Part of my motivation to lose 40 pounds this last year was a photo of my two brothers, deliberately posed stomach to stomach, each looking ... very pregnant.

Forgive my politically incorrect, seemingly insensitive irreverence. Everyone thinks it: I'm just the baby sister deliberately crossing the line and voicing it ... while pleading with them to take much better care of themselves.

As the designated caregiver to Mom after her strokes, I really don't want to have to worry about my brothers, too. But I do: In recent years, both my brothers (living thousands of miles from me) have been diagnosed with diabetes and heart disease.

So last year, when my own doc's chart finally officially (albeit barely) listed me as "obese" at 166 pounds at 5'6", and Doc said he wanted my lousy LDL cholesterol dropped from 135 mg/dL to below 100, I remembered that photo. It was then I decided, "It is time to take care of myself, too. I'm not going to be like my brothers!"

My slim sister has kept off 70 of 80 pounds for more than six years. (That was weight she gained while a caregiver to her late husband.) Strongly influenced by her success and by my brothers' serious health issues, I'm now slim too, after losing 40 pounds in my fit-for-life drive this past year.

Just as my brothers' health motivated me to lose, I hope that my transformation serves as a motivator to my nieces and nephews (and my brothers) to proactively work on daily making healthier choices and live healthy lifestyles. I'm doing my best to influence them by my actions, and by continuing to share my nutrition and fitness learnings.

The visual change has made an impact. When I saw the Kenosha teenagers, they yelled in shock, "Our aunt looks like she's in her twenties!" When they couldn't believe I ran for an hour along the Lake Michigan coast, I reminded them of how their grandparents worked hard to stay fit.

Fitness Used to Run in Our Family

When Mom (now age 87) was my age, she was an avid hiker and seriously into nutritional supplements. When she was in her 50s, and Dad in his 60s, they still went on 20-mile bicycle rides, and spent hours out doors, walking creek beds searching for fossils.

But, sometime during the 20 years since Dad died, Mom added to her social calendar, between hikes, daily trips to McDonalds for either breakfast, lunch or dinner. I believe it was those frequent McDonalds treats and the resulting clogged arteries that resulted in my now being her caretaker.

I am 100% positive it was the 6,700-miles of hiking that helped Mom be able to relearn to walk after The Big Stroke of 2005. (That knowledge, that example, is another reason I'm dedicated to be fit for the rest of my life. Thanks Mom!)

Growing Out As a Family

Fast and convenience foods, stress and settling into sedentary lifestyles contributed to all of us growing out. Me? A little over a year ago, I drank eight to 10 Diet Cokes each day at work, ate takeout in the evenings from Taco del Mar, which I lived above, and did Pizza Hut drive through (pepperoni pizza, bread sticks, cheese dip and a huge diet soda) after visiting Mom on Saturdays and Sundays. I also had a membership I never used to a gym, across from the office and four blocks from my apartment.

Last year I changed those habits, forever.

Proactively Influencing Family

For Christmas, I gave a brother swimming goggles. When I returned to the Midwest several months ago and visited my brothers, I gave the former cross-country runner a pedometer, in hopes that it would help motivate him to increasingly move more. For the first time, our visits were not centered around eating out. We walked and talked.

I also told each of my brothers, "My biggest fear is that I'll have to tell Mom that she lost a son. Please don't ever put me in that position."

Losing my 44-year-old brother-in-law, who was like a brother to me, was difficult enough. I do not want to lose one of my blood-siblings sooner than necessary.

Dear Brothers, "Do you hear me? Is there anything else I can do to help you change your lifestyles?" I believe in you. I know you can do it! Please do.

My sister recently told me, when I was disposing of all my big clothes, that she had been seriously concerned about my weight, too. I don't remember her ever telling me that. I wish she had. (She, too, worries about our brothers' health.)

By the way, my lousy LDL cholesterol is now at 110 mg/dL (from 135) via exercise, a healthy diet and Omega 3 supplements. Considering I now eat lean, low-cholesterol, low-fat fresh foods (and love it!), I just started red yeast rice supplements to see if that will help drop my LDL to the "below 100" target for someone at risk.