The past few month s I’ve diligently complied your questions/ comments and sometime in the fall there will be a couple new features on the website. One of the features is a segment called “Facts, Lies and Untruthatudes; the skinny on all things weight loss.” This is an open forum where I address all things weight loss and conclude if it is a fact, a lie, or simply, an untruthatude.

The next thing I will be unveiling is a bible study that not only stands on its own, but also can work in conjunction with the Gospel According to Chubby. I am kicking around a few titles, but right now I refer to it as “The Daily Pita”…..because for those struggling with weight, “Daily Bread” is just too high carb.

Also, the eBook should be available sooner than later as well as the audio version of “The Gospel According to Chubby” should be available for pre-order as early as November.
That’s the update for now.

I took a moment to celebrate my independence by hand writing a letter of encouragement to our first lady Michelle Obama in regards to her fight on childhood obesity. I also sent her a copy of the book so she could experience some of the trials first hand from the mind of an obesity survivor. Whether she reads it or not, well, that is beyond my control. Regardless, I feel it was the right thing to do. So if you would send up a little prayer for the little book that could, I would appreciate it.

In the meantime, I am taking this week to finish dry walling my basement and I will return next week with a brand new video blog and an obesity statistic that you will literally find unbelievable. By the way, to those who wrote in, thank you for getting the joke of the “Nashville Flood Edition.” Your “real” copies are on the way

Click here to view the embedded video.

Unhealthy Expectations.

The bottom line is that most people have a very unhealthy expectation of weight loss. From what a calorie is, to how fast they can burn them and everywhere in-between. I know for years I did. While that topic is a thesis in and of itself, what I find most disturbing is the culture of selling hope rather than solutions.

In the past 10 years “weight loss problem solving” in the form of supplements, programs, meals, books, diets, patches and so forth has become a billion dollar industry. In that same amount of time, we the consuming public have communally pushed obesity past smoking as the #1 cause of preventable death in America. Empirical evidence, or common sense, would suggest that the solutions we are being sold are not solving anything.
I think what bothers me most, is that those companies who profit from selling weight loss aren’t really that shy about telling you their products seldom work. They “show” you what you want to see, but then they are legally obligate to tell you else wise. But I don’t want to come across as cynical. These products do work when taken in conjunction with a healthy diet and exercise…

Could you imagine the recourse if other companies got away with selling their products in the same fashion? Would we even let them? Honestly think about this for a moment. If you were in the market to buy a new car and 9.9 times out of 10 the “automatically starting car” you chose to test-drive would not start automatically when you attempted to test-drive it, would you buy that car? How about if the .01 time the “automatically starting car” started was because you put the standard key in the ignition? Would you then approach another vehicle with the exact same “Results Not Typical” guarantee?

I don’t know which one bothers me more. The fact that we are directly sold false hopes, or that we allow it. Regardless, it is our unhealthy expectations towards weight loss that has led our country to be the most obese in history.

I often joked that while I was losing my weight I had to walk by faith because I lost visual contact with my feet. Sometimes though, a joke loses it’s humor when the reality it asks you to suspend, becomes the reality in which it exists.

If Video Blog #3 dealt with the absence of patience during ones weight loss journey, then this entry is will address having too much patience. The fourth most common thing that I have to overcome as a trainer is procrastination.

Procrastination comes in many forms. Excuses, deductive reasoning, self-deception. I am a list kind of guy so you know that I could literally go on forever, but the bottom line is that most of my clients who quit on me, do so because I will not tolerate procrastination. I believe at the heart of it, procrastination exists to avoid a greater issue. I am not a fan of un-truths.

Have you ever known someone who has tried to lose those exact same 10 pounds for what seems like the greater part of a decade? Why is that? I mean, is there a valid reason? …There very well may be.

Believe it or not, a select amount of people use their weight to hide and mask other imperfections they’re just not ready to deal with. Those who find their identity in their weight and more importantly talking about their struggle with it tend to be those people.

I think we all know someone who is currently on a “diet,” yet they never really seem to behave in a way that supports it. I have found that most of these people are scared. They are afraid that if they lose their weight, they will have nothing left to complain about. Even worse, if they lost their weight and people still didn’t like who they were, then it may have been their character in question all along. This was one of the hardest things I had to learn.

For years I used weight as a safety blanket. I used my girth as an “awkward diffuser”. However, once I lost the weight, I was left to handle social situations with a personality I had yet to develop. I believe the potential realities of weight loss terrify certain people. It terrifies them to the point that they would rather use their “diet” as a crutch for conversation starters or points of contention. Opting to blame circumstances on their weight rather than address reality.

I have to remind my clients almost everyday that while their weight may define a season, it doesn’t define their calendar life. Who they are defines who they are. Once they can appreciate that, then they can overcome anything.

Stay tuned; Tuesday will feature the third most common weight loss struggle in my fourth Vlog installment. Have a great weekend.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It is great that the events which lead to a delayed post are as non-sensical as the topics in the video. Enjoy, because next week, we get a little more serious.

I’ll let the Vlog speak for itself. A little background on some of the swag. Kurios is the music you hear during the Vlog. They are the band I played in before I went on musical hiatus to pursue the authorship. Jason Boyett‘s pocket guide was the first “Bible study type thing” that was able to hold my attention. I enjoyed it so much that I bought a case and have given them out to friends and family that I thought would enjoy it. So now that you all are apart of my extended family… I wanted to share them with you. So you want some free stuff? Watch and find out how.

My story starts like most everyone else’s. One day I looked at the scale and realized I was the heaviest I had ever been in my life, tipping the scale at 240lbs, and on blood pressure medication at the age of 25 was no way to live. So after a few trial and errors with some minor success I finally decided enough was enough! No more yo-yo dieting! I tried everything  you can think of from No carb to weight loss programs to the latest diet supplement, with minimal, if any, results.

After trying a few other gyms and feeling out of place, I felt it was time to truly invest in myself. As a Valentine’s Day gift to me, I began working Jeremy Rochford. From the start, he never made me feel out of my element. He has shown me so many things (believe me, I’ve done some exercises I never even knew existed!) not only with my fitness, but also with nutrition.  As we have just past the one year mark of working together, I have lost a total of 55lbs (4 dress sizes!), and I am still losing! He set up a routine that fits around my lifestyle is easy to maintain. No gimmicks, just a lot of sweat and newly formed muscles!

As of February 2009 I have competitively run in 5 races (ranging from 5k to 5 miles), with more planned including the Music City Half Marathon in April 2009. This is still amazing to me as before I began working with Jeremy, I could barely even run for more than 1-2 minutes before I had to stop. Now I can run upwards of 75 minutes!

Jeremy has been a blessing in many ways to me. I have more energy now that I had when I was in high school! I have more self-confidence than I think I’ve ever had in my life!  I’ve also learned that it’s okay to not have the answers, the key is to ask the right people!

www.facebook.com/GlitteryGirrll

Two things encourage me most about Brandy’s success. The first is the amount of effort she has put forth. Her and I meet only once a week. The other 3-4 times she is working out, either in the gym or outside, she is on her own. Pulling from her own motivation, her own strength and applying her own faith. The second is that I get to see the application of “The Gospel According to Chubby” come to life as she redefines herself and becomes the person she knew she could become. Brandy, thank you so much for allowing me to not only share your story, but be apart of it.