Platkin spent years practicing for what he someday would preach. Growing up in New York City, he was always heavy.

``I liked cake and pizza. I was always 30 to 50 pounds overweight.''

Diets never worked: ``I was on Dr. Atkins at age 10. I was ostracized in school. I was called fat by a teacher once. It was traumatic.''

As he reached his 30s, he worried about his health. His grandfather, father and uncle all had diabetes.

Platkin's epiphany came after he had earned a law degree from Cornell University, realized he didn't want to be a lawyer and was working up a pitch for a magazine story on how people could learn to change lifelong behaviors. He had pored over behavioral studies, consulted experts, drafted an outline.

''But I didn't believe a word I'd written,'' he says. ``I knew it in theory, but in practice I thought it was hogwash. Finally I decided I had to apply it to myself. It changed my life.''

Platkin wrote his first book, Breaking the Pattern, in 2002 and applied it to himself. Today, at 46 and five-feet-nine, he weighs 164 pounds.

In 2001, wanting to leave Manhattan after 9/11, Platkin and his wife, Shannon, a catalog model and personal trainer, moved to Miami. Finally finding his calling, he earned a master's degree in public health from FIU. Today he's an adjunct professor there, teaching health communications and working on his Ph.D.

He has given diet advice on NBC's Today, CBS' Early Show, ABC's Nightline, National Public Radio, CNN, CNBC and the BBC. His weekly column ran in The Miami Herald's Neighbors section for four years.

SOMETIMES THEY CRY

Platkin concedes that his motivational techniques can be hard on dieters. In one episode, he reduced 258-pound Sussy Taveras to tears by telling her she was in danger of dying from a heart attack and never seeing her daughter graduate from college.

''I was so stressed,'' says Taveras, 27, of Miami. ``My daughter's father had just died, I had moved in with my mother, I was overweight. I ate rice and everything fried. I just didn't care.''

Under Platkin's guidance, she went from 258 to 203 pounds in six months, with a goal of 140 pounds.

'He told me what I needed to hear. He said, `You're a strong, powerful woman.' He made me feel like I was worth the time.''

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@