Day 4 of the 17 Day Diet - A "Pop Quiz"

It's been an interesting 3 days so far as I venture into Day 4. I have lost 8 pounds so far but I'm told that the first 10 pounds are the easiest.

The biggest changes so far have been the amount of water I drink a day and the fact that I don't get to put whatever i want in my mouth when I want to. I've actually discovered that when I'm at work, I tend to stack on granola bars if they're lying around. I didn't realize that I was unconsciously eating often.

Barstow, a dream come true?

The first day I was extremely grouchy by the end of the day and was craving all kinds of things to eat. Tuesday night was rough as I was in a meetings until 10 PM and had only eaten a small bowl of cottage cheese. I had another bowl of cottage cheese and went to bed. That night I had a bizarre dream in which I was at a huge McDonald's like the one in Barstow. I was starving and they had this huge salad bar. I got a plate and put as much salad on it as I could. There were also cooked vegetables, so I got another plate as well. I woke up starving, but ate a little cottage cheese in the morning.

The first real test will come in the next couple of days. I'm leaving for a presbytery meeting in Parker, CO today and will away from home. I'm staying at a Hampton Inn so I know what to expect for breakfast and it will work. The hardest part will be traveling there and back. Fortunately I'll be flying non-stop from Fresno to Denver. Tonight I'll have dinner with some friends and the rest of my meals will be taken care of at the church. I return early Saturday night so I'll also have to deal with dinner. I'm sure I'll be able to make good choices.

In reflecting on all of this I see that I have choices to make. When I consider the options I have for eating, I can either remain true to my plan or be unfaithful. I use word 'unfaithful' deliberately because that is what I think of when I might possibly choose something I probably  shouldn't have right now. I don't think I'll have to live the rest of my life denying myself everything, but self-denial and self-control can lead to good things. I know that I will be healthier in the end. I also believe that when I do partake of things (in moderation, of course) that I am currently denying myself, I will enjoy them even more.

Day 1 of the 17 Day Diet

Did you ever notice how many food commercials there are on TV? This morning I was running late so I skipped my green tea and scrambled eggs for some non-fat yogurt mixed with sugar-free strawberry jam. By 9:15 A.M. my tummy was talking. Lunch was some tuna, with a little egg, plus a pickle and some carrots. I also drank about 3 quarts of water today. Every time I was hungry I tried to drown my hunger. It worked for a bit but then my bladder took over. I visited the loo more times today than I can remember. Dinner was barbecued chicken and a salad.

The hardest part of this is saying "no" to my desires to fill my face. I know that most of it is in my mind and I think that is where the battle will take place. Yesterday I said that I never denied myself anything to eat. Eating is good and there is definite pleasure in eating things. However there is a lot of truth in having too much of a good thing. It got me to thinking why I do what I do. In the book of Romans Paul wrote that there was this battle within him. On the one hand what he wants to do he doesn't, and what he doesn't want to do he does (Romans 7:15). he goes on to say that Christ will deliver him (and me!).

So, when I get hungry, instead of satisfying myself with food, I'll turn to Christ. 1 Corinthians 10:31 Paul writes, "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all for the glory of God." It will be difficult, but not impossible.

Diet Eve

Skinny me (150 lbs.) in 1979

When I was a teenager I could eat whatever I wanted and was still skinny. In high school we used to go to the Swedish Smorgasbord on Ventura Blvd. in Tarzana and for $7.00 (I think) we'd inhale as much food as we could. This was usually 4 or 5 plates.

I remember one Thanksgiving I ate three meals at three different places all on the same day. This pattern of eating continued through college and into my married years. I loved eating. I was also very active. I rode my bicycle to school nearly every day. I rode my bike everywhere. I also played volleyball in college.

When I started teaching, I didn't have the time nor the energy to do anything. I did play volleyball in Lakeport for the first two years we lived there. Then the kids came along, and work continued to keep me busy. Soon I stopped doing any physical activity. When I was married I had a 30" waist. Over the years it crept up to a 32" and then 34."

Chunky me (250 lbs.) in 2010.

A couple of years ago I started experiencing acid reflux and I noticed that I couldn't eat anything I wanted whenever I wanted. I also started to experience stiffness in my joints. About 5 years ago I slowly developed sleep apnea and am now on a CPAP machine. I had surgery to fix the acid reflux problem and ate whatever I wanted whenever i wanted. My waist expanded to 36" and I now probably weigh about 250. I figure I need to lose at least 50 pounds if not more.

So Wendi and I are starting the 17 Day Diet tomorrow. It's a low-carb., high protein diet that was written by a doctor. We will also be starting some kind of exercise program. We're doing this for a couple of reasons. #1 - Our oldest son is getting married in October. This is probably the event that motivated us to get started. We know that we should be better about how we take care of our bodies, but the wedding is really motivating us. We need to change our lifestyle - that much is certain. Tomorrow I'll write blog about some more thoughts that I have. For now, it's late I should have been asleep a while ago.

Let Me Tell you 'bout (the Birds and) the Bees

For the past couple of weeks I've been noticing some citrus trees near Orange Cove and Cutler that have had this white netting covering the trees. Today I saw someone at church who is an agricultural expert (John Slaughter). John explained that the netting is protecting seedless tangerines from being pollinated by bees. If bees pollinate these trees, the fruit will not be seedless. Wow!!! How cool is that?

Chris cheering on his favorite college team!!

Tonight I also learned from my son Chris (aka Cramer) that the Phillies have been cheating on the MLB game on his PlayStation 2. He claims that the game is glitching, but I believe that it's part of a greater conspiracy against his beloved Mets. Oh well, who said that life is boring?

"Jesus Take the Wii"

Ah, to work in the same city as one lives - that would be a treat! Today I had a rare opportunity to attend a workshop in downtown Fresno. I still woke up early, but instead of a 42 mile, 50 minute commute to Orosi, I took a leisurely walk down the block and rode the 26 down Palm Ave. to the Bus shelter near Van Ness and Fresno and walked to the Fresno County Office of Education. It took a total of 20 minutes to get downtown and cost only $1.25.

Maybe I was destined to drive. I was born and raised in the Los Angeles area and commuted to UCLA from the Valley (the original) for 4 of my 6 years. Then my first job was a 27 mile, 1 hour 30 minute commute from Sepulveda to El Segundo. When I moved to Lake Co., I did have a 5 mile commute from Nice to Upper Lake, but the lure of the big city took us to Lakeport where my commute turned into a 10 mile commute. In my twenty years with Cutler-Orosi I have gone through at least 8 cars.

The price of gas is becoming painful to say the least and this compounds my driving woes. I seem to have two options, well maybe three: 1) move to Orosi, 2) get a job in Fresno, or 3) stay where I am for now and see wait to see what happens. As much as I'd like to move to Orosi, my family is not too keen on it and they have lots of reasons not to be. I'd love to work in Fresno, but the current economy and the current budget crisis in California seems like a train wreck in the making. The third option to stay where I'm at is the more likely one.

As I was reflecting on this tonight this a verse came to my mind:

“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’” - James 4:13-15.

I can't forget that ultimately, God directs my path and He controls my life. Yet, it is so easy to fall into the trap that I'm at the wheel and driving my life. If you dare, look at this video. It has nothing to do with today's muse except for the title of today's entry.

Energy Crisis

Weston did not wear Scott out in spite of what the picture shows.

Is it a sign of getting older when you do absolutely nothing the day after a week-long trip with a group of high schoolers?

I didn't sleep all day but felt completely unmotivated to work in the backyard on Friday. Kaylene went to sleep at 8 P.M. on Thursday night and slept for 17 hours. So maybe it's not old age -but then again, I don't think my bladder would let me sleep for 17 hours.

At least I had Saturday to work in the yard. It was good to get the jungle under control and make it look decent, however I think I'll need to re-sod or re-seed the backyard grass. It's pretty thrashed after 3 years of abuse from lack of watering and the loss of our great shade tree that we had removed.

This Easter break has been much different than previous ones. We went on a "mission trip" but this was not a service-oriented project. We learned a lot and time will tell what's been retained. It's great to be home and it's been nice not to think about work. The good news is that I get another day off tomorrow to clean out the garage. If anyone  doesn't believe in the 2nd law of Thermodynamics, come spend the day with me on Monday.

LA Recap

Well, we're back from our youth trip to LA and it was great! I'm tired after having slept on the floor of a church for the past five nights and driving over 1,000 miles in Southern California. Before we left on the trip we wrote letters to ourselves and then opened them on the day that we left for come home.

I was amazed at how most of my expectations and hopes were met. In my note dated April 10th, I wrote, "I hope that as a result of this experience I will be less judgmental of other traditions and that I will appreciate some of the differences there are in the church. I hope that we will alll see the church as being made up of various parts - all glorifying God and presenting the Gospel of Christ accurately and faithfully."

That pretty much is what happened. One student commented that he appreciated the differences that we saw at the churches we visited, however he did have his own preference for worshiping and it wasn't necessarily any of the ones that we visited.

This picture at the right is the Mayan theater in downtown LA. This is not a concert but the stage for Mosaic's Sunday evening service. This church seems to reach out to young (20's - 30's) professionals. We saw a wide range of worship expressions (dance, singing, testimonies) and heard testimonies from people who had been transformed by Jesus Christ and were living changed lives. These people would probably not have gone to a traditional church and I saw how this church was used to bring people to Christ. This was one of the two places that I anticipated I would be judgmental towards. I really enjoyed the experience but like the high school student I mentioned earlier, I probably not regularly attend here.

The other place where I felt I would be challenged was Saddleback. When people talk about their church grounds, they sometimes call it their "campus." Well, Saddleback is truly a campus. It was huge and felt like a theme park minus the rides. One person commented that it felt like they were trying to create a village-like atmosphere. I would agree. We noticed that even the stones had music coming from them; but of course, they were outdoor speakers.

Saturday night ate at Saddleback - yes, we ate at one of the eateries they have on campus - and attended their high school worship service. There were students to greet us at the door when we came in. They handed us pens and an outline of the teaching that we would be hearing that night. The worship band was student led and very good. Students also ran the cameras, lights and sound for the service. Throughout the service they had videos to advertise upcoming events and interviews with their student interns. The guest speaker that night was Doug Fields, their former youth pastor. He's still on staff and disciples a group of freshmen boys during the week. Our kids were excited to hear Doug as we had just completed a series on sex and dating that Doug had produced through Youth Specialties Ministry.

The message was that night was clear and biblically strong. For some reason I thought that things would be somewhat Christian-lite. I guess that was part of my judgmental-ism coming out. However it was great. The picture above is the outside of the youth building. They call it 'The Refinery.' In the front is a sand volleyball court. Out back is a skate park and an outdoor restaurant. Inside is a deli and a coffee shop. There is also a half-court basketball set-up and a video arcade room upstairs.

We did get to eat at the Original Tommy's at Beverly and Rampart. Some kids liked it while others did not. I guess it's like the different churches we visited. Afterwards we went to Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood. The kids got to see the famous footprints as well as the freaks that frequent Hollywood Blvd. We then went up to the Griffith Park Observatory for a couple of hours. On Monday we went to Dodger Stadium and saw the Dodgers beat the Braves 4-2. I think Kaylene is now a Dodger fan. Now I don't have to celebrate alone.

Surprisingly, I was most affected when we went down to Skid Row to partipate with a ministry that has karaoke night every Wednesday. Driving east on 6th St. from the Harbor Freeway, we quickly left the highrise buildings and ended in a section of town that had literally hundreds of people living on the streets. I've seen the homeless in the Tenderloin of San Francisco and the homeless in downtown Fresno, but the scale of homelessness was almost overwhelming. I think this is because people are drawn to LA for a chance of fame or success. The weather is not harsh as well and these things contribute to the number of homeless people in LA. There were also more women and children than I have seen in other areas. On side streets, the more fortunate had cars to sleep in. Most were on the streets however. The karaoke night was fun and the people that participated had one night in which they could escape the harsh reality of living on the streets of Los Angeles. They had a prayer room set up in which people could share prayer requests and praises.

I think it will take a couple of days to see what kind of impact this trip will have on me as well as the kids. In the meantime I'll try to keep this blog going from time to time with thoughts and views on what's happening. Thanks for your prayers for us. It will be interesting to see what the students get out this.