At Thanksgiving last year, RJ Kost didn’t feel very well.

Concerned that he felt light-headed and was having a hard time catching his breath, Kost went to the doctor, who referred him to a cardiologist. He then went to Billings for further testing.

“My heart was fine; everything was fine,” Kost said. “The bottom line in my mind was — it was just a good way for the good Lord to say, ‘What way do you want to go the rest of your life?’”

Kost was 62 years old at the time and decided to get serious about exercising and eating better.

“Reality hit,” he said. “I’ve been in athletics all my life; I played college sports and yet, I allowed myself to get into a condition that I didn’t like. It wasn’t good for me.”

Instead of just telling himself that he would start losing weight, Kost told his family, doctor and coworkers.

“I publicly put it out there as a challenge to myself,” he said. “The first thing you want to do is not lose face of what you’ve said you’re going to do.”

Kost had started exercising 30 minutes each weekday last fall, and he made a commitment that he wasn’t going to miss those morning workouts.

“I decided it was time to get very serious,” Kost said. “My workouts continued, but I started working out six days a week instead of five, and the sixth day was usually an hour to 75 or 80 minutes.”

His wife, Caroline, works out with him in the mornings starting at 4:45 a.m.

“Do I like running? I hate it with a passion,” Kost said. “Do I like the treadmill and elliptical? I hate them with a passion. But as soon as you’re done, there’s a sense of accomplishment there that really helps.”

‘A total different mindset’

Kost closely watches the scale. Every day except Sunday, he steps on the scale and holds himself accountable.

“I have lost 110 pounds, and as I started out, the entire focus was watching that go down,” Kost said.

Along the way, he hit plateaus.

“At about 275 (pounds), it was about two weeks before I could get down below that — it was forever. At about 250, it was another two-week period where I could not get under it. It was so frustrating,” he said. “You have to weather the storm and just keep on and understand it’s just kind of the way it is.”

Recently, Kost has stayed under his target of 220-225 pounds.

“It has been a transformation,” he said. “I’ve gone through weight drops before, but the difference this time is a total different mindset.”

In addition to exercising, Kost completely revamped his diet.

Though he gave up soft drinks seven years ago, “that’s not enough if you really want to change,” he said.

“For me, I needed to change my portions of food; I needed to change my thinking about food,” Kost said.

He cut out sweets and as many carbs as possible.

“As of Thanksgiving this year, I have not had any bread for a whole year, and I’ve had very little pasta or potatoes,” Kost said.

In the past year, he’s had one small sliver of chocolate pie.

“Other than that, I’ve stayed away from sweets,” he said.

He started eating more healthy foods; salad is a staple at his lunches and dinners.

“I refused to go to diet salad dressings,” but Kost is cautious with how much dressing he uses, he said.

When he wants a snack, he chooses fruit, yogurt or nuts, such as almonds or peanuts. His lunches usually include salad with jerky or some cheese.

Kost made the commitment to eat better during the holidays last year — a time when people tend to eat more desserts, candies and fancy foods.

“Even though holidays are a time where it’s extremely difficult, at the same time, I think it’s extremely important that you stay aware of what your focus is,” he said.

Kost told his family and coworkers to continue eating as they would: “Don’t say we can’t have this or that because of him.”

“It’s not fair to try to adjust everything around me,” he said. “It’s my responsibility to do the things I need to do for my health, and not expect everyone else to do it.”

Kost said he’s had great support from his family, friends and co-workers.

He works as the curriculum coordinator for the Powell school district. Last year, he made a pact with Betsy Sell, who worked for the Cody school district, to text each other after they finish their workouts each day.

“Every morning I can count on her,” he said.

For over a year, they have texted about their daily exercises, even when one of them is traveling.

He said Caroline and Sell “have been my best anchors.” Support and accountability are important, Kost said.

“Caroline has been there all the time for me,” he said, adding she’s “the most important driving help for me to be where I am and to keep it going.”

‘You’re RJ?’

When Kost went to vote in August, he said hello to someone he’s known for years.

“When I got up close, she said, ‘Oh my gosh! You’re RJ? I had no clue who you were,’” Kost said. “I’ve had a number of people do that. I’ve had people stand beside me in the grocery store or somewhere, and they’ll go, ‘I didn’t recognize that was you!’”

While Kost was in Casper at his grandson’s football practice, his brother-in-law walked right by him.

“It was probably 10 minutes before he realized, ‘That’s RJ,’” he said.

Kost said it’s definitely been a change.

“I’ve had to go through two sets of clothes,” he said.

He notices other differences, too — like being able to run faster and for longer periods of time.

Kost said it’s not that he felt bad when he was heavier, “but I didn’t know how much better I could feel when I was lighter.”

Over the past year, Kost has carefully monitored his blood pressure, which “went way down, to where it’s excellent,” he said.

Every night, Kost enjoys relaxing in a sauna, which is good for mental therapy.

“Taking the sauna allows you to release that stress,” he said.

While exercise and diet changes worked for him, Kost said there are so many different variables for people, such as health issues.

“Do I recommend what I did for everybody? For heaven’s sakes, no,” Kost said. “I think being an athlete at one time in my life and being in fairly decent shape a long time ago made a difference in my ability to lose weight.”

Kost said it’s important not to compare yourself to others or look at pictures in the newspaper or a magazine and say, “That’s what I need to look like.”

“You have to be comfortable with yourself,” he said. “If you can’t be comfortable with yourself, then what do you need to change? Really for me, it was the weight. I was embarrassed about the situation, that I had allowed myself to get into a condition that I personally am not OK with for me.”

As he gets closer to retiring, Kost said he wanted to give his body the best chance of enjoying retirement.

Since Thanksgiving last year, it’s been an entire lifestyle change, he said.

“I never had to lose this much, and I never put the stakes out as far as I put them out,” he said. “Now that I have things where I want them to be, I don’t want to go back, and I won’t go back.”