My Story:
I had a 50 inch waist early in 2005. I don’t know exactly what I weighed when I started. People as fat as I was stay away from scales and we don’t visit doctors.  We know what we will hear–”Lose the girth”–or we will get bad news. I’m guessing I was at 375- to 400 pounds. Today, I have a 34 inch waist, weigh under 200 pounds and do triathlons. My next goal is my longest distance to date: a half IronMan. I’m working toward a whole IronMan in 2011.  I beat prostate cancer along the way in 2006. I would not have even known I had cancer that year and perhaps not even today had I not lost enough weight in the first year to decide to go to a doctor for a long-overdue physical. The desire to change my life saved it.

My Turning Point: 
I usually avoided cameras, but at a Christmas gathering in 2004, my mom wanted a picture of her and her three kids, so I endured it. When I saw that picture I was stunned. I dwarfed everyone in it and my brother was not small. I vowed that moment was the worst it would get.

My Support System: 
Early in 2005, three members of the local cycling club, the McLean County Wheelers, came to the newspaper where I work to ask my help. [I'm the outdoor editor.] I cover fishing, hunting, other outdoor activities and now endurance sports and cycling. They wanted to do a local program modeled after Bicycling magazine’s Bikes Change Lives give-away.  They were a godsend. I helped them give-away three bikes that year and tracked the progress of the people who got them as they tried to ride their way to better health. At the same time, I also bought my own bike and joined their training rides in April of that year. There I was wearing T-shirts and blue jeans riding a heavy-duty Trek hybrid with an extra strong rear wheel trying to keep up with young fit folks in spandex on road bikes. I was a sight. I cussed my way through the wind and up the hills of Central Illinois. They put up with all of it. Many admitted later they never thought I would stay. Heck, one of the guys who came to see me at the office that day told me a while ago he didn’t think I’d make it back up the stairs to the second floor of the newspaper after greeting them at the front door. But, I lived for those rides. I didn’t miss them and I rode alone on days they didn’t have them. I rode 3,500 miles that first year.

I was divorced at the time. The club was my support along with a good friend who is my editor. In late 2006, a woman who graduated high school with me in 1969 read my columns about bike riding and weight loss and emailed me for information on road bikes. She was losing weight and wanted to buy one herself.  We’d never met in high school. I invited her for coffee. We’ve been married two wonderful years. Now, she is my primary support along with my coach, Stan Watkin’s of Robbie Ventura’s VisionQuest based in the Chicago area. I was vice president of the bike club for a couple of years and many of the members are my good friends. I also joined the local Tri-Sharks triathlon club. Great folks.

More About My Journey:
Lance Armstrong and my battle with cancer helped me achieve this success. I was able to thank him for a moment at the 2007  Challenge in Austin.  Before I knew I had cancer, he made bike riding seem like so much fun. I remembered how much I enjoyed cycling as a boy as I rode my used blue and white Schwinn with over-sized tires the spring in front all over town. I encouraged that little boy inside to come out and play, and together we turned that new bike into a time machine. I was young again. I wanted that boy-mentally and vigor back. Later after I knew I had cancer, Armstrong’s strength and words of encouragement in his books helped me get through it. I developed a mental attitude that I would beat cancer by turning it into one of the most positive experiences of my life whether it took my life or not. I would force it teach me every lesson I needed to learn about myself and my spiritual growth. I heard Armstrong on a commercial speak to the camera as if he were talking to cancer.  He said, “You made me who I am.” I know exactly what he means. After that, my wife, Kathy, took center stage.  She is an incredible support. She encourages me to do my exercise every day and understands when I get home from a four hour bike ride on Sunday a little late or that supper has to be a little later than normal because I have to swim or run or do a bike workout. Without her support, I don’t know where I would be. Also, my coach Stan is a fountain of wisdom regarding cycling and nutrition.

My Secret to Success:
My first challenge to weight loss was reaching the point where I was willing to admit the problem. My second was swallowing my pride and asking for help. After that, I had only to research food programs and find one that worked. (High protein at first, then adding a moderate amount of carbs as my exercise ramped up.)

There are no shortcuts–the key words are diet and exercise. One without the other will not work. Set specific times for exercise  each day and don’t let anything interfere. As for food, develop a simple menu of fruit, vegetables and protein. Weigh in only once a week. Avoid the mental ups and downs that come with weighing every day. Do the right thing and trust you will get the right results.

My life is a team sport. No one gets to the starting line by themselves, no one crosses the finish line alone. Assemble the most positive group of people you can find from all aspects of your life and keep them in the loop.  Let them know what you are doing and share your successes. I have the original belt I had when I started. I wore it every day for three years. I would cut more holes to make it fit as I lost weight and I would show my friends when I did it. Seek out the best information you can find at places like Lifeaura.com. Join clubs. And keep negative people away. If you hear negative comments, let them go in one ear and out the other. This is about your life. Negative people have no place in it
.