Ole! Revenge Is Sweet!

Hello again readers, if you've been following this blog for any amount of time you know of my weight struggles, and how I finally started down the road towards better health after being denied riding El Toro, a wooden coaster at Six Flags Great Adventure.

So June 10 rolled around, almost five years since I was last denied riding the monster.

After joining F3, doing the 5:2 Diet and trying my best to stick with the program, losing between 50 and 60lbs. I thought I was probably safe heading back to the park for another try.

I walked into the park and headed straight for the coaster, figuring I needed to be at my smallest to make sure I had a fighting chance to fit.  Some don't know that your body actually expands during the day, due to water intake and other factors.

I stopped at the dreaded test seat and couldn't get a green light.  This wasn't looking good.  But I knew from five years ago, that the test seat was more stringent than the actual coaster restraints.

There was no one in line yet, well only a few, so I was grateful if I had to do the Walk of Shame again, it wouldn't be in front of a lot of eyes.

I sat down, pulled the seat belt on, and I could tell I had a little more room in the seat belt than five years ago, so who knows, maybe this would end well.

To my surprise the crew was actually very helpful this time around, and with a few pushes on my restraint, I got the all-clear!

We quickly ascended the lift hill and the moment I had dreamed of for many months was finally coming true as we careened down that 76° drop.  The drop was amazing, the rest of the ride was honestly kind of painful because of the horrible restraint.  But mission accomplished, El Toro was mine!

So what now?  Well, one goal is finished, but time to set some more goals.  I still need to lose at least another 30lbs. and I'm refocusing on that.

I'm thankful for how far I've come, and the great thing is with F3, I'll never arrive.  I can always get stronger, healthier, faster (ha!), but my brothers will always keep pushing me and until I take my last breathe, I'll keep on pushing.

I was amazed this trip at my stamina. Five years ago I visited three parks in two days and I was exhausted by the second day.

This trip I visited nine parks in seven days and drove nearly two-thousand miles and until the very end of the trip, I really wasn't what I would call exhausted.  Thankfully all those coasters and walking each day pretty much guaranteed I was out cold at the end of the day and slept well.

So a 43-year-old me, easily was in better shape than the 38-year-old version of myself, that was denied El Toro, and started down this road.

What does the future hold?  Not sure at this point, but you know I'm not giving up.

Until next time.

T-Minus 9 Days!

Hello again Friends, it's about that time... when I try again to conquer El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure!

If you go back to my first post, you'll read that back in 2010 I was denied riding the #1 ranked wooden coaster in the world, located on the outskirts of Philadelphia and it inspired me to start searching for a way to lose weight.

Along the journey to lose weight, I've discovered F3, GORUCK and all kinds of silly things like 5k's, 10k's and mud runs, all of which I've already completed with a little help from my friends.

I'm somewhere in the neighborhood now of 60lbs. down, with a goal to lose another 30 or so before I learn to settle into being skinny again for the first time in a very, very long time.

Recently I was able to buy my first 36" pants and shorts in probably fifteen years!

That brings me to this post: nine days from now I'll be hopefully riding El Toro for the first time!  I say hopefully, because after you've taken the Walk of Shame too many times, you never assume you are going to fit on a coaster, especially one so restrictive like El Toro.

Going into this weight loss journey, I was prepared I think, for the physical aspects but had no idea the emotional impact such a journey would take on me.

There are days I get depressed because I'm still overweight, still technically considered obese, then there are days I feel like nothing can stop me and the weight doesn't stand a chance.  This is why F3 has become vital for me.

F3 is full of thousands of guys, some serious athletes, at least one actual Olympian is in the F3 south Charlotte brotherhood now, but most are just average guys just trying to get better.

Many though have never been seriously overweight as I have been, and while they empathize with me, they really don't know what it's like to be so overweight you can't see your feet, so overweight that the weight of your arms puts pressure on your body while in bed to the point of stopping normal circulation, so overweight that you have skin issues, with being so heavy and skin rubbing against skin and causing sores and all other painful issues.  But they still encourage, still push me, still drag me along sometimes. OK, maybe not literally the last one, but certainly emotionally.

It amazes me when anyone says they are inspired by me, it's so easy to look at myself and forget how far I've come, to forget how strong I've gotten, and to forget that I'm well over half way home on the weight loss!

When a friend who I consider a real American hero, serving our country overseas while his wife is home taking care of seven children, because he'd "rather fight them over there, than at home." calls me an inspiration, and wants to do GORUCK when he gets home because I've gotten into GORUCK, it simply blows me away and humbles me, and shocks me a bit too.

When I consider that just a year and two months ago, I could barely survive a F3 workout, and now I've lead about twelve or thirteen workouts now, I just smile and shake my head.

Even though the Bible was talking really of spiritual things, I can't help but feel that 1 Corinthians 1:28 somehow applies to me:

God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are...

It's like me leading F3 workouts, what am I doing?  There are guys in much better shape than I,  who can run rings around me, but there I am.  But that's the great thing about the Body of Christ, God gifts us all with different gifts, different skills, we don't all know it all, and we haven't all achieved it all.

So, who knows if I'll fit on El Toro this time around.  I sure hope so.  But if I don't, I'm not giving up on this journey.  I've learned too much, I've been inspired and pulled into things that have reignited a passion for life, country, my fellow man and God (not in that order) and I'm excited about my life now, I'm excited about what the future holds.  Two years ago I would never have said that.  Never.

So if you're out there, and like me you struggle with your weight, an addiction, whatever, don't give up.  God is there reaching out to you, it may be through someone smiling as you walk your dog, it may be in a brother kicking you in the rear to keep running, whatever it is, God works in our lives, if we let Him.

Look for an update soon about the results of my trip, here's hoping and praying that I'm able to ride the bull! Ole!

Until next time...