The anxiety of trying to lose weight can drive people to different paths. Some go on diets, others eat healthy and exercise frequently.

Robert Ferguson understands how frustrating and difficult it can be for a person to trim down. His mother, Brenda Watson, tried more than 20 weight-loss diets and none of them worked.

“Everybody wants to be healthy, but the question is, how do you get there?” said Ferguson, 38, a Ventura resident who has become a motivator to help people lose weight.

The personal trainer and advocate for a healthy lifestyle is one of 15 black pioneers from across the nation who are featured in Aetna’s 2007 African American History Calendar.

The company, a health insurer, chose obesity as the theme for this year’s calendar, and the pioneers are being celebrated for their work in fitness and nutrition, said Rachelle Cunningham, an Aetna spokeswoman.

A reception today will celebrate Black History Month and acknowledge the 15 individuals profiled in the calendar. Five speakers including Ferguson will present remarks on issues related to weight, with a central message that information and education are keys to success.

Ferguson will talk about the gap between what people know and what they do for a heathier lifestyle.

The private event will be held at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, Cunningham said.

In past years, the annual calendar has featured pioneers in education, health, food nutrition and business.

Born and raised in Anderson, Ind., Ferguson moved to Ventura County in 1987. It wasn’t until 1998 that he became passionate about the world of weight loss.

“I watched my mother battle with her diets her whole life, the roller coaster that she experienced,” he said. “My goal is to open their eyes and help people discover that they can achieve their best body and health.”

Ferguson, a lifelong athlete, knew he wanted to help people, so he continued his education and earned a certificate as a performance nutrition specialist from the International Sports Science Association.

People have a misunderstanding about losing weight and take different approaches, Ferguson said. Some try different diets; others stop eating.

“Diets don’t work,” he said, adding that people also don’t have to go to a gym and work hard. What they need to know, he said, is information about eating foods that provide the nutrition the body needs. It’s even possible to eat French toast, pasta and pizza and still be healthy, he said.

Kim Lester, 38, a Camarillo resident, said that before she met Ferguson she tried several diets and none of them worked.

“I felt like a prisoner inside myself,” Lester said. She weighed 216 pounds when she attended Ferguson’s “Eight-week challenge” seminar a year ago. She said that with his help and motivation, she now weighs 179.

Ferguson, who has worked as a sports psychologist for pro boxers including Oxnard’s Fernando Vargas, provides seminars frequently in Ventura County. He said virtually all of his clients — 98 percent — are women.

Ferguson also is the author of a book, “Conquering the Munchie Monster,” published last month.

People always have a voice in their mind that either will help them or disturb them, he said. It’s “the negative voice in your head — the same voice puts you down, it’s the same voice that tell us to give up. If you cannot conquer the munchie in your head, you can’t ever win.”

Ferguson, owner of Diet Free Life Co., promotes the “Eight-week challenge,” a weight-loss seminar focused on a healthy-eating lifestyle.

“I ask people in our community to change unhealthy habits for healthy ones,” he said.

This year’s seminar began Jan. 20 and will end March 21, with all of the proceeds donated to the Health Care Foundation at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard.