Summer 2012. I'm at Worlds of Fun the local theme park with my family and my son is ready to ride the Mamba which at that time was the biggest and scariest roller coaster for miles around. 

Now I love roller coaster even to this day, but as a result of poor eating and neglecting to exercise due to work and family obligations, I was as big as I was ever going to get. As a result I was running into issues most 350 pound people run into: trouble fitting into the booth at IHOP, planes were shear torture with their small seats with even less leg room, and I just could not get comfortable in bed no matter what I did.

I wasn't thinking about all that as we waited in line. I was thinking about sharing one of life's joys with my son. We waited the 30 or 40 minutes to get up to the platform. Once there we picked our lane to get the car we wanted - right in the middle. 

Finally we are next and our coaster arrived. We get in the seat, buckle up, and go to push the lap bar down. And we push, and tug and the bar would not latch. One of the kids came over wand was pushing the bar with all his might while we pulled. No was was that bar going to latch - my belly was just too big!

By this time all the other riders were buckled in and watching us struggle with the lap bar. When we'd given it our best shot, the kid told me I'd have to leave. 

That was the most unpleasant walk of my entire life. I walked off the platform so they could resume the ride. My son had to ride the Mamba without his daddy, and I had to do the walk of shame because I was too darn fat! 

I'd like to say from that point on I started eating right and exercising, but I didn't. The shame festered for a few months through the fall then Christmas. The one day I am working out and the whole thing just clicked! I got involved with an accountability group, chose and stuck to a proper eating plan, and exercised both cardio and strength. Within 15 months, my scales showed I'd lost 145 pounds!

And I lived happily ever after! Wrong again, while I was working up to run a half-marathon, I got an over use injury in my foot and tore a ligament in my quads. Then two months later on Christmas Eve, I tripped on an uneven sidewalk bloodied my face and broke my hand.

This resulted in me setting up my workstation on the couch in January 2016. I stayed on the couch pretty much the next four years working my job, watching tv, and gaining 85 pounds of the weight I lost back.

Now it's 2020. Once Covid hit I became more conscious of my health. I met up with a good mentor and got my life back on track - I got off the couch and moved back to my desk, turned off the TV, and started a weight loss program. I mind is in a much better space, but my body has a long way to go.

I've become convinced the number one most efficient way to exercise to lose weight is walking supplemented with a few full body exercises. That's it! HIIT, CrossFit, massive weight training with a $100 a week supplement expense all have their proper place. But it's walking and a sensible diet - which is unique to every one - is the way to lose.

Won't you join me for the next 10 days? If you do the steps, exercise a bit, and eat the way you know you should, I bet you'll be up to 10 lbs light ad 10x happier by the end of the challenge! Just sign up in the above form, select the package you would like - either free or $25 depending on your goals and needs, then join the Facebook group and you are good to go! ~ Reed