In this Feb. 23, 2012, photo, fitness trainer Whitney Martin, at top, spots weights for Scott Hamann during a workout at New Beginnings Fitness Center in Kenai, Alaska. Hamann took up a fitness routine about a year ago and recently bought the gym he had been attending. (AP Photo/Peninsula Clarion, M. Scott Moon)

The North Kenai resident said the need for change struck him after his father and youngest brother passed away last year.

"I was way, way, way heavy and I just knew I had to get healthy," Hamann said.

In February 2011, he started working with a personal trainer at Elite Health and Fitness.

"When I started I couldn't even make a full lap around the track," Hamann said.

Now, two weeks before his one-year anniversary of working with his trainer, Whitney Martin, Hamann weighs in 120 pounds lighter.

"I've still got another 60 pounds to loose, but I'm working on it every day," Hamann said.

Then he decided to take a bigger step, and left the Peninsula, heading to the Biggest Loser Ranch in Malibu, Calif. for two months.

But his biggest step yet came in January, when he purchased the gym. It was either that, or see it shut down, he said.

"I ended up buying the building and then I bought the gym itself," Hamann said.

Original post:
Fitness goals turn into a job for Kenai gym owner