This Air Force Vet Lost 190 Pounds and Crushed His Goal of Climbing a Mountain
Keith Holt may be one seriously accomplished man already, but he’s hoping you’ll all help him stay accountable for more. That’s because the Air Force veteran is on a health mission. He’s already lost a whopping 190 pounds, but he’s still got a few other hills to climb - and he’s putting it all on social media to keep him honest.
Nearly one year ago, Holt found himself tired and in poor health. Like a lot of other guys out there, he got to this point by slowly allowing his not-so-great habits take over.
“My life before feels like it was a bad dream,” Holt told Men’s Health. “Just over 10 years ago, I was honorably discharged from the Air Force. My last year in, I started to gain a large amount of weight. I didn’t worry too much about it because my end date was near, and I figured I would focus on it after I got out.”
But as time went on, he only saw the number on the scale creep up. And that, Holt said, led him to depression. Things became so bad that Holt, who had enrolled in college following his return from the military, couldn’t concentrate or even stay awake in his classes.
Finally, after consulting with a physician, he found that his body wasn’t producing enough testosterone, and his thyroid - which helps regulate the body’s metabolism - was out of whack. It took nearly a year before Holt received his first testosterone shot and found the right balance of medications to set his body back on the right track.
“My mental state was in ruins. I would eat excessively and wallow in self-pity. It wasn’t a very good existence,” he said. Things only got worse when in the winter of 2014, Holt was in a car accident. In an instant, his car was off the road, rolling, before coming to a stop. While the car was demolished, Holt walked away unscathed - at least physically
“I remember acting fine with the emergency responders and hospital staff,” he said. “I was grateful to be alive but there was a part of me that wished I would have died. At least then this nightmare [his health and weight issues] would be over.”
In September of 2017, everything changed.
“When I was out west, I drove to Rocky Mountain National park and spent a few minutes looking at a mountain, Longs Peak, that I had failed to reach the top [of] some 15 years earlier when I lived in Cheyenne, Wyoming, during the first few years of my military career,” Holt explained. “For a long time, I had always regretted backing down from reaching the top.”
A few months later - on January 28, 2018, to be exact - Holt finished eating a taco salad and asked himself, “Is this how I’m going to go out?” After spending eight years in the military with two tours in Iraq, graduating college, and landing a dream job, he said, enough with his terrible health. It was time for his health to match up with the rest of his life - time to figuratively and literally climb that mountain. He knew he needed a little incentive, so he invited a friend along to film his first step for his very public blog, “Up the Peak.”
He started walking. And walking. And walking. He began tracking his food consumption with the MyFitnessPal app, reducing his calorie intake and ensuring he got the right balance of macros for his body. He kept meals simple, like oatmeal for breakfast, salads for lunch, and grilled chicken with steamed vegetables for dinner. One week in, he lost 18 pounds. By the six-week mark, he’d dropped a total of 50. After a few more months, Holt saw his weight loss soar - and he hasn’t looked back since.
“Seeing the scale go back into the 200s felt special. I didn’t think I would see it again - then seeing the scale go down to the 260s was even better,” he said. On July 28, 2018, just six months after his journey began, Holt did it: He summited Longs Peak.
“I didn’t think it would happen that year, [but] I did it in six months,” Holt said. “The feeling of seeing where I was in January to where I was in July to this day feels like a dream. Mentally I am a lot better than where I was, but the depression never really goes away. I have a better handle on it most days.”
Since reaching the summit, there are days he said he’s still a little sad, simply because he was able to achieve something he only dreamed about so quickly. But now, he’s just going to find a new mountain to climb.
“Having done what I have done, it’s still an incredible feeling,” he said. “Even though I may have a rough patch here and there, all I have to do is watch the video and see the evidence before me: I have the ability to lose the rest of the weight when I’m ready.”
As for what others can do if they find themselves stuck like he did, Holt added that you’ve got to find the reason why you want to do it for yourself.
“Stay the course, and have a plan. All the help you need is right there before you and it’s just a click away,” he said. “It’s in videos on YouTube, it’s in the stories people share about their own struggles. Take the inspiration from others to fuel the motivation in yourself.”
“Find your mountain, whatever that may be.”
For general information on mental health and to locate treatment services in your area, call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Treatment Referral Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
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