See Jane Climb

Book excerpt: I don't remember most of the conversation, but I do recall my younger brother Mark calling me in November 2007 to tell me about his latest stair climbing conquest, the Sears Tower (now Willis Tower) in Chicago. At some point during the call, he suggested that I should participate in an upcoming stair climb at the AON building in Los Angeles the following April. I remember replying, ?Why would I want to do that? He said he was helping recruit climbers since it was a brand-new climb that would raise money for a charity. I said I'd think about it.Mark made sure that I did the climb. There was no way I could ever have imagined how big a step I was taking when I set foot in the stairwell that day. It was the first of 1,393 steps I took to the top of a sixty-two-story building, and those steps changed my life forever. I was fifty-one years old, five feet four-and-three-quarters inches tall, and weighed well over 220 pounds at the time. In the two years following, I lost eighty pounds without ever setting foot in a gym, without eating special ?diet? foods or spending money on supplements, without investing in anything other than my time and a good pair of running shoes. In doing so, I found true freedom. I changed my life by eating less and exercising more?I lost fifty pounds in eight months, and over eighty pounds in two years. By following the same basic eating plan and staying active, I continue to maintain a healthy weight.