JWeland Park ShotOnce you hit your 30s, it’s a whole new ballgame when it comes to your body and your health. Your hormones start to shift, and so does your metabolism. You lose a little muscle tissue every year (up to 5 lbs every decade), which knocks your metabolism down a little more. By this point in your life, you’ve got some added challenges in the form of balancing the demands of work and home. Something’s gotta give in that equation and it’s usually exercising, good sleep and many other healthy habits that fall off the priority list.

But I’m here to tell you a busy life and getting older doesn’t mean you can’t have the body you want. It doesn’t mean that you can’t feel amazing. It doesn’t mean that you can’t keep your weight in a happy place.

That’s where I come in. I work with men and women to turn back the clock with the right exercise, nutrition and healthy lifestyle strategies. I’ll show you how to exercise to build muscle, endurance, flexibility and core strength. I’ll show you how to eat to fuel your body so you can feel and look your best. And I’ll teach you the lifestyle habits and survival skills that will help you maintain your body for years to come.

I’m not about the quick fix, the fad diet or the insane exercise regimen. I vote for sanity, common sense and a routine that actually works for people with real lives who don’t have a lot of free time to waste, who don’t want to feel deprived and hangry (hungry + angry) and who aren’t always going to be in control of their environment (like when you’re traveling or out to eat).

My approach is rooted in a few key principles:

  • Give me strength
  • I [heart] food
  • Eat what you’re craving … and enjoy it
  • Good health isn’t just the number on the scale or the size of your jeans
  • No boredom allowed (it’s a total motivation killer)

My story

I’ve been fit: I’ve been fat. I’ve been healthy: I’ve been hurt. I’ve worn surgical gowns the way some women wear bridesmaids gowns. At one time, I had a matched set of air boot casts—one for each foot.

I didn’t always have my act together when it comes to taking care of myself. Throughout my early career in corporate communications, I was driven. I was in hyper-efficiency mode, getting things done — and I was damn good at it. In the process, I was taking it out on my body and my psyche. The cumulative effect was devastating to my health. I know I’m not alone in this.

In taking charge of my own health, I stopped listening to the conventional wisdom and started listening to my body. My early 30s was a bit of an awakening for me. I reset some of my essential assumptions and expectations. Then, I rebuilt my lifestyle to support the experiences I crave. The person I am today is forged through the heat of activity, the molding of my form, the honing of my capability. I’ve gained an appreciation for the edges I’ve defined and what my reality actually is, not how I compare to the model on the fitness magazine.

Our real world is physically and emotionally exacting. Thriving on our own terms calls for stamina, endurance, balance, flexibility, and a heaping shovelful of grit. Real-world ready takes mental strength and core strength. Real-world ready requires a lifestyle, not a diet that’s started and stopped, and then started again.

Today, I work with individuals to build a body and a mindset that supports ambitions and help my clients sit more comfortably in their own skin. And for the people I don’t get the opportunity to work with one on one, I put the fitness and nutrition techniques my personal clients learn from me into my Flat & Happy series. The Flat & Happy book, the Flat & Happy Recipe Guide and the Flat & Happy online health coaching program. What’s included is everything I wish I had known earlier in my life. Flat & Happy is for consumers wanting to take the lead, and it’s for employers of choice who invest in the well-being of their people.

I’m certified as a Personal Trainer from the National Association of Sports Medicine (NASM), a Lifestyle & Weight Management Coach from the American Council on Exercise (ACE), a Certified TRX Instructor, and a certified Nutrition Coach by Precision Nutrition. I also serve as a faculty member with People-onthego, helping to educate people about all of the benefits of exercise and how to avoid the side effects of a sedentary lifestyle.

My mission is always about priming people for the moment they extend themselves—and what they stand for—to others. I forge warriors of real-world ready.

See how you can work with me.

Get in touch now and let’s get started.