‘Lose It’ program has helped FIU family lose a collective 1,000 pounds

There’s still time to register for the next 12-week session of the Rec Center’s popular “Lose It” program. Participants can sign up through Friday, May 13, for the session that begins Monday, May 16.

Ramon Duenas is a self-described “numbers guy”. As associate controller of Payment Services in the Office of the Controller, Duenas knows this about numbers: They don’t lie. So when he looked at his draft card from 1974, what he saw stopped him cold.

“I was 6 feet tall and 158 pounds,” he says. “I’m still 6 feet tall, but now I weighed 316 pounds. I thought, ‘that’s two of me.'”

Ramon Duenas (pictured here with wife Patty), before losing 41 lbs. with FIU's "Lose It" program.

Around that time, he took a trip out west with his family. Unable to do much hiking, Duenas felt more like a spectator than a participant. So when a colleague mentioned her participation in the “Lose It” program and told him about an informational session they were having, he called his wife Patty (who does not work at FIU) and said, let’s check this thing out.

“I had reached a point in my life where I wanted it,” he says. “We have two children who are both in college now. After years of focusing on the kids, it was time to focus on me.”

Today Duenas, 55, weighs 275 lbs. thanks to his participation in FIU’s “Lose It” program and a commitment to living a healthier lifestyle.

Modeled loosely after NBC’s Biggest Loser series, the university’s 12-week program is offered through Recreation Services at Modesto A. Maidique Campus. More than 150 members of the FIU community have participated in the program since its debut in fall 2010. Participants have lost collectively nearly 1,000 pounds in the program.

Duenas says the program works for him, in part, because it addresses both exercise and nutrition. In the past, he went on diets only to lose weight and gain back more. In addition to nutrition workshops that include strategies to help keep participants on track, the program includes group personal training sessions with a Rec Center trainer three times a week. Duenas added two additional days of workouts on his own. At the end of the 12 weeks, he had lost 40.8 lbs., good enough for first place in the Spring 2011 competition. He is looking forward to the summer session and finishing what he started.

Ramon Duenas, 41 lbs. lighter. To those who can't decide whether or not to join the program, he says, "You need to make time for yourself. It's only three hours a week. Consider it an investment in yourself."

“I had three great trainers,” says Duenas in discussing his personal success in the program. “They brought different personalities and different ways of doing things to my workouts, which I enjoyed. It was also great having my wife participate. We were able to encourage each another, plus I got to spend more time with her. I have to say, everyone in the program is supportive of one another.”

Write your own success story

Registration for the summer session is open through Friday, May 13, and the program begins Monday, May 16. Classes are scheduled to accommodate busy schedules, and space will be reserved on a first-come, first-served basis.

The cost to participate in the three-month plan is $99 for students, faculty, staff, spouses and same-sex domestic partners, and requires membership at the Recreation Center. (Currently enrolled students automatically receive a “free” membership to the Rec Center since their student fees cover their use of the facilities.) Individuals interested in signing up must register in person at the Rec Center.

In addition to group personal training sessions three times a week, participants will receive:

• Metabolic testing (find out how many calories you burn on a daily basis)
• Biometrics meal plan
• Nutrition workshops
• Food preparation demonstrations (additional cost of $5 at each food demo)
• Information to help create a realistic, positive lifestyle plan

Moving forward

Duenas leaves May 20 for another family vacation — this time to Yellowstone National Park. He says he’s looking forward to being a participant on this trip, not a spectator.

For more information about FIU’s “Lose It” program, contact Lia Jiannine at 305-348-6835 or send an email to LoseIt@fiu.edu.