Before I was diagnosed with cancer, a couple of years ago, I was pretty active. With several surgeries, a thyroid out of whack and a sedentary lifestyle, I've gained a substantial amount of weight. I'd wanted to join an exercise club for some time, but they are so expensive. Finally, I decided that club dues would be cheaper than a heart attack, so the day after my 39^th birthday, we broke down and signed up.

I began noticing a need to do something when Susan kept shrinking my clothes. Either she is a part of a conspiracy with the garment industry that keeps putting the XL tags on smaller clothes or I was getting fatter. I asked my kids the other day if I looked fat in the clothes I was wearing. Their reply? "Of course you do daddy. You are fat."

Awareness of the need to lose weight was the first step, but the next step was even harder--I had to get motivated to make the necessary changes. Turning 39 did that. We figured out the logistics, developed a plan and got with it.

It strikes me that awareness, motivation, planning, and implementation are the same processes we use to grow in other areas of our life. From spending more time with the kids to becoming an evangelistic Christian we go through these steps. The only other trait that is needed is faithfulness.

The first day, before my workout, I stepped on the scale. It groaned. This morning, after my work out, I got on the scale again. It showed I lost 30 pounds. Though I like the idea of losing 30 pounds, I reported the faulty scale to the management. The trainer said, "You lost 30 pounds in two weeks, that's not healthy." "No," I said, "I didn't lose that much weight, your scale is wrong." "Oh," he smiled. "We'll see about fixing the scale, but keep at it and you will lose that weight." As I walked out the door to come to work, I thought to myself. "Yes, I will."