Hello, my name is Dan Benintendi and I am on a journey... A journey of health, a journey of happiness, and a journey to find out who and what I really am on the inside. The picture below was taken on January 13, 2008 which is the day before I underwent Bariatric Surgery at 400 pounds, and since have taken a new outlook on life and have become an Endurance Athlete. Welcome, and I hope you can find inspiration from my story...

A Brief Background

I had been obese since I was in my early 20's. I steadily put on 10-20 pounds a year and struggled to try to get it off each year. Year after year, and failed diet after failed diet I began falling into a state of depression and began to feel as though I was worthless. My wife often told me that she felt like a single mom because I had no energy to help out with the kids. I broke a colleagues brand new guest chair in his office because of my extreme weight. I work with the youth at church, and as an outing, took them to an amusement park in which I got kicked off every ride because I did not fit. I would often order 2 meals at a drive thru to eat myself, and not tell my wife, then go home and eat dinner with the family. Needless to say, my world revolved around food. After coming to the realization that I was going to die if I didn't do something about my severe Morbid Obesity, I decided to have Gastric Bypass, and on January 14th, 2008, I had the procedure done.

It has been the best decision I have ever made for my health. Not only have I lost 201 pounds in 14 months, I have completed dozens of Triathlons including 3 FULL 140.6 mile IRONMAN Triathlons, 6 IRONMAN 70.3 mile Triathlons,multiple ULTRA Marathons ranging from 50K, 50 Miles, 75 Miles, and as of October 2011, completed my personal Mt. Everest... 104 Miles ran in 28.5 hours continuous! I have also completed multiple 10k (6.2 mile) Swims. I have decided to have this web site as a way to track my progress, but to also allow those who have any doubt about their abilities, their potentials, or any other aspect of their lives a glimmer of hope, and a renewed sense that anything is posible, if you work hard enough to achieve it.

Where I Came From

 A Special Thanks To All My Sponsors:

Dr. David Kim www.drdkim.net

Swimming Coach Chuck Burr http://www.triswimmingcoach.com/

Plastic Surgeon Dr. Ghada Y. Afifi http://afifimd.com/

Mad Duck Cyclery  http://madducksports.com/ 

Trends Photography www.trendsphoto.com