NASHVILLE, TN (ANS) -- Working in network television or radio can be one of the most stressful, and yet most exhilarating occupations -- even without health problems that sneak up on you suddenly.

Todd Starnes is a FOX News Anchor/Reporter, who is primarily on radio, but also does some television for the network, and he should know.

Todd Starnes at a recent book-signing event

Starnes is the winner of an Edward R. Murrow Award and the Associated Press Mark Twain Award for storytelling. Actively involved in mission work, he’s a member of the New York City Road Runners and has completed two marathons and a half dozen half-marathons. He is currently training to participate in an Iron Man Triathlon, and also plays golf. One of his great passions in life is barbecue, and one day he hopes to become an 'officially sanctioned barbecue judge.'

'They Popped My Hood and Found Gravy on the Dipstick' is the story of Todd’s journey from a 300-pound guy with a bad heart to a 150-pound guy who ran the New York City Marathon. He tells his story through a series of humorous and inspirational essays that begins on the day he was diagnosed with a near-fatal heart condition. Readers will learn how he lost nearly half his body weight, dealt with the deaths of his parents and ran the marathon -- all within a span of three years.

In 2005, Todd was on assignment in northern California when he became ill. Doctors told him his aortic valve was beginning to fail and he needed to undergo open-heart surgery. Without the surgery, they said he would die. He was 37-years-old. Todd’s weight was an additional problem. Thanks to a healthy diet of fried foods and barbecue, he tipped the scales at nearly 300 pounds.

A team of surgeons transplanted a mechanical valve in his heart and gave Todd orders to make some significant lifestyle changes. So Todd decided to lose weight -- the old fashioned way -- by dieting and exercise. Three years later, he dropped 150 pounds and to celebrate he decided to run the New York City Marathon. It took him nearly seven hours, but Todd crossed the finish line.

Todd’s debut book is drawn from a journal he kept to document his heart surgery, his recovery and ultimately his weight loss. He gives us a glimpse into his life using heartfelt stories and homespun humor -- with chapters like, "Dear Jesus, Thank You For Butter," "Breaking Wind and Other Lessons in Humility," and "I Have Ugly Feet."

Todd’s world is one of vulnerability, laughter, heartache and disappointment. But it’s also about trusting God and clinging to Him when all appears hopeless.

When I spoke with him at the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) convention in Nashville, TN, he had just completed covering Barack Obama's campaign for The White House before heading out onto the publicity circuit for a 'campaign' of his own -- the release of his new book, 'They Popped My Hood and Found Gravy On The Dipstick,' published by Pathway Press.

He was the embed reporter traveling with Obama, spending six months on the Presidential campaign trail, culminating with the President's historic train ride into Washington, DC, before his inauguration earlier this year.

"It was amazing," said Starnes, who has had somewhat of a 'wild ride' of his own health-wise, the story of which he tells in the newly-released book.

Before talking about the new book, I asked Starnes, "What was the inside of the Presidential train like?"

"Well you know, it was really funny -- our part of the train was just like a regular AMTRACK train, but he had a vintage 1930s-style Pullman car which was really elaborate. It had bedrooms, it had a kitchen. They had a little whistle-stop tour where you could actually come outside on the balcony and pull the whistle. It was so amazing because we went from Philadelphia to Washington DC, taking the same route that Abraham Lincoln took, and there were literally people that were lined up along the railroad tracks, just hundreds of people and it was freezing cold. But they would be waving and one guy was standing up on top of a grain silo waving and just you know...it was a really unique American moment I think to see all these people encouraging their future president as he headed to Washington."

Starnes said he met the future president several times while on the campaign trail.

"You know it was interesting; I think that one of the problems in this country is that we seem to want to caricature people whether they're liberals or conservatives and we forget that people are actually human beings as well and when you put aside the politics here's a man who has a family, he loves his wife, he loves his daughters -- you know, he's a human being. I found him to be very cordial, very friendly and his staff treated me and FOX News with great respect, and I think I developed some nice friendships out of the campaign."

Starnes wasn’t sure if he would get an invitation to visit The White House, "I'm not expecting any invitations any time soon," he said.

So I told him I would put in a good word for him.

"Thank you very much, I'd appreciate that!" said Starnes.

I asked him about his new book.

"You have an interesting life story that you've just published in your book called 'They Popped My Hood and Found Gravy On The Dipstick.' What's behind the title?"

"It's like everybody's saying 'what's up with the title of this book?' and it was (because) I went through some really hard times in the past three and a half years; it started when I was diagnosed with a nearly deadly heart ailment," Starnes told me.

"My aortic heart valve stopped working and I was very near death; I weighed about three-hundred pounds," he said.

"It was a process over the past three and a half years of surviving that heart surgery and my doctor said 'you know, you've got a second chance at life you can go back to living the way you used to live, which was just eating non-stop, or you can make some heart-healthy decisions and have a long and healthy life,' and I decided to take him up on that offer!

"So I exercise and watch what I eat, and I began this journey that took me through losing a hundred-fifty pounds without spending a single dime -- you know I just did it through exercise and watching what I eat. It brought me to compete in the New York City Marathon where I ran 26.2 miles and crossing that finish line!

"This will be the second time (I have done that). The first time I walked most of the course, but for the book I literally ran the entire race and you know my parents died -- and to give you a perspective -- in 2005, I had heart surgery. In 2006 my dad died. In 2007 my mom died. And then here we were in 2008, so while I was sitting here writing this book I thought 'you know, I've been through a lot of stuff and yet I still have a sense of humor, I still have a smile on my face,' and so I realized that looking back on a lot of the stuff I went through, there's a lot of humor that happened to me. So I started putting together a series of essays and when I looked at it I went 'Oh my gosh, I've got a book here!"

So how many essays make a book?

"Well, about thirty. Thirty essays, so it's a very quick read. It's a fun read, and these are life lessons.

"You know this is not a book about heart surgery, it's not a book about losing weight -- it's a book about life and understanding that when you go through really bad stuff in your life, you can go through horrendous stuff, and yet you can come out on the other side with God's grace and you can come out with a smile on your face. You can look back and say 'yeah, this has been a God thing.' When we get Saved people say 'this is in the Bible,' but it's really not. They say 'God doesn't give us more than we can handle' -- that's not in the Bible. And quite frankly, that's a good thing; if God didn't give us more than we can handle we wouldn't need God. So I think my story is evidence that there is a God at work and He loves the least of us, which is me. I mean I was a guy who nearly ate himself to death. How stupid was I? You know, I was just putting so much food into my mouth that I almost killed myself."

I asked Starnes if that had something to do with his lifestyle as an anchor/reporter?

"I think so; and I love food. You know, I grew up in the southern part of the United States and, like a Good Christian, I had a Bible in one hand and a piece of fried chicken in the other! I just loved food because it tasted good. But the problem is, and it's not just with food but with a lot of things, whether it's -- you can just pick an issue -- if you overindulge in something it's going to be detrimental to you. And for me it was food. It became an addiction."

"So if I over indulge in interviewing celebrities I'm going to be sick?" I asked Starnes.

"Or you can become really famous!" he replied.

"But you know, it's when I was going through this whole thing -- I have a cousin and they were trying to understand what open heart surgery was all about -- (and they asked cousin Todd) 'When they open you up, they open up your heart will they see Jesus inside?' And you know, that's a great question. Do people see Jesus in your life and in your heart? And that was a question that I had to answer, and I was disturbed because looking at my life I think there were moments when I don't think people saw Christ in how I ran my life and how I ran my affairs.

"So I was given a second chance, and that's the whole point of this book is to have some fun and to tell my story and hopefully that people would be encouraged and they'll be inspired to step out and to live life."

Starnes told me about one spiritual aspect of the book.

"You know there's this great country music song -- I write about it in the book -- and it's called 'Live Like You Were Dying.' In other words, live every day like you're going to die. But you know, I don't think Christ calls us to do that -- I think He calls us to live like we were living. You know to embrace every day and look forward to the next, and that's what I've tried to do with my life and that's one of the reasons I ran that marathon."

Starnes said he completed the race in six hours and forty-three minutes, "and it was funny -- I got beat by a one legged man, and two Italian guys smoking cigarettes!"

"Quite a combination, " I said.

"Honest to goodness," said Starnes. "Oh, it was great."

Starnes has a particular way he likes to tell how he found out about his heart trouble.

"Now you say in your book one minute you went to the doctor with bronchitis, the next minute he wanted 'to tear you open with a crowbar and take out half your insides'?" I said.

"Yeah, I was on assignment covering a hostage stand-off at this seedy motel in Sacramento, California and I got sick, I got this cough. So finally I end up going to the emergency room, and I just thought I had bronchitis or something; the cough wouldn't go away. So they're doing an x-ray of my chest and the doctor goes exactly: 'Mr. Starnes you have a big heart.' And I'm like 'Well, thank you!'"

"That's a compliment," I told Starnes.

"Yeah, thank you very much! He goes 'No, no, no this is a bad thing.' He goes 'There's something wrong with your heart' and within a period of two weeks I'd gone from being a relatively happy healthy person to someone who was going to have to have open heart surgery! So I was very fortunate they caught it. It's a type of illness that when the valve completely shuts down you die. There's you know, that's it. So I was very fortunate that they caught it when they did."

I suggested that we talk a little bit about the lifestyle of a news anchor or reporter for a national network. "What's that like from the inside what's that feel like?"

"It's not as glamorous as you might think -- it is a lot of work," said Starnes.

"We're talking, I'll give you an example, on the campaign trail we were lucky if we got four or five hours of sleep a night. We were constantly on the go, it's a very high-pressure game. You know you have deadlines you have to meet every hour. It's a great life, I love it, it's very fast-paced because you never know what you're going to be doing from one day to the next.

"But at the same time if you are not a disciplined person you can find yourself facing health problems and even keeping up with the pace of your work. I'm very fortunate FOX News Channel is just a fine, fine news organization to work with. My colleagues we're almost like family, many of us are not from the New York Area -- we're transplanted from across the country -- and we sort of treat each other like family you know, and it's a good thing."

I asked Starnes: "So how do you personally cope with the pressures of the journalism business the all crisis all the time?"

"I am a follower of Jesus Christ, He is my Lord and He is my Savior. On my desk right now if you were to go to my cubicle at FOX News you will find my Bible and I have a daily quiet time, I pray and study my Bible.

"Unfortunately, it may not be quiet around me in a city of you know two-million people, but I think it's a mindset of constantly focusing on the Lord. Honestly, not every day works like that: sometimes you lose your temper, sometimes I lose my cool, but I do really focus on my relationship with Christ on a daily basis and I appreciate FOX for allowing me to be able to do that. They respect the fact that I'm a Christian and the perspective that I bring to the news. And of course I have a wonderful church family in New York City -- The Journey Church, which I write about and I thought, of all the things you know this whole journey I go to New York City and the church I go to is called 'The Journey Church'..."

"Is God trying to tell you something?" I asked.

"You wonder," said Starnes. "And trust me, I write about this in the book, sometimes you know God has to kind of nudge some people and others He has to kind of you know like shake, and then there are people like me that he has to like rip open their chest and whack around their insides. So I'm kind of hard-headed, you know, I'm not exactly the brightest bulb in the lamp as they say, but I am a follower of Christ and He is my Lord."

So does his relationship with Jesus Christ help him to keep level-headed?

"I think so. As a matter of fact, I would say definitely. You know when I'm out on a story I think being a Christian journalist allows me a deeper perspective because again we're always in search of the truth as a reporter. You know, as a believer (that) we know the 'standard of truth' and that Standard is Jesus. So knowing that, going into stories, it helps me to understand people. It helps me read people, and it really helps me understand the story a little bit better. I'll give you a great example: the economic crisis. It's real easy to get lost in the numbers, and what I like to try to do is take the numbers and make them people, make them personal, you know? How does what's happening on Wall Street effect somebody on Main Street, and how does that happen?"

"So tell me some of the 'inside skinny' on covering Barack Obama for six months," I said.

"It was one of the most amazing moments of my career as a journalist and it was covering that moment in history. It doesn't matter if you're a Republican or a Democrat, this was a really historic moment in our country and in our nation's history. I believe that ultimately I think that the issues of race, those are issues of the heart, those aren't things that can be, yes they can be legislated, but to truly change people's minds you're going to change their hearts. And I attend a church that's a very diverse church, so I think we're aware of those types of issues. To be able to cover a campaign where you have the first African-American who will eventually become president, it was amazing. I remember a couple of instances. We were in Indianapolis and you remember those old Andrew Jackson presidency days you used to see those paintings where people were watching his speeches and they were up in the tree branches and hanging out of windows? That's what was happening in down-town Indianapolis, and I was sitting there not necessarily listening to what he was saying but I'm just watching as you see all these people you know clambering up into the trees. You had dads putting their kids on their shoulders so they could catch a glimpse of Barack Obama. I think that's one of the more poignant moments. The other was, and again this is humanizing the candidates and the people around them (was with) the press secretary, Robert Gibbs. We had just landed in some Podunk place and when Obama's jet comes in we don't land at the airport we land on the tarmac and then the Secret Service surrounds us and they bring the buses. So we got off the plane, and all of a sudden I saw Robert Gibbs the press secretary come down the stairs and all of a sudden this little tiny fellow comes tearing loose from behind us and runs and jumps and leaps up and grabs Robert Gibbs and that was his son, his little three or four year old son. I thought for a moment, 'you know, isn't that amazing?' That's a unique moment because this man is not just a Democrat or a Republican he's a Dad and you know here's his little boy coming tearing across the tarmac wanting to hug his Daddy. I think that helps keep things in perspective."

I commented that earlier in our interview, "You mentioned that when you were on the campaign trail covering Barack Obama that you found him to be a human being, surprise, surprise. What would you say though to maybe right wing conservative evangelical Christians who are deathly afraid of what might seem a Messiah complex?"

Diplomatically, Starnes responded: "I can't get into that, but I do know this: I think as Christians we're called to pray for our leaders whether they be Republican or Democrat, and I think you've seen organizations like the Southern Baptist Convention and a lot of the stronger evangelical groups calling on people to do that because that's what we're supposed to do. Republicans don't have a monopoly on Christians -- and neither do the Democrats. So I think that we just have to pray for our leaders and that's (for) whoever they are."

Cover artwork for Todd Starnes' new book.

Still fascinated with the title of Starnes' book, which I was holding in my hand patiently waiting for an opportunity to get Starnes to sign it for me, I myself tactfully changed the subject and delved a little deeper by saying: "So the name of your book once again is 'They Popped My Hood and Found Gravy on the Dipstick.' Where did you get that title and what does that mean?"

"Well, there's a lot of Southern 'down-home' humor in the book and I think that'll resonate with folks that go to the Cracker Barrel and eat their meals!"

"I've been there, done that," I told Starnes.

Starnes told me that growing up he was a huge fan of a well-known Southern humorist, "and he used to have these funny little titles for his books and so I was trying to come up with a funny title of my own. And my doctor was trying to describe what they were doing to me as 'hoisting me up on a rack for a lube job at the car dealership!' So I came up with this funky little title here 'They Popped My hood and Found Gravy on the Dipstick!' "

I wanted to know more about Starnes' role on the FOX News Network, so I said: "I understand with FOX you do a radio program. What's that called?'

"Well, we provide the five-minute news for about 750 radio stations around the nation. So you can normally hear me on the top of the hour news, but I also write a daily blog on www.Foxnewsradio.com , and every other week I host a religion podcast called 'Fox On Faith' where we talk about faith issues that are in the national and international news."

Starnes said you can get that through I-Tunes or you can just go to www.foxnewsradio.com . He also said the new book is available at Christian bookstores, as well as at www.Amazon.com and www.Target.com. It's got a forward by Mike Huckabee, former Arkansas Governor and presidential candidate, who also has both a radio program and a TV show on FOX News Network.

Huckabee says of Starnes' book: "Todd's stories will make you laugh, touch your heart, and encourage you to take steps towards living a better life.

"Todd's story reminds me of the many ups and downs I faced during my weight loss. Along his journey Todd not only lost a significant amount of weight, but he also lost his parents to sudden illnesses. He survived a significant surgery, ran a marathon, and despite it all still managed to complete the task.

"Todd's story reminds us that God uses the least of us to do the greatest things, that way there is no question that it is indeed God at work. Todd's story is an honest story with a healthy dose of humor. This book fits the prescription for whatever ails you. Laughter really is the best medicine. When we find ourselves at our weakest point that is when our true strength is revealed. I hope you will be inspired after reading this book, I know I was."

Concluding my time with Starnes, I asked him: "So if there's one thing that you've learned through this experience the last three or four years with a near-fatal heart condition and problem with your weight and God getting your attention -- what did you learn from it and what can you pass onto our readers and listeners?"

"I serve a God who is faithful. He will be there when I need Him and His mercies are new every morning. And one of the interesting things about God's mercies they come to us in the most unique ways. My mother used to make the most wonderful cinnamon buns and she passed away about a year and a half ago. And one day around Mother's Day I was feeling terribly kind of 'down in the dumps.' I was passing by a bakery and I caught a whiff of cinnamon in the air and it just brought to mind a pleasant memory of my Mom, and it reminded me at that moment that God's mercies sometimes they smell like cinnamon, you know. So I guess I know you wanted a short answer but I guess that...inevitably God's mercies are new every morning."

I told Starnes that, "You know that cinnamon is supposed to be one of the most comforting aromas...? That's probably why you're doing so much better now!"

"There you go," said Starnes.

** Michael Ireland, Chief Correspondent of ANS, is an international British freelance journalist who was formerly a reporter with a London (United Kingdom) newspaper and has been a frequent contributor to UCB Europe, a British Christian radio station. Michael has traveled to Albania and the former Yugoslavia, Holland, Germany and the former Czechoslovakia, Israel,and Canada. He has reported for ANS from Jordan, China, Russia, Jamaica, Mexico, and Nicaragua. Michael's volunteer involvement with ASSIST News Service is a sponsored ministry department -- Michael Ireland Media Missionary (MIMM) -- of A.C.T. International at: Artists in Christian Testimony (A.C.T.) International where you can donate online to support his stated mission of 'Truth Through Christian Journalism.'