Thursday, November 05, 2009

EARLY Thursday Morning - A Note to My Teammates

Wow - I woke up at 4:30 without an alarm clock this morning - my body must be telling me it's time to get ready for all this! I don't have to be in the office until around 9, so this is about a 3 hour time shift in my day. And I like to stay up late (I'm a night owl) -- those days are over.
 
I appreciate what Nandy wrote last night - I get tears in my eyes thinking about the enormity of the opportunity we have been given, and when I think about all the changes that are about to take place. Some of you have a past full of athletics - not me. This is my first chance to be lighter, faster, stronger, and more confident than I have ever been in my life.
 
I hope each of you has a strong support group - not because you "have" to have it, but because shared excitement feeds off of itself. I am blessed to have a church family to share my joys (and sorrows) with, and they are so excited for us! The kids in our Awana Club are so excited that the TV cameras are coming to Awana next week!
 
Have any of you thought about a specific goal regarding your weight? I was talking to a buddy of mine Tuesday morning about all this, and he said, "Well, you're a big guy - you'll never be, say, 190." Well, 190 is well within the range of what my normal weight should be - in fact, 172-197 is the weight the insurance tables tell me I should be carrying to maximize longevity. So I guess my ultimate goal (whether I reach it by May or not) is to break the 200 lb. mark and get into the 190's. That would put me trying to accomplish what Bernard accomplished - losing somewhere around 150 lbs. - a 45.5% body weight loss.
 
Just one more thought - we won't see much of them, but there are 6 other wonderful, equally-as-deserving, equally-as-motivated people as we are who are going through this process along with us. While we don't want anyone from the blue team to be THE Biggest Loser, my sincere hope and desire is for all of them to reach their full potential, as well. One of our red team member's heart (Lisa) is on that blue team (Tanner), and we want him to be wildly successful, so that he doesn't have 20 or 30 or 40 years of carrying all the baggage around with him.
 
Have a great day - see you all at PHC tonight, and at the gym in 24 hours!
 

"Believe in yourself, trust the process, change forever."

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Praying for you every step of your journey, Bro. Ed. You have an entire church family behind you. I am excited for you and looking forward to seeing how many of us at Lumpkin Road Baptist will be inspired to make some positive changes in our own lives. I can already see that following the blog will be fun and uplifting to anyone who reads it.

Anonymous said...

Rev ED we are rooting for you each and every day. We know with God's help that you can do it. One pound at a time, 1" at a time. The early morning hours will become habit forming. Praying for you always. Betty and Orville Steele

Marian Henry said...

Really been praying for you Pastor Eddie, and know you are going to do well. It will be interesting to see your progress on "facebook" or from where I read it tonight. I think it would be nice after you finish this, to have a class at LRBC kinda like when "First Place" was going on, and all the weight that was lost during that time. We are already so proud of you. Keep up the good work

About Me

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Augusta, Georgia
I am privileged to serve as associate pastor of Lumpkin Road Baptist Church in Augusta, Georgia. I have been married to my wife, Brenda, for 22 years, and have two children, ages 20 and 18. I won the 2010 Augusta's Biggest Loser contest with a record-setting 41.83% weight loss, from 342 lbs to 199 lbs in 6 months.