Westbury resident Andres Loperena remembers a time when he struggled to kneel down and tie his own shoes. In high school, he sported slip-ons so no one would notice.
That was only 12 years ago, but it feels like 40, Loperena said.
These days, the 30-year-old weighs 100 pounds less than when he graduated high school. He has turned his own weight loss journey into a business: Pledge To Fitness in Bellaire.
I built Pledge as a solution to all my problems, Loperena said. Its all the answers to the questions I asked years ago. People gave me 4,000 places to go, 1,500 diets to follow. I think Pledge would have been the solution to my problems.
He basically synthesized all he learned from his own experiences into one place, where he can create customized programs for individual clients.
The first step is a 3D body scan, which provides body composition and fat percentages, as well as concise weight and measurements.
Then, Loperena or a trainer on his team asks clients to describe in detail their own health journey.
Tell me how you got here, Loperena asks.
Combining the information from the scan with personal stories allows Pledge to build a program that matches an individuals lifestyle and goals. Each fitness prescription blends strength training, mobility work, massage, yoga and Pilates. In addition, clients are coached in nutrition and recovery.
Weve become a one-stop shop, Loperena said. People come in so beat up from other places. You need massage, corrective exercise.
He wants each person who walks through his doors to know that Pledge will take care of them.
Were worried about you holistically, he said. Were worried about you in the long-run. I want to help you start living a different life.
No one ever said that to him. Instead, Loperena learned gradually.
Originally from Venezuela, he moved to Houston with his parents Martin Loperena and Clara Rojas in 1999 at age 10. His mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and she came to the area for its world renowned medical care. The family also wanted to be close to his uncle, cardiologist Gustavo Grieco.
Loperena shouldered stress from the move and worries about his mother. He took comfort in the junk foods he was discovering in his new hometown, especially Diet Mountain Dew, candy and pizza. When he started driving, fast foods were a new temptation.
By his freshman year in high school, Loperena weighed 227 pounds.
Then, he discovered he had sleep apnea, after landing in the hospital with petit mal seizures, which are short but can be dangerous.
I was always tired, he said. I was always in bed. I was depressed.
By senior year, Loperena weighed 350 pounds. He was finally getting treatment for his sleep apnea but still gaining weight, despite trying fad diets like Atkins and South Beach.
After graduating, Loperena went to Spain with his family in the summer of 2008.
I didnt fit anywhere, he said. I didnt fit in the chairs. I didnt fit through the doors. This isnt normal. Im living a lifestyle that doesnt make sense.
By the time Loperena enrolled at the University of Houston, change was in the air.
I just had enough, he said.
While in college, he met with a nutritionist who taught him about portion control, and joined Life Time Fitness, where hours on the elliptical machine helped him drop 80 pounds. He also tried Quick Weight Loss Center and lost another 76 pounds - but gained much of it back.
At school, he discovered psychology, which would become his major.
The big anxiety issues, fitting in, self-esteem were all part of the class, Loperena said. I was like, I didnt know we came with a manual. I wanted to learn more.
All of these small moments combined changed trajectory. Rather than plan a career as a therapist, he decided to help people as a trainer who could guide them through fitness and nutrition.
I wasnt quite sure of how to get there, but even if I could help one person, I wanted to do it, Loperena said.
With weight loss came improved health and emotional well-being. He no longer had sleep apnea or seizures. Something as simple as being able to kneel down and tie my shoes helped me fell like no one can stop me now, he said.
Loperena signed up at National Personal Training Institute in 2012. He became certified in personal training, sports nutrition, as well as kettlebell and suspension (TRX) training.
At age 23, Loperena started his own company. At first, he operated as a team of independent trainers at another gym, but he quickly became frustrated with not having his own facility. He wanted to create an environment where all of the trainers operated in the same way and followed the research on how to best help others.
Lets make the training the best we can, he decided. Fitness is a relationship. You have to love fitness, since you have to do it for the rest of your life. If theres any relationship thats worth working on, its that one.
Last year, Loperena made Pledge to Fitness a brick-and-mortar reality. Before COVID-19, he was operating a team of 10 trainers and serving 80 to 90 clients, including his parents.
Then the pandemic halved his clientele.
Still, Loperena has no plans to abandon on his dream of helping others reach their health goals.
Thats why he settled on the name, Pledge. Its a promise he makes to support clients on their journey - as well as a nod to the pledge they must make to commit to their own health.
This is personal, Loperena said. We take your health personally here - and that makes a difference. Its never too late to start - and every minute you have with a better quality of life is a better minute.
At Pledge to Fitness, all ages and fitness levels are welcome, he added.
Bellaire resident Donna Grehn looks forward to her workouts at Pledge, and stops by three days a week for sessions. She first started training with Loperena at her home - and was excited to learn that he opened a location in her neighborhood.
He really listens, said Grehn, who was an aerobics instructor for 10 years. I know how to work out hard, but I needed to work out smart and differently. If Im going to lift weights and change my body, hes the guy Im going to.
Heights resident Will Drennan believes that Loperenas own story better equips Loperena to help clients like him.
Trainers who start out fit and ripped from the beginning, they dont know how I feel, he said. Starting off skinny and staying fit is definitely different than starting out bigger and trying to lose weight.
Loperena never makes Drennan feel judged - or asks him to stick to a strict diet. The trainer never pushes him through pain in a fitness routine.
Hes struggled through this - and he gets it, Drennan said. He takes everything in steps. You dont have to do it all at once, unlike other gyms.
And that makes health more obtainable, Drennan explained.
Weight loss is a journey - but then you have to learn to keep it off, Drennan said. You have to have a sustainable way of getting there and staying there. Thats what I like about Pledge - its realistic. And that makes it a much better experience.
Lindsay Peyton is a Houston-based freelance writer.
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After losing 100 pounds, Houston trainer makes a Pledge to help others change their lives - Houston Chronicle
