'Dateline' diet challenge: Reunion time

John's weight loss story
Father John Memorich wants to lose 40 pounds with intense exercise. At the start of the diet challenge a fatigued Father John showed up at Midwest Mountaineering, for his first training session with us, with stunning news. The night before, his healthy mother had suddenly died of a brain aneurism. Father John, who had been up all night, thought about canceling his training session, but then he and his family thought, no. he was going to get up that mountain for mom. Three days later he would preside at his mom''s funeral

So, Father John began his diet challenge in the midst of a deeply painful time. And yet, he carried on, walking five miles a day with weight on his back and he hit the gym five days a week. Though he was not formally dieting, he said he cut back on carbs and cut out junk food. Two weeks in, something was working

By month two, Father John had a new kind of workout, the stairs at the Cleveland Browns stadium. By now all the exercise had opened his eyes. He discovered that he had been almost drowning in his work responsibilities. Meanwhile, the workout caught him off guard, how steep the stairs were. And he got another surprise that day. His weight hadn't changed.

JOHN'S DIET DIARY Breakfast Bowl of All Bran -- tried to keep with serving size on side of box Sometimes added a banana to cereal Family switched from 2 percent milk to 1 percent Once a week piece of toasted multigrain bread with peanut butter Occasional yogurt in morning Scrambled egg (from time to time). Snack Homemade trail mix (prunes, dried apricots, peanuts, almonds, raisins and sometimes small -pieces of extra dark chocolate) If exercising, might have trail mix with combination of 2/3 water and 1/3 Gatorade Lunch Sliced turkey or tuna salad wrapped in leaf of lettuce Dinner High protein, low carbs If pork roast, then one slice of pork Or chicken breast/slice of meatloaf with lots of vegetables and salad Dessert Two or three reduced fat ginger snaps or fat-free Fig Newtons Exercise Gym (aerobic exercise and resistance weight training machines) five to six times a week Stairmaster or stepmill with weighted pack (started at 20 pounds, ended at 45 pounds) Walked daily and planned one three-hour hike through hilly terrain with 40 pounds in backpack

In June, we arranged for our man training to climb Rainier to workout at the Metrodome in Minneapolis -- and now he refused to be weighed. Turns out he'd been having a field day for three weeks on vacation, with hot dogs, s’mores, beer and other bad stuff. His trainer, who'd been trying to keep him on track, was starting wonder if he was taking this seriously enough. But by the fourth month of the diet challenge, Father John was named member of the month at his health club. The Orthodox priest said he was ready for Rainier -- until he had a frightening fall where he injured himself during a practice climb on Mount Baker.

By September, Father John had lost 16 pounds, 24 short of his goal. After a final check with a doctor he had to face the challenge of a lifetime, for mom and for himself. Could he climb Washington's formidable Mount Rainier? With a 40 pound pack on his back, he was pumped and ready. He started at what's known as paradise at 5,000 feet. The climb itself was another nine thousand feet up. We put him in good hands. His lead guide for the climb was Peter Whitaker, son of James Whitaker, the first American to summit Mount Everest. On this climb, Whitaker set a beginner's pace, steady and slow. This will be their pace for the next two days.

On day one, they hiked for six hours to reach their high camp. Here they would eat and sleep before their 1 a.m. wake up call. Only Father John had one question – about the clouds circling above them. If he only knew what he was asking.

The quiet moon gave no clue of what was to come. The day’s plan included six hours to the summit, through rock, snow and ice. From here on out, Father John and his guides were tethered together. Almost immediately the day was harder. On their first break at 11,000 feet Father John couldn't eat. He was sick from the altitude, something that's not uncommon, and he still had 3,000 feet to go.

But now the real issue was not the altitude, it was his attitude. Father John was in a world of his own and his nausea did not improve. And there was another problem brewing. Those wispy clouds he had worried about turned into a major weather front. Soon it was a full blown blizzard, with 50 mile an hour winds. It wasn't long before Father John was completely spent. But somehow he continued. The AV club geek, turned Russian Orthodox priest, who lost his mother this year and had been sick to his stomach in a blinding snowstorm for seven straight hours had reached the top.

Back at the reunion, though he'd only lost 16 of his 40 pound goal, his classmates loved his story.

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