"Too Fat for 15" Cast Member: Weight-Loss Success is Possible

EducationWorld interviewed cast member Carsyn (female, age 17) from “Too Fat for 15,” a Style Network show that explores the real struggles of young people trying to maintain healthy lifestyles.

EW: How big of an issue is weight among teens?

Despite being overweight, Carsyn has made positive changes that have resulted in a healthier lifestyle.

Carsyn: Weight is definitely an issue. I know that I gained it extremely fast and didn’t even realize that I had gained it. It just can snowball so fast and you can become so unhealthy. I was pre-diabetic and my hair was falling out, it was so bad. It was really scary, and I think it’s a scary issue.

EW: What’s the biggest thing you’ve gotten out of the experience of being on the show?

Carsyn: Just that I’ve been so productive. Even if something bad happens, you do everything you can to turn it around. Usually I would just kind of get down about it and be like, “Oh man…hate it.” Now I’m like, “It’s okay, next week I’ll lose more.” I just never give up anymore.

EW: What is the biggest hurdle for you in terms of weight loss, nutrition or exercise?

Carsyn: My biggest hurdle would probably be that I’m not a big fan of running at all. I was an athlete and got injured, and it literally hurts me to run, so [the “Too Fat for 15” trainers] taught me how to do other exercise that gets my heart rate up that I actually really enjoy doing. When I go home I look forward to taking a hip hop class or a biking class, so it’s really fun. If you put that fun factor into it, no doubt you’ll see an increased heart rate.

EW: What is your advice to teens who are in situations like yours?

Carsyn: Don’t be afraid to ask for help. I am one of the biggest independent young women; I want to do everything by myself. But coming here helped me so much, and I will never go back to where I was. I was so unhappy. And if you can picture yourself happy, and you can just suck it up and ask for help, you’ll get there.

EW: What can teachers and administrators take from your experiences that can help them help others?

Carsyn: I think that if they watch the show, they can see the journey and how we learned it so fast. I know like the first month I was here I lost 27 pounds. The way they teach it here, it’s a lifestyle, not just a diet.

EW: What can schools do better, to get through to kids about healthy lifestyles?

Carsyn: I think schools should present it in a way like, “If you want help,” not, “You need help.” When my parents or friends or anyone nagged me about it, I would take that as nagging because I wanted them to accept me for who I was. I knew I couldn’t do it on my own, but the nagging factor, when everyone was like, “Do you really want to eat that,” it just drove me crazy. I wanted someone to be like, “We like you for you, but we can help you. We can if you want it.” I think I would have taken the bait on that big time. I wouldn’t have felt attacked.

EW: What can schools do in terms of PE and health class to help kids with weight issues?

Carsyn: The big factor for me was, if you exercise more than you eat, if you work out more calories than you put in, that’s what helped me the most. I think if schools just explained it and made kids understand that there are no extremes. You don’t have to be stick-thin, and you don’t have to be really overweight. So if schools showed kids that, and that it is really easy to maintain and maybe have a treat like once a week, I think that would be really good.

EW: Do you feel schools encourage kids to eat right and exercise?

Carsyn: Honestly…no. I don’t think they do at all. I think they throw it out there to be like, “Yeah we need to be healthy.” I think they really do want us to be healthy, but on the other hand, if they wanted that they would probably do something about it.

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