I've always been a really hard worker. My parents raised me that way. They had me doing chores all the time when I was a child, and had me do volunteer work when I was a little older. I love my Mom and Dad, and I credit them for giving me the strength to get through everything with lots of energy.

I did very well in high school. I was on the honour roll every year, I got really good grades. You could definitely call me an overacheiver. When high school came to an end, I got into a really good school and I continued with all the hard work. I ended up in a high paying corporate job. With the job came lots of hard work and stress. I know that kind of thing isn't exactly good for your health, but I liked the job, and I needed some way to support my family.

I had never had a problem with my weight before. I was always a built guy. I played a lot of sports when I was growing up - my parents encouraged that very much. But I noticed now as I was getting older, and my responsibilities were increasing, that I wasn't taking the kind of good care of myself that I used to. My body wasn't picking up the slack anymore either. I was starting to gain weight, in a major way. And I didn't feel like I had the time to do anything about it. Over a period of 5 years that I was in that job, I gained probably about 70 pounds. I looked different, and I had less energy than I used to. My attitude had changed too, I was more bitter, and I was so stressed that I didn't even care about my body anymore. I was always in work mode.

I eventually noticed what was happening to me though. There was a point when a whole bunch of factors came together and reminded me of how big I was. My wife noticed, obviously. She was always trying to get me to eat better. It was becoming a strain on our relationship. I watched a few television shows about diet and weight loss. It seemed like something I could to if I applied myself. Then one day I saw myself reflected in a window when I was walking into the office, and it was as if for the first time I could actually see myself for what I really looked like. I didn't like what I saw. I wanted to see the muscular teenager again, or at least something closer. I've never had a problem with work ethic, but I did have a problem with dieting and exercise, because it just felt to me like something that wasn't important - like there was always something I could be doing better with my time. But, it was around this time that I fully realized that there are few better things you can do with your time than take care of yourself.

I started with exercise, because that was the thing that I felt I would be able to ease into. There was a gym on the ground floor of my office, so I started going into work early to work out. My coworkers didn't know what got into me, but they definitely noticed that I was more energetic and feeling great all day. Next I had to deal with my diet. I let my wife take care of that part. She's great, she knows a lot about nutrition and she knew what was good for me. She helped to make good healthy lunches for me to take to work, and advise me on other meals I could make for myself. I upped my intake of vegetables and fruits considerably. I ate fruit, bagels, granola, or nuts when I was hungry and needed a snack at work or wherever. I had cereal for breakfast, and simple sandwhiches and vegetables for lunch. For dinner, I would have stir-fry, or pasta, or standard meat and side dish - with smaller meat portions, and more veggies.

It wasn't easy to keep the regimen up. But whenever I got frustrated, my wife helped to support me and keep me going. I credit her with a big part of my success - I've lost over 50 pounds in the 7 months since I've begun living healthy.