Twelve years ago, CycleOps' professional triathlete Matt Lieto did not set out to be a pro athlete. He was 80 pounds overweight, had an unhealthy relationship with food, and enjoyed a non-existent relationship with exercise. In this first part of his journey, he shares with us his inspiration to get healthy, his lifestyle changes, and his new love of the skatepark.

We all have different paths in life. Some of these paths are the expected path taken for a given outcome. Some paths have detours and origins that might surprise people. My path was a different one than you might expect from a professional endurance athlete. You would assume (you know what they say about assuming) that being a gangly 6'2, 170 pound "skinny guy" pro triathlete and cyclist, I had always been athletic and that being a successful athlete was always in the cards. If you saw my last name and knew who my brother is (Chris Lieto 3x IM Champ, 2nd World Champs '09), you would then decide, that truly I have always been an athlete, and with my genes I was destined to be a successful one. Remember what I said about assumptions?

In 1998, I hopped on a plane to support my brother Chris in an event he had been training for that previous year - the Ironman World Championships in Kona. I had no idea what I was in for, or the affect it would have on my life, but a trip to Hawaii sounded like a good idea. When I watched the Ironman competition, I was captivated by these people, their passion, their focus, their determination! I had never seen so many people put there bodies through hell, and come across the other side of that finish line with a bigger smile.

Chris raced, finished well, and seemed like a different person when he crossed that line. He had pushed his body, mind, and spirit beyond anywhere he had pushed it before. That was the moment that I decided I needed to make a turn on my "path". Was I destined for this? No, I didn't believe so. I never thought my path would lead to this place, this event, or this lifestyle. My path had never shown that this was possible.

At this point in my life I weighed 250 lbs, and my biggest physical accomplishment was walking to my college classes, instead of taking the bus. I was witnessing people carry themselves over 140 miles and I was DYING trying to walk the entire mile from the hotel to the race site. I needed a drastic change. I didn't know where it would lead, but I knew I needed a new direction.

I found a few things I needed to change to start heading in that new direction. Firstly I changed my diet. I did not go on a diet, but I changed the way I ate. It was time, and I was focused and ready for change. A friend told me to eat like a King for breakfast, a Prince for lunch, and a Pauper for dinner. Which meant: eat a big healthy breakfast and a decent sized lunch, but cut back and eat a smaller dinner. This made sense to me, and I began consuming my calories when my body would use them, not when I felt I wanted them. No more big dinners and late-night snacks - that was out. Nothing from a box went into my body, meaning preservatives were out and fresh fruit and veggies and whole grains were in. Water, and lots of it, was huge. I found that a lot of the time when I was hungry, I was just thirsty, and slugging a liter of water kept me from craving a snack. So for my new path, there was always a big ol' water bottle attached.

A huge step for me was when I began to realize that I associated food with emotion. If I was depressed I would console myself with food. If I was happy and wanted to celebrate, I would treat myself with - you guessed it - food. This needed to stop. I began to recognize these moments and find better and healthier ways to deal with emotion. I truly feel this is a huge step and a general problem with how we as society look at food. Take the emotions out of eating, and use food for what it really is: fuel.

I also knew I needed an activity to burn those calories that I had sitting on me saved as fat. I pulled out my old-school Santa Cruz skate board and headed to the new skate park in town. Not the activity on the path to professional triathlon you would expect, but it was fun, and it was indeed a change, and that was what I needed. I skated 4-5 hours a day pretty much every day of the week. The difference for me this time, with this activity, compared to past attempts at losing weight and running, weights, gym, etc... was that I LOVED to skate. It was something I woke up every day wanting to do, and I had goals associated with it. Gotta learn that trick, have to drop into that bowl, must master that line. The thing that made it so effective at dropping weight was that it was a low-to-mid aerobic activity that I could sustain for long periods of time.

Without really even knowing it (well until the pants starting falling off), in 5 months I lost 8 pant sizes, 80 lbs, and gained a new enthusiasm for life. I had in 5 months completely changed the direction of where my path was headed. A path most certainly filled with health issues and continued struggles with depression, to one filled with healthy adventures and a vibrant love for life and the joy an active lifestyle brings. Now....What was I going to do with this fresh outlook on life and this new and unknown physical fitness?

Check back soon for Part 2 of Matt Lieto's story where he continues to tell the story of his journey to becoming a professional triathlete.