Name: Bernie Isacovici
Age: 40
Occupation: Lawyer
Hometown: Libertyville, Illinois

Start Weight: 240 pounds
End Weight: 170 pounds
Time Running: 8 years

I was never active as a kid, and I really had no desire to participate in any activities that required walking, let alone running. Around 10 or 11 years old, I became insecure about my appearance and weight. I was teased and that had something to do with my struggle. In my teen years, my weight fluctuated, but it was in my 20s that I just stopped paying attention to my health.

During my final year of college in 2000, I lost control of my diet, consuming a 12 pack of Mountain Dew every day. The following year, I was in my first year of law school in San Diego. Due to the high levels of stress and being on a very tight budget, fast food was my go to diet. I would stuff myself with burritos from the local taco stand, and my Mountain Dew addiction became a Diet Mountain Dew addiction because I thought that was better.

I had no idea what these habits were doing to my body, but before I knew it, I was wearing XXL-size clothing. I reached heaviest in late 2001, when I weighed in at 240 pounds. That lasted until about 2009, when I lost 20 pounds due to stress. Still, I knew I had to make a serious effort to lose weight in a healthy way when my wife became pregnant.

My daughter was due in early 2010. I remember being in a grocery store and feeling like all of a sudden the shelves were going to fall on me. My blood pressure was 180/108. The next day, my doctor put me on blood pressure and cholesterol medications among others. I thought to myself, “I am 31 years old, and taking all these pills. I need to do something.”

Then, my legal intern challenged me to run a half marathon. Motherhood Changed Tina Muir’s Approach to Running Rock ’n’ Roll half marathon in Chicago. I told him, “You’re on.” I did not know what I was getting myself into, but I knew I needed to change my lifestyle.

Training for that race was essentially pushing myself through four-mile runs, which is the farthest I went before the race. I had no real plan at the time, and I wish I had guidance. I relied on the Nike app and YouTube videos. But I showed up on race day. My goal was to cross the line, and I did in 2 hours, 45 minutes. I felt amazing at this finish, and knew that I needed to keep running.

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Other Hearst Subscriptions. I felt young and invincible again. I started running more and became more informed about the sport. I added greater distance to my runs, and I joined the Run to Lose in the Northern suburbs of Chicago.

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What was also great was how quick my weight loss was. I lost 20 pounds in the first year, and by 2012, I was down to 170, where I have kept my weight since.

Speaking of how I feel, I feel like myself now. After the half marathon in 2009, I decided to stop eating all meat except for fish. Meat was most of my diet before then.

My diet now consists of vegetables, complex carbs, and fish a few times per week. I still maintain a relatively plant-based diet, except for the occasional wild-caught salmon or sushi. Instead of a double cheeseburger for lunch, I now have a spinach salad with avocado, or, of course, sushi. The smell of fast food restaurants now makes me sick, as it brings back memories of how I felt.

Multiple Sclerosis Won’t Stop This Ultramarathoner. I hear many people in their 60s say that they are old, but I also hear others in their 80s saying that age is just a number. I have regained my life. I do feel like I lost a lot by being so unhealthy in my 20s, but I am making up for that now.

My journey is still ongoing today. I achieved my goal of running 20 marathons before my 40th birthday this past November, and I am on to my goal of 50 marathons before 50. I have my next race this weekend at the Miami Marathon. I’ll be running with a friend I’ve known since pre-school. He once asked me to run two-miles with him in the park when we were about 10. At the time, I was embarrassed and defeated. Now, we’re getting ready to do 26.2 together.

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