Climbing a single flight of stairs used to leave Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee sweating and gasping.

He dreaded trying to squeeze into airline and theater seats. Once, when he settled into an antique chair at the state Capitol, it collapsed.

At about 280 pounds, Huckabee was seeing his health give way as well. He felt lethargic, and his joints hurt. In 2002, he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, a form often precipitated by obesity and sedentary living. The next year, chest pains made him fear he had heart disease. Tests showed his heart was fine, but the governor, then 47, was scared.

He knew that unless he changed his habits, he might not be around much longer.

That realization led to a remarkable transformation. Since June 2003, Huckabee has lost 110 pounds, conquered his diabetes and become fit enough to run the Little Rock Marathon.

He writes about his metamorphosis and offers advice in his new book, "Quit Digging Your Grave With a Knife and Fork" (Center Street, $21.95).

Last month, he joined former President Clinton in New York to announce a program to reverse the trend toward childhood obesity.

In 2004, Huckabee unveiled an initiative called Healthy Arkansas to promote behavioral changes toward better health.

"I would have thought I'd be the last person to be a spokesperson for health," Huckabee said. "I used to avoid going to anything where health was being discussed, as if they would point to me and say, 'There's a guy I hope is listening.' "

A turning point, Huckabee said, was when he stopped thinking about weight loss as his ultimate goal. He'd lost weight before, but always piled it back on.

"It's not about what goes in your mouth, but what goes on in your mind," he said. "There is an important switch that has to be turned ... from thinking about losing weight to thinking about gaining health. ... If I had had a number (of pounds to lose) in mind, I would have probably quit.

"Diets don't work because it has a beginning and an ending. You start with a base and have a target and feel that the journey has ended. It hasn't. One of the major points of the book is that a diet takes a few months. Health takes the rest of your life."

He came up with what he calls a "12-stop" program for ending bad habits and beginning a healthier life. Those points — including "stop procrastinating," "stop sitting on the couch" and "stop allowing food to be a reward" — form the chapters of his book.

Many of the foods he grew up with — fried chicken, fried okra, fried catfish and fried pies — remained staples of his diet into adulthood, he said. He often ate fast food or junk food on the run.

He needed a dramatic break from those habits, he said, so he enrolled in a weight-loss program run by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. The program puts participants on a liquid diet to start, then introduces a healthful diet of complex carbohydrates and lean proteins.

Huckabee said the program was expensive, but the money he is saving by no longer having to take prescribed medication is more than making up for the cost.

Changing his eating habits was tough, Huckabee said, but it was nothing compared with attempting an exercise program. He did it slowly, starting with morning walks. He added riding on a recumbent bike, then working out on a weight machine.

One day, on a whim, he added a bit of jogging. Soon, he was considering a five-kilometer race. He mentioned it when at a meeting on diabetes, and when an article headlined, "Governor plans on running a 5K race" hit the news wires, he was committed.

He finished that race in just under 29 minutes, and a few months later ran another 5K, then an 8K.

He set his sights on the Little Rock Marathon, followed the race's training plan religiously and completed the March 6 race in four hours, 38 minutes and 59 seconds.

"The whole day was sheer joy," Huckabee said. "I was prepared for a pretty tough experience. I found that running the marathon was not hard. Training for the marathon was hard."

He is up most days around 4:30 a.m. so he can work out. He starts with a run, then rides a recumbent bike while he reads the newspaper.

He has learned never to skip meals, especially breakfast. He also chooses healthful snacks, such as fruit or yogurt.

"I try to always eat something every few hours so that I'm never hungry," he said.

He never leaves the governor's mansion without healthful food.

"One thing that I've learned to do is never trust that meals that I get on the road will be what I need," he said. "It just works better to always have things like apples, sliced turkey breasts and little cubes of cheese with me."

Huckabee said he has received letters from people wanting to know how he made the change. The book is for them, he said.

"I wanted the book to be an easy read, not written from a clinical perspective and not just a lot of pop-culture fluff," he said. "I wanted it to be entertaining, but with a message underneath that had real punch."