Edmond man loses 260 pounds to reclaim health and vitality

Three years ago, Mat Jones was looking at photos of a Jamaican vacation he took with his family, when it struck him.

"I knew I had to do something,” he recalled.

There was just too much Mat. "Nobody can be happy weighing 460 pounds,” he said.

The 5-foot-11 Edmond man had diabetes, hypertension and severe chronic sleep apnea. His knees, back and neck ached. He took 26 pills a day. He was facing the same fate that claimed his grandfather, an uncle, an aunt and a cousin: a massive heart attack caused by morbid obesity. He was 37.

Today, Jones is less than half the man he was. In two weeks, he will attempt his lifelong dream, traveling to Nepal, hiking to Mount Everest base camp at almost 18,000 feet, then attempting to reach the of summit nearby 20,300-foot Island Peak.

With stomach surgery, hard work and the determination to change, Jones dropped 260 pounds, more than an entire person. The hypertension, diabetes, apnea and most aches are gone. He takes one pill.

His journey back to health, hope and a future has been Mat’s Quest. That’s the name of his Web site and his blog. It’s also become his commitment to inspire others.

"A lot of people look at the morbidly obese and say, ‘You know, they’re just fat and lazy. They need to get off their butt and quit shoveling food in their faces,’” Jones said. "There’s more to it than that. I guarantee they didn’t choose that lifestyle.”

Jones had always been too big. He figures part of his problem was genetic because "my mom’s whole family is obese.” But, he said, his family "ate everything fried,” and meal portions were always "giant.”

By January 2008, Jones had had enough. He was tired of disapproving looks from others, of embarrassing his children at their sporting events. And he worried about leaving his wife, Sherrie, a widow, and his kids fatherless.

Dr.

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