Worth the Weight: A Weightloss Journey to the Sky

“I have wanted to skydive for 15 years,” Jeremy says. “I have just been too fat my whole life.”

That all changed this past month. One day, a half-his-old-size Jeremy Post walked into Piedmont Skydiving and ticked off the item at the top of his bucket list. We couldn’t be prouder of his efforts–or more honored to have been part of it.

“I love doing exciting things,” Jeremy explains, “And skydiving is the pinnacle. I started looking into it when I lived in Kentucky, but I figured out really quick that I was probably never going to be at a weight where I could. I weighed more than 350 pounds at the time; I never thought I could be. In November, though, I’d had enough. I started losing weight. About two or three months in, I had a realization: I thought I might be able to actually do this thing. One day, I hit a weight that was under the limit even after I put shoes and clothes and everything else on. I booked my jump immediately.”

Peeking down at the scale and seeing that number must have been one heck of a moment. After all, when Jeremy started losing, he had a long, long way to go: ticking down from 342. That was in November. He had a lot of health problems: A type-2 diabetic, he was on 90 units of insulin a day. (He’s entirely off insulin now.) As of today, Jeremy has lost 125 pounds.

“I figured I would be a lot more scared than I was, especially right before the jump,” he grins. “Of course I was a little bit scared. I think that’s probably natural. But I wasn’t terrified. I was just excited. I have always wanted to do this.”

“The folks at Piedmont are great,” he continues. “Everything was really casual, but you don’t get any feeling of it not being safe. In fact, it was incredible. Absolutely exhilarating.”

Considering the landmark nature of the jump, it’s no surprise that Jeremy made sure to get the proof. “I have a few friends that have jumped multiple times, and they all told me how much they regretted not getting pictures and video the first time they went,” he explains, “So I sprung for that.”

Jeremy’s hard-won skydive did not disappoint. In fact, he walked right back to manifest and booked another jump.

Jeremy’s path to the airplane door started one morning when he was getting ready for work with his wife.

“In fact, at least initially, it was kind of her idea,” Jeremy explains. “I looked at her that morning and said, I’m going to be dead by the time I am 40 if I don’t do something. It wasn’t our first rodeo with this. We had both exercised before: myself, with minimal weight loss; her, quite a bit.  So we went right out and got a treadmill, a rower and a Bowflex Max trainer. The first day, I could do 15 minutes before I had to stop and catch my breath. Now, I’m training for my first half-marathon.”

“I’ve had no surgeries,” he continues. “I’m eating less; I’m moving more. I’m doing a lot of running these days to train for the races, and I cross-train. I count calories religiously. I set reasonable goals–but including big, fun goals–like my skydive–really made a difference.”

Jeremy’s excellent strategies are the backbone of the maintenance of his new healthy physique. For him, it’s all about consistency. “There are going to be days where you don’t feel like getting on that rower, and that’s okay,” he insists, “But don’t falter. Your body will do much more, much faster than you believe it will.

“I work out at the end of the day,” he continues. “Some people like doing it at the beginning of the day. I do it at the end because I don’t like getting up any earlier than I have to.  I am a morning person, but I am not a 5:30 in the morning person. I am a 6:45 in the morning person. I work out after work, and it is amazing how much better I feel after I have worked out at the end of the day. It actually provides a pick-me-up.”

“The day after I went skydiving, I was absolutely drained,” Jeremy laughs. “I told my buddy at work that I was thinking about skipping my workout, but I went home and I ran my fastest 5K ever. I felt amazing.”

That behavior is pretty typical of Jeremy–once he sets his mind to something, he’s legendarily unstoppable.

“Once I realized the goal was in sight and I could do it, it was on,” Jeremy enthuses. “I told people I was going to do it, and they told me I was crazy. They didn’t believe me, then I lost the weight and I went and did it. But that’s the kind of person I am, you know. I said, ‘I told you I was going to. Don’t you know me better than that? If I say I am going to do some s#$t, I do some s#$t.’”

These days, predictably, Jeremy is on a roll. He has a half-marathon coming up in November in Vegas, which he’s running that for Saint Jude Hospital. So far, he has raised $1,200 dollars for them, which is above and beyond what he needed to raise to go into it. (He’d be stoked if you’d consider donating as well. Click here to help out.)

“St. Jude is a fantastic charity,” Jeremy explains. “No kid and no family has to pay a dime for treatment or anything there. It’s a secular charity, which means a lot to me. They don’t have CEOs with million-dollar salaries. They really put their money where their mouth is. I will be honest with you–it would have been a whole lot easier to pay the $120 entry fee than it would be to work hard on all this fundraising. I’ve been selling barbecue and–ironically–cinnamon rolls, of which I don’t get to eat any.” He giggles.

Eventually, Jeremy wants to see what he looks like at a weight under 200 pounds. He’s already close: 217, as of today. “This is as small as I have ever been,” Jeremy says. “I can’t even remember being this little. When I was playing little league football at 12 years old, I was weighing in at 230 or 240.”

“If you have got something you want to do,” Jeremy says, “Put your mind to it and do it. If I can do this–and I have been fat my whole life–anybody can. Go jump out of a plane. It is the best thing I have ever done. Live your life and do the things you want to do.”