Marcus Cook lives by the quotes, "Do Something New Every Day" because "You Never Know What You're Preparing Yourself For." 

Two years ago, inspired by the dying wish of a friend, then 500lb Marcus Cook made a drastic change. He knew if he didn't act quickly, he wouldn't be around to see his kids grow up and have families of their own. In September 2015, Cook had gastric bypass surgery with renowned bariatric surgeon, Dr. Garth Davis, in Houston, Texas.  

And, less than two years later, Marcus crossed the finish line of his first full Ironman! How was this possible?

Marcus credits two things throughout this conversation:

1) The people in his life that were willing to help him along the way

2) Taking small steps - literally. For Marcus, it was walking just 20 minutes a day. That's all he could do at first.

Well, that 20 minutes daily walk turned into one mile, two miles, three miles and eventually led to triathlons, marathons and Ironmans - all in less than two years.  These days, Marcus travels the country and continues to chronicle his efforts at BigtoLittle.com and other social media channels. 

Most recently, Marcus played the role of hero along with many other Houstonians who spent the days after the hurricane rescuing people in boats by the hundreds and feeding people by the thousands. He's quick to say that the "old Marcus" couldn't have done this.

His story may center around going from "Big to Little," but to me, Marcus Cook has a heart of gold that's gone from "Big to Bigger." 

This is his story. 

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Theme Music: ”Aitech" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/