I graduated from high school in 1989 from a small school in Lake Oswego, OR. At that time, I was healthy and athletic. When I started at junior college, I tried out for the football team and joined the group that earned number one junior college team that year. My daily fitness regime was very strenuous and at that time I never imagined being obese or living a life as overweight. As I went through college, I maintained a healthy weight of 180 pounds.

I completed junior college and then went on to Brigham Young University in Provo, UT. I decided not to continue with football but remained active with weight lifting, tennis, and skiing. I also really enjoyed running. My last year at college I was running 3-5 miles a day during the week and anywhere from 10-12 miles on the weekends.

That was when things changed; I proposed to my wife and married her in June after graduating. I was accepted into Podiatric medical school and had to move away from my family to Hayward, CA. It was a very stressful time and the demands of school took their toll on my ability to keep up my fitness. This is when I started to gain weight and hit the 250 mark for the first time.

By the time I completed Podiatric school and my residency, I had three small children and it was hard to do all the things that I wanted to do with them. There were just some things that I knew would make me look silly because of my size. This led to more self-doubt and the feeling that I was letting my wife down. She had married a young fit man but that is not who I was anymore. I was twice the man that she expected and not in the right ways.

My career took off and we moved a few more times. Each move added more pounds to the scale. In December 2012I tipped the scales at 370. During a vacation home, I was spending time with my sister who works with athletes every day. Our conversations made me realize that I needed to change my lifestyle, eating habits and fitness level because if I didn't, I could be shortening my life span tremendously.

My friend Rem Jackson gave me a book called the Slight Edge by Jeff Olson, which has led to a change in my philosophy in how to achieve success in all aspects of my life but most importantly my weight. This is how I decided to make 2013 MY year!

I made the goal to lose 150 pounds and run a half marathon. On January 1st, I weighed 369 pounds. I lost 60 pounds by June and was steadily working on daily workouts.

On June 8th, 2013 I completed a half marathon. The last time I ran a half marathon was in 1996 and my time was 1:48. The time was meaningless this time, but I FINISHED AND RAN THE WHOLE RACE. I hurt all over but I am so excited for the future and the changes I am making in my life. My next big challenge is the Big Cottonwood half marathon in September (2013). It will require hard work and dedication but I cannot wait for it.

Update: Jason completed the Big Cottonwood Half Marathon on September 14, 2013 and continues his journey back to health. Help us show Jason our ongoing support!