(TV personality and author Dian Thomas shared her incredible weight journey with Deseret News readers recently. She will relate more of her experiences in a regular column, Life in Balance, every other Tuesday. Her weekly blog will also appear on deseretnews.com on Mondays.)

Growing up, I was an adventurous and very active child.

My father, Julian Thomas, was the district forest ranger over the Manti La Sal National Forest in southeastern Utah. My mother, Norene, gave birth to me just after they moved to Monticello.

Life at the ranger station, where my four brothers and I had 240 acres to run, play, and build on, was never dull. I road my bike to school, which was 2- to 4-mile round trip, depending on if I went home for lunch. Nonstructured exercise was just part of our daily life.

My father was transferred to Salt Lake City when I was 12. After high school, I went to Brigham Young University, where I remained active. Later, I taught family and consumer science at Orem Junior High. I was still very involved in sports and outdoor activities.

After three years of teaching, I returned to BYU for my master's degree in education. My thesis centered on how to teach outdoor cooking and camping in the public school system. Upon finishing my master's degree, I became professional speaker. It was not long before BYU Press asked me to turn my thesis into a book.

"Roughing It Easy" came off the press in 1974.