Shrinking Obesity

Listen to this episode from 2015, Indiana-native Eric Hites hopped on his bike, he weighed 563 lbs. About 40 days later and 50 pounds lost, he's still riding. Inspired by the Proclaimers' 1988 hit "500 Miles," Hites embarked on a cross-country bike trip, in mid-June, to save his marriage. Hites' wife, Angie, once a widow, wasn't willing to go through tragedy twice and with that in mind, Eric challenged himself to a journey of self-betterment. "My wife and I separated because I had problems finding work, and I was going downhill emotionally," Hites said. "My wife was a widow before and she didn't want to go down that road again. The weight was what caused a lot of my problems. I wanted to prove to her that I can take my health back and be able to grow old to her. I wanted to build a new future for us." Hites' first steps toward that new future for his family began near Martha's Vineyard south of Cape Cod in Mass., where he kicked off the ride that has grown from one man's personal project to sto