. If anything I'm proud of the fact. The shirts I wear with the ruined collars give me an excuse to talk about my son.
Today my wife & I took my son & daughter to ride the train at the Albuquerque botanical garden. While on the train ride my son grabbed hold of my shirt, but this time instead of pulling harder & more forcefully until I gave in to his demand, he crawled into my lap by himself. This was a first. A very very big first. I'm excited he is progressing as a child should be. It means he's healthy & happy. But I became a little teary-eyed when he did that. I became emotional partly because of what he accomplished. But also partly because he grew out of a stage. There was no warning, no baby steps where we could watch his progress. He simply decided he was ready to move into another stage. As usual I wasn't ready. Them growing into new stages & me getting teary-eyed seems to be a common occurrence around our house.
I had no idea when each child was born I'd become more sentimental & unable to keep my emotions to myself. I must say, the birth of my children has made me a more sensitive person. I cry much easier now than before my babies were born. My eyes fill up at the drop of a dime now, & not just when it pertains to them. Anytime. I don't think it's that I'm weaker now. I think it's that my children opened up a part of my heart that I never knew existed. My children have made me a better man. They've taught me how to love unconditionally & how to forgive. How to better respond when I'm angered or slighted against. How to give more willingly to those in need. All these things God has been wanting me to do long before my children were born. Come to think of it, perhaps the biggest change since the birth of my 1st child 2 years 10 months ago hasn't been in my children after all. Perhaps it's been in me.
Cherish all the joys in your life. But take a moment to recognize where those moments came from & give thanks to Him.
My precious daughter has learned what things are funny. When she sees or hears something funny, she'll laugh or say "that's silly Daddy". She heard someone tell a knock knock joke recently. She came up with one of her own & now tells me it 20-30 times a day. She says "Daddy, knock knock." When I say "who's there" she replies "it's me!". She says this with so much glee I can't help but to laugh. I laugh even after hearing it a thousand times.
It's so wonderful to see them growing up. But I so desperately wish they'd slow down. I do believe my wife & I are lucky that she & I don't take for granted the times we have with our children. We even catch ourselves smiling at one another when our children are having a fit or tantrum. It's not that we spoil our children when they are bad or encourage their misbehavior. It's that she & I are realistic enough to know we will look back at these moments in fondness & miss them.
When my daughter was 6 months old I took her to visit my Grandmother in Hobbs. It was just my daughter & I. My wife was stuck in Santa Fe with work. The 1st day there I gave my princess some food that gave her horrible gas pains. I held her all night as she cried. She cried louder than I thought any child as small as her could. Consequently my daughter & I were both tired & cranky the rest of the trip. But I remember that night as one of the most precious moments of her childhood because in between her crying fits she would wad up my shirt in her tiny little hand & keep hold of me as she slept. If I tried to move or lay her down she'd feel it because she'd have hold of my shirt. So she'd wake up & start crying again. I ended up not getting up or even moving much the entire night. I just held her up against my chest, rocking her gently in my Grandmothers lazy boy chair.
5 weeks ago my son who is 9 months old now started grabbing my shirt & pulling on me until I'd pick him up. He'd sometimes pull so hard he would almost pull himself out of my wife's arms. It's gotten to the point where he's so strong that when he pulls if I don't pick him up right away he'll stretch the collar of my T-shirt. Now most of my shirts have stretched collars. I'm not annoyed by that in the least. If anything I'm proud of the fact. The shirts I wear with the ruined collars give me an excuse to talk about my son.
Today my wife & I took my son & daughter to ride the train at the Albuquerque botanical garden. While on the train ride my son grabbed hold of my shirt, but this time instead of pulling harder & more forcefully until I gave in to his demand, he crawled into my lap by himself. This was a first. A very very big first. I'm excited he is progressing as a child should be. It means he's healthy & happy. But I became a little teary-eyed when he did that. I became emotional partly because of what he accomplished. But also partly because he grew out of a stage. There was no warning, no baby steps where we could watch his progress. He simply decided he was ready to move into another stage. As usual I wasn't ready. Them growing into new stages & me getting teary-eyed seems to be a common occurrence around our house.
I had no idea when each child was born I'd become more sentimental & unable to keep my emotions to myself. I must say, the birth of my children has made me a more sensitive person. I cry much easier now than before my babies were born. My eyes fill up at the drop of a dime now, & not just when it pertains to them. Anytime. I don't think it's that I'm weaker now. I think it's that my children opened up a part of my heart that I never knew existed. My children have made me a better man. They've taught me how to love unconditionally & how to forgive. How to better respond when I'm angered or slighted against. How to give more willingly to those in need. All these things God has been wanting me to do long before my children were born. Come to think of it, perhaps the biggest change since the birth of my 1st child 2 years 10 months ago hasn't been in my children after all. Perhaps it's been in me.
Cherish all the joys in your life. But take a moment to recognize where those moments came from & give thanks to Him.
May 13, 2008
weight loss ideas
I've been struggling with my weight since I graduated from high school. I've tried every diet out there. Allot of them were bad & did more damage than good. But I learned something from each & everything I tried. Sometimes I learned what worked. Sometimes I learned what things were really really bad I've applied all those lessons into my training & diet & have gotten some great
results....finally. I thought I'd share some of the things I've been doing.
1st & foremost I pray. I pray to lose weight. & I even pray to become a faster triathlete. Its a truly selfish request of mine that God seems to be granting. So the first thing I want everyone to know is that I give all the glory to my Lord Jesus Christ! The reason I am able to succeed is because of Him. He's allowed me to learn the skills to be able to apply to losing weight, & he's
given me the fortitude to live with my emotional eating issues. He's put great people in my life to support me & to teach me. Great leaders for triathlon, faith, diet, & a better more rewarding way to live life, which would be for Him, not me. For all things that are good lead to Him. Period.
A great guy asked me this weekend what the heck my trick is to losing weight. I told him I'd put it up on my blog. So here it goes. First, pray. Ask for help from Him. The 2nd part is hardest. Accept whatever his will is regardless of whether His answer is the one you wanted or not. Be willing to accept his will regardless of whether its success or failure at what you requested. Its as
simple as that.
I'll also try to explain some of the things I've been applying to my diet that I've learned over the past 12 years of fighting a battle with obesity. I guess you could say the way I eat is by periodization. I eat 2200 calories a day to start (my base). I eat approximately 32-40 grams of lean protein every 3 hrs. That usually adds up to 6-7 meals a day. I then subtract the amount of calories those lean sources of protein have from 2200. The amount of protein I eat a day
always stays about the same. The remaining calories I split up equally into each of those 6-7 meals a day I eat. Those remaining calories are what I eat in carbs & fat. Then from there I keep track of my exercise. I figure out how many calories that day I am going to expend. I divide those calories into each meal I'm going to eat that day with a good portion of those being consumed immediately after my workout to start the body's recovery process immediately. These earned calories are always more carbs & fat. As I said, my protein levels always stay roughly the same. I don't add more protein from my earned exercise calories. By following this plan on light workout days I avoid eating extra calories, on heavy workout days I'm properly fueling my body with quality fats & carbs to allow for high quality workouts & refueling.
The other thing I've learned that I've got amazing results from is I only eat things I can grow, pick, or kill. If I can't grow, pick, or kill it I don't eat it. That allows me to eat fruits, veggies, lean meats, nuts, beans, & moderate amounts of dairy. It keeps me away from any processed foods.I've found staying away from processed food really helps me get & stay thinner. I have found through trial & error that if I eat the same amount of calories in clean foods rather than processed foods I lose more weight & feel allot better, I fatigue less during my workouts etc. Some people think this means I don't eat grains. Its true most of the grains people eat are processed, & I don't eat those. But I do eat grains. Just the unprocessed ones. I eat oat
meal (not individually packaged & flavored stuff because those are more highly processed), bugler, brown rice etc. That is all I have been doing. That simple.
God bless you guys, & thanks for tuning in.
results....finally. I thought I'd share some of the things I've been doing.
1st & foremost I pray. I pray to lose weight. & I even pray to become a faster triathlete. Its a truly selfish request of mine that God seems to be granting. So the first thing I want everyone to know is that I give all the glory to my Lord Jesus Christ! The reason I am able to succeed is because of Him. He's allowed me to learn the skills to be able to apply to losing weight, & he's
given me the fortitude to live with my emotional eating issues. He's put great people in my life to support me & to teach me. Great leaders for triathlon, faith, diet, & a better more rewarding way to live life, which would be for Him, not me. For all things that are good lead to Him. Period.
A great guy asked me this weekend what the heck my trick is to losing weight. I told him I'd put it up on my blog. So here it goes. First, pray. Ask for help from Him. The 2nd part is hardest. Accept whatever his will is regardless of whether His answer is the one you wanted or not. Be willing to accept his will regardless of whether its success or failure at what you requested. Its as
simple as that.
I'll also try to explain some of the things I've been applying to my diet that I've learned over the past 12 years of fighting a battle with obesity. I guess you could say the way I eat is by periodization. I eat 2200 calories a day to start (my base). I eat approximately 32-40 grams of lean protein every 3 hrs. That usually adds up to 6-7 meals a day. I then subtract the amount of calories those lean sources of protein have from 2200. The amount of protein I eat a day
always stays about the same. The remaining calories I split up equally into each of those 6-7 meals a day I eat. Those remaining calories are what I eat in carbs & fat. Then from there I keep track of my exercise. I figure out how many calories that day I am going to expend. I divide those calories into each meal I'm going to eat that day with a good portion of those being consumed immediately after my workout to start the body's recovery process immediately. These earned calories are always more carbs & fat. As I said, my protein levels always stay roughly the same. I don't add more protein from my earned exercise calories. By following this plan on light workout days I avoid eating extra calories, on heavy workout days I'm properly fueling my body with quality fats & carbs to allow for high quality workouts & refueling.
The other thing I've learned that I've got amazing results from is I only eat things I can grow, pick, or kill. If I can't grow, pick, or kill it I don't eat it. That allows me to eat fruits, veggies, lean meats, nuts, beans, & moderate amounts of dairy. It keeps me away from any processed foods.I've found staying away from processed food really helps me get & stay thinner. I have found through trial & error that if I eat the same amount of calories in clean foods rather than processed foods I lose more weight & feel allot better, I fatigue less during my workouts etc. Some people think this means I don't eat grains. Its true most of the grains people eat are processed, & I don't eat those. But I do eat grains. Just the unprocessed ones. I eat oat
meal (not individually packaged & flavored stuff because those are more highly processed), bugler, brown rice etc. That is all I have been doing. That simple.
God bless you guys, & thanks for tuning in.
August 11, 2007
Isn't it strange 4
Isn't it strange how 2 hours seem so long when you're at church, and how short they seem when you're watching a good movie?
Isn't it strange that you can't find a word to say when you're praying, but you have no trouble thinking what to talk about with a friend?
Isn't it strange that you can't find a word to say when you're praying, but you have no trouble thinking what to talk about with a friend?
June 20, 2007
Gee, I wonder why our country's struggling?
America is taking God out of our country. It's not a coincident that our country is now struggling.
He isn't allowed in our schools any longer either, so it's no coincident that shootings, beatings, crime, and drugs are in our children's schools more now than ever.
I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will produce proper fruit. Mat 21:43
We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 5:1
The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name. When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them. I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation.” Psalm 91 14-16
The Lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever. Psalm 121 7-8
He isn't allowed in our schools any longer either, so it's no coincident that shootings, beatings, crime, and drugs are in our children's schools more now than ever.
I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will produce proper fruit. Mat 21:43
We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 5:1
The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name. When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them. I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation.” Psalm 91 14-16
The Lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever. Psalm 121 7-8
June 15, 2007
Isn't it strange 3
Isn't it strange how $20 seems like such a big amount when giving it to your church but so little when shopping?
June 06, 2007
Isn't it strange 2?
Isn't it strange how we send jokes in emails and they are forwarded right away, but when we are going to send messages about God we think about it twice before we share it with others?
May 23, 2007
Isn't it strange?
Isn't it strange how everyone wants a place in heaven, but they don't want to believe , do, or say anything to get there?
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