Introduction

I honestly can’t remember a time when I wasn’t overweight. The nearest probably would be in my teens when I weighed less than 200 pounds. I still was chunky and had low self-esteem.

Food was the problem. I love to eat; Meat and potato man, pasta and pizza, chocolate and pastries, fudge and brownies and my sister’s sweet and sticky cinnamon rolls. Just the thought makes my mouth water and my stomach growl.

My weight problem might have been blamed on ancestry. I come from German decent. My grandma was big, my mom and dad were big, and all my siblings were big. But that wouldn’t be honest to blame them. The blame laid on me and my love for eating.

I socked on the pounds after getting married, after each child we had, after each move we made in the ministry. There were always opportunities to eat out with friends, “fellowship” with church members, and have romantic dinners with my wife. Each page of our life was celebrated with food. Each heartache was soothed by food.

After 46 years of eating like there was no tomorrow, the reality of “no tomorrow” began to show. My blood pressure was up. I had gout in my feet. I didn’t sleep well but refused to be tested for sleep apnea because I didn’t want to sleep with a noisy machine. I also had back problems and migraine headaches. All this began to depress me as well.

My mother was praying hard for me and encouraged me to change my lifestyle and lose weight. My father and her were “lifetimers” with Weight Watchers. I remember visiting one Christmas and my mother took my wife aside to tell her how concerned she was for my health. When Wendy told me this I was so angry at my mother. I was upset that she was putting her nose in my business. Looking back, I can see the love that motivated her to push so hard. But at that time…ugh. I can really appreciate her now but when I found out what she said I was really angry for several weeks.

I also felt the Lord pushing me. I have been in the ministry for over 20 years preaching that believers should be well disciplined in their faith. I preached against addictions, hedonism, and materialism while extending the love of Christ. But now I was being convicted of the one area I could honestly say I had no control. If I am going to preach about getting rid of the things that distract Christians from being faithful followers of Jesus than I need to get control of my life.

A few years back I went on a missions trip to Haiti. The children in the village and at the school would follow me and my fellow ministers around everywhere we went. They would laugh and watch every move we made. The missionary told me that they were not making fun of us. They don’t see that many “big” people and they assumed we were “rich”. They were following us hoping that money would fall from our pockets. That stuck with me… I want people to see Jesus in me and not some “wealthy”, fat guy that might lose a coin or two… or maybe a cheeseburger or chicken leg.

The final call to action came when my doctor wanted to put me on a pill to lower my cholesterol. I was already taking a handful of pills and I didn’t want to take anymore. Dr. Fisher told me that he would give me 3 months to lose at least 30 pounds. My weight-loss journey began that same day. I came right home and joined Weight Watchers on line.

About 40 days later I was back in his office. I had lost 30 pounds and now my blood pressure was bottoming out. He took me off the blood pressure medicine immediately and I was fine afterwards. Dr. Fisher told me that he sees people everyday who need to lose weight. He offers them the same deal but few take it. They end up with all kinds of illnesses due to their weight and end up taking more and more pills to counter the problem. He was amazed at my quick success.

I don’t take credit for my weight loss. It is hard… and I know me. I would be sneaking food to my bedroom every night if it weren’t for the love and discipline that my Lord is teaching me. Jesus is my “higher power” when it comes to… well, everything. When I don’t put him first I fail miserably.

Since that time I have lost over 100 pounds. And I still have a  way to go to get down where I am supposed to be. I have no doubt in my mind that I will make that goal with the support and encouragement that I receive from my Lord and my friends in Weight Watchers.

My purpose for writing this is to share with you some of the insights and encouragements that I have learned on my weight-loss journey. I also wish to warn of some of the pitfalls that have made me stumble along the way.

I am praying that this blog will help you make that decision to get your eating under control if you are contemplating doing something. If you are already on a weight-loss journey of your own I pray that this blog can be used as a devotional to encourage your daily efforts to having a healthy body and healthy soul.

I realize that the Bible really doesn’t talk much about dieting. But the principles of discipline and Godly insight have helped to inspire my journey and I hope they do the same for yours.