In September 2011 my wife and I realized God wanted us to get our finances in order. He told us He wanted us to live the way it says in the bible: without debt. Since December we've paid off $24,000 in debt. Yesterday we started step 3 of Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover. We are very glad to have gotten this far. We now need $10,300 to complete 3.
Since December I've worked no less than 84 hour work weeks. There were times I was so tired from all the overtime and lack of sleep that I felt like a zombie. The only thing that kept me going was the amazing love and support of my God, my wife, and constant prayer. When I'd get into a slump, when I felt I couldn't stay awake another moment I'd take a few minutes to ask for strength and endurance, and to thank God for all He'd done to help me get that far. My wife and my God have carried me through the rough times. And now we're closer than I've ever dreamed we'd be to financial peace!
When God wants me to learn a lesson, He puts me into a situation where I am forced to learn. I don't always like the lesson and I don't always like being taught. I realize God is trying to get through to me. I've been trying to figure out the lesson He's trying to teach me because I'd prefer the lesson to not get any more severe. I've been struggling with my eating disorder a lot recently. A couple weeks ago I fell off the wagon and lost 460 days of abstaining from destructive binge eating. In four and a half days of binge eating my weight shot up from 175 to 202 pounds. This is a common and dangerous problem of mine when I binge eat. A persons kidneys controls their salt and hydration as well as function as a filter. I was eating so much I was overwhelming my kidneys. It wasn't until yesterday that I realized what I've been doing wrong. I became so focused on working and paying off our debt that I gave myself permission to stop going to over eater anonymous meetings, I stopped working the 12 steps, and I stopped calling my sponsor. I'm a addict. I'll always be an addict. On page 33 of the big book it says:
"Most of us have believed if we remained abstinent for a long stretch, we could there after eat normally....once a compulsive over eater always a compulsive over eater. If we are planning to stop destructive eating, there must be no lurking notion that someday we will be immune to food."
I've learned on multiple occasions that when I don't think my compulsive binge eating is a problem, it comes back with a vengeance. I have to realize I'll never be a normal eater. I have to continue working the program & keeping in mind that I am & always will be an addict. I need to take steps daily to keep my addiction in check. I have to follow a food plan, avoid sugar, NEVER eat at buffets, and most importantly I need to walk with God or I will relapse!
Today I've realized I need to continue to work hard on finishing the plan we have addopted from The Total Money Makeover, but I also need to continue staying healthy and working on my problems with food. Today I'm calling my sponsor. I'm going to ask if he's willing to sponsor me again. I'm going to start working the 12 steps again.
This week is the 1st time I've written openly about my eating disorder on my blog. I'm still a little apprehensive and embarrassed to write about my struggles with food and binge eating, but I'm tired of hiding who I am. I'm tired of fighting this addiction alone. "It doesn't take a real man to fight. It takes a real man to reach out his hand."
I'm hoping that others who are struggling with addictions can find some strength and knowledge from my blog by reading about my progress and recovery. Who knows, I might even find some encouragement and support of my own along the way.
Showing posts with label prayer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label prayer. Show all posts
April 05, 2012
October 07, 2011
thank you for the prayer requsts!
The following post is an email from the eldest son of the family I've been requsting prayers for:
Hello All,
Thankyou again so much for your prayers and emails!
Praise the Lord with us!!!!! Today the doctors released my Dad from the hospital. The results of the tests and ultrasound showed that he has an infection in his left kidney, an inflamed liver and has passed a large kidney stone. The docs have him on medications for his kidney infection and liver and he is doing much better. He is recovering and with my family now in Yaunde. I do not know yet when they will be able to get to the Grace Tait Shelter, as the doctors have him scheduled for a follow on appointment. My Mom will be sending out an update in the near future.
Thankyou so much for your prayers and please thank the Lord with us for His working in this situation! Please continue to pray that my Dad recovers from this infection and that the family can get to the Shelter soon.
In His Hand,
Mark
Hello All,
Thankyou again so much for your prayers and emails!
Praise the Lord with us!!!!! Today the doctors released my Dad from the hospital. The results of the tests and ultrasound showed that he has an infection in his left kidney, an inflamed liver and has passed a large kidney stone. The docs have him on medications for his kidney infection and liver and he is doing much better. He is recovering and with my family now in Yaunde. I do not know yet when they will be able to get to the Grace Tait Shelter, as the doctors have him scheduled for a follow on appointment. My Mom will be sending out an update in the near future.
Thankyou so much for your prayers and please thank the Lord with us for His working in this situation! Please continue to pray that my Dad recovers from this infection and that the family can get to the Shelter soon.
In His Hand,
Mark
October 04, 2011
prayer request
All Prayer Warriors- please pray for our pastor-turned-missionary who is serving the Lord in Cameroon. On the 8-hour bus ride to the orphanage with his young family, he was struck with severe abdominal pain. The doctors at one hospital didn't know what to do and released him. Please pray hard for this man of God who has left all to follow God's calling on His life. And pray for his family, as I am sure this is very frightening to them all. This is the same family who I had a prayer request on my blog last week when their 6 year old son had bronchitis.
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.
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