Julie Austad:  

Five years ago, I weighed my all time high -- 340 pounds. The real eye-opener was when my son graduated high school in 2001. As a grad gift, we took him to Knott's Berry Farm, Disneyland, Universal Studios & Six Flags in California. There were some rides I was just too big to ride on and my husband and son had to take turns pushing my fat body around in a wheelchair as I couldn't stand for long periods of time or walk very far without becoming exhausted. The seatbelts on the rides (many times) wouldn't go around me, so I had to get off the ride and walk away. The joke was, I was so crammed in the seat, I am sure I wouldn't have budged even if the darn ride turned upside down. Since then, I have lost between 145-150 pounds and feel great! I have two cars that I show so I also needed to be able to walk around at car shows. I have a 1968 Mustang hardtop, Vermillion Red with a black vinyl top, V8 (289cc), automatic transmission (C4) with deluxe woodgrain interior including the upper and lower consoles and a black interior. I just recently changed it from a 2-barrel carbureted system to a 4-barrel a few weeks ago. I am also in the process of tearing down a 351 Windsor engine for it that I want to put a 408 stroker kit in. I do all my own work on both cars. My other...Expand for more