40 by 40 Weight Loss Challenge

Easter Sunday, 2014. Point State Park, Pittsburgh.

You might not notice it at first glance, but that's because I hide it pretty well. But if you look again, you will notice that I am a little - 'over weight.' Yeah, it happens. Life gets busy; work, kids, community commitments, church...the list of excuses can be pretty long. But excuses aside, it's pretty safe to say, "I've kinda' let myself go...a little."

Meanwhile...check out my smoking hot wife. (Wait, don't really 'check her out.' It was just a figure of speech. Sorry guys.) Kidding aside, Amy looks amazing! Even after 5 kids, she looks great. That's because she has worked hard at staying in shape. And I'm proud of her for that.

But this summer, I went for my annual physical, and to no surprise, the doctor told me that it would be good to lose a little weight. Nothing drastic, but if I wanted to feel better about myself  and avoid any potential health problems, losing a couple of pounds would help. Okay. No problem. The Doc, told me to watch what eat and and get a little more excercise. Well, I've kinda followed his instructions... okay, not really. BUT HEY, at least I didn't gain any weight since the visit, so that's a good thing! Right?!

Maybe not.

Just before Halloween, Amy came up to me in the kitchen. (In the kitchen, of all places, right?) and she said, she had been thinking. 'Since you will be 40, in about 4 months, what if you were to try to lose 40 pounds by your 40th birthday. Would you be into that?' [Roughly paraphrased.] She said it would be something that we could do together...right.

I thought about it for a couple of days, 40 pounds by my 40th birthday. I do want to lose some weight, I mean, the boys are getting bigger and faster. It would be great to have some more engery for them. And it would be nice to look a little better when standing next to Amy. Why not!

So, as we begin the month of November 2014, I begin it with a goal in mind, lose 40 pounds by my 40th birthday!

Now why share something like this here on the blog?

Well, honestly, why not? One of our hopes with the blog is to let our readers get to know us. I mean, we're just a normal family. We're not perfect, but we have a great marriage, wonderful kids, and we know that we are truly blessed by God's love and provision for us. We want to share our adventures, struggles, dreams, goals, successes, failures, and life with you in the hope of encouraging you and your marriage, family, and faith journey. Sharing a weightloss challenge with  you might encourage you to consider your weight, (I'm speaking to the men reading this blog.) You too, might want to lose a few pounds, so why not do it together. And what better way to stir up some accountability along the way, then by sharing the challenge and the journey here with our readers?

I am working on a special page that will show up on the front page as a link, that will lead those who are interested, to a weekly weightloss journal for the next four months. I don't want to get crazy with it, but I'm thinking about a weekly weigh in, and some thoughts about the week past and the week ahead. And if I come across something super helpful, maybe I'll share it with you in a post.

So the challenge began on November 1st. And while this blog was written till late this week, I want you to know that I have already been good about the challenge. I'll post some of the details on that new page I just talked about. The page should be live by the end of the week.

Mean while, I'd love to hear from you! Healthy eating tips... Calorie burning exercises... If you have them, share them! I would totally appreciate your help.

Any-who... 40 by 40. That's about 4 months to lose 40 pounds by my 40th birthday. Up for the challenge?

We'll have to see how this goes.

- jay

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