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This blog post is dedicated to any person who has ever thought, “I’ll never lose weight; I have too far to go.”

A year ago today, I made the toughest decision of my life – to pick up an old dream, dust it off and somehow make it a reality. Just a month and a half before June 27, 2010, I had celebrated my 50th birthday. It’s a profound time in one’s life; arriving at that half-century mark compels one to look back on the first half and contemplate any regrets. I had two: I’d never devoted all my energy and effort toward resolving my weight issue and I’d never fulfilled a dream I’d held close to my vest since 1978 – to qualify for the Boston Marathon.

Second chances aren’t as plentiful later in life and I knew this decision had to be “now or never.” Dying with the knowledge that I’d never given my full focus toward achieving either of those goals was not an option, so it had to be NOW. I spent two weeks prior to that day, considering everything required to make those two dreams a reality; and I calculated those requirements to be many. By June 27, my commitment and determination peaked at 100 percent.

At that decisive moment, I phoned an old friend to see if he, being a world-class runner, thought it possible to lose 80 pounds in eight months and qualify for Boston at the Austin Livestrong Marathon in February 2011. Bless his heart, for saying yes, even though he strongly encouraged me to give it 12 to 18 months; he knew it was possible but not likely in that time frame. I later learned that he’d said yes because he knew me well enough to know once I’d heard the word “no,” I’d have taken one of two actions:

A. Continued perfecting the art of weight gain

B. Told him where to go, then starved and run myself right into the hospital

I’m still amazed at his wisdom in deciding to say the best thing for me at the time.

Then and Now

When you make a wholesale commitment to yourself, life changes quickly. Though I’d hit my heaviest two years earlier at 243 pounds, I began this life-changing journey at 217. Today, my ultimate goal of 135 pounds still eludes me but I’m delighted that 54 pounds have been whittled away (88 since my heaviest). A year ago, I wore sizes 16 to 18. Today, I wear clothes that range in size from 6 to 8.

None of the dietary changes came easy. I knew instinctively that eating just one cookie would put me on the wrong side of the weight loss and running equation. So I instantly gave up all sweets and followed a high protein diet. Within three months, I’d dropped 25-30 pounds. That immediate weight loss propelled me forward, even though I knew the weight loss would eventually decrease. When frustration set in over the lack of downward movement in the scale, I gave into the relentless prodding of my coach to try a toxic cleanse; that helped me drop another ten pounds.

Now, I follow a well-balanced diet suggested by my Applied Kinesiologist Dr. Robert Blaich. I also log everything into the LoseIt app, which gives me perspective on food and what some colleagues would consider an unhealthy obsession with caloric content. Yet, I’m happy where I am now and wouldn’t shed another pound, if it weren’t for my unquenchable desire to be faster and lighter on my feet.

At my heaviest, I could jog at a pace of 14 to 15 minutes per mile. But to qualify for Boston at my age, I needed to run 9:18 per mile for all 26.2 miles, so that became my goal. I trained hard, but arrived at the Austin Livestrong Marathon with an injured hip and fell far short of that goal. However, I crossed the finish line with pride in never having had walked along the way, though in the last few miles, I listed to the right like a boat taking on water and would consider it more of a “limping run.”

Now that my hip has healed, I’m back training again and have recently completed a 5K, 10K and half-marathon. Yet, I haven’t lost sight of the original goal and will make a second attempt at a Boston qualifying time at the end of 2011.

Changing the Obesity Rate

If you struggle with your weight, you may wonder if anything will ever work, motivate you, or alter the health consequences that will surely arise with carrying extra pounds. From my recent experience, the answer is a resounding “yes,” but as overweight adults, we must wage war against flab on three fronts:

• An inside battle to eat the right foods in the right amounts
• A private conflict against our intrinsic “couch potato” inclinations
• An internal assault upon self-deprecating thoughts

In the past, self-esteem issues often inflicted the most devastating blows to my weight loss efforts. Yet this time, something was different. This time, someone outside of my immediate family stood by without judgment, always willing to believe in me when I could barely believe in myself. If I had to attribute only one thing to my recent success, it would be that.

Your Call to ACTION

If you live a healthy life, but want to make a difference in this obesity epidemic, then I would ask you to to do one thing – go believe in somebody. Let them know you believe they can do it without judgment or reservation. Your belief will make a monumental difference, quite possibly transforming a person and saving a life.

And, if you are one of the many who want to lose weight, please know that you you don’t have to run a marathon for that to happen. In fact, I’d strongly recommend you not, as it can skew your weight loss results and frankly, it hurts. I choose to run, because I love to run and welcome the challenge long-distance running provides; not everyone feels as passionate about running and that’s okay.

However one fact cannot be avoided, if you want to be successful with weight loss endeavors. You must believe in yourself; believe that you are worthy of all the good that life has to offer, and more. And if you can’t believe in yourself, know that I believe in you. Without a single doubt in my mind, I know you absolutely have what it takes to succeed.