Ron Allison, 38, is a Financial Manager from Ohio. He has been married to his wife Chrissie for almost 14 years and they have 3 wonderful children: Kaidlyn, Beckham and Gabe. Ron is an avid runner and workout enthusiast, however, his love for exercising has not been a lifelong affair. Ron struggled with obesity for over 30 years, but now is in the best shape of his life.

Growing up, Ron never let his weight stop him from doing the things he wanted. He played soccer and had a busy social life. However, the combination of being overweight and having a great self-esteem was a recipe for disaster because he never saw a need to change his eating habits. Ron was raised in a family where you ate what you wanted and most of his family was obese. When Ron was only 4 years old his parents divorced and both he and his brother went to live with their father. As a result of living full time with his dad, they became very close.

Ron’s father had an abdominal hernia most of his life. He had surgery on it twice.  Despite the fact that he was active, he continued to have weight issues and the hernia kept returning. Over the last 15 years, once a year it would hospitalize him. They would tell him that surgery was too risky and put him on a liquid diet and pain medicine for about a week and send him home.  About 7 years ago, Ron got the yearly routine call that his dad was going to the ER. However, this time was different because after about 3 days of being hospitalized, Ron’s father became septic and fought for his life for the next 2 weeks.  He ended up going to a rehab for 3 months and then home where he returned to a semi- normal life. Two years later, Ron got another call where he found out his father was going to the ER again for his hernia. Ron met his dad at the hospital and after a few days the doctors said he has to have immediate surgery. After 2 days in the operating room and 101 days admitted in the ICU, Ron’s father passed away at the age of 53 years old due to Sepsis. 

About after a year after his father’s passing, Ron’s wife sat down with him and urged Ron to talk to their family doctor about being depressed. Ron did not believe he was suffering from any sort of melancholia, but much to his wife’s relief, he made an appointment. It turned out the doctor agreed with Ron’s wife and put Ron on anti-depressants and blood pressure medication.  Every appointment Ron previously had with this doctor had been a bargaining session about how he would start watching what he ate and how she would wait to start cholesterol medicine until his next visit.  So it was at this appointment he decided that he would take action and do something about his weight. However, flash forward a year later and he had still not changed his eating habits. In fact, he gained 24 lbs. during those first two years after his father passed. 

It wasn’t until December 11, 2013, that Ron made a decision that would impact his whole life. It was 1 o’clock in the morning and Ron was talking to a friend about the passing of an infant cousin. At the time, Ron had been volunteering as a youth pastor for his church and he and his friend were discussing life and God’s plans. It was during this conversation Ron started looking at his own and life and life choices; he realized his health was a nightmare.  He was weighing in at 321 lbs. and only gaining more weight.  It was here he made a deal with himself and God. Ron vowed to get healthy. He made an appointment with his family doctor and they developed a plan. It was important to Ron that he lost the weight without any surgery or a fad diet. If it was a diet, it wouldn’t stick. 

Ron’s 2014 goals on his new health plan were to lose 100 lbs. and run a 5k by making healthier eating choices and exercising. Ron ran his first 5K in September of 2014 at 223 lbs. and lost a total of 121 lbs. that year. After running his first 5k, Ron fell in love with running and it became a passion. He immediately signed up for a 10k and then a 15k after that.

 In 2015, Ron decided he needed to set a new running goal to help him continue down the path of weight-loss to reach his desired healthy weight. He told his wife that he was going to train and run a marathon that year.  On October 18, 2015 he ran his first full marathon. Since then Ron has completed many 5ks, 10ks and 25ks along with 5 half marathons. He also started trail running. This fall he has 2 more half marathons he is planning on running along with 1 full marathon at the 2016 Marine Corps Marathon. Ron has lost a total of 160 lbs. since the beginning of his fitness journey in 2013. He has met many friends and supporters along the way. His newest goal is to help others who are overweight. Ron wants to share his story with the world about overcoming obesity through motivational speaking. Ron wants to motivate others to make healthy life choices and be there to tell those suffering that,” If a guy who didn’t really care can do it, then anyone can. It’s not easy, but it can be done”.

“And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” Luke 18:27

Present Day, 2016

Present Day, 2016