RJ Smith was 77 when his wife died of a heart attack while they were vacationing at a lake with family.

“My oldest daughter and grandson were with us and we went out for dinner that Saturday night and she was feeling pretty good,” Smith recalled. “But my daughter got up in the middle of the night to get a drink of water and found my wife …”

That was seven years ago.

Today, at 84 years old, Smith celebrates the publication of his only book, “Preventative Maintenance for Living a Life of Health and Wellness,” which dives into what it takes to lead a healthy life.

A cigarette smoker for 50 years, the Federal Way resident remembers waking up middle-aged, overweight by 45 pounds, with high blood pressure and at risk for sudden cardiac arrest.

“My wife was a tremendous cook, bless her heart,” Smith said. “When it came to a second piece, I just didn’t have any willpower at all.”

But his doctor suggested he find some.

Smith signed up for a health and exercise program called CPRI, or Cardio Pulmonary Rehabilitation Institute. Out of the 20 participants, Smith and another were the only members who hadn’t already had a heart attack or heart surgery.

“It was an eye opener for me to see what these people were going through after heart surgery and some of them, boy, very obese,” he said. “We were on the verge of something very bad happening but it hadn’t yet.”

Through the program, Smith lost 45 pounds but the key to his health was keeping the weight off and quitting smoking.

“That was the big move that got me to finally quit cigarettes and one time I made it nine months and my wife and I went through this big party but the next day, I was smoking,” he said.

Then the tragedy.

“She was a smoker but she quit several years before I did and she didn’t smoke nearly as much as I did but unfortunately she had asthma and that took its toll, apparently, on her heart,” Smith said.

Another eye opener came when he was suddenly forced to do his own grocery shopping, as the result of his wife’s passing.

He described his shock at the people who had to rely on motorized shopping carts because of incapacitating weight. What was worse, he noticed the same people had junk food in their shopping baskets.

“To see all these people at the grocery store, that really prompted me to want to put this down in writing so that’s what I did,” he said of his 50-page book.

Gathering his notes throughout the years on what made him successful, hiring a publishing company — Dorrance Publishing Co., Inc. — page proofing and corrections all took about five years.

“Really, I would like everyone to take some motivation to do something for themselves,” Smith said about his goals for the book. “Like, make their health and wellness their No. 1 priority.”

Smith said it’s easier to lose the weight than keep it off, as many will end up reverting to old lifestyle habits and gaining more weight than when they had started. He said finding a fitness program that keeps a person active for three days a week “really works” as well as incorporating nutritious foods and supplements. Smith eats apples, garlic and apple cider vinegar regularly.

“I watch sugar intake and salt,” he said. “There’s a lot of products now that have low salt and stuff, I go for that stuff. All the canned goods have a lot of salt in them and there’s just no way of staying away from it.”

Another tip, log everything, he said.

Smith journaled his calories in and out when he was striving for weight loss.

“Every day, I think this is really important because I’ve done it the other way,” he said. “Once you are on a nutrition and exercise program that you have confidence in, you will see that we ourselves can be our own best prescription.”

He said we still need our doctors but the less we have to see them, the better.

Smith has lived in Federal Way for 40 years. During that time, he sold his main business, which was a heavy haul division, in the early 70s. When he’s not keeping track of his health, Smith operates a small transportation broker consultant company called Best West Inc., which he’s owned since 1983.

“It’s good talking to people and I think that’s really important the older you get,” he said.

To buy Smith’s $10 book, “Preventative Maintenance for Living a Life of Health and Wellness,” look for it in local bookstores or visit www.dorrancebookstore.com.