Occupy the Y: Change Happens Thru...

Humility.

I'm an American. Therefore I think I can do anything I set my mind to. I have American achiever genes, so if I just focus and channel my inner badass, there's nothing I cannot do.

On some level we all believe that. And this is pure crap.

Several months ago I pushed down my pride, and took a bite of a humility sandwich when I walked into Dr. Haendigas's office and confessed that I don't know how to lose weight. I confessed that in this area of my life I am anything but a badass.

Six weeks ago I pushed down some more pride (it gets easier, you know) when I walked into the YMCA with Dave and Chad and we collectively admitted to Nicole Peele that we needed her help.

Every day that I work out there's always a Local Schwarzenegger pushing weight like nobody's business. Or there's a Sandy McNulty racing next to me on the elliptical machine as I pant my way through my slow-to-moderate pace.

It's humbling to pedal half as fast and yet sweat and pant just as much. It's humbling struggling with minimal weights in the same room as the 5' 4" woman lifting more than her own weight over her head. Seriously.

Focusing on your challenges in the gym in the midst of people who are metaphorical miles ahead of you is humbling.

Everyday I willingly go to the Y because Dave, Chad and Nicole will be there and you will be wondering about my next blogpost. And in the company of this team, I am reminded that this not a journey I could do on my own. I need them. I could not do this alone. To realize my need for others is humility.

So what do you want do or change in your life? What new play is stirring in your heart? What do you hope changes between today and your funeral?

Change happens through humility. You can do it...but not alone. You need people who know what you do not. And you need some hombres; some great people to journey with you! In humility, YOU CAN DO IT!

True humility and fear of the LORD
      lead to riches, honor, and long life. 

Proverbs 22:4

Posts in this series:

blog 1.9.12

blog 1.16.12

blog 1.19.12
blog 1.23.12

blog 2.3.12

blog 2.13.12

The Tres Hombres are at the YMCA gasping for breath Mon-Fri 4-5pm.

If you want to follow us on the Twitters we're
@morgancafe
@GraphicsKing209 (Chad McCarter)
@DuBeeDuBeeDoo (Dave Dubois)

@peel_nicole (Nicole Peele)

Peace,

   Morgan of the Tres Hombres

Occupy the Y wk 6: Belts & Stairs Don't Lie

Posts in this series:

blog 1.9.12

blog 1.16.12

blog 1.19.12
blog 1.23.12

blog 2.3.12

I can barely believe that I'm writing about the beginning of my sixth week of 5 day a week workouts at the Y. (Right now I'm just pausing and trying to keep it together as I'm awash in emotion...)

I am amazed I've come this far. It's feeling normal. I look forward to it most days. I even went out of my way to visit our trainer, Nicole, in her Yankee Candle store the other day. Over the weekend I actually considered working out on one of my days off. I didn't, but the fact I was seriously considering it is insane for me.

It was a good weekend. Several people at Oakbrook commenting that I'm looking better and a friend I hadn't seen since before the Tres Hombres got together said he definitely noticed a difference. And he offered a great line, as George often does, "Belts and stairs don't lie."

So true. You know which notch your belt is in and if it's loose or tight. And after a flight of stairs you know how winded you feel; there's no disguising either of those barometers. Thankfully I'm seeing progress in both of these areas. (Even though Nicole let us out of stairs last Thurs...she may be taking a shine to us--even though she'd never admit it ;-)

Crazily Dave is dropping pounds like F-bombs in Good Will Hunting (19 so far!--lbs not curse words). Ironically I'm not. So I had some blood drawn last week and tomorrow I get to sit down with the good Dr. Haendigas and see what my body's doing. As weight is only one measure of health, she monitors a wide spectrum of data. And even though I'm not dropping much weight these past 5 weeks, my belt and clothes are telling me things are changing for the better. And I'm feeling better than I can remember in a long time. So we'll see.

Last week Chad was lounging around in Mexico on vacation, so it will be nice tomorrow for the Dos Hombres to get back to Tres.

I can't say enough about the power of a team when starting something new, like a workout routine. Accountability in Dave & Chad plus the knowledge of Nicole is an amazing blessing. I could not do this alone. And again, the Y staff is a great group of encouragers!

The Tres Hombres are at the YMCA gasping for breath Mon-Fri 4-5pm.

If you want to follow us on the Twitters we're
@morgancafe
@GraphicsKing209 (Chad McCarter)
@DuBeeDuBeeDoo (Dave Dubois)

Peace,

   Morgan of the Tres Hombres

Images of Lifechange

Click here to see my photos from our Feb. 5th baptism at Oakbrook Church.

If you're not into Christianity, here are some weird photographs: people dunking friends and family fully clothed in a tank in front of hundreds of onlookers. Baptism.

More weird stuff: it signifies that we've metaphorically died to our self and chosen God to be the fixer of our sins and leader of our life.

Weird continues: up from these waters, we're trying with the Holy Spirit's help to live a life like Jesus. But there's only one Jesus and we ain't It.

We'll still say and do some jackass things. Hopefully we'll do proportionally more Jesus-looking things.

We're trying. God's helping and guiding. This life matters. You matter. And so does that person over there...

"By means of his one Spirit, we all said good-bye to our partial and piecemeal lives. We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which he has the final say in everything. (This is what we proclaimed in word and action when we were baptized.) Each of us is now a part of his resurrection body, refreshed and sustained at one fountain—his Spirit—where we all come to drink. The old labels we once used to identify ourselves—labels like Jew or Greek, slave or free—are no longer useful. We need something larger, more comprehensive."

1 Corinthians 12:13 The Message

Peace. Only from the Prince of Peace.

Occupy the Y: Week 4

Posts in this series:

blog 1.9.12

blog 1.16.12

blog 1.19.12
blog 1.23.12

Well after four weeks of working out I posted the above picture because people have had trouble recognizing me. After four weeks at the Y I am totally transformed into a living, breathing hunk of GQ beefcake!

Or not.

This week was tough; partly because a cold that started sneaking in on Monday and is now in full bloom. The achiness of a cold coupled with a workout isn't the best combination. But also Nicole kicked up Tuesday's workout a bit. Not to mention a Monday treadmill workout that was a beast!

But I am noticing some things:

1. Our 10 minute warm ups feel like warm ups. When we started they felt like they were the workout.

2. It now takes me a few minutes before I'm sweating like a dog. It used to be instantaneous like turning a spigot.

3. The elliptical is my friend. It first felt like a torture device. Now it helps me stretch out calf and leg muscles and is somewhat enjoyable.

4. This week I peddled 20 non-stop minutes at various speeds on the stationary bike from Hades. The first time I rode these I thought, "How did they design these tiny seats to be so painfully uncomfortable in every single position?"Yeah I know--20 non-stop minutes doesn't sound amazing, but it's my crucible, nonetheless.

5. I couldn't do this alone. Dave Dubois, Chad McCarter, Nicole Peele, and you keep me going. Yes you. I realize you are reading along and that you are there. You and your anonymous reading are just as real to me as the Dos Hombres & Nicole. Thanks for coming along!

Also the Y staff is pretty awesome and encouraging. There's Paul at the front desk who always calls me by name and asks how I'm doing. Trish Sevrens and Lisa Gauger are always encouraging. Lisa is my unofficial coach who adds value to me via Twitter and in person. Even the staff I don't know smile easily and are very nice. It's a good place to be.

And I'll be there shortly getting in my last cardio workout of the week. Four weeks down and life to go! 

The Tres Hombres are there gasping for breath Mon-Fri 4-5pm.

If you want to follow us on the Twitters we're
@morgancafe
@GraphicsKing209 (Chad McCarter)
@DuBeeDuBeeDoo (Dave Dubois)

Peace,

   Morgan of the Tres Hombres

Adjusting our Just Prayers

Ever tried to pray without the word just? It's difficult. Me being a word guy, just prayers kind of bug me. Why?

Think about how we use just:

If I just had a little more time.

I'll just have a little piece of pie.

If I could just get this one project finished.

We use just when we only want this one thing. We use just when we don't want too much, but this modest amount. We use it when we want just enough but not too much.

God, if you could just fix this problem...

God, if you could just bring comfort...

God, if you could just...

Maybe God's presence is in proprtion to how we pray. Maybe He hasn't done more amazing things because we've asked him to just do this and just do that. Maybe our just prayers unintentionally put restraints on the Lion of Judah more than unleash Him.

I don't want to "just God." I want to boundlessly unleash God!
I don't want a modest piece of God, I want him to run all over my plate of problems!
I don't want God to only do this thing I'm asking.
I want him to be all over, around, under and through the geographical area of my problems!

Here's my challenge: try to pray without the word just. Pray in a way that asks God to fully and wildly be in the entire vicinity of your concerns and needs. It will change how you pray.

Adjust your just prayers and see how it changes the way you perceive, relate with and pray to our limitless God. 

Peace.

Feel Free to Ask me About...

Haiti.

I often run across people who tip-toe around the issue or say cautiously, "I'm sure you're tired of talking it..."

For the record, feel free to ask me anything you'd like about this. Anything.

God provided, rescued and healed me in amazing ways. I am glad to talk about being fortunate enough to be part of His insane and powerful story that played out in Haiti that week.

In fact, sometimes when I talk about it I get a new insight or perspective. And I'm quite sure He didn't save me so that I could be tight-lipped about what happened.

So feel free to ask...whatever...

Peace.



p.s.
In case you haven't heard it, here's the link to the team's interview about the ordeal the Sun following at Oakbrook Church.

Occupy the Y--wk 3 Begins w/the Tres Hombres

Posts in this series:

blog 1.9.12

blog 1.16.12

blog 1.19.12

Caution: some sweating may occur during workouts. Ok, plenty of sweating occurs. If nothing else I am excelling at panting like a collie in August and sweating like a colander.

When one is still north of three hundred pounds and has lived a very sedentary lifestyle, being out of breath and sweaty comes quickly and easily at the Y. That said, there's something good about sweating. Maybe it's the contrast of winter when we're seemingly always cold, but I think there's more to it.

It feels good to sweat. It's evidence that you're doing something. I don't usually take a towel with me; I prefer to wipe my sweaty face with the chest-part of my shirt. (No, I don't pull the bottom of my shirt over my head exposing my sexy beast tum-tum!) My sweat mark on my shirt is my mental badge of courage. It reminds me I'm working, making progress.

After two weeks it's going pretty well. I feel like I a got a little closer with Nicole last week and engaged her as a person, not a punishing trainer. (I'm still reserving that right, though.)

I looked forward to some workouts. I enjoyed the weight machines--the white ones that I never knew how to use. I like those much more than free weights as I can just focus on moving them since they'll dictate the motion. I got called "a machine" on those! (With free weights I wonder if my technique is correct; the machines ensure that it is.)

It was clearly better than week one; week one sucks, people. But it is still hard. The stairs are killers (and the Y has a huge stockpile of them). It's still emotionally and physically difficult to keep pushing through the cardio times when Nicole isn't there; not like it's easy when she's there.

So far I'm clearly feeling better, breathing better, standing taller, losing weight, and...looking forward to it.

Yes. My day's lead up to 4pm when workouts begin. It forces me to be done with work and look forward to something else. (Honestly I'm probably looking forward to being DONE at 5.)

Hey...if I can do this...anybody can do this! If you're thinking about it...do it. The YMCA's a great place to hang out...except for the big sweaty panting guys like me ;-)

The Tres Hombres are there gasping for breath Mon-Fri 4-5pm.

If you want to follow us on the Twitters we're
@morgancafe
@GraphicsKing209 (Chad McCarter)
@DuBeeDuBeeDoo (Dave Dubois)

Peace my friends!
      --Morgan of the Tres Hombres