Staci Jeffries

Lost 34lbs, 15% Body Fat, Lost 20 Inches, Size 12 to 8

I had driven past RobZFitness many times.  I thought it was a place where only elite athletes trained, not a stay-at-home mom like me.  Then one of my best friends decided to start training there.  She encouraged me to look at the testimonials on the RobZFitness website.  I’d been struggling for so long, pretty much all of my 30’s.  I had tried all the diets, bought all the books and worked out on my own. Still, here I was, about to celebrate my 15 year anniversary, turning 43 in a few months with a wonderful husband, beautiful sons, amazing life and family, but still not happy with my weight. It was time to change!

It was a big wake-up call to be evaluated and find out just how out of shape I had become.  I was exercising and thought I at least had some amount of fitness.  My body fat was 37%, this was not good. I was only in better shape than 6% of women my age! It was not just about wearing a smaller size, but getting healthy.

The supportive eating plan was the easiest diet I had ever followed.  Right from the beginning, Rob let me know to ask him questions; he was there to support me.  I would go in with my little lists almost every day in the beginning and really felt he taught me “how and why” to eat for best results.

The workouts were challenging and rewarding. I used to enjoy lifting weights and was thrilled to find that joy again.  It was such a huge sense of accomplishment during one of my workouts when I did 100 push-ups for the first time.  Not ‘girl’ push-ups either!  Real ones, on my toes!

Weight came off immediately. After two weeks my clothes were looser.  After a month I could wear one size smaller. Fortunately I waited before buying a lot of new clothes, because at the end of 2 months I needed an entire new wardrobe and was down from a tight 12 to a very comfortable 8. Everything Rob had said during our first meeting was true, I was losing weight, feeling great and it really was not that hard to do as long as I just followed his fitness plan! I went on 2 different vacations during the first 2 months, stayed on the eating plan and managed to work out and lose weight!

My “before” picture was taken a day before I started at RobZFitness.  I just cannot tell you how great it feels to have lost 15% of body fat, gained muscle, lost 20 inches in size all over and now I am in better shape than 76% of women my age. I am really on my way to excellent health and fitness.  Back in March before I started, I never thought I would lose 34 pounds of fat in just 3 months. It is the best gift I could have given to myself and my family…taking care of myself.

Staci Jeffries



DavieFerraro

Body Fat tested at 3.6%

“I would like to first thank Rob Zulkoski for the information that he has provided me through his passion of always striving for the best in life. I have learned so much from him that not only has he influenced my life but others that I have come in contact with as well. I have always wanted to be really fit, have a six pack, and look great (physically).”

“After reviewing my goals with Rob he has allowed me to become just that and much more. Rob is very dedicated and has a great deal of passion for helping others achieve the impossible. He has also made me believe in myself and to achieve even higher goals than when I started. I am a walking testimonial to Rob’s sound nutritional eating and weight training plan. I live by it and preach from it day in and day out.”

“The best testimonial that I have is myself. There is nothing more motivating than seeing your figure change drastically for the better. I look at the past pictures of myself and I cannot believe that is me. All Rob preaches is to always do your “PERSONAL BEST”. I always make sure that I continually strive to make myself better, whether it is in the gym or a through his sound nutritional eating plan.”

“I will get stopped in the gym or especially at the beach by others to see what I am doing. You should see the look on their faces when I tell them that everything I do is ALL NATURAL. Once I start talking about what I do as far as diet, lifestyle, and exercise, they look at me as if I was crazy and I don’t know what I am talking about “high fat, high protein/carb loading… What”.”

“Thanks again Rob for believing in me and guiding me to be my true best. I have the knowledge and that can never be taken away, hence, knowledge is power. I can go on and on, it just never ends. I would again like to say thanks for your help and guidance, I greatly appreciate it.”

Davie

American Obesity

F as in Fat:

Obesity Policies are Failing in America

By Trust for America’s Health

Adult obesity rates increased in 28 states in the past year, and declined only in the District of Columbia (D.C.), according to F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America‘s Future 2010, a report from the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). More than two-thirds of states (38) have adult obesity rates above 25 percent. In 1991, no state had an obesity rate above 20 percent.

The report highlights troubling racial, ethnic, regional and income disparities in the nation’s obesity epidemic. For instance, adult obesity rates for Blacks and Latinos were higher than for Whites in at least 40 states and the District of Columbia; 10 out of the 11 states with the highest rates of obesity were in the South — with Mississippi weighing in with highest rates for all adults (33.8 percent) for the sixth year in a row; and 35.3 percent of adults earning less than $15,000 per year were obese compared with 24.5 percent of adults earning $50,000 or more per year.

“Obesity is one of the biggest public health challenges the country has ever faced, and troubling disparities exist based on race, ethnicity, region, and income,” said Jeffrey Levi, PhD, executive director of TFAH.  “This report shows that the country has taken bold steps to address the obesity crisis in recent years, but the nation’s response has yet to fully match the magnitude of the problem. Millions of Americans still face barriers – like the high cost of healthy foods and lack of access to safe places to be physically active – that make healthy choices challenging.”

The report also includes obesity rates among youths ages 10-17, and the results of a new poll on childhood obesity conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research and American Viewpoint. The poll shows that 80 percent of Americans recognize that childhood obesity is a significant and growing challenge for the country, and 50 percent of Americans believe childhood obesity is such an important issue that we need to invest more to prevent it immediately. The survey also found that 84 percent of parents believe their children are at a healthy weight, but research shows nearly one-third of children and teens are obese or overweight. Obesity rates among youths ages 10-17 from the 2007 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) also were included in the 2009 F as in Fat report. Data collection for the next NSCH will begin in 2011. Currently, more than 12 million children and adolescents are considered obese.

“Obesity rates among the current generation of young people are unacceptably high and a very serious problem,” said Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., M.B.A., RWJF president and CEO. “To reverse this national epidemic, we have to make every community a healthy community. Americans are increasingly ready and willing to make that investment.”

Additional key findings include:

• Adult obesity rates for Blacks topped 40 percent in nine states, 35 percent in 34 states, and 30 percent in 43 states and D.C.
• Rates of adult obesity for Latinos were above 35 percent in two states (North Dakota and Tennessee) and at 30 percent and above in 19 states.
• Ten of the 11 states with the highest rates of diabetes are in the South, as are the 10 states with the highest rates of hypertension.
• No state had rates of adult obesity above 35 percent for Whites. Only one state-West Virginia-had an adult obesity rate for Whites greater than 30 percent.
• The number of states where adult obesity rates exceed 30 percent doubled in the past year, from four to eight –Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee and West Virginia.
• Northeastern and Western states had the lowest adult obesity rates; Colorado remained the lowest at 19.1 percent.

The report found that the federal government and many states are undertaking a wide range of policy initiatives to address the obesity crisis.  Some key findings include that:

At the federal level:

• The new health reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, has the potential to address the obesity epidemic through a number of prevention and wellness provisions, expand coverage to millions of uninsured Americans, and create a reliable funding stream through the creation of the Prevention and Public Health Fund;
• Community Transformation grants have the potential to help leverage the success of existing evidence-based disease prevention programs;
• President Barack Obama created a White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity,  which issued a new national obesity strategy that contained concrete measures and roles for every agency in the federal government; and.
• First Lady Michelle Obama launched the “Let’s Move” initiative to solve childhood obesity within a generation.

And at the state level:

• Twenty states and D.C. set nutritional standards for school lunches, breakfasts and snacks that are stricter than current United States Department of Agriculture requirements.  Five years ago, only four states had legislation requiring stricter standards.
• Twenty-eight states and D.C. have nutritional standards for competitive foods sold in schools on à la carte lines, in vending machines, in school stores, or through school bake sales.  Five years ago, only six states had nutritional standards for competitive foods.
• Every state has some form of physical education requirement for schools, but these requirements are often limited, not enforced or do not meet adequate quality standards.

• Twenty states have passed requirements for body mass index screenings of children and adolescents or have passed legislation requiring other forms of weight and/or fitness related assessments in schools.  Five years ago, only four states had passed screening requirements.

To enhance the prevention of obesity and related diseases, TFAH and RWJF provide a list of recommended actions in the report. Some key policy recommendations include:

• Support obesity- and disease-prevention programs through the new health reform law’s Prevention and Public Health Fund, which provides $15 billion in mandatory appropriations for public health and prevention programs over the next 10 years.
• Align federal policies and legislation with the goals of the forthcoming National Prevention and Health Promotion Strategy.  Opportunities to do this can be found through key pieces of federal legislation that are up for reauthorization in the next few years, including the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act; the Elementary and Secondary Education Act; and the Surface Transportation Authorization Act.
• Expand the commitment to community-based prevention programs initiated under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 through new provisions in the health reform law, such as Community Transformation grants and the National Diabetes Prevention Program.
• Continue to invest in research and evaluation on nutrition, physical activity, obesity and obesity-related health outcomes and associated interventions.