ALBANY, N.Y. — If she can do it, so can they.

You'd never know from looking at her chiseled physique that Crystal Joy Brown used to weigh close to 400 pounds.

The 35-year-old Schenectady, N.Y., resident stays in shape and inspires others to do the same through Joy Fitness, a support network she established this year.

In 2000, the Bronx native had a gastric bypass, a dangerous, five-hour operation that detoured her digestive tract around her stomach. The procedure made her feel full faster and absorb less food.

When the college dropout decided to go under the knife, she vowed to go after "anything and everything" she always dreamed of, but never thought she could accomplish.

"It was my second chance to live," she says. "I promised myself if I wake up, I want to go back to school, I want to be a personal trainer, I want to be a life coach, I want to take Tai Kwan Do. I wanted to ride a bike. I was embarrassed to ride a bike."

Today, the 5-foot-7, 172-pound personal trainer works at Gold's Gym in Schenectady. She holds high-level certifications from the American College of Sports Medicine, the National Academy of Sports Medicine and Les Mills International.

Besides her body, she has also trained her voice for five years, studying opera at Schenectady County Community College. By day, the mezzo soprano works as an administrative assistant for In Our Own Voices, a nonprofit organization based in downtown Albany that promotes the welfare of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people of color.

In her spare time, she and 15 core followers walk or jog regularly in Schenectady's Central Park.

"Where is your navel?" she shouts from across the pond, reminding everyone about their posture. "In my spine!" they respond together.

Clad in yellow Joy Fitness T-shirts, she and up to 30 cohorts sometimes chant this sequence to stay focused during area foot races to benefit causes such as breast cancer and the Special Olympics. In the winter, they will move indoors in a mall or at the YMCA.

No longer does Crystal Joy Brown eat alone to relieve stress. Isolation was part of the vicious cycle of food addiction, she says.

"What do they do to prisoners when they're terrible?" she asks. "We do the same thing, but it's self-imposed. At Joy Fitness, we don't do that. You can't be an island unto yourself."

Q: Do you struggle with self-esteem issues?