Boot Camp Update

So I've completed my second session of boot camp. You can read about my thoughts from the first session here. Now as all four followers of my blog probably already know, I really only did boot camp because I was in "biggest loser" contest with Lori Higa. The contest started at the beginning of the year and concluded on Easter Sunday. We bet $20 on who could lose the most overall weight (not percentage as I suggested) over those 14 or so weeks. I'll admit that I didn't try very hard for the first month and a half because I just figured that as an overweight guy I wouldn't need to try very hard. I could probably just exercise during the last month and beat Lori.

But still, I wanted to make sure I won so I enrolled in boot camp. After the first six week session, I did see some very real, tangible results so I set a goal to do at least three six-week sessions. Now I've completed two sessions and here are my results.

This is the previous measurement from March

As you can see, I was around 210 lbs (which was lighter than I have been in a long time) with a body fat percentage of 26.5% (which equates to around 56lbs of fat). Since the average male should be carrying around 20 lbs of fat I could still could stand to lose around 36 lbs of fat.

Here is the latest measurement.

Notice anything different?

So seven weeks later my weight has dropped to around 200 lbs (I actually got down to 199 lbs for a brief while which is lighter than I was in high school!) and my body fat percentage dropped to 19.1%. Also since I can carry around 20 lbs of fat around I now only need to lose 18 lbs more.

So to recap, boot camp is great! It's hard, but great. I would recommend it to anyone. In the 14 weeks that I've been a part of this program I've lost around 20 lbs of overall weight and roughly 32 lbs of fat. If I can do it (remember I was the guy who was passed out upchucking on the side of the parking lot during the first class) anyone can!

For more information about boot camp leave me a comment. Classes for men are on Tuesday nights from 7-8pm and Saturday mornings from 9-10am. The coed classes are Tuesday nights from 6-7pm and Saturday mornings from 8-9am. The cost is $60 per six week session. It's totally worth it.

Crazy Love

So the new book that our church leadership is going through is Crazy Love by Francis Chan. I haven't read it before, but I've heard some really good things about it (including a stellar review by my friend Chad who said it was in the top two books he's read). I was excited it read it but also a little nervous because I'm quite comfortable too.

So please join me on this journey. I'll be posting my thoughts as I read through the book both here and on our Ignite forum. Feel free to join the discussion that's happening on the forum. If you haven't picked up your copy of Crazy Love I highly suggest you do so. And now, without further ado, let's begin.

As I read the preface I already knew that this book would challenge me. After all, the opening quote rung so true with me, "to read the Bible, attend church and avoid 'big' sins--is this pi am not smartionate, wholehearted love for God?" Ouch! I mean, isn't that what we preach. Stay in your Word, stay connected to the church and don't screw up. If you do that then God will bless you and you'll live a prosperous life. But is that all it takes? Are we trying to avoid messing up so that when we get to heaven we'll be rewarded? Those are some heavy thoughts that makes me shift what I believe and how I want to live my life.

I really appreciate Francis Chan's open admission that his view of God was narrow and small (p. 20). I think most of our views of God are too narrow and small. He goes on to say that most of us view God as "a benevolent Being who is satisfied when people manage to fit Him into their lives in some small way. We forget that God never had an identity crisis" (p. 22). I definitely can say that many times I fall into the trap of feeling that way. I feel that because I spent 10 minutes in the Word, I am completely justified in playing video games for 3 hours.

So as we go through this book, I am looking forward to being challenged and praying for God to change me (but let it be painless Lord!!!).

What are your thoughts? Join the discussion by clicking here.