Martin Ramirez had lost his self-control and faced escalating health problems when he weighed 362 pounds.
He was racing toward diabetes. He had high blood pressure. He had surgery for sleep apnea because the fat around his neck caused him to stop breathing at night.
“It was a totally deadly and desperate situation,” Ramirez, a 38-year-old Canton resident, said. “I felt trapped under all the fat. I knew I had to do something to survive, to keep myself alive.”
Indeed he did. He shed about 170 pounds in just over two years after he adopted better eating habits and joined the Planet Fitness health club on the northwest corner of Canton Center and Hanford.
He found help – not judgmental stares – from employees like club manager Brandon Naif and regional manager Riaz Sheriff.
“They’re like a second family to me,” said Ramirez, now employed there as a personal trainer and fitness instructor. He is working on his national certification.
“Martin is a huge success story for us,” Sheriff said.
It was a rocky road to success. At 5-foot-9, Ramirez used food to comfort – and ultimately harm – himself, even as he was a caregiver for an ailing relative. He had strayed far from his sports-oriented childhood in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where he dabbled in boxing, baseball and martial arts.
He recalls making weights and exercise equipment using bean cans filled with cement. “I was very poor.”
Ramirez moved to southwest Detroit 13 years ago and then to Canton. He sought a better life, but he lost his way.
“I used food as a way of comforting myself. I became a food addict,” he said. “When I look back, I feel like I was a prisoner in my own body under all that fat.”
Yet inside, he knew he had something to contribute.
“I knew that inside me, buried under all that extra weight, lived that special person, the real me, a person that had so much to give to others,” Ramirez said. Walking into Planet Fitness, he said, “was the best choice of my life.”
Ramirez, married with one son, now works one-on-one to help club members find an exercise program that’s right for them. He also teaches small classes to help members burn fat and work their muscles.
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“He’s very lively,” club member Dimple Parikh said as she exercised alongside a relative, Khushboo Parikh. “He invites us to his classes and he modifies it to our level to make it more effective for everybody.”
Club member Rose McEachern said Ramirez has inspired her to strive for new goals. “He’s very encouraging.”
He often works with people who need help as he once did. He also has developed exercise routines for injury-accident victims, people with disabilities and the frail and elderly. He strongly believes fitness is not only for the strong and healthy – but also for the weak.
Riaz recalls Ramirez’s personal transformation. Riaz had been away from the Canton Planet Fitness for an extended period while he worked to start up another club. When he returned, “I saw a new Martin who was half the size he used to be.”
Talking with Ramirez inside Planet Fitness, it’s clear he has a special bond with the club he credits for helping to save his life. He said it has brought new passion and meaning to his life.
He enjoys teaching others “right here, in the same place that witnessed my struggles, my constant hours of intensive workout routines, my sweat and my tears,” he said. “This is the Planet I love the most besides our Mother Earth, the place that helped me (feel) born again and get back on my feet.”
Later, he added, “Now I feel like that special person who has a lot to give to help others. I want to improve other people’s lives. I’m willing to help as many people as I can who desire to change their lives.”
Just like he did.
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