Couple loses 350 pounds collectively, and still dropping weight

DENVER -- Losing weight isn't easy, and there are no shortage of weight loss aids and fad diets out there.

Fed up with those fads, and the fat - one local man decided to bike his way to better health.

"I was almost 500 pounds,” said Ron Sherratt. “I was 498 pounds. I was 2 pounds short of being the quarter-ton man."

Sherratt and his wife, Julie, have collectively gone from this 750 pounds combined, to under 250 each.

Ron and Julie were morbidly overweight. Ron was on full-time oxygen, hadn’t worked in years and had trouble even walking from the parking lot to his doctor’s appointments.

"One day, I just had a change," Sherratt said.

Their story, as you can imagine - is one of many trials and tribulations.

"I was kind of preparing for being a widow," said Julie Brown, Ron’s wife.

"I couldn't even exercise," Ron said.

"I'd heard a million people say you have to change your lifestyle and it didn't really mean anything," Julie said.

Eventually, it was pure determination to lose the weight to stay alive.

"No surgery. Nothing. Just hard work, diet and the people here at Kaiser," Sherratt said.

Sherratt has been using Kaiser Permanente's free 'Weigh and Win' program.

"We provide you with personalized health coaching,” said Kaytee Long, health promotions manager for Weigh and Win. “You get daily e-mail notices with fitness plans, nutrition plans and then a grocery list on Sundays."

"I've got a lot more energy," said Sherratt.

Participants check-in at various Weigh and Win stations throughout Colorado.

"Oh, I've lost a person,” Sherratt said. “I've lost - basically what I weigh."

His nutritionist and program organizers honored Ron's huge accomplishment with a new bike and helmet. Ron has pledged to ride his bike to all 104 Weigh and Win kiosks throughout Colorado, including one in Grand Junction and one in Yuma.

“I’ll be talking to the cows,” Ron said.

And Ron and Julie have this advice for others who share their struggle.

"You have to have a vision," Julie said. "We thought about getting on roller coaster and not being denied because of weight."

"It can be done,” Ron said. “If you want my help, you just ask."