Me, my friend Andy and a Swedish girl (who we met on a Russian train) took a 3 day trip into the outer reaches of Mongolia. We went to places where only the odd adventurous traveller gets to see with some local guides by mini-coach. We discovered that there were only two large tarmac roads in the whole of Mongolia and we wouldn't be travelling on them for long! The whole mini-van journey was a little bumpy to say the least on the bumpy, dried out dirt roads.

When we stopped for food we were given strange tough meat, vegetables we've never laid eyes on and warm goat's milk drink to wash it down. This meal was the tipping point for the two other travellers; cue vomiting and explosive diarrhoea, it wasn't pretty.

We arrived at our accommodation for the night which was a 'Gur' tent situated besides a rocky mountain in the sands of the Gobi desert, it was a true adventure! Our hosts were a family living off the land, they had a whole herd of goats and horses. They move their Gurs every few months to take advantage of the seasons, life was really tough for them it seemed but they loved to have visitors. We learned about their traditions and discovered the toilet was the mountain behind us; there's nothing like going to the toilet sitting on a desert rock looking out into the wilderness!

When the lights turned out it was pitch black, the nearest Gur was 10 miles away, no-one knew of the nearest settlement. We were “treated” to a Mongolian spirit made from milk I think, it tasted like fish and vodka but we all had to have a swig of it from the SAME cup passed around the whole group in the tent. When the cup came to your place you had to down it's contents and pass it on, any hesitation would get the odd nudge from other people waiting for the cup. Hallucinogenic snuff was also thrust upon you, it make your brain fizzle and eyes water, the night was a bit blurry after a while!

The next morning we fed baby goats and had some wild horses brought to us to ride through the desert. I've never ridden a horse before ever so having one gallop underneath me was a bit of a scary experience especially when I had no control over it's movements! We passed more corpses/skeletons of dead animals to arrive at the biggest sand dune in the area. The view was amazingly just sand and rocks; mile and miles of sand punctuated by bulbous rock formations, I highly recommend going to Mongolia if you want a cheap holiday adventure in a beautiful country.”

As I grew older, my health became a concern for me. I had two uncles die in their 60s of preventable issues, both heart related. I was on the same path, even at a young age. I was the classic definition of Metabolic Syndrome: I was fat around the waist, I had horrible blood work, I had high blood pressure, and I was pre-diabetic, if not diabetic. I was on two blood pressure medicines, a cholesterol medicine, a gout medicine, and was being threatened with blood sugar medicine. Basically, I was a walking disaster. It finally hit me that if I did not change something, I would be dead long before my time. I would never live to see my children's children. My wife would one day be a young widow. Or even worse, I would become unable to take care of myself and be a burden on others the rest of my life.

That is the point I knew something had to change, and it had to change immediately. I had already done a substantial amount of research on dieting over the years, so I knew what diets worked well for me - those that focused on low-glycemic foods. For that reason, I chose to start the South Beach Diet. I made the decision that something had to change on a Sunday evening while laying in bed. I knew that everything was different this time. I knew I had to lose weight. I knew when I woke up the next day my life would be forever changed. The old me would be behind me forever. That day was just under eighteen months ago. I am now 70 pounds lighter, and 90 pounds lighter than my all-time high. I have come off of almost all my medicines, save one, a high dosage of a B vitamin that is a voluntary medicine my doctor and I agree is a benefit to me. I am more fit than I have ever been. Instead of being called “big Steve”, I am being referred to as slim. People who haven't seen me in years do not recognize me. I have a renewed lease on life.

While some people may be able to focus on vanity as their motivator, for me it was life, or the fact that I was letting my life go that was my motivator. I was looking death in the eyes. Once it hit me how serious my health was, and that I was indeed following a path to willful destruction, the day the decision was made. The decision that turned my life around.”

Steve's incredible weight loss journey using the 'South Beach Diet' can be be found on his website at LogMyLoss.com

Everyone has a great story inside of them!