Friday...

It's Friday, finally! In keeping with the journey to lose weight, I weighed myself this morning and my offical weight is 235 pounds. I've was around 240 pounds about a week ago. Five less, but it's common for that, as I've noticed before the motivation usually gets side-tracked by some unforseen event and I gain it back to lose it again, thus the cycle repeats. Emotional eating is a fault I've had since as far as I can remember. In doing research, it's something millions of people struggle with.

Yesterday, I began a liquid diet regiment, which so far has been awesome. I was tempted yesterday to eat some regular foods, even going so far as to stop by Trader Joe's and browse around. What really kept me from giving in was reading the nutritional labels. There's so much fat content in everything today, not to mention tons of sugar. I'm amazed a lot of my friends who don't even bother reading the labels aren't diabetic. I probably would be had I not switched to diet carbonated beverages a few years back.

I also got some quality exercise in yesterday on the elliptical. I've been avoiding eating out at restaurants and fast food joints, but I'm planning on cheating in January, when I go out to California, where the In-N-Out Burgers are. Haven't tried the Protein Wraps they have, but I'm very anxious to do so.

Thanksgiving should be interesting. I will be spending it with my family in Columbus. Oh yeah, and today marks the first day I play my clarinet for the Salvation Army again. I promise I'll leave the ski mask at home...

Thanks for all your support & encouragement!! Have a great weekend!!

Forever In Christ,

Rich Jones
www.richjonescomedy.com

Psalm 1:1-2 "Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night."

AWESTRUCK...

It's been a very awestruck couple months. I found out last month that one of my friends I was really close with in junior high died in September. I hadn't kept up with him in years, but had recently reconnected with him on facebook. He, like myself, was overweight, and I can remember him being ridiculed by others. We used to enjoy school lunch together and I remember inviting him to my church a few times. When you find out someone you once knew dies unexpectedly, it's amazing how you wish you could get back those years you lost track of them.

While I don't know all the details surrounding his death, it was made known that he had some complications from having gastric bypass surgery. He also had a hole in his throat, which I'm uncertain as to how that happened. It's another wake-up call to dedicate this journey fully to accomplishing the goal.

On a positive note, I have a big show coming up in December at the Toledo Funny Bone, which I've never been to. Hopefully, I'll get some good footage of the show to share on my website. I'm also going out to L.A. in January, hoping to make some contacts for some future projects. Also, been working on video special chronicling this journey to be healthy, which will be completed by next fall.

I got to watch the video special of Hulk Hogan on A&E last night. It was so different to see another side of this larger than life character who I grew up watching, and who inspired me to "TRAIN, SAY YOUR PRAYERS, EAT YOUR VITAMINS, & BELIEVE IN YOURSELF..." It was a side of vulnerability from the years he spent breaking his back to entertain the masses. It was a sign of frailness, as he watched his family fall apart. While, I don't desire to see anything ill come towards him or his family, it was actually nice to see the real side of who he is. It was nice to see him come clean and admit his mistakes, so he could move forward, having learned from them.

Our society often tends to put those in the media and entertainment industry on a pedestal, and when they fall, we're the first to condemn them, never realizing they are human finite beings as well. Of course if you're a Christian, then your actions are automatically attributed to the God you serve. That's probably the biggest comedy of the human life, that He gets blamed for your actions. The most awesome thing about that, is He's already taken that blame, so that we don't have to pay for it. He has taken every warrant written with our name, and the sin we committed on it, and replaced it with His own name.

There is no tomorrow, there is only today, and a shadow of what was yesterday. The shadow proves there is light. Thank you for your constant support and encouragement!!

Forever In Christ,

Rich Jones
www.richjonescomedy.com

Psalm 103:10 - "He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities."