After 30 years of being entrenched in the fitness industry, there is one thing I know for sure…it’s truly about balance.

When I fell in love with fitness and nutrition it was the 80’s, and the predominant diet trend was Pritikin. It was the decade and birth of “fat free” everything that spawned many of the artificial sweeteners. At the time, the health emphasis was running, aerobics, and eating only things that were fat free. If it was fat free, it was healthy. Or so we thought.

During my college years the narrative changed a bit and while we still embraced the fat free fad, the emphasis was now on high carb. If it was fat free AND high carb, wow, you hit the lotto. I’ll never forget a time when my then boyfriend Dan (the one that got away) pointed out my insanity. 

I was so proud of the dinner I had just eaten: An apple. A bagel. And a yam. 

It was fat free, included a fruit, a vegetable and whole grains. That’s “healthy”, right? Dan proceeded to inform me that no, it wasn’t healthy. As I look back now, I finally have an explanation for why I felt terrible all the time. I was known for having my own coffee pot in my dorm room with fancy, fresh ground coffee-shop coffee. And coffee was what got me through those years when my poor body was dragging. 

By the time I arrived in New York City (largely because Dan had moved there) I was so excited to start my professional career. I got an incredible job and was training many of the world’s most famous personalities. I was a well-paid personal trainer working with very “important” people, giving them advice. And yet, I was dragging through each day, still fully dependent on coffee, coffee, and more coffee. 

It was here that I finally had my coming-to-Jesus moment out of sheer desperation. I was eating “healthy.'' So why did I feel terrible all the time?

I remember the moment like it was yesterday. I was in my tiny bedroom on the Upper West Side and was just…completely…confused. I was trying so hard to follow the rules and eat what “they” said was healthy. I was vegan one day each week. I was running 8 miles. I was doing everything right. And yet, I was a mess.

As they often say, the breakdown usually leads to the breakthrough.

After a lengthy experiment with high protein, low carb eating, I finally discovered the power in balance. I started eating a strategic amount of carbohydrates, protein, and fat each day. And it was a game changer.

This started a long phase of feeling better - incrementally - so that I was able to get more committed to strength training. Armed with smarter nutrition, I was able to start improving my body composition.

Smart nutrition helped me to finally feel better. And strength training helped me completely redesign my body.

The rest, as they say, is history.

I hope you’ll take the time to join me on this journey as it reveals many of the problems with the fitness and nutrition industries. It also provides all the details to why I’m so passionate about what I teach today.

This may be my story. But the story is really about you. My hope is that you’ll look at your own practices with new eyes, and find new ways to get better results.

Stay strong, friend.