“Growing up in the ‘80s, we were not a healthy family. It was all canned and boxed food. My mom was a chronic dieter, raised by a chronic dieter. Fat-free, carb-free — we did all the fad diets.

“My mom passed away from breast cancer when I was 17. At the time, I definitely was not the epitome of health. I tried to get out of gym class as often as possible. If we were running that day, I was the kid who would say, ‘I don’t feel well. I need to go see the nurse.’ I had a lot of self-esteem and self-worth issues. It was just the narrative I had for myself. When you don’t feel like you’re worth the time and effort to lace up your shoes and go for a walk, then you don’t do it because it feels pointless. Getting into fitness and having to face my own issues, that created a whole new life for me.

“They say that anyone who’s lost a lot of weight has that one moment when everything starts to change. For me, it was when I was contacted by MD Anderson as a high-risk case because of my mom’s very aggressive breast cancer. They called after my second born and asked me to come in for all my screenings.

“I was a good 100 pounds overweight, but I blamed genetics. Everybody in my family was overweight, so I figured it was just my lot in life.

“There was this very sweet radiologist who went over all my results. Then he looked at me and said, ‘Mrs. Carlson, my main concern is your lifestyle.’ He said, ‘With breast cancer in particular, if you’re overweight, you tend to be more at risk. So if you’re not moving, eating a balanced diet, and getting some of this excess weight off, then it’s not a question of if you’ll get cancer, it’s a question of when.’ I cried, probably for about a week. Then I just decided I did not want to leave the way my mom did, and I started doing something about it.”

— Michelle Carlson

Michelle, who worked hard to lose the weight, became a trainer, nutritionist and self-described health nut. Learn more at michellecfitness.com.

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“I’m a full-time personal trainer. I’ve always had a passion for fitness. But I didn’t realize this was something I wanted to pursue until I got out of basic training with the Army National Guard.

“While I was in basic, I was a platoon guide. I took a leadership role under the drill sergeant. That’s when I discovered I had a way of motivating other soldiers. I let them know I was right there with them and we were all going through it together like a team.

“I realized that I enjoyed helping people get better physically and mentally. Through personal training I can do that. Someone might be beating himself up, thinking he can’t do something, until I show him otherwise. Then he has a whole new perspective.

“A key is to just try. It’s like when you go to a restaurant where you’ve never tried a certain food because you were always turned off by it. But if you try it that one time and you find out that you like it, then the sky is the limit.”

— Dorion Nora

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“I used to weigh about 380 pounds. It was slightly in the genes, I guess, but it was more just living a sedentary life, being lazy and not keeping up with myself.

“I grew up playing sports. When I was in high school, I was an offensive lineman on the football team. I was a big guy, but I wasn’t 380 big, you know?

“Diabetes runs in my family, and my older brother had just been diagnosed with Type II diabetes. So I thought, I know if I lose belly fat that would help to reduce my risk of getting diabetes. That was probably my big impetus for starting to lose the weight. Right now I’m 250, but I’d like to get down to 230.”

How big of a problem is obesity these days?
“My parents are from Trinidad, and my sister and her son still live there. When they came to visit last August, about 9-10 family members went to eat at a Cajun restaurant in Houston. My 13-year-old nephew turned to me and said, ‘Uncle, one thing that I’ve noticed about Americans is that everybody’s fat.’ I looked around and I was like, he’s right, we have a lot of overweight people.

“It is an issue, but I think a lot of people are trying to make that change. That’s why you see so many working out and paying more attention to what they put in their bodies these days. Just like me, they’re trying for that healthier lifestyle.”

— Robert Wells

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