Editor gives inside look at shaping up

I was incredibly grateful that my recent birthday didn't involve renewing my driver's license — and not because of the lines at the Illinois Secretary of State's office. No, for me, the worst part is when the gruff guy behind the counter asks if the information is all up to date and I have two equally unpleasant choices: Lie or change the weight.

When I was issued my first license at 16 years old, I really did carry 115 pounds on my 5-foot-4-inch frame. At least until I started driving to fast-food restaurants. I changed the weight once, in the late 1990s. I figured I'd be 140 pounds for the rest of my life and would never have to confess again. It's shocking what a difference 20 years of denial can make. No exercise, an eat-whatever-I-want diet and a determined attitude that I would not be one of those women who obsessed over her weight has brought me to more than 180 pounds.

Enter Push Fitness. For the last couple of years, I've been viewing the Fittest Loser Challenge from my cubicle chair. Until now, my role as editor of the Daily Herald's Niche division has been logistics for the competition. I've handled a variety of tasks from scheduling a writer to interview the contestants and trainers, to assigning a photographer to follow their journey, to working with the copy desk to produce the front pages and special sections. But the best part by far has been meeting the contestants and hearing their stories.

For one week in January the trainers from Push and a few of us here at the Daily Herald read every entry that's submitted, narrow it down to 15 finalists to bring in for interviews, then spend 30 minutes with each of them. It's nothing short of inspiring. Thus began my fantasy of having a personal trainer of my own.

“What are you thinking?” said the voice in my head. “You haven't darkened the door of a gym in 20 years, your heart races at the top of a flight of stairs, not to mention the panting as you struggle to catch your breath.

“What are you, crazy?” the condemning voice continued.

Ultimately, the answer was yes. Go ahead and call me crazy, but that wasn't going to stop me. So, I got up the courage to ask the trainers at Push if they'd consider allowing me to participate alongside the contestants and find out firsthand what it's like to have an opportunity to change my life.

They said yes.

“Now you've done it,” the voice shouted.

And so my journey began.

First, a visit to my doctor. She was very excited for me to participate. But not until I passed a stress test. Two days later I'm waiting for my turn on the treadmill, listening to the elderly woman on the other side of the curtain. Apparently she had bypass surgery six weeks ago and the stress test will allow her to begin cardio rehab. Three minutes in she was maxed out, but she's ready for rehab. Now it's my turn. It wasn't pretty, but 12 panting, heart-pumping, sweat-poring minutes later, I beat the old lady! And my heart is good to go.

Then, a visit to Dr. Paul Mikulski, a chiropractor and nutritionist who works alongside the Push Fitness trainers to assess each contestant's physical state. He wants baseline numbers to determine our starting point. That's when I discover I'm shrinking. I'm now 5 feet 3 inches tall. What happened?!

As I struggled to absorb this shocking revelation, Dr. Paul said something about contracting muscles from lack of stretching and other factors. So now I'm not only aging and overweight, I'm shrinking.

I'm completely out of denial now, and I'm very excited to meet my trainer/savior and get started.

I can't wait to introduce you to Tony, my personal trainer. I have a personal trainer!

I'm off to the gym ...

Ÿ Gerry Alger, editor of the Daily Herald's Niche Publications, has been sitting at a desk for 25 years.