TRANSFORMATION
Man drops 95 pounds and finds calling in Zumba.
Joel Luks laughs remembering when a co-worker was calling his name, searching for him everywhere.
“I was standing right there,” Luks said.
Losing 95 pounds can have that effect. For the Rice Military resident, however, his transformation was not limited to dropping pants sizes. He found an inner joy.
“I keep thinking, ‘How did I get here?’ ” Luks said. “It was all these little decisions. They accumulated into a big change. But for me, it took a major life event to get started.”
Originally from Peru, Luks said his obsession with food started at an early age. His large extended family gathered over meals. He loved hanging out with his mother in the kitchen.
But his weight was a constant struggle, and eating was his way to handle emotions.
“Food was my comfort, my outlet,” Luks said. “All my life, I yo-yoed on weight but always on the heavier side.”
Obtaining a master’s degree in classical music at Rice University brought Luks to Houston, after earlier moves to Canada and New York with his family.
While in Houston, he launched into his vegan phase. He loved cooking with fresh ingredients, experimenting with ways to create plant-based dishes.
“I lost some weight, but it never made me whole,” he said. “And vegan food is not always healthy. French fries are vegan — and Oreo cookies. It was a learning process.”
As Luks entered his 40s, he continued to gain weight, which only escalated as he faced extreme sorrow when his father died.
“I felt an emptiness and went back and filled it with food,” he recalled. “I was the heaviest I’ve ever been in my life.”
One day, however, he had enough.
“I snapped,” he said. “I called my doctor and said, ‘I need to see you today. I need some guidance.’ This is over. My father would not want this for me. He absolutely wanted the best for all of us.”
Luks’ doctor encouraged him to read “The Whole30,” a book that lays out a guide for 30 days of eliminating foods including grains, legumes, sugar and dairy.
“I read it cover to cover in two days,” Luks said.
He committed to giving it a go. “It was a really radical change in my diet,” he said. “It re-taught me how to eat. I followed it to a T.”
The first two weeks were difficult. This was the first time in years that meat took center stage on Luks’ menus.
Then, his body started changing. “The weight started coming off,” he said. “I was feeling so good. I was really happy all the time.”
Around the same time, Luks dove into Zumba. He tried the exercise before and enjoyed it. “It kept me dancing and kept me happy,” he said. “You can’t be sad when you’re dancing.” Becoming friends with fellow dancers gave Luks a healthier outlook — and a community who supported him through his transformation.
He added that growing closer to Yuri Amor Perez, founder of FitMix, was a game-changer. “She’s really giving love, and she created this amazing community,” he said.
Perez established the nonprofit FitMix to bring Zumba to Houston. When people attend her paid classes on Saturdays, they support other programs facilitating movement for seniors and individuals with disabilities.
FitMix also hosts free Zumba sessions in Midtown and Levy Park. “I wanted to reach people who couldn’t afford gyms or who didn’t want to go to gyms because they’re too intimidating,” Perez said. Some of her clients are hoping to lose weight, but most are finding therapy through dance, she added. “They’re overworked, stressed and unhappy,” she said. “This is about finding community, finding a reason. Losing weight is important, but depression, loneliness and stress are just as bad.”
In a one-hour class, participants end up taking as many steps through dance as a 5.7-mile run. “You’re doing a workout, and you don’t even realize it,” she said. Luks obtained his certification six months ago and now instructs his own classes.
“The idea that this overweight kid is now a fitness instructor is crazy to me,” Luks said. “Dancing with my closest friends, who doesn’t want to do that?”