lose

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Don’t Lose What You Once Learned

They say once you learn something you never lose it, but you may lose some skill.

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That expression “it’s like riding a bike” is a bit of a misnomer. The expression means that once you learn how to ride a bike, you never forget how. What they don’t say is that you might lose your able to do it well.

Learning to ride a bike takes time. You have to learn how to find your balance on those two wheels. But once you have figured out how to balance yourself on a bike, you will always be able to balance yourself. 

Many people learn to ride a bike as kids, but as they get older they stop riding. Yet no matter how long it’s been since the last time they rode, once they get on a bike again, they still know how to balance themselves. 

This is true with a lot of things.

I learned to drive a standard gear shift in my 20’s, but I probably went twenty years without driving stick shift. 

I remember test driving a car that I was considering buying. It was a standard and I didn’t have any problem knowing what to do with the clutch and the shifting. 

But like that bicycle expression about not forgetting how to ride, but forgetting how to do it well, when I test drove the car, I ground the gears a bit and stalled it once. 

You might remember how to do something, but it doesn’t mean you can still do it with ease.

Last week they lifted the lockdown in our region of the province which meant I could play hockey again. 

Yes, I had to come to the arena dressed in my equipment like a 7 year old (read about that here), but at least I got to play.

It had been six or seven weeks since I had last tied up my skates and hit the ice. That’s not all that long considering some people go ten years in between bike rides … or like me, twenty years in between driving a manual transmission car. 

Six weeks is shorter than most kids’ summer break from school. 

It’s a short enough time to remember some details of the last time I skated.

But let me tell you, in that six weeks, though I didn’t forget how to put on my equip or do up my skates, I certainly lacked something out on the ice. 

My legs didn’t want to move as fast as I remembered them moving six weeks earlier. My shot didn’t seem to be as accurate as it once was. 

And I got out of breath way faster than I did less than two months ago. 

My first game back on the ice felt like I had been off for 4-6 months. 

It was not really “just like riding a bike” … unless you picture the rider weaving all over the road. 

Here’s the thing: In the past year, many or most of us have not been involved in any regular ministry or service to God. Consider getting back to serving in some capacity and, although you haven’t forgotten how to serve, it will take time and perseverance to get your serving back to the level it once was. Don’t neglect serving God.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What can you do right now to serve the Lord? Leave your comments and question below. 

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The Factors That Can Derail Your Weight Loss

Losing weight never progresses in a straight line. There are many factors that can bend that line into more of a wave. 

The factors that can derail your weight loss

In my last two posts I’ve written about my general weight loss plan (read here), and then how our food plays a role (read here). 

In this post I am going to explore other factors that play a role in how we lose weight. 

Over the years I’ve found three main factors that influence the kind of shape my weight loss takes … I mean the shape of the line. We would all love to have a weight loss line graph that heads straight diagonally downward, but who are we kidding? That’s never going to happen. We would also like to see it go down fairly quickly.  

Well, one factor that plays a part in how quickly we lose weight is age. 

I remember when I was first married and still in my twenties (29). Lily would make dinner for us, but make enough to feed a family of five. She would put the bowls of food on the table and I would dish the food onto my plate. 

After a month of that I noticed I was gaining weight. I gained about five pounds in no time. 

That might not seem like much, but up until then I could not put on weight. No matter what I did, my weight never changed. 

That sudden weight gain got me worried. I had visions of looking more and more like my dad … and I didn’t want to go in that direction. 

I told Lil to just give me one plate of food and that was it. No bowls, no seconds. In a matter of a week or two, my weight went right back down.

It was nothing to lose weight then. Now, at 64, it’s a whole other story. I can just look at the wrong foods and gain weight. 

The older you are the more persistent you will have to be at losing weight. That weight loss line is going to rise and fall and be more wavy than you want it to be. There will be days that your weight goes up even though you know you did everything right the day before … how could you gain a half a pound? 

Stay steady the older you get. Losing weight is not a sprint; it’s a long distance run. Just keep at it. 

Another factor is metabolism. It’s different for everyone and it can change as we get older. You can’t compare your weight loss with someone else’s – especially your spouse or a friend of the opposite sex. 

Women, here’s where you can cry, “It’s not fair!” 

It seems to me that generally women have a tougher time losing weight. That might seem like a curse, but it just means you have to be diligent with the plan. 

Don’t complain, or compare; just stick with it. 

When your weight loss line looks like any of the roller coasters at Canada’s Wonderland, you just have to persevere because eventually the roller coaster brings you down to street level. 

Here’s the thing: I’m talking about perseverance and, when it comes to your daily walk with God, the same applies. There may be times when you don’t seem as close to God. That’s not the time to stop meeting with Him, attending church, or worshipping Him. That’s the time to dig in and be diligent in remaining close to Him. Because if you do, you will make that break through. 

That’s Life!

Paul 

Question: What is the biggest factor you need to persevere through right now? Leave your comments and questions below.

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I’m Trying To Lose My COVID 19

Somehow COVID has caught up with me and I’m trying to lose it now. … I guess saying it that way is better than saying that I have COVID 19.

I'm trying to lose my COVID 10

Let me clarify. 

The other day when I was playing hockey, I came back to the bench exhausted and frustrated with my play. As I settled into my spot on the bench, I said “I have COVID 19”, to which another guy on the bench responded, “I’m doing better than you; I only have COVID 15.”

We were talking about how many pounds we’ve gained since the whole COVID thing started.

I remember when I was in college, there was a running joke called “the Freshman 15”. It referred to how the freshmen girls gained about that many pounds on a steady diet of cafeteria food.

Some of the guys thought it was funny; not so much the freshman girls.

For me and my 19 pounds – which is pretty close to accurate – it’s been a steady incline. 

At the beginning, there was the loss of sports available to play, coupled with a nagging knee problem that kept me from working out in my home gym.

But as time when on, and the underlying pressure to isolate continued, I really lost my motivation to stay fit. 

It was too easy to have that extra Dr. Pepper during the week – well, maybe two extra. 

And I remembered just how good a Big Turk chocolate bar tasted. 

And those Twizzler commercials looked so fun, I had to have some liquorice.

After a while I lost my motivation all together to work out at home. I found that I was more tired than normal.

And all the time my COVID went from 7 to 10 pounds. 

There were days that I was determined to get back to exercising. But when I would get home from work, I would just look at the equipment, shake my head and grab a Twizzler while I watched TV.

The more time went by, my COVID started rising to 13, then 17 pounds. 

There were a couple of T-shirts that I didn’t wear this summer because, well, they were just too tight and I didn’t want to look like a “person of Walmart”.

But now I think I’ve turned a corner and I’m trying to lose my COVID 19.

I’ve exercised every day this week and I’ve refrained (for the most part) from stuffing my face with chocolate, chips and ice cream.

As hard as it was to turn the lights on in my home gym and to sit down on my rowing machine, I did it. I did it once and that made it easier to do it again. It got easier each day.

I’m not sure what it was that got me motivated. It might have been how sluggish I’ve felt playing hockey. 

It might be a fear of my body getting out of control. And I know there was some concern for my health.

I don’t want another heart attack. 

It’s probably all these things that came together to spur me on to lose my COVID once and for all. 

Here’s the thing: Many people are confronted with the claims of Christ. Some are convinced. Yet they still fail to follow through and commit to Christ. If that is you, ask yourself, “What will it take to motivate me to place my faith in Christ and follow Him?”

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you need motivation for right now? Leave your comments and questions below.

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A Week Of Eating Out

I don’t know how single guys do it – I’d be broke and weigh about 500 pounds if I wasn’t married.  I’d never think about it though, if it wasn’t for a week like this past one.

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Reality set in Friday night. I don’t go away all that often, and Lily goes away on her own even less, but this past week we were both away … separately.

I had some meetings in the Toronto area Tuesday and Wednesday, and Lily had work meetings in Montreal Wednesday to Friday.

The hard part was figuring out our vehicle situation because number one son also needed a car for parts of the week. But once that was settled, we were all good.

… Except for the food thing.

While I was away, I was eating meals brought into our meetings and going out to restaurants. When I got home, Lily was gone so it was just eating out at restaurants for me.

Lil said something to Mike our son about checking in with Dad around dinner time and his comment was, “Ya, I guess he won’t be cooking”.

He had that right. I make a mean hot oat bran cereal in the morning, but past that my skills and desire fall pretty flat.

So over the week I had pizza twice, subs once, fajitas once, hamburgers twice, a hotdog, and of course, I had hot wings.

I almost fasted over lunch one day. I had played hockey at noon and missed lunch. I almost thought I didn’t need anything, but when I was nearing Harvey’s, I got a hankering for a hotdog.

So the craziest thing happened – the car just automatically turned into the parking lot and parked itself. It was just like one of those Ford car commercials where they let go of the steering wheel and the car takes over and parks.

I just had to go in then!

You can see that if this was a regular pattern of eating for me, my weight would skyrocket and I would be burning the strip right off my debit card.

Though I might not get that far, according to my doctor my cholesterol would soar, and my arteries would clog up like putting a drain stopper in a sink.

I have to be careful, and I’m glad that Lil’s now home and I’m getting good healthy meals … well except for tonight – it’s Saturday night and there’s a hockey game on.

You know what that means: it’s hot wings and a Dr. Pepper . . . mmm  . . .  I can feel by blood pressure on the rise just thinking about it.

I know what you’re thinking: Paul needs an intervention. But listen, it’s only one week, and I’ll be back to eating carrots, broccoli and almonds for lunches before you even get to read this.

That’s right, I’ll be back saving money and getting slim. I just have to finish off that darn candy sitting around the house from Christmas.

Here’s the thing: There are all kinds of interruptions that come into our day, our week, our life. They get us off track from taking time with God. Don’t let them permanently derail you. Don’t get down because you missed a few days. Just start today and get yourself back into the groove of taking that regular time with God. He’s waiting for you, and He’s not going to beat you up about missing some days. He’s happy to have you back spending time with Him.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What patterns do you fall into when you fall out of routine? Leave your comment below.