WASHINGTON (AP) — Paul Ryan's fastidious commitment to fitness and healthy living can be traced to 1986.

That's when Ryan found his 55-year-old father dead of a heart attack in the family's Wisconsin home.

The 42-year-old congressman today boasts of body fat between just 6 and 8 percent and he shuns sweets — even on his birthday.

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Ryan holds early-morning workouts for colleagues in the House gym and favors a high-intensity routine called P90X.

The youthful Ryan's intensity — and the story behind it — has been in the spotlight since Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney announced last weekend that Ryan would be his running mate.

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