KFVS12 News & Weather Cape Girardeau, Carbondale, Poplar BluffFrom fat to fit; Two Heartland residents' weight loss journey

From fat to fit; Two Heartland residents' weight loss journey

By Julia Bruck - bio | email

CARBONDALE, IL (KFVS) - Two-thirds of American adults are either obese or overweight, report by the Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). 

When it comes to our children, those numbers have reached an epidemic level.  Across the Heartland, Kentucky ranks 4th in the nation for overweight youth.  Illinois is not far behind at 10^9th and Missouri is tied for 23^rd with New Jersey.

However, some are battling those large numbers and inspiring others along the way.

Most Wednesday nights you can find Southern Illinois University Senior Tom Larson at the front of an aerobics class as he challenges and cheers his students through another weight set.

But for Larson nearly three years ago such moves were almost impossible.

“No matter what's anyone fitness level I've been lower,” Larson said.  

That was just a few years ago.  An active teen in high school, Larson says he was about 50 pounds overweight.  But as high school ended and Larson started classes SIU he put on another 100 pounds.

“It's almost like a prison is the way I put it, when I was 350 pounds.  You're screaming to get out but you are stuck in your own body,” Larson explained.  

Larson created a journal to get out of that prison.  His first entry is December 4, 2006.  On the front, he wrote 353 pounds.  Inside he noted meals and workouts.  However, more importantly, Larson scribbled down thoughts, inspiring words and taped pictures to keep him focused.

"I am starting this journal/scrapbook because I am in desperate need of a change," Larson read from his journal.

Meanwhile, Quentin Bruggen is just beginning his life change.  

“I am 15 years old and 390 pounds,” Bruggen said.  

Recently, Bruggen started taking steps to drop that number.  With guidance from Mount Vernon YMCA Trainer Matt Greene, Bruggen hits the gym a few times a week.

“We're going to get warmed up as we always do," Greene said.  "Then we are going to do some chest press.  We're basically going to do a fully body workout today.”

Bruggen first came to the YMCA at the suggestion of his mom Katherine Dixon.  This single mother says she is concerned about her son's weight and the effect it is having on his body.

“They (Quentin’s doctors) thought maybe it's some of the reasons he's having problems with his knees,” Dixon said.  “He may end up hurting himself with his heart."

Obese children and teens are more likely to have risk factors for cardiovascular disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  

The number of reported obese youth with Type 2 diabetes is also on the rise.  It’s a harsh reality that forced Dixon to change what and how she cooks.

“I bake a lot of chicken or pork chops or something like that or we might grill or something depending on what I feel like on that day,” Dixon said.

Bruggen says he is taking this weight journey one day at time, as he works with Greene at the gym and learns to focus his emotions toward different things than food.

“Hopefully I'll be able to trim down and be able to walk without starting to breathe hard,” Bruggen said.  

Back at SIU Larson wraps up his conditioning class. 

“Thanks for coming today,” Larson said.

More than 160 pounds later, he now inspires more than just his students, as Larson’s determination earned him a page in Men's Health Belly Off Club.  

“You have to start living that person you want to become.  If you are 350 pounds, live like you are a 180 pond person…like who you see yourself as…that's what I did,” Larson said.  

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