If you know me well, you are probably aware that I took part in something called Hungry Pastors for Hungry People for 90 days near the end of last year. During those 90 days, 8 ministers accepted the challenge to seek out pledges and lose weight to earn money which was then passed to Heifer International, an organization that supplies livestock and training to starving people in developing countries.
I finally am getting the last of the checks in now and I have to say I am impressed with these guys. Between the 8 of us, we earned over $6,000. Most of that ($5,000) will go towards buying an "Ark", two of every kind of animal they distribute. Another $1,000 will go towards a "Milk Menagerie" - a bunch of milk-producing livestock. The rest of the money will likely go towards Llamas...because I get to choose!
Among the Hungry Pastors, no one lost less than 20 pounds, and on guy lost a total of 42. The average earned was over $500, and one guy earned well over $2,000. I lost 35 pounds, going from 256 to 221. I recently started to get back on track with eating and exercise and I hope to get under 200 before the end of the school year. At this point, it is hard for me to comprehend being that weight again. It's been since almost high school! I was playing "college basketball" and "soccer" and never got down to that weight. I had a mystery stomach illness that many of my high school friends dubbed an insatiable thirst for bubblegum flavored Meth where I lost like 50 pounds and I wasn't at that low of weight.
A lot of people have made comments about how I must feel much better, or ask how I feel now. My response is generally that I am hungry and tired. It is true. Being healthy kind of sucks. It is hard. I can run a lot further and a lot faster than I could, but I am using up all that extra energy with the extra effort. It takes a lot more effort to work up a sweat and get my heart rate up when biking. The truth is, I am still pretty fat. I got myself out from under the "obese" label, but I am probably still like 20-30 pounds overweight.
This is starting to sound whiny and boring so let me make a point. These guys and I lost almost 250 pounds between us. It was stinkin' hard. Right now my reward is that I look chubby instead of fat, a few more of my shirts fit now, and I have to go further and faster in workouts to make a difference.
I like to think that I am on my way to being different though. I feel like I am less lazy. I went on a canoe trip in January that I would never have been able to do 35 lbs ago. If being a hypocrite is about putting on a mask and being who you aren't, I think I am on my way to being less of one. The trouble we all have is narrowing the gap between who we say we are and who we actually are.
No comments:
Post a Comment