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Before and After Pics FINALLY published: Weight loss benchmarks

March 16, 2007 at 10:51 am, by Rich Kirkpatrick

Beforeafter

When you make major life changes such as losing a lot of weight, the human thing is to forget the past.  So I am reminding myself today of the journey over the past year.  I feel so much better today than back in May when the picture on the left was shot.  It has now been almost six months since I have lost 50 pounds and have kept it off. (The rumor that this was related to illness or my surgery is still not true.) I can now run a few miles without completely losing my breath and I feel better about myself since I know I have improved self-control in my eating habits.  The before and after pictures remind me of how God is always in the business of life-change.  Why are we so enamored with the idea of "makeover" or the before-and-after pictures?  I think it is because our hearts desire is to grow and to become more than we are.

What is it that we want to become?  When we are listening to our
souls as followers of Christ, our deepest desire is to be like Jesus.
He is simply amazing.  He is disciplined, smart, and self-controlled.
Unfortunately, we celebrate in our culture the "easy" or "extreme"
makeover and forget the steps needed to achieve real life-change.
These steps take the help of family and friends, courageous humility to
admit the need to change, and a reasonable plan to guide our steps.  It
is clear that physical discipline sounds so much like the spiritual
life.  In fact, here is what the Bible says about this:

For physical training
is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding
promise for both the present life and the life to come.  1 Timothy 4:8 (NIV)

Alright
folks, I am a bit embarrassed about putting these pictures up.  But, I
sure hope this encourages you to take a step in your life either with
your health or in your spiritual journey.

Categories Christian Life, Health & Fitness, Stories | Tags:

  • http://myworshiprevolution.com bobby

    Inspiring post man. It’s awesome to see these pictures and see an amazing accomplishment with the help of Jesus. Congrats!

    Now I just wish I had read it before finishing those 4 chocolate covered oreos I just finished downing. Dang it!

  • http://www.scottholthaus.typepad.com/ Scott

    Well done!

  • http://www.garamer.typepad.com Greg

    Do not be embarrassed to share those pictures, or your story. It is something I needed to hear. I have, for all of my life, struggled with my weight. I finally decided three nights ago to change my life.

    Reading your post was needed. Even though I just started, it has been a stuggle. Seeing your results are very encouraging. Thank you.

  • http://www.fredmckinnon.com Fred McKinnon

    Rich -
    WOW – I don’t know what else to say … I guess we’re MySpace.Com Friends … because I saw your Bulletin Post … but that alone is a miracle because I never see Bulletins – they don’t post on Band Pages … but what an inspiration. I need to drop about 40-50 pounds myself. I’d be interested in seeing your story – have you blogged on it previously? Did you just change your diet? We wanna know!

    I’m subscribing to your blog now for sure, too – hope you’ll check mine out at http://www.fredmckinnon.com.

    For the Kingdom,
    Fred McKinnon
    Worship Leader, Pianist, Producer
    http://www.fredmckinnon.com

  • Tiffani

    Awesome! I’m so happy that you’ve lost the weight. You look great!
    We miss you guys. I’m glad that things are going great in CA. Dan and I should come out and visit sometime.
    Dan is not very good with keeping in touch with people, so he really could use a phone call from you. We are about to embark on a huge transistion at our church. He is leading us through dropping our trad. service and moving to blended services. I’m sure he could use some advice.

    God bless!

  • http://xxxchurch.com/07/blog_home.php?b=theindustry Donny Pauling

    Really good job! I’ve lost 38 lbs myself since December.

  • http://xxxchurch.com/07/blog_home.php?b=theindustry Donny Pauling

    Really good job! I’ve lost 38 lbs myself since December.

  • http://www.RenegadeRobot.net Dustin

    Seriously, you are THE MAN!

  • http://transitionpete.org pete

    Way to go — you look fantastic! I am jealous and inspired [wink wink].

  • http://thewonderfulnoise.com Victor Estrada

    I need to lose some poundage soon and I’m looking at you as part of my inspiration.

  • http://rkweblog.com Rich Kirkpatrick

    Thanks for the props!

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