Another short interview: I ask questions of 10 words or less, and ask respondents to answer with the same brevity. The theme of the current series is people who are working in eating disorder recovery.

MARTY LERNER, 60, Davie, Fla.

Chief executive and clinical director, Milestones in Recovery

Where did you grow up? “Queens, New York. We moved to Florida at 9.”

What did you want to be when you grew up? “An airline pilot.”

Someone you admired in childhood, outside your family “John Kennedy”

Someone you admire today, outside your family “Nelson Mandela”

What is Milestones? “A residential program for people suffering with eating disorders and related issues.”

How did you get onto this path? “Personal experiences with treatment in a similar setting, with a similar problem.”

So you struggled with weight. What’s the worst thing about it? “Social stigma and isolation.”

What did you do before this? “School. My mother put me on the yellow bus at 5, I got off at 33.”

What don’t people understand? “That weight is a symptom and not an illness.”

A nugget of wisdom you’ve learned “That we’re responsible for all our actions, no matter how we feel.”

The biggest impediment to change “The human mind.”

The one thing you wish everyone would get right? “My perception of the world [laughs]."