And I ran...I ran so far away.

I signed up to recieve a daily bible verse from a website a year or so ago. Those emails grew to be a little annoying. However, during those few months there were two verses that caught my eye. Both resonated with me and earned a stick pin in my cubicle wall next to my computer.

The first was Psalm 119:105:

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.

That helps me to remember that God is not only a guide to my everyday decisions (lamp to my feet), but also helping me to see how those decision affect the future (light to my path).

The second was 1 Corinthians 9:24-29:

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

At the time, I used it to motivate me at work. I was not yet diagnosed, nor was I being treated, for A.D.D. I was having an incredibly hard time concentrating at work and getting anytime accomplished. There were times where I would sit at my desk and just pray that I could get one thing done that day. This passage from 1 Corinthians spoke to my heart. I did not want to "run aimlessly" and "I beat my body and [made] it my slave" so that I could be the best I could be.

Later that year, my life changed as I sought treatment. These words morphed into something much more. They have become my rallying call. They have, to me, become literal. I want to win the prize. I do everything that I can to win the prize. Yes, it has vast spirtual implications in my life. However, it's so much more in my life.

When I made the decision to take a radical path towards improved health, my world was thrown upside down. I knew that I wanted to do this to become healthier; not to become smaller. The latter is obviously a byproduct of the former, but it is so hard to qualify in any other way, for me.

My bloodwork is great. My blood pressure is a rock-steady 120 over 72. I don't have diabetes, high cholestoral, or any of the other "comorbidities" associated with morbid obesity. What I am is overweight.

I needed something that would be my guidepost. I wanted to be able to say, "Yeah, I lost 130 pounds, but the really awesome thing is ..." beh. I didn't have anything. I prayed about it a lot. I couldn't measure "being able to squat down and play with my son." I prayed some more.

During one of my mini mind breaks at work, I was praying for guidance and looked up at the wall of my cube. There, having been pinned up a year earlier, was the passage from 1 Corinthians. In addition, I had highlighted the sentence, "Run in such a way as to get the prize."

I knew right then what I had to do: run. The one exercise that I always said I despised. I used to say, "The only reason that you'll see me running is to get away from a pit bull."

"I beat my body and make it my slave..."

All at once, I wanted to run. I don't know what it was, but I suspect it was the Holy Spirit. I found a running plan on the internet called Couch-to-5K. It's a nine-week plan that is proven to help a dedicated person run a 5K race with no previous running experience. The last time that I ran for fitness was for the 8th grade Presidential Fitness test. It took me 17 minutes to run a mile...

I am currently in the 5th week and can't believe it. Not only am I doing it, but I'm enjoying it.

I'm going to run a 5K race on the 4th of July. I'm going to run a 10K race in August. I'm going to do the Little Miami Triathlon on 10/3/10. Then, one year to the day after I started running, I'm going to run the Flying Pig Marathon.

One of my friends told me to "be realistic". "After all," he said, "there's nothing wrong with running a half marathon."

He's right; there isn't. But I'm running for a lasting crown...not something that's not "wrong." I may become injured and not meet my goal. I do have a history of knee and foot injuries. No matter what, I'm going to beat my body into submission, I'm not going to run aimlessly, and I'm going to win the prize.

"Yes, I lost 130 pounds, but you know what's really cool? I won the prize...and it's worth more than my lost weight in gold."

And I also signed my email address back up for the bible verse emails.

And we wonder what's wrong with America....The KFC Double Down Sandwich

I'm starting a new segment on my blog called, "And we wonder what's wrong with America..." I see so many thing anymore that just make me shake my head and wonder what the hell is going on.

I know that I'm a Jonny-come-lately to this party. Unfortunately, it's a pretty small party.

~~~~~~~

Let's start with KFC's newest creation:

The "Double Down" is not your average sandwich. To quote their website:

This one-of-a-kind sandwich features two thick and juicy boneless white meat chicken filets (Original Recipe® or Grilled), two pieces of bacon, two melted slices of Monterey Jack and pepper jack cheese and Colonel's Sauce.

Oh wait...they offer a grilled one. Everything's alright then. Everyone knows that grilled chicken is good for you, right?

Well, here are the nutritional facts:
Sandwich                                      Calories    Fat (g)    Sodium (mg)
KFC Original Recipe® Double Down   540            32         1380
KFC Grilled Double Down                   460            23         1430

I don't have to really talk about the calories or fat, right? We all know that's bad. The sodium, however, is the lesser-known of the three evils. It is recommended that we keep our daily sodium intake under 2400mg. Notice that the GRILLED Double Down constitutes 67% of your daily sodium intake.

It's also very small. Pair that bad boy with some potato wedges (880mg) and a corn bread muffin (240mg), and the rest of that sodium will just float around in your blood with the 45g of fat and 220mg of cholesterol. And we wonder why the leading cause of death in America is heart disease.

Doesn't look quite as good now, does it?

A perspective on "enough": Wants, Needs, and Excess.

This weekend at VCC, we were blessed to have the President and CEO of Compassion International, Wess Stafford, as our guest speaker. Read our teaching pastor's blog about it by clicking here. It was an incredibly moving story.

What struck me the most is that we were talking about how $38/month can literally change the life of a child living in poverty. It is the difference between life and death, for many of them. We've all seen these commercials and many of us view them as a nuisance. I used to...until I heard and saw on video the stories of adults who were sponsored as children and have now grown up and are working on their Masters degrees. I heard the story of a little boy who had such a low self-worth that his first letter read simply, "You can see from my picture that I am not a good-looking boy." Twenty years later, he visited his sponsor on the way back from winning a medal at the Olympics.

The part about the $38/month that struck me the most is that I am paying $160/week to lose weight because I ate to excess.

Boom.

I could sponsor 17 kids for that. At what point did our society change so that America was no longer the land of the free, but the home of the obese? Think about this: because of my "stresses" and the availability of fatty, sugary, processed foods, I was able to eat my way to 350 pounds. At the same time, over 5,000 children under the age of five die in Africa every day due to malnutrition, disease and violence, almost all of them preventable.

Talk about perspective. These children don't get clean water, let alone food. They're lucky if they eat once per day. There were times in my twenties when I would binge eat by going through a drive-thru, eating while I drive, then going through another drive-thru when I was done with the food from the first.

I won't feel guilty...I didn't know. As I got older, I knew that there was suffering, but it's easy to ignore. "They're on the other side of the globe. I don't need to worry about it." Now, as I mature in my relationship with Christ, and as a father myself, my global view is also maturing.

What we have here on earth is not our's. If I have "enough" and someone else wants, who am I do buy more and more? Now, I know that God wants to bless us and that I shouldn't sell all of my possessions and move to South Africa. However, when making a purchase from now on, I will definitely ask myself, "Is this too much?"

Also, when I'm done with my program....I'll be sponsoring a couple of children.

The Xavier Fight Song...as played on the tuba.

Bum. Bum. Bum buh bum bum bum! Bum bum bum bum, bum, bum bum bum bum. Bum, bum, bum, bum bum bum. BUM BUM BUM BUM bum buh bum bum buh da buh bum. Bum bum bum bum bum bum bum buh bum buh bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum buh bum bum bum. bum, bum, bum bum bum bum. Bum, bum, bum, bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum. BUM buh BUM buh bum BUH DUH DUH DAH buh BUM BUM BUM BUM BUM buh BUM BUM BUM BUMP!

X!!!(duguhduguhduguhduguhduguhduguh) A!!! (duguhduguhduguhduguhduguhduguh)
V!!! (duguhduguhduguhduguhduguhduguh) I! E! R!

X!!!(duguhduguhduguhduguhduguhduguh) A!!! (duguhduguhduguhduguhduguhduguh)
V!!! (duguhduguhduguhduguhduguhduguh) I! E! R!

Bum. Bum. Bum buh bum bum bum! Bum bum bum bum, bum, bum bum bum bum. Bum, bum, bum, bum bum bum. BUM BUM BUM BUM bum buh bum bum buh da buh bum. Bum bum bum bum bum bum bum buh bum buh bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum buh bum bum bum. bum, bum, bum bum bum bum. Bum, bum, bum, bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum. BUM buh BUM buh bum BUH DUH DUH DAH buh BUM BUM BUM BUM BUM buh BUM BUM BUM BUMP!

Healthcare…one man’s opinion

I was, at one time, of the same mind as the current “Tea Party” movement. I’m not of opposite mind now, just a little off-center, if you will. I think that it has become as militant and obstinate as Obama’s Change Coalition. When so many people with access to so much information rely solely on partisan news sources and diatribe-laden chain e-mails, it’s no wonder our nation is so divided right now.
There are many things about H.R.4872 that I like (and none of them involve the ridiculous politics that surround it). There are many things that I don’t like (including said politics). However, anyone that says that we don’t have a problem with the health care insurance industry is just plain misinformed, ignorant, or both.
Here’s what I like:

• No yearly or lifetime limit on benefits
• Offspring eligible until 26 on their parents’ plan
• Improved estimating and premium-determination via the Law of Large Numbers, including those with less health problems (i.e. healthy 20/30-somethings).
• Truly helps seniors by fixing some inherent and congressional-created problems with Medicare.
• Substantial and appropriate funding to fight health insurance fraud.

Here’s what I don’t like

• The piggy-backing of student loan reform.
• The executive order regarding abortion funding (I agree with it, but it’s reversible by the swipe of a pen by one individual with zero checks and balances).
• The reliance upon future congresses to enact certain items to help it reduce the deficit. This will not happen.
• The blatant disregard for pay-as-you-go in exchange for Robin Hooding the successful.

These aren’t exhaustive lists, but they hit the highlights. The first two “likes” are selfish.  One, my beautiful Aunt Maria is boxing brain cancer right now, and she’s beating the hell out of it. However, those treatments aren’t cheap. By eliminating the yearly/lifetime benefit caps, you take the handcuffs off of the doctors and let them find the best treatment for her without having to have a fundraiser every day. There is still a person cost, but there’s no wall.
Two, my brother is 21 years old and had to make a life decision this year based upon his inability to keep health insurance through my parents. This, I believe, will help him out tremendously.
As far as the dislikes go, here’s my take:
Student Loan reform should have been handled independently. It was rammed through with hardly any discussion and next to nobody realizes that the actions this past year federalize the three largest loans that an individual usually incurs:

• Home loans – the federal government backs a HUGE percentage of all mortgage securities now. Plus, we control a lot of the banks and the entire rating system.
• Car loans – two of the largest American auto manufactures now have their financing through the federally-overseen GMAC.
• Student Loans – by creating this uber lender, we have completed the trifecta of being owned by Uncle Sam

The executive order banning the use of federal funds for an abortion is a joke. How do you determine that? You won’t ever have an earmark that says “Abortion Funds.” However, there are going to be many programs that fund or support voluntary abortions of healthy fetuses getting federal money. Does this ban any money to any group that supports any facet of abortions? Absolutely not. A health-insurance company could direct private funds to abortion-related benefits and say that no federal funds go to this. It’s the same ploy used by the United Way. They say that you can direct “your” funds to a specific charity and by-pass a group like the Susan B. Komen Foundation (they do good work in some venues, but they are pro-choice). Everyone gets the same amount of money that they would; they just redirect the contributions from people that don’t earmark to the charities that received less earmarks.
I don’t think I have to say very much about building in dates for future congresses to do something. We all know it’s not going to happen. They know it’s not going to happen. But, when it doesn’t, each side can blame the other for the situation. I can’t believe that the Congressional Budget Office would release estimates based upon this kind of insanity.
I don’t make $250,000/year. I probably won’t ever make $250,000/year. So, this won’t cost me money. Right? Right? Wrong. Who invests in start ups? Who helps to fund new research? Who does this, this, this, this and this? The wealthy. I won’t go into the specifics, but rich people get very creative in ways to preserve their money. You can bet your ass that some money manager out there is going to have a shit-ton of clients when he figures out a way to shield them from this.
There’s so much left on this topic that it makes my headspin…but this is a start.
Oh…and Steve Driehaus? You are not who I thought you could be. Chabot 2010.

Pinch me…

If you read my blog, you know that I had planned on starting the Jewish Hospital-monitored Optifast 800 weigh loss program today. However, fate stepped in and offered me the opportunity of a lifetime. I will be starting the program a week from today, but read on for my (in my humble opinion) sound reasoning.

At 3:30p on Monday, March 22nd I received the following email from the president of Xavier University’s Pep Band:

Hey Guys,
    We are in need of a trombone and tuba players for Salt Lake City or for the women's round 2 game. Please let me know if you are available ASAP. Call me at 513-XXX-XXXX.

Salt Lake City: ($200...$50/day)
Leaving TOMORROW early afternoon... returning either Fri. or Sun (depending on game outcome).

Thanks, Michelle

That $50/day is a per diem, by the way, not a charge. So, I was being invited to go to Salt Lake City, UT to play with the XU Pep Band for the Xavier University Men’s Basketball team’s Sweet 16 and (hopefully) Elite 8 games.

After about 30 minutes of internal struggle about the weight loss program, I decided that I couldn’t pass this up. So, I’m currently typing this in the Starbucks inside of the Marriot – City Center in Salt Lake City, UT (or as a souvenir tee put it yesterday “SL,UT”).

We flew out of CVG on a chartered jet with the team, benefactors, and cheerleaders. That was a neat experience. There was minimal screening done and the plane was so cool. All of the seats were leather and business-class sized.

This is the plane that flew us from Cincinnati to Salt Lake City. The two people in the picture above are Joe Sunderman and Byron Larkin from 700 WLW. They are also each Xavier Basketball royalty. 

The inside of the Sun County 737. That’s Joe Sunderman’s head sticking up…he is a VERY tall man. He is also one of the nicest and most gracious people I have ever met.

Right before we landed in Salt Lake City, we were treated to an absolutely amazing view of the Wasatch Mountains.

We landed in Salt Lake City and taxied to a private terminal that was pretentiously named Million Air. After I stopped laughing my ass off, we descended the stairs-on-a-pickup truck (pretty cool), took 10 steps (no more), and got onto our charter bus from the much more aptly-named Le Bus.

I stowed my sousaphone in our private meeting room, got my stuff to my room, and went with some friends to dinner at the California Pizza Kitchen. (I had to try this place since Joe Boyd’s son recommends it so highly). The Chipotle Chicken Pizza was fantastic. So was the bread. We need one in Cincinnati.

Good night’s sleep and two hours in a Starbucks…good times. Apparently, we are headed to the Utah Olympic Park in Park City this afternoon. I’m not sold on it, so I may try to beg off and see the Temple Square and other areas. I know that I’m 30yo and can make my own decisions, but I want to respect the rules that the band has set forth…they have been very gracious.

Until next time…

Letter of Medical Necessity=A swift kick to the figs.

The degree of transparency with which I have approached this entire Free Jon project has been, well, freeing. So, with that in mind, I wanted to share the following text from my doctor's letter to my insurance company outlining the reasons why entering this program is medically necessary.

March 17, 2010

Re:         Jonathan Meyer
DOB:     5/14/79

Dear Sir or Madam:

This letter is in regards to Jonathan Meyer and in regards to medical necessity for weight loss treatment. The patient is 30 years old, he is 6'5" tall and weighs 347 pounds. This gives him a body mass index of 41.3 which qualifies him as being morbidly obese. His medical history is significant for sever sleep apnea which has been treated with CPAP for some time now. This patient has had ongoing long-term issues with his weight and has been recalcitrant to lifestyle modifications and diet modifications. Because of his severe weigh problem exercise is very difficult and challenging given shortness of breath and joint pain and his sleep apnea is ligel directly related to his morbid obesity. The patient is highly motivated to change his weight but, unfortunately, with attempts at weight loss to date he has been unsuccessful. I have recommened the patiet pursue medical weight loss management at the Jewish Hospital Weight Loss Center and he is, again, motivated and interested in pursuing this as an option. Given his morbid obesity, waiting for treatment any longer will just leave him open for severe co-morbidities including diabetes, coronary disease, osteoarthritis, hypertentions, stroke and kidney disease, as you know.

I would strongly recommend that the patient be considered for approval for insurance coverage of his morbid obesity and medical weight loss management.

Obviously, this was painful for me to read. I sat at my desk at work after opening the fax and struggled not to run to my car and drive as far away from my computer monitor as possible. Instead, I forwarded it to my health claims processor and post it here for all to see now. While I knew that I was morbidly obese, and that I went to my doctor for the express reason off asking for the diagnosis and letter, it was still incredibly hard to read. I want to say, "I'm not diabetic! There's not even any family history! I have great blood pressure!" The reality, however, is that I could be the first diabetic in my family and that it's an inevitability if I don't make some changes.

I wrote earlier that the Free* all-church journey at Vineyard Community Church (and 50 other churches in the greater Cincinnati area) has had a tremendous impact on me. This morning affirmed that even more. Our worship pastor, Charlie Hines, lead a song that spoke tremondous me to my heart:

I am free to run
I am free to dance
I am free to live for You
I am free

The reality is...I am not free to run. Not physically, at least. I can barely jog to the end of my driveway and back. Dance...again...not really. I just get so tired and suffer in pain so easily. I am free to live for God, that's for sure. I try harder and harder every day to be a "freedom fighter," as Dave Workman put it today.

I am training to be a freedom fighter. I am fighting for my life, at this point. I know that I will succeed...and finally be free.