Over the next few weeks, the Sunday Observer will share the stories of each of the challengers, how they got to where they are and their commitment to becoming better versions of themselves.

THREE years ago, Trevor Dixon was 290 pounds. He was 20 years old. Did he have an issue with his weight? No. Did he know he was overweight? Yes. Did he intend to do anything about it? No.

Not until after he was told to lose weight following a medical examination he completed to start his Bachelor of Science degree in Tourism Management at the University of Technology in 2011.

“When I just started university I went to do a medical and the nurse at the time wanted to check my weight, so I went on the scale and I weighed 290 pounds,” Dixon told the Sunday Observer in a recent interview. “She pulled me aside and said to me, ‘you’re just 20, why are you so overweight?'”

Dixon said the nurse told him to consult a nutritionist and to do something about his weight.

“I took it upon myself sometime after and joined the gym. I started working out from about August to December and at the end of that period I was like ‘I am going to give up on this thing’,” Dixon recalled. “In January the next year, a friend of mine who had encouraged me to join the gym said to me ‘you have lost some weight’.”

But Dixon said he didn’t see it. So that friend showed him a photo of himself before he started working out as well as a current photo so he could also see the difference.

That was the encouragement Dixon needed. He then consulted a nutritionist and since then has not looked back.

“I changed my eating habit, cutting out soda and fried food and stuff like that,” said Dixon. “I continued the gym and got a programme.”

He now weighs 185 pounds and has moved from a pants size of 46 to 34. Dixon even told the Sunday Observer that his size 34 pants are now getting a little loose.

Dixon said he has noticed that his weight loss journey has inspired a few people who have reached out to him to find out what he did.

“I have got into this fitness thing so much that I am now thinking that after finishing [my degree] I would do a diploma in personal training or something, because I have got to a point now where persons who are struggling with obesity or are overweight, I want to help them and encourage them that they can do it as well,” Dixon shared.

He admits though that he was comfortable in his skin and had the nurse not recommended that he do something about his weight, he wouldn’t have.

“I think I was in denial at some point because even though I knew I was overweight, in my head it was like the gym doesn’t work and it would probably be too hard to lose weight,” Dixon recalled. “But I think that with dedication and hard work, it paid off and I am determined to continue to drop to my ultimate goal weight of 165 pounds.”

He now feels awesome and loves the skin he is in even more. Though he has to keep adjusting his clothes to fit his body he is the “happiest person alive” when he sheds a few pounds. He is also grateful to his personal trainer Ruel Beech who is keeping him on the straight and narrow.