Berriman started at 300 pounds in 2015 and is now hovering around 205 pounds. He and his wife, Holly, have three kids Avia, 4, Badin, 2, and Emma-Coe, 1, and Berriman said they’re the biggest inspiration for his weight loss.

“I wanted to get healthy for my kids,” Berriman said. “I want to be around to see them grow up. I never felt like I had a lot of energy, my psoriasis would flare up, I was having arthritis problems, I just didn’t feel good, and I wanted to make sure I was around for my kids.”

Berriman wasn’t the only one to lose a lot of weight. Holly lost around 70 pounds after Emma-Coe was born.

Berriman tried Weight Watchers and diets, but those never worked. What kickstarted his weight loss in 2015 was getting a Fitbit to track steps and also tracking what he would eat. He got back to playing golf and would walk the course instead of riding a golf cart.

Courtesy Photo Alpena High School Principal Tom Berriman is seen in this undated photo before he lost nearly 100 pounds over the last four years.

“I always tell people, you got to find an exercise that works for you, and not everybody likes running, not everybody likes weightlifting, so what I found was I would take my treadmill and crank the incline up to like 10 and put it in front of my TV and play video games and walk,” Berriman said.

Something else that kickstarted Berriman’s weight loss was watching the movie “Supersize Me,” when a nutritionist in the documentary said “never drink your calories.” After that, Berriman started to pay attention to what was he was drinking, so he gave up regular soda and started drinking more water.

Berriman started to cook more to make healthier versions of the food he liked and started watching the number of calories he ingested. He also runs, and, though he’s never been a runner, he can run three miles a day now.

He also averages about 10,000 steps a day when patrolling the high school hallways.

Whether it’s umpiring a baseball game, playing a round of golf, or going for a walk with his family, Berriman said being active gives him more energy and he feels better because of it.

“It relieves a lot of stress, so then I’m able to function, whether it be at home with my wife and my kids or be at school and function, it’s just a great way to burn energy and feel good and feel positive about yourself and just have a good start to your day and outcome of what you’re doing,” he said.

Berriman said his children want to be active because they see their parents doing it. He hopes his children see that their parents are active and learn to live an active lifestyle, themselves.

“They love it when I go downstairs and get on the treadmill, because they go downstairs and they play,” Berriman said. “It’s like their playroom, so they’ll go and play.”

Julie Goldberg can be reached at 989-358-5688 or jgoldberg@thealpenanews.com. Follow her on Twitter @jkgoldberg12.