September 3, 2007- Anne Via Zakielarz

Anne's Success:
Anne began to tweak her lifestyle and diet a little at a time, and found time for herself by replacing old habits with new ones.  She did this while running 2 businesses and raising a family.  At her heaviest she was 265 pounds.  During the next four years she lost more than a hundred pounds by choosing healthy ways to get fit that she could maintain as a lifestyle, instead of turning to diets and programs that seemed like a gimmick.  Through Anne’s journey she has learned that small steady attainable goals are what work best for her.  In the following 4 years she maintained her success by continually setting new goals, eating 6 times a day, building a support system of friends that share her new passion for fitness and choosing things she enjoys.  She is now training for a body building contest.

September 10, 2007- Wendy Kadner

Wendy's Success:
Wendy is a single mom with an active career that requires her to travel from coast to coast.  She also has a dog-care business and several volunteer commitments in her local community.  She knew she needed to get back into a fitness routine but couldn’t seem to make it happen on her own, even though she knew what needed to be done and how to do it.  Realizing she needed to do something differently, she took a hard look at her priorities, thoughts, and situations.  She focused on why she was unable to make time for herself and why her health was not always up to par.  By creating a new practice and staying in tune with personal self-care she was able to give herself permission to take time for her.  

Personal self-care is now essential for Wendy.  She did something she would never have done before; she went on a cruise to Alaska with a girlfriend!  She has found the right balance for herself without giving up the things she loves and has dropped from a size 16/18 to a 10/12.  She feels much better, has more energy, sleeps at night and continues to maintain the program that has worked for her - making it her lifestyle. 

September 17, 2007- Gillian Hood-Gabrielson
www.healthieroutcomes.com

Gillian’s Success: 
Gillian Hood-Gabrielson is the founder and President of Healthier Outcomes.  Gillian is a fitness and intuitive eating coach that understands the unique needs of busy women at different ages and stages of life.  Being a young active entrepreneurial woman herself, she has had to overcome a significant personal struggle to regain her own fitness.  Three years ago Gillian fell and broke her leg and was hospitalized for ten days.  She was unable to walk without help for six months, went through two surgeries and focused one year of her life to regaining her full ability to walk.  Her energy was focused on healing, dealing with immense pain, and trying to work a couple of days a week. 

Gillian found out how important her food choices became in her healing process.  She also discovered that being consistent and patient with her rehab was critical, as well as managing her emotional state.  These are also key in achieving a lifestyle approach to healthy eating and fitness.  She used her fitness and eating coaching knowledge to assist herself through the process and reach a successful recovery. 

September 24, 2007- Heather Van Nest

Photo courtesy of Michael Harris

Heather’s Success: 
TV reporter and Tampa Bay’s evening anchor woman, Heather Van Nest, was persuaded during one of her interviews with a dermatologist to have a full body skin exam.  She was 29 at the time and didn’t think much of it, however she did make the appointment and the following week she was summoned back to the doctor’s office where he informed her she had stage one melanoma.  It was a shock.

Heather then put her research skills to work and learned the likelihood of melanoma recurrence was very high once you have it.  There is a 50% chance of getting it again within 5 years.  To minimize that chance, it was important to boost and keep her immune system up, and that meant a lifestyle overhaul.  She evaluated everything… including foods and everyday products… asking herself always “is it going to help or hurt my immune system?” 

The more Heather learned, the more she began to see that the standard American diet was a key contributor to many health problems.  She then wrote a half hour special on preventing and detecting skin cancer.   As part of the special, a Moffitt Cancer Center doctor told her that melanoma is such an aggressive cancer that doesn’t respond well to traditional chemotherapy treatments. He told Heather that her best bet was to keep her immune system strong, validating what she had already learned.  That has kept her cancer free.