Inspiration

Rang in the new year with a pretty nasty chest cold that has had me sidelined and crazy bored this entire year (read: four days), so I spent a lot of the weekend trying to catch up on a lot of the reading I've been pushing to the side during the holidays. Part of that process included flipping through the latest issue of Bicycling magazine, and I happened to stumble upon this article, which is a great story about one man overcoming a lifetime of obesity.

If you've never heard of Scott Cutshall, here's the rundown: A lifetime of inactivity and reckless eating saw him hit a peak weight of 501 pounds. He was so heavy, he could barely move. He rarely left his house and doctors told him he was at risk of imminent death. His experience of life was confined to staring out his window, until one day he saw a cyclist ride by. That set in motion a chain of events in which he made the types of wholesale lifestyle change I've been writing about, and he ended up losing 330 pounds.

I suppose I was attracted to this story because, even though his circumstances were far more extreme, I can see parallels to my own life: Gradual weight gain, health issues prompting a decision to change, cycling as a primary form of exercise, a reliance on old-fashioned diet and exercise. Of course, I've only lost 45 pounds (and counting!), but it's good to see that the same type of regimen I've been preaching about has been successful for someone in far worse shape.

And that is why I'm sharing the article with you. Even if you have yet to begin the journey toward a healthier life, here is proof that it can work, even for someone who had been told that weight loss would be impossible without surgery.

These are the types of stories with which you need to populate your consciousness. Forget about all the failed diets and miracle drugs in your past. Focus on the people who have found true success in the simple equation of doing more and eating less (and better). And then realize that you are the next success story waiting to happen. It can be done. In Scott Cutshall's case, it was done with a vengeance.