I did this video the night before I started my health journey.
The goal was to use it as my own form of accountability, and release it at some point in the journey.
Today is the end of 4 weeks on my health program, and tomorrow I’ll share where I am in the process.
I am not where I am going to go, but I am excited about the progress made!
CJ Pomeroy
Leaving Average Behind
Hey My Friends!
I have made it through another week on the plan and feeling great!
The only hiccup this week was that I got really sick for a couple days and that has thrown my routine off. This means my writing is off.
However, I didn't cheat! I did miss some fuelings and two meals. Unfortunately, I had a stomach bug and that was a huge battle.
I can say that the fuelings I did eat are probably a big reason as to why I was able to recover as quickly as I did. The vitamins and nutrients contained in the fuelings were able to sustain me through my illness, and while I love losing weight, I don't want to lose weight due to being sick. I'm excited to report that did not happen.
My body is doing much better. Still not 100%, but I am hoping that day 22 will be a full day back on plan and drinking all my fluids. If not, then I will keep eating what I can and trust the process.
This is a journey to be enjoyed, so even though it may rain on the way, it doesn't mean the whole trip is bad.
That leads me to this thought about thinking.
I never realized the science behind our thoughts and it's impact on our life.
My guess is that many of us have probably heard that we need to think good things, but there is actual science to help us understand why we should do that.
It is too much to unpack in a post, but let me encourage you to read "Who Switched Off My Brain" by Dr. Caroline Leaf. This book does an amazing job of helping us understand the importance of our thoughts.
(if you remember, the book "Truly Free" by Robert Morris is what got me started on this journey to health transformation. The books "Winning the War In Your Mind" by Craig Groeschel and "Who Switched Off My Brain" by Dr. Caroline Leaf are the jet fuel for this journey.)
Why does a book about our thoughts matter?
When I started to realize I was getting sick, I had two choices to make:
Weigh in Day!
Day 12: My experience is enough for God to use to help others and achieve my unique purpose in life.
This is a big one for me, maybe for you too. I sometimes struggle with the thought I have not accomplished anything in my life worth-while. That is not true though. Each person has had an experience that can encourage or help someone else become better. My responsibility is to share my experiences with others and trust that it will help the people who need to hear it.
Day 13: I really need to know these products so I can help and serve others to the best of my ability!
I am already getting questions about my weight loss. The clothes are looser, and people are noticing. If I am going to help people learn about what I am doing, then I need to know all about it!
Day 14: This journey has resulted in me telling myself no more often, in many areas.
I am exercising a muscle every time I say "no" to myself. Because I have been exercising that muscle, I have the strength to say "no" to other things in my life that are not good either. It may be a small thing right now, but it really is a BIG thing! Freedom in life comes when we are disciplined, and discipline means we need to say "no" to good, or bad, things so that we can "yes" to the best things!
CJ Pomeroy
Leaving Average Behind
Hello My Friend!
In my last post (click here) I wrote about my food schedule for the week, some non-scale victories I experienced, and 1 cool story.
This post is about the reflections and lessons I learned as I went through the week.
Day 9: It is important to write down and document the lessons I am learning so that it can help others in the future. Don't worry about how many see it. Trust God to use your journey to impact the people it needs to impact.
Journaling has been a weakness of mine, but this journey has helped me understand it's importance. There are lessons in each and every day that need to be deeply considered. There are also people who need to see and hear about the struggles faced, and the victories won.
Day 10: I am in charge of my transformation. I won't make any progress standing still, and I can't make any turns in my life if I am not moving.
Nothing great ever happened because I hoped it would! Great things have happened in my life when I start taking action. My health won't get better if I do not intentionally walk in the direction of good health. Transformation within me won't happen if I don't actually change something in my life!
Day 11: Framing my day, especially at the beginning, is important to maintaining perspective and staying motivated.
Growing up, my dad would say "Perception is reality. What one perceives in their mind to be true, to them it is real." I don't know if he got that quote from someone else, or if it was original to him. Regardless, I have found that to be very true! Each day, it is important that I frame my mentality in the right way. That way, when negative things happen, I can see those things through a right frame of mind.
CJ Pomeroy
Leaving Average Behind
I did some tracking in my notebook these days and didn't get to the blog, so here is a quick food log update. I'll post my daily lessons learned separately.
My schedule stayed the same each, mostly. Saturday and Sunday is a little different.
I really dislike the pudding. I won't lie. It is so hard for me to eat that. I have never liked pudding at any time of my life. However, it is in my box and I have to eat some of it. One of my goals is to do Hard Things and eating pudding is a hard thing!
I literally have to treat myself like one of my kids when trying to eat it. "Take a bite for daddy", "It is good for you", "Yum, yum, yum"! My response is not much better than theirs because I want to dump the bowl upside down, throw the spoon, and scream!
Enter, the wife.
My wife is a Tupperware distributor and she has cool things. One of her cool things is a popsicle maker. As she saw me get the next bag of pudding to mix together, begrudgingly, she had an idea. She told me to let her make the pudding and put it in her popsicle maker. I dislike pudding so much that I am totally game for any idea that can make this easier to eat!
After a couple hours in the fridge, my wife's great idea turned into pudding that I could actually get down! Still not my favorite, but now I have a new way to eat it, and it will help me accomplish my goal of doing Hard Things!
Check-In Day!
Not that there is a set time for me to check my weight while on the plan, but I had always intended to see what progress I had made.
Sunday!
This is truly test day.
Our family has a weekly tradition of getting donuts & kolaches before church, and the place we go has the absolute best cinnamon crumb cake donut in the world!
Today I got to play golf! I love to get on the course, swing the sticks, and enjoy the serenity a golf course provides. Even if it is in Houston, TX! Preparing for today required some extra planning.
It was basketball day at the office, so a chance to get a couple more ounces of protein. I like these days to get a little more meat at my meal, but it will be my last day for a week or two. I twisted my knee pretty good. Glad this program does not require exercise so I can continue my healthy transformation!
Today I have a medical screening, so I have to fast until that is over. Madison thought it would be best to try and eat every 2 hours since I will have gone 10 hours without food.
Lessons I take away from Day 4
Soldier through the mundane. Keep going forward!
Things I encouraged myself with
I remembered my WHY statements.
I reminded myself that this is only temporary, but necessary, for what I want to achieve.
I reminded myself that others have it way worse than me, so I can overcome this.
I had a late start today, so my first meal was later than normal.
Lessons I take away from day 3
Don't just survive - THRIVE!
God wants me to live abundantly and eating right can help me do that.
Things I encouraged myself with
God wants me to live an abundant life!
The first fueling of the day was at 7:30 and I went every 2 ½ - 3 hours from there.
As I made my breakfast this morning a thought came to mind.
Eat with a purpose.
How often are we intentional about what we eat and when we eat?
Something I know this health transformation journey will help me with is eating for a purpose. Eating with intentionality.
Everything I put in my body matters, and it is either helping me move towards my purpose as a child of God, or it is hurting me.
As the hard times come at the beginning of this journey (like when I have to eat pudding), then I am going to remind myself that learning the discipline of eating on purpose is critical to fulfilling my God-Given purpose for being on this earth. God has a plan for me, but I can only be a part of it if I choose to follow His plan. That means I need to take care of my body.
Win for the day, I did not struggle with headaches and lack of focus as much! Not sure if that is because of the adjustment my body is making, water I drank, Powerade I sipped on, or if it is the steroid shot I got. Regardless, it was a more productive day at work.
I did struggle with eating the pudding that I mixed pecans with. In the past, I have not been a pudding guy, but I need to adapt. I was able to eat it because I reminded myself of why I am doing what I am doing, and that this is part of learning how to do hard things. I can, and I will, do this.
Lessons I take away from day 2
Be intentional with what I eat and when I eat.
Drink water even when you don’t think about it
Things I encouraged myself with
I had written down Bible verses to help me combat the negative thoughts that would come my way.
I remembered my WHY statements.
I reminded myself that this is only temporary, but necessary, for what I want to achieve.
I reminded myself that others have it way worse than me, so I can overcome this.
My first fueling of the day was at 7:30 and I went every 2 ½ - 3 hours from there.
07:30 - Red Berries Cereal
10:00 - BBQ Munchers
13:00 - Peanut Butter Bar
15:30 - Tomato & Herb Penne
18:30 - Lean & Green (Chicken breast, Asparagus, Cauliflower, & Green Beans with Salt, Pepper, & Butter)
21:00 - Caramel Bar
Snack was 2 Pickle Spears
Drank over 30 ounces of Powerade, had 1 Zevia, and over 100 ounces of water
The difficulty I encountered was focus.
My body stayed in a state of hunger and I had a constant headache. The combination of these two things made it very difficult to focus on almost anything. Unfortunately, I didn’t take into account that playing basketball and taking a decongestant would naturally increase my water needs significantly. That may have contributed to my day-long discomfort. I took an Aleve at bedtime and that helped me rest through the night.
I’m currently reading EXTREME OWNERSHIP and WINNING THE WAR IN YOUR MIND. Two great books to help me start this journey because it helps me overcome my obstacles. The first obstacle is taste. It was hard to adjust to the dryness of the food. The second obstacle was the pain and thoughts that this is how every day would be.
To combat the first obstacle, I am going to mix up my fuelings so that I am not eating dry foods 3 times in a row. This is a matter of choice and intentionality, which can be easily solved.
To combat the second obstacle, I have to remind myself of a couple things:
First, my body is unhealthy and some of the pain and discomfort is due to detoxing;
Second, I didn’t take into account my exercise or my sickness when I started this. That means I was already at a water deficit to begin with, so what I felt should have been expected;
Third, I forgot that certain snacks could help me overcome the headaches, so I wasn’t prepared;
Lastly, every day will not be like this because I am getting healthier. My body will adjust, and once it does, then I won’t have to fight through the pain.
Becoming better, transforming myself, requires I take Extreme Ownership of my decisions and win the battle between my ears. If I do that, then I will win!
Lessons I take away from day 1
I should have prepared myself by increasing my water intake significantly for the week prior to my start date.
I should have accounted for my exercise and water loss by drinking more the week before, or by breaking up my lean and green to give me some heartier food after my exercise.
I should have had my snacks prepared.
Things I encouraged myself with
I had written down Bible verses to help me combat the negative thoughts that would come my way.
I remembered my WHY statements.
I reminded myself that this is only temporary, but necessary, for what I want to achieve.
I reminded myself that others have it way worse than me, so I can overcome this.
A few weeks ago, I made the intentional decision to become healthier.
I know I am overweight, but I considered myself “average overweight”. I can still run and play ball, lift heavy weight, and enjoy some flexibility, so I can’t really be that bad.
So I thought…
While reading Truly Freed, by Robert Morris, I came to the realization that I did not have control over food, but it controlled me. I was, even as a Christian, enslaved to unhealthy food.
I thought I was good enough at controlling what/when/how much, but really, I was just making excuses for myself.
I have always believed that God has a plan for me, and that I have a responsibility to provide for my family - now and in the future.
How can I accomplish what God wants me to do if I lack discipline?
How can I coach players to pursuit excellence, which requires discipline, if I am not setting the right example?
How can I take care of my family if I am in the hospital with a severe illness caused by poor eating habits?
I could fake it till I make it on some of these things, but in all of them I would fight the internal battle of being a hypocrite.
My personal integrity would suffer.
Who am I if I have no integrity?
So, it’s time to be intentional and make a change, and realize one very important truth - the road is better together.
I could try to do it on my own, and I have once before, but there is one more hard truth I had to except: I fail on my own more than I succeed, so I need a coach to help me.
That’s why I chose this new health program and Madison Stone to help coach me through it.
Today was day 1, and I did what I was supposed to.
A big thank you to Amber for her encouragement, and for working to change our menu at home to support me along the way.
Now it’s time to practice my one word for 2022 and do this - consistently.
A couple months ago I came to the realization that, not only was I not in good health, everything I was trying to do on my own was not work...
