TRANSFORMATION
A move to Houston helps teacher shape up
Alvin ISD teacher Lauren Luna knows how to stay positive.
Lauren Luna swears by Houston’s sunny weather.
“I 100-percent feel that it makes a difference,” she said. “You want to be out in the sun. As soon as it comes out, you’re like, ‘Let’s go.’ ”
Luna said that growing up in Ohio made it hard to be active. “It’s cold and gray skies,” she said. “You don’t feel like going anywhere. You just want to hibernate.”
It wasn’t until she moved to her current home in Houston that the art teacher in the Alvin Independent School District started to lose weight.
“I’ve been overweight my entire life,” Luna said.
Eating fast food was the norm when she was a child. By age 16, she weighed about 300 pounds.
By the end of high school, though, she started to work out and pay closer attention to what she ate. In college, she signed up for a weightlifting class and water aerobics.
Luna dropped down to 260 pounds, but when she was pregnant with her son, her weight went back up.
“I didn’t like how huge I was,” she said. “If people were taking pictures, I’d hide myself. I’d work out, and then gain it back. I just yo-yoed all the time.”
She moved to Houston in 2011, and about four years later, she decided to take action and commit to a healthier lifestyle.
“I thought, ‘OK, I’m tired of none of these pants fitting. I’ve got to do something about it,’ ” she said.
Luna started working out at home. She tried P90X — a system of 12 workouts. Then, she bought an exercise bike.
Today, each morning before heading to her classroom, Luna pedals for about 45 minutes.
She also watches what she eats. She still enjoys pizza every once in awhile, but she has a salad every day for lunch.
Luna recommends having someone join you along the way and find supportive individuals to cheer you on. “Having someone in it with you is extremely helpful,” she said.
She also suggests staying hydrated. “I always have my water bottle with me,” she said. “You clean out your system and you’re not as hungry.”
In addition to teaching, Luna is also a professional artist — and she counts setting up her tents and her paintings for art markets as its own type of workout.
Mitch Cohen runs First Saturday Arts Market in the Heights, where Luna has been one of the regular artists since 2012.
Her can-do attitude shines through, Cohen said. “Lauren is friendly, positive and fun to be around,” he said. “For the seven years that I’ve known her, she takes her work seriously but with a relaxed attitude. She’s not afraid to try new things either, and I think that’s one of her best attributes.”
These days, Luna’s weight fluctuates around 200 to 220 pounds.
“I’m still losing weight,” she said. “You just have to want it. It’s about reprogramming your thinking.”
She said keeping goals small and obtainable is one of the keys to success. “People get defeated,” she said. “But every pound lost is a victory. Don’t say you need to lose 50 pounds. Just start with 5.”
“I didn’t like how huge I was. If people were taking pictures, I’d hide myself. I’d work out, and then gain it back. I just yo-yoed all the time.”
Lauren Luna