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One of the questions asked of me frequently concerningmy dramatic weight loss is “what made you decide to dothat?” After living 30 years of averaging a weight ofabout 300 pounds, it is understandable that people arecurious. What makes a person change? I can only tellwhat happened to me. It happened on July 16, 2009. I callthat the day that changed my life. Of course, severalevents led up to this day.In March 2009, we went on our annual family cruise. Ifyou have ever been on a cruise you know that there is noshortage of good food. I always gain weight on a cruise.It is expected. When we got home from the cruise, myweight was 302. It was time to go on another diet. I didmy routine low-carb diet and began to drop weight justlike I always did. The first few pounds are always thefastest to come off. This was no exception. Over theSpring, I lost 15 pounds. That was par for the course. Iwasn't excited about it but was losing back to the upper280s which was lower than my average weight over thelast 30 years. Not too bad.On July 14, 2009, I had my annual physical. I have beenvery faithful getting annual physicals. I am a believer init. On this day, I was feeling pretty good because myweight was down a bit. My regular doctor had taken adifferent position and was no longer at the office so I hada new doctor. Dr. Brown did my physical that day. Afterthe exam, he questioned me about my life and my weightgoals. I told him my story of being overweight all my lifeand how I would like to lose weight. I was saying what Ithink he wanted to hear. He asked me “what weight goalwould you like to reach?” I told him 250 sounded good. Ihad to say something and randomly picked 250. He toldme that was a great goal and that I could live a long,healthy life at that weight if I took care of myself. Thatmade me feel good except for one thing. I hadn't been250 in over 30 years. It was almost an unrealistic dreambut I went along and we continued to talk. At this point,he made “the” statement. It was one of those statementsthat clicked with me and I give it the credit for being thebeginning of my wakeup call. Dr. Brown said “youknow......the first symptom of a heart attack is a heartattack.” I heard bells and whistles go off in my head. Idon't remember anything he said after that. It was one ofthose “wow” moments. It may not be that way for you,but for me, it nailed me. That statement stuck with meand still does to this day.I think another reason Dr. Brown's statement hit homewith me was the realization that I am not young anymore.My Dad passed away at age 53 and I was 54. This is thereal deal. My wife and children never knew my Dad.They would have loved him. He would have loved them.He didn't take care of himself. Is this what I want for me?I want to be alive to enjoy my grandchildren. This isserious. I had to do something.I was introduced to the great motivational speaker, JimRohn, through Success Magazine. In each SuccessMagazine, there is a CD with various speakers. Myfavorite was Jim Rohn. If you are not familiar with JimRohn's work, do yourself a favor and research him. Hiswebsite is www.jimrohn.com.What a wonderful man hewas. On July 16, I began to listen to one of the clips onthe Success Magazine CD. It was Jim Rohn talking aboutliving the day that changes your life. Can I change mylife? I had to change my life.Mr. Rohn talked about the greatest day of your life is theday you have “had it.” It is the day you realize that youare totally disgusted with your life. Along with thestatement Dr. Brown made, still resonating with me andrealizing I am older than my Dad when he died, Jim Rohnhad just messed with my emotions. This was it. I lost it. Ibegan to cry and yell at myself for being fat. I hit rockbottom and spent the whole day reflecting on the disgust Ihad with myself.I was mad at me. How did I allow myself to get this way?I began to go through all of the excuses. None of themwere valid. Then I screamed “I am done.” I hit a level ofdisgust that caused me to make a decision. “I am nevergoing to be fat again,” I screamed. I am done with losing30 pounds and gaining 35. I am tired of it. I am sick of it.By the end of July 16, 2009, I was a changed man. Ihadn't lost one pound yet but I was never going to be fatagain. I had decided. I felt a burden lift. It was almost aspiritual experience. Maybe it was a spiritual experience.I discovered Mark 12:30-31. I am going to love God withall my heart, soul, mind and strength. All My Strength.I lived the day that changed my life. It was July 16, 2009.I will never forget that day. Can one day of an emotionalexperience really be the catalyst for a changed life? Ihave lost weight before. I am an expert at it. What is

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