Thankful Am I? Thankful I Am.

     Afternoon everyone. I actually went to the gym this morning. It was a great workout. I figured that the gym would be dead... NOPE! It was packed!! It was great with so many people there, I knew I was in the right place. Everytime I go to the gym, it gets a little easier to lift. I'm thankful for that. I'm slowly getting up to 80 percent of 1 RM. I've had quite a bit on my mind as of late. It helps me at the gym so I have the fuel to motivate me as well as the idea of getting back on the field next year. My clothes are starting to fit much looser now as well. I've noticed my knees don't hurt anymore when I do leg presses or bend my knees now. It was strange, cause my doctor said that may happen. I didn't believe him. I felt that there was no way that knees could not adjust to body weight. I've lost a total of 40 (Yes, I did say 40) pounds since March. My plan is to be 230 by springtime. I'm at 259 now. At my heaviest ever, I was 298. That was back in March. I crash dieted to get into the Army because of the whole "weight" thing that the Armed Forces set forth and I dropped 17 pounds in 2 weeks by limiting myself to 400 calories a day AND taking Magnesium Sulfate daily. That should have worked... but the recruiters had nothing for me... again. I won't even keep on that tangent... moving on. Some of my weight should be attributed to the Topamax that I take at night. It doesn't curb my appetite at all, but I just eat the same stuff I always did and have portion control along with the working out and here I am... I think I've lost close to 17 or 18 pounds since I started the Topamax four weeks ago. In no time, I should be down to the 230 I want to be.
     I'm just happy to be here. Here. That's kind of relative right? A generic relative statement. Here is in relation to where you are in life and space even. If the storm is swirling around you... can you brace for impact? How? Read the book of Job in the Bible. Job battled a few. From his friends, a literal storm, from Satan... and even in his faith in God... he was close... dangerously close to losing faith completely... I know all too well about that.
     Timing... it's all about timing. Everyday, I learn more and more about it. I fought my body to lose a bunch of weight to make it for the Army. Now, the weight is just coming off, but not because of me forcing it off. It is in God's time. Like it or not.

     "He will never take you where He cannot keep you."-Unknown

     I don't know who said the above quote, but I say it to myself all the time. I always find myself in things that I question if I can make it. Sometimes though, you have to ask yourself 'Did I get myself here? Or did God?' Tough question to ask... even tougher to answer.
     So anyways, back to the topic at hand... I think... the gym, Thanksgiving, morning. Yep, I actually went. I did the elliptical for 15 minutes and worked up a good sweat. My heart rate was about 152 at its peak. When I was at 298, it stayed around 180 or 185. I was really out of shape I guess. I also lifted... a lot. Like I said previously, creeping up to 80 percent of 1 RM. It's not easy, but I'm getting there. I'll never take it for granted again. That's for sure.
     Life is hard, so is being a Christian... lifting is hard, so is being a father, a friend, a man... all of these things require God to make it...

Happy Thanksgiving,

Danny