Samantha Hager still remembers the exact moment she vowed to lose weight and get healthier after reaching almost 380 pounds on the scale.

She was at an amusement park and excited to go on rollercoasters with her two stepsons, but couldn’t fit on any of the rides. Hager was in tears and remembered her dad, who was also heavy and could never go on rides with her when she was a girl.

“All of a sudden it just hit me. I was like, ‘You're that parent now and you don't want to be that person,’” Hager, 29, who lives in Boise, Idaho, tells TODAY.com. “So I said enough is enough.”

That’s when she began running every day — an activity she hated but picked exactly for that reason. It sounds counterintuitive, but Hager says it works for her stubborn personality.

“I wanted to really push myself an

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