Beddall knew he wanted to run outside with his children, build snowmen and push them on swing sets, but his 437-pound body made the active part of fatherhood difficult. Instead of struggling to move from the couch to the floor to work on a puzzle with his daughter, he’s training for endurance events.
When he started losing weight, he would walk for 30 minutes on a treadmill at about 2 mph. Beddall crawled beneath barbed wire, swam through ice and ran through electric shocks during the Chicago Tough Mudder in April. Nutrisystem helped Beddall knock his calorie intake from 5,000 to 2,000 per day, and he began utilizing exercise to ease stress. Marcia adapted to stocking less snack foods in the home. Jason took on much of the cooking as he looked for ways to make healthier things taste better. After three years of watching the numbers on the scale and the sizes on his clothing label decrease, Beddall has striven to maintain and enjoy his new weight. People Magazine interviewed him about his weight loss in November. […] for Beddall the contest perks and publicity could never compare to the benefits he sees for his family and his own happiness.
