Teen turns diet into game, loses 150 pounds

Roll over, Wii Fit: there's a new get-fit game in town, and it doesn’t even need a console. Seventeen-year-old Georgia resident Taylor LeBaron lost 150 pounds in just 18 months after he devised a weight-loss strategy using lessons he learned from playing difficult video games.

LeBaron was interviewed on the Today show, where he told host Meredith Vieira his staggering story. Having tipped the scales at 297 pounds at the age 14, LeBaron decided to approach his weight issue as though it were a game.

In his system, there are allies, enemies and money. The basic idea is to work with allies (exercise, healthy foods), avoid enemies (junk food) and make money (burned calories equal cash). If, at the end of a day, the player has burned more calories than he or she has consumed, that's a victory.

Now 150 pounds lighter, Taylor LeBaron's victory was pretty substantial, leading to both a website and even a book about the "Video Game Diet."

source: Yahoo