I once was him...

My name is Andrew Jeff Vandenberg and I once weighed 141.6 Kilograms. This was the heaviest I've ever been. Believe it or not, in high school I weighed 85Kg. I had the body of an athlete, I was the fastest swimmer in my year level. in Year 7 I swam the 50m Butterfly in 33 seconds, 50m Freestyle in 28 seconds and could run 100m in 12.84 seconds. Every swimming carnival I would easily beat my fellow students. Then I left high school after once I had completed Year 10. I stopped all sports. Over the past 4 years I have put on 56.6Kg. That is pretty much a whole person. I remember in 2007 when I weighed 115Kg telling myself that I'll join a gym and start losing weight. In 2008 I weighed 120Kg, I told myself that if I ever got to 130Kg then I would have to join the gym because it was extremly over weight. Late 2008 I told myself that if I ever got over 140Kg I would definately join the gym. They all were false promises to myself of which I never once was going to follow through.
Being over weight is an experience in life that I would nto wish upon anyone. People look at you differently, think differently about you, treat you differently and view you differently just becuase of you weight. Most women in society say that they want a man with a great sense of humor and personality etc. I beg to differ. Most women in society do not want to date someone who is overweight. I have learnt that it doesn't matter how funny, successful, intellegent etc you are because if you are overweight then the deal is off. Sadly I have learnt that through my experiences over the past couple of years. I do acknowledge that there are a small number of women who look through the layers of skin and stare into your heart, my beautiful girlfriend is one fo those women. I do ask you all not to judge people whom are overweight because it isn't easy to lose weight. Going to the gym and eating healthy food isn't as easy as it sounds. You first have to deal with emotional hold it has on your life, being unmotivated, having to mindset to put things off and being scared of the change.
When I joined Pro Fitness, the biggest thing I was scared of was the change that was going to happen. You see when change accures, you leave something of your old ways behind. As much as I am looking forward to losing 40Kgs, I am scared of it as well. I lose my idenity as an overweight person and take up the new idenity as a healthy weight person. This is something I haven't felt In over 5 years. So I beg you, don't treat people differently because of their weight. Cheers for that.
My name is Andrew Jeff Vandenberg and started my journey of losing 40Kgs today and I already feel great.

Peace...

'Life is the art of drawing without an eraser'
John W. Gardner

Side mirror dreams...

I was driving home tonight and did something I do every time I drive, looked in the side mirror. It was weird because I saw a row of head lights which made me smile. I then thought about a scene from the first Fast and the Furious. They said that real drivers either don't look in there mirrors or that they don't have mirrors, I'm pretty sure it was one of them. If it's true, then I feel sorry for them. It's an incredible thing to see. I'm not sure what it is, but there is something about looking back and seeing what is behind you while driving. It's insane because leading up to getting my P's the hot topic of conversation about it was all about the independence I'll have. Don't get me wrong I feel independent but what has struck me most is the incredible moments I'll experienced while driving alone. Maybe if I am God welcomes me into Heaven, I could drive there, I'm sure He wouldn't mind.

I want to speak...

In 2004 I was asked to go to Tamworth to promote a Mission Trip to Mexico that was happening at the end of that year. A group of us ended up being invited to a Baptist Church. During the service one of the leaders came up to us and said that it would be great if one of us could give our testimony about our life and our Mexico experience. The guys I was with straight away encouraged me to do it. It was the first time I'd ever given my testimony ever or even spoken to such a large group of people before. 5 minutes later, I spoke from my heart about my life and Mexico, it was incredible. ever since then I've had a passion for public speaking and telling my testimony. When I was in Mexico I gave my life to God and told him to use me. God has made me realise that I have a testimony that can and has changed lives, I've seen it with my own two eyes. It's an incredible feeling knowing that you have the power to change lives and I thank Jesus for giving me the ability to stand before a crowd and speak with confidence.

The Road That Leads To Heaven,,,

Was definitely Main North Road last night. I was driving home from Marion with Explosions In The Sky playing, the window down and loving the moment I was in. I've figured out that there is something spiritual about driving at night with chilled out music playing. So it got my thinking about when I leave this Earth. If I go to Heaven, I would love to drive there during the evening with Explosions In The Sky playing.

P for Provisional

Ever since I was 16 years old, I longed to be able to drive. All of my friends and the people I worked with were getting their license except for me. I felt so embarrassed when people would ask me if I have my P's yet, even more embarrassed when they asked if I even had my L's. The truth of the matter is that I was 21 when I got my L's. I'd say about 95% of 21 year old's either have their P's or full license. The real reason why I didn't want to go for my L's was because of the sad reality that I didn't have anyone to teach me how to drive. I moved to S.A when I was 18 and didn't really have a group of friends to call upon in times on need. So getting my L's would have been a constant reminder that I live a lonely life.
3 years later I finally get my L's out of frustration of people asking me when I was going to get it. though it took me 3 months to get someone to teach me how to drive. In those three months, I have bought bought a Nissan Pulsar which I then swapped with my new housemate for his BMW 525E. I am now realising that even though I do have such a small group of friends, they are incredible people. Next week I will be doing my driving test of which I pass I will have my P's. It will one of my most proudest moments. I am going to celebrate it with a road trip to Sydney. With my soon new independence I will be able to apply a Residential Care youth work job, a position that I have wanted to do do for quite some time now.
In closing I want to thank Margaret, Josh, Erica and Luke for helping me get my hours done. Nikki for being such a loving person and for driving me to and from work. Judy, Jess and Luke for your amazing encouragement during this period. Judes, Gringos here we come!