If you want to talk discipline, talk to Pete Jaeger.

Faced with weight he couldn't shed — Jaeger had been 195 pounds for too long — the Hawai'i Kai resident revamped his priorities, set his alarm clock to 4:30 a.m. and pounded on a StairMaster for an hour at a time.

He lost 35 pounds in three months.

The new Jaeger, who comes with a new wardrobe, is a dramatic transformation.

"Just the way I feel on a daily basis makes a big difference in my life," he said. "You have more energy during the day. You don't have the afternoon slowdown. It relieves all the stress."

The 55-year-old Nextel operations manager was no stranger to exercise. He had run for years, even competed in 5K and 10K races in his 20s and 30s.

"I took a break in my 40s, but after that I decided to get back into the swing of things," he said.

At 47, he was swimming and lifting weights — and staring at the same numbers on his scale. His efforts weren't producing results.

Then in January 2006, a group of Nextel co-workers started a weight-loss contest. Jaeger set his alarm.

"I'm not normally up that early, so I was dragging myself out of bed," he said. "It was hard core, and it was not easy, but it was certainly something that once you got into a routine you looked forward to, because you felt so much better when you went to work."

The contest gave Jaeger so much willpower that he won.

"The hard part about all this was the change in eating," he said. "I went from plate lunches and multiple company dinners where you ordered anything on the menu to eating salads and fruit during lunch."

With his new, thinner self, Jaeger found it unthinkable to do anything but continue his regime. If he misses a day of exercise, he doesn't feel right.

He added running, weight lifting and a weekly hike to the top of Koko Crater. And he was able to take his passion for being a youth soccer referee to a new level: Jaeger went from referee gigs in recreational leagues to competitive teenage and adult matches.

His greatest challenge now is finding the time to do everything.

"Time management is the biggest hurdle I have to face," he said. "You need at least an hour a day to make a difference. Finding that before or after work can be difficult. You have to give up watching TV at 8 o'clock. You have to give up a little sleep in the morning."

In other words, you need discipline.

"You need to look at yourself in the mirror and say: 'Do I really want to make this commitment?' " Jaeger said. "If you do, go for it."

Reach Mike Gordon at mgordon@honoluluadvertiser.com.