BecomingANew.Me

So yesterday was a big day for me. I faced one of my biggest obsticles and conquered it! Nov 1,2007 I lost a dear friend and mentor/work out partner, John. John was a great rolemodel in almost all facets of his Christian life, he was a great father, wise counsel, great husband, and listener. What made it even more difficult was the fact he was one of my biggest supporters and workout accountability partner. To top that he died of a massive heart attack after doing our normal swim routine in the shower at the pool we swam at. I wasn't there that day, but had spoken to him previously that week. He was the chaplain for the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers, and had acheived great success in his career. You'd never know that talking with him though, he was like a father figure, and would often recount how he'd counseled various players (always keeping their anonymity) and how they'd made it through whatever was challenging them. Not making excuses but with John's...

As a weight loss yo-yoer, i've said it before, but this time I'm determined to make the changes, expect it to not be an overnight process, and stick to it. It's been a long journey up to this point, but the lessons learned are invaluable and make us who we are. I hope this can be an encouragement to others as well as an accountability tool for myself. In the past I have asked those who have been successful in losing large amounts of weight for advice or their opinion, well after receiving my last note from someone I considered to be a huge motivator, no more. They seemed dismayed that tens possibly hundreds of obese individuals would come to them for advice. My thoughts to them are if you didn't want or seek the attention of desperate people why do you seem to blog your story and trumpet every time a media outlet asks you for your story. If you don't want to carry that banner and help I gladly will, i'm not after fame or fortune, but dang it there are peopl...

I had lunch with a good friend today and looked back on my past experiences and its always amazing things look so differently after the fact. There has been so much thats happened since I launched this site, and i'll never be able to capture the roller coaster it's been. There is one key difference this time around, my wife is finally on board and ready to make the necessary changes which is huge! In our 9 years of marriage this is the first time she has said and shown she is ready to make the changes needed. Its very different having a common front and goal, and a very exciting change. It was good hearing from a outsiders point of view that when we sell ourselves short there are so many small victories that often get overlooked, which is a good point to remember on those days we feel like giving up.

Reasons I want to lose weight. 1. For me. 2. For my wife, so she doesn’t become a widow. 3. For my kids, so they don’t lose a father. 4. So I can go to the mall and buy clothes. 5. So I don’t hear little kids say under their breath to friends or family (he’s fat, gigantic, huge etc. you get the picture) 6. So I can get my private pilots license. 7. So I can walk Maggie down the aisle. (Currently 8) 8. So I can watch Drew’s high school football games. (He is currently 6) 9. So I can walk Katie down the aisle. 10.So I am not dreaded and feared walking down the airplane aisle as they (skinny people) gasp when I say I’m sitting next to them. 11.So I can sit in a resteraunt booth. 12. So I don’t worry about if the chairs in the restaurant has arms. 13. So I can go to a Mavericks game. 14. So I can go to a Cowboys game. 15.So I can go to a Rangers game. 16.So I can go to Reunion arena or the American Airlines center and not fear the width of the chairs. 17.So I can break the cycle and have m...

Sent this out today! Bedford Man Dedicated To Extreme Weight Loss To Help Local Animal Rescue In Need Bedford, Texas - April 26, 2007 - A local Bedford man has committed himself to extreme weight loss in order to help a local animal rescue organization in dire financial need. Stephen West, owner and subject of the website LessFatMorefit.com, has teamed up with the Weimaraner Rescue of North Texas (WRNT) to launch Project WE, which is designed to raise money for the WRNT in order to help the shelter pay off more than $10,000 in unexpected debt. WRNT is a not-for-profit rescue organization dedicated to helping save unwanted and mistreated Weimaraners. West is one of millions of Americans who has been categorized as morbidly obese. Weighing more than 568 pounds at his heaviest, West received a wake-up call last late last year when his obesity contributed to a blood infection that required a prolonged hospital stay followed by weeks of in-home treatment. That was just the drast...

Well its pretty rough, but I'm finally committed to throwing it out there. I hope you'll join me on this journey! Check out the player to the left :) Steve

This is the response I received from TLC this morning. Thank you for contacting Discovery Networks. We appreciate you taking the time to contact us. Suggestions from viewers are very important to us as our viewers can tell us what we can improve upon and what our audience enjoys. Viewer ideas, such as yours, help us create and improve programming. While we share viewer suggestions with our management and staff,unfortunately, due to the high volume of suggestions, we are not able to respond and follow up directly with you about the outcome of the review. For general information about our schedules and programming, please visitour website at www.discovery.com.A reply to this message is not necessary. If you have any further inquiries or comments, please contact us via our webform at http://extweb.discovery.com/ViewerRelations . Thank you again forexpressing your interest in our programming. Sincerely, BarbaraViewer Relations Discovery Networks

Recently there was a show on TLC titled " I eat 33,000 calories a day " or something like that which was about 4 super obese individuals who were basically portrayed as freaks. Granted i'll grant you they are extremely rare, but all they seemed to focus on was how much food they consumed and offered no hope or conclusion other than them eating themselves to death. I may be a bit sensative but Discovery channels only seem to focus on the negetivity and hopelessness of being obese instead of offering any solutions. The show reairs on March 7th and 8th but it prompted me to write the letter below to them. If I hear from them i'll let you know. http://tlc.discovery.com/tvlistings/episode.jsp?episode=2&cpi=55746&gid=0&channel=TLC apparently I fit your demographic because every time you have a program regarding obesity I seem to watch it. However I'd like to offer a challenge, on a recent show " A man who ate 33,000 calories " you pushed me over ...

Reasons I want to lose weight. 1. For me. 2. For my wife, so she doesn’t become a widow. 3. For my kids, so they don’t lose a father. 4. So I can go to the mall and buy clothes. 5. So I don’t hear little kids say under their breath to friends or family (he’s fat, gigantic, huge etc. you get the picture) 6. So I can get my private pilots license. 7. So I can walk Maggie down the aisle. (Currently 6) 8. So I can watch Drew’s high school football games. (He is currently 4) 9. So I can walk Katie down the aisle. 10.So I am not dreaded and feared walking down the airplane aisle as they (skinny people) gasp when I say I’m sitting next to them. 11.So I can sit in a resteraunt booth. 12. So I don’t worry about if the chairs in the restaurant has arms. 13. So I can go to a Mavericks game. 14. So I can go to a Cowboys game. 15.So I can go to a Rangers game. 16.So I can go to Reunion arena or the American Airlines center and not fear the width of the chairs. 17.So I can break the cycle and have m...

Yes it's the same one we did back in elementary school but they've got some really cool tools. Check it out. http://www.PresidentsChallenge.org LessFatMoreFit.com has started a group to take the President's Challenge together And you're invited to be part of it! Here's what you need to join the group. Group Name :LessFatMoreFit.com Group ID Number: 56429 Click here to join http:// www.PresidentsChallenge.org/login/register_individual.aspx Come on get that Gold medal you always wanted!!

WEIGHT LOSS GOALS FOR 2007 1. LOSE 10 LBS. BY 12/31/06 2. LOSE 25 TOTAL LBS. BEFORE 2/14/07 3. TAKE WEEKLY PICTURES, MONTHLY MEASUREMENTS 4. EAT ZERO FAST FOOD FOR ONE WEEK. 5. PREPARE AT LEAST THREE HOMEMADE MEALS FOR ONE WEEK. 6. PLAN GROCERY LIST/ MENU PREPERATION FOR ONE WEEK. 7. EAT WEIGHT WATCHERS/ HOMEMADE LUNCHES AT LEAST THREE TIMES FOR ONE WEEK. 8. DRINK 64 OZ. OF WATER AT LEAST 5 TIMES A WEEK FOR 1 WEEK. 9. LOG ALL FOOD FOR 5 DAYS 10. PARTICIPATE (WALK) IN 5K BEFORE 7/16/07 11. BEGIN JOGGING BEFORE 8/1/07 12. PARTICIPATE IN HOTTER THAN HELL RACE 8/25/07 13. PARTICIPATE IN TRIATHALON 9/22/07 (DENISON DASH) 14. BEGIN SWIMMING BY 1/08/07 (LEG WOUND PERMITTING) 15. BEGIN WEEKLY PODCAST BEFORE 1/15/07 16. WEIGHT LESS THAN 500 LBS BY 1/15/07 17. WEIGHT LESS THAN 450 LBS BY 5/14/07 18. WEIGHT LESS THAN 400 LBS. BY 9/10/07 19. PRODUCE AUDITION DVD FOR THE BIGGEST LOSER SEASON 5. ACCOMPLISHED GOALS 1. WEIGHT / MEASURE MYSELF. COMPLETED 12/18/06 BAYLOR REGIONAL HOSPITAL. 2. DRINK ZERO...

I got a pretty big wake up call this year at Halloween. I really started 2006 off right and was pretty consistent until I suffered a stress fracture in my foot (doctor said it was from my weight and “over doing it”) which pretty much derailed me. My wheels flew off and basically got back into my old habits because of a lack of personal drive and support from family members, I will not make excuses, nobody forced the chocolate or sodas down my throat it was a personal choice, much like I am making now, December 22, 2006. But I digress October 30th I noticed swelling and redness in my right calf which I would learn later was called cellulitous. Cellulitous is brought on by lack of circulation and due to an infection overpowering the immune system. I’m no doctor by any stretch but after a weeklong hospital stay and a month of daily IV infusions 3 X a day I knew that was it. I will not sit on my butt and surrender, I’m still recovering (from an open wound on the back of my leg from t...

So I got a ticket today for not wearing my seatbelt. Of course the reason I wasn't wearing it was because I was to fat, but that didn't appear to be a valid defense with the police officer. I'm so ready to eat better and lose the weight it starts today, I will never be the same again. Same old same old will no longer cut it!! Stay tuned!

This was me at the birth of Katherine Sue our third child. I believe if this wasn't my heaviest it was close!!

broadcast debut This is my first attempt at podcasting, please bear with me as I embark on this new journey.