Institute for Integrative Nutrition

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Our graduates have gone places – from broadcast T.V. to doctor’s offices, school lunch lines to political campaigns… and beyond!

Select Student --- Abby Block Alee and Gabriel Hoffman Alice Marino Andrea Beaman Angelle Batten Anita Thompkins Annette and Billy Varoli Annette Varoli Annie Morgante Betty Murray Celia Kutcher Christine Waltermyer Dani Spies Donna Sonkin Erin Mahoney Fabiola Simpson Frank Giglio Gabriele Kushi Glen Colello Helen Hendrickson Howard Fuchs Jackie Duarte, MD Janet Kaye Jason and Carol Kessler Jason Kessler Jeanette Bronee Jena La Flamme Jenn Edden Jennifer Cassetta Joanne Colan Judith Sobresky Larry Rogosky Lynn Goldstein Nancy Weiser Peter Lappin Pina DiPalma Sheryl Larsen Terry Walters Theresa Caveney Vincent Duarte, MD Yvette Laboy

Abby Block

What were you doing before IIN?

I was a modern dancer and worked with kids all day. I had been searching for a flexible career that wouldn't exhaust me and would work well with my dancing. I wanted a career that I love as much as I love dancing. The school seemed like a great fit for me in so many ways.

What led you to explore IIN's program?

I enrolled at Integrative Nutrition because I had long-standing interests and untapped knowledge in the triage of cooking, nutrition and working with people.

What happened after you enrolled in IIN's program?

Once I started classes, I realized it was the perfect fit. Initially, I enrolled to become a health counselor, but I ended up getting so much more than I expected. Reflecting back on it, I can't help but think that on some unconscious level I must have enrolled to enlist change within myself. By the time I completed the program, I had drastically changed my relationship to food, in terms of what I ate, how I ate and how I felt about the food I was eating. I surprised everyone I knew by starting my own health counseling practice and teaching classes on wellness and nutrition.

What did you gain from IIN?

I started to use my time more efficiently, gained confidence and accrued a greater level of clarity in so many aspects of my life. It was a decision that completely sent the trajectory of my future in a direction I never would have dreamed. I am extremely grateful for the experience.

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Alee and Gabriel Hoffman

Gabriel, Why did you choose to come to IIN?

It was through my cancer recovery and our dad’s illness that I learned people can take charge of their own health through whole foods. After I quit my job in technical sales I wanted to figure out how I could turn my passion for nutrition into a career. I had one conversation with a woman at my local health food store that changed my life. She handed me the IIN catalog. I enrolled immediately.

How did IIN change your relationship with your sister?

My sister Alee and I have always been really close, but our experience at IIN brought us even closer. She was in college when I was at IIN. I called her after every class weekend to share the excitement of what I was learning. Witnessing my journey, she was driven to take charge of her own health.

Alee, what inspired you to attend IIN?

I have always struggled with my weight and allergies, so when I saw Gabe heal himself and our dad I knew I could heal myself. I went to IIN during my senior year of college, it was tough, but I was able to make it work with the support of my brother. It was such a unifying experience.

Even though you didn’t do PTP together, you attended immersion together…

Gabe was in the immersion program when I was in PTP. He repeated immersion so we could do it together!

How did this experience affect your relationship and your educational experience?

When I did Immersion with my brother, it finally clicked why I had come to IIN. At first it was because of my own weight loss issues and my dad and brother's experience with cancer. Gabe was able to process what happened with his cancer and become a healer and businessman. I knew I could do the same. We both went through ups and downs. We learned that true personal growth can be uncomfortable at times, but it only makes you stronger and a better counselor. It was such a blessing to be able to bounce ideas off of each other, as well as travel to conferences together. We continue to be best friends.

What are you doing now?

We applied the tools we learned at IIN to empower others to help themselves. As a brother and sister duo we started Ideal Health. We coach people on eating whole foods and administer clinical tests.

A lot of people don’t understand how a brother and sister can be in business together, from our experience at IIN, we realized our strengths and that we fit each other really well. Gabe is the linear, get-down-to-the-roots partner and I’m the sensitive counselor who is able to connect with our clients. Together, along with other IIN graduates, we will change the world.”

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Alice Marino

Tell us about yourself.

This year has been the most amazing year of my life. I have grown in so many ways, especially coming to terms with being HIV positive and the realization that I am here to help others with my business, Get the Red Out.

What led you to explore IIN's program?

I’ve been in the health and fitness industry for more than 18 years. I thought I was pretty healthy and a pioneer in personal training. Once I met Joshua and IIN, I learned about eating better, living better, slowing down and eating greens and grains. I am now the healthiest I have ever been and that is despite being HIV positive for 13 years.

What did you do after graduation?

As the founder and director of Get the Red Out, I intend to continue working to help stop the spread of HIV and AIDS and to work with those who are already infected so that they can live happier and healthier lives. I will continue working as a health counselor and personal trainer. I am just beginning to live life now that I have turned 50 and I intend to do it all the way.

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Andrea Beaman

Why did you choose to go to IIN?

I graduated in 1999 and I have to say it was an amazing experience. I healed myself of thyroid disease naturally with whole foods, natural foods and alternative therapies. I had this burning desire to teach people that they could heal themselves with natural foods too.

What did your family say about exploring this interest in wellness and holistic health?

My family said, ‘Go to nutrition school. Why don’t you become a doctor?” My friends said ‘Yes, go to nutrition school. Become a doctor. Do all this stuff, you have to teach.’ But modern methods of healing were not calling me like the holistic methods.

What happened after you enrolled in IIN's program?

Integrative Nutrition helped me set up my base for teaching people. I had all of this knowledge I wanted to share, and the school taught me how to share it. When I first started at the school, I was following a strict macrobiotic diet. One day Joshua suggested I try one of those sport nutrition bars. I decided to go ahead with the suggestion, but realized I couldn’t pronounce any of the ingredients—I only knew they contained tons of different types of sugar. They all ended in ‘ose’—galactose, lactose and fructose. I ate it, and waited, and nothing happened. Then, 15 minutes later, I got a horrible headache right on both of my temples. I asked myself, ‘Why on earth would he tell me to eat something that could potentially give me a headache? This is horrible.’ I was sitting there holding my head, thinking ‘Gosh, this doesn’t feel good.’ I realized this is what a sugar headache feels like. I could use this information with my clients. When they complain about a headache that starts here I know they have too much sugar in their diet. If their headache starts somewhere else, it has a different cause.

What is one of the best things you took from your IIN experience?

I have learned to experiment in my body then take what I have learned and teach others.

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Angelle Batten

What were you doing before IIN?

With my background in elementary education I was a literacy consultant working with teachers and raising my three kids.

Did you change your career once you started IIN?

Yes, while at IIN I began working with women of all ages at a yoga center. I learned how much their children were being impacted by the changes they were making.

Is this where your interest in working with families originated?

I’ve always wanted to impact kids. A friend referred me to Susan McCreadie MD, a licensed pediatrician working in holisitic medicine. I took my kids to see her and gave her my newsletter. From there, we started talking about all the ideas we both had.

What are you and Sue doing now?

We are partners and recently launched our new website, www.nourishyourkids.com. We designed a class series that helps moms plan, shop and cook real food.

What is the purpose of your new website?

Our site provides information and support for parents. We want to help them make manageable changes and feed their children real food and improve their overall health.

What are your future plans?

Our goal is to continue to expand our website. We want people all over the country to use our site as a resource and we want to build relationships with our customers. We plan to add downloadable video classes in addition to the audio classes already available on the site.

What are some quick snack foods that you recommend?

Fresh fruit and vegetables are the ultimate snack food. Trailmixes, cooking extra, “monster cookies” with oats, nut butters and agave, turkey meatball muffin cups, egg roll ups in sprouted tortillas—just stick them in fridge, wrap them up, grab and go.

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Anita Thompkins

Why did you choose to go to IIN?

I was looking for a school that had a curriculum that involved lots of different diet modalities, not just one way of eating. I knew there was more than one way to eat, more than one way to skin a cat. I found the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York City, and I said ‘Yea, I am going there!’

What's the best part about the program?

It taught me about the food and different diet modalities, but it really taught me just to trust my own instinct, because we have all the answers within us. It also taught me that I can be anything and do anything that I want to do. If in this phase of my life I’m doing nutritional counseling and helping people, I can, and if I want to do something else later, I have that ability to do that. It’s all about change. Once you know how to change your thinking, you can change your life.

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Annette and Billy Varoli

Annette, what were you doing before IIN?

Billy worked full time and I had recently left my corporate job to stay at home with our new daughter, Elise. I was figuring out what was next, I knew I could be a good mom and still do more. We were discussing the possibility of doing business together and incorporating our design background.

Billy, what are you doing now?

I finally left my job and now we are building our business fulltime. The question that really pushed us to go for what we wanted was about career: Is your career aligned with what you think and do and how you want to live your life? From the tools we gained at IIN, we were able to create jobs that are aligned with our ideals.

Annette, what was your relationship like before IIN:

Before IIN, we lived a typical happy married couple’s life. We both had separate, successful corporate jobs. The jobs were not bad, but we weren’t inspired by them. My natural birth with Elise was the turning point. I didn’t want Elise to grow up with parents who didn’t love their jobs.

How did your experience of going to school together change your relationship?

Before going to school we had a strong connection, but going through the program together deepened our relationship. We strengthened ourselves individually and that brought us together more. Our communication improved which helped us resolve issues faster. We learned to nourish our relationship by slowing down and enjoying our family time together.

Billy, how did going to school together affect influence your learning experience?

I remember talking to students that didn’t have the support of going through the program at home. They thought they would benefit so much more if they had someone else to go on this journey of learning together.

Each weekend is an amazing experience, you learn so much and you are on such a motivational high at the end of it. We didn’t have to explain everything that we learned. Instead we supported each other and created fun projects together, like cooking the new foods we learned about.

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Annie Morgante

What were you doing before IIN?

I was a certified elementary school teacher in New Jersey. After several years of working in the classroom, I moved to the Florida Keys to teach marine science.

What are you doing now?

I am forming an association that will support health counselors, naturopaths, health food store owners and thousands of others in the wellness business to do the work they love. This association will unite people who want to protect their health freedom and voice their approval for the work of holistic health professionals.

Why I came to the school:

When I taught in New Jersey I was disheartened by what the parents were feeding their children. Kids would be falling asleep in class because they were poorly nourished. I always kept healthy snacks in the classroom—but I knew there was more I could do. I was surrounded by people who were into yoga and organic foods and I wanted to know more about it. I started looking up holistic schools and found Integrative Nutrition. It offered me everything I wanted: a healthy lifestyle and a career change.

What I love about the school:

Besides the tremendous support of the students and staff at IIN, we are re-taught to follow our instincts. We are so consumed by processed foods and television commercials telling us what to eat that many of us have lost our natural instinct.

What does the future hold for you:

Along with working on the association, I am working with my local school to develop in-service seminars on nutrition for teachers.

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Annette Varoli

Why did you choose IIN?

In the United States, I saw many problems of people that are just overworked, stressed, unhealthy, and consuming many, many material things and having no time to enjoy them. While, in the Philippines, I saw people had basically nothing but all the time in the world. I was thinking about all these messages that society feeds us that just basically aren’t true. I had heard about IIN and with a gut instinct my husband and I both enrolled in the program.

What did you gain from your experience?

IIN has really changed my complete outlook on life. My experience made me realize that instead of seeing problems in the world, I see solutions. Now I know what I eat and how I eat affects me, affects my husband, affects my daughter, which in turn affects the community here in the U.S. and because of the influence the U.S. has around the world, affects other countries like the Philippines.

What did you do after graduation?

I started a holistic health counseling practice focusing on young families. I help them reduce stress, find balance between work and family, and teach them how to eat healthy foods. As far as the Philippines goes, we are now in the process of adopting one of my cousins in the Philippines who is an orphan and I have begun networking to start a community center with a focus on prevention in honor of my grandparents in the Philippines. While I always knew I could make a difference, now I am making a difference.

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Betty Murray

When Betty Murray graduated from Integrative Nutrition in 2005, she had 12 clients and was still working full time. But she had a vision of working with people in a wellness center. In 2006, she opened a 1,100-square-foot center called Living Well Health and Wellness with 6 different modalities—functional medicine, nutrition counseling, personal coaching, energy work, professional organizing and massage.

This month, Betty's wellness center is expanding further into a 2,800 square-foot space. The larger space has a classroom for workshops, a conference room and room for other practitioners. She is talking with an acupuncturist and a holistic aesthetician about joining the practice.

Why I came to the school:

I spent 11 years as project director of information systems for the Container Store. Although it was a lucrative position, it was killing me. I was on call 365 days a year with no work/life balance. Exercise and nutrition had always been my passion. I started teaching yoga and slowly realized that I wanted to work full time in a job that I loved, helping others get healthy. I couldn't find anything like that in Texas, so I enrolled at Integrative Nutrition and commuted to school.

What I love about the school:

You cannot pick up from a book how to work with people and be present and listen. The school really teaches how to be with people in that model. I knew it wasn't all about the food. I wanted to know how to counsel people and feel comfortable with them.

What I love about my business:

One of my biggest challenges was that I really wanted to work with people in a group environment. I've learned that being an entrepreneur doesn't mean I have to work alone all day. I now work with a lot of groups, so I can touch more people at one time.

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Celia Kutcher

What were you doing before IIN?

IIN has completely changed my life. Before school, I was working specifically in animal nutrition.

What happened after you enrolled in IIN's program?

IIN gave me the ability to work with human beings instead, so now I do both. Since I’ve graduated, I now have 19 clients and am working specifically with female performers in the downtown scene. I’m completely grateful and absolutely touched to have come to this school.

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Christine Waltermyer

What were you doing before IIN?

I have been on a quest for health and healing since I was diagnosed with a fibrocystic breast when I was 22. I wanted to share what I learned, but I wasn’t sure how to teach others about holistic healing.

What are you doing now?

I run the Natural Kitchen Cooking School, a chef-training program based in Princeton, N.J. We offer in-home cooking classes and personal chef services. I am also a featured chef on “Daily Connections,” a lifestyle TV show for woman based in Sommerset, N.J. I also do private cooking for high-end clientele and celebrities.

Why I came to the school:

I wanted to make a living in the holistic field. I was inspired by Joshua’s message. The school helped me see a more gradual and compassionate approach to healing by looking at what to include, not what to exclude.

What I love about the school:

I love the community. Joshua has created a wonderful supportive community filled with unique individuals. The atmosphere is fun, lighthearted and not too serious, but very empowering.

My future:

My plan is to keep expanding. I will be adding a recipe club, dvds, web TV and other ideas to support people around the world. I am creating a ripple effect through my teaching and the work of my graduates.

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Dani Spies

What were you doing before IIN?

I was a fitness trainer, developing my website. In college I studied psychology and the mind. Then I studied physical activity and the body. I was looking for the missing link to bridge my studies, and Integrative Nutrition brought it all together.

What are you doing now?

I work a lot on my website. My health counseling and cooking classes are starting to really take off, too. I use the site as a reference tool for clients and would like to have other health counselors use it as a resource for cooking inspiration for their clients too. My website focuses on simple and delicious ways to incorporate nutritious ingredients into an everyday kitchen.

What I love about the school:

From a business stand point, the school showed me how to take all of the information and knowledge and helped me to set up plan to share it and make a career out of it. I like what the school stands for and how it looks at the big picture.

What I love about health counseling:

I get to teach what I learn, and I get to learn as I teach. My work is an extension of who I am and I can see how helpful the work can be.

What I love about my website:

It gives me a platform to reach more people than I can on a one-on-one basis. The website is for anyone who is interested in incorporating new tools into their diet. It’s a resource for people who skip past the vegetable section in the grocery store because they don’t know what to do with fresh ingredients.

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Donna Sonkin

What were you doing before IIN?

I was working as an actor on a soap opera and doing commercial print modeling.

What led you to explore IIN's program?

I mostly felt very disjointed and really unsatisfied in my life. The work that I was doing wasn’t very soulful and I didn’t feel that I was doing anything for the greater good. I was chronically sick from November to March, constantly on antibiotics and often very exhausted. I was also in a lousy relationship.

What happened after you enrolled in IIN's program?

I started school and everything changed. I met my best friend, got super healthy and I’ve learned so much. Now I work primarily with actors and models.

Your studies led you to start a practice. What's the name?

Get Thin for the Camera is my practice. I help actors and models get ready for shoots by helping them become more vibrant, healthy and gorgeous for their work.

What exciting things have happened in your business recently?

I was hired by Elite Model Management to teach the new young models how to be fit and healthy. I just love them and I love being part of their work. I also work for New York University at the Atlantic Theater Company. I teach the graduate and undergraduate NYU students at the Atlantic how to be healthy. I also have my class, “Get Fit for the Camera,” that I teach at different acting schools in Manhattan.

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Erin Mahoney

What was life like before IIN?

I had been an unhealthy vegetarian for a decade.

What impressed you the most about the program?

After seeing one of the guest speakers lecture about how to alleviate illness and improve health through food, I was hooked. She was answering questions from people with severe health problems and giving them easy, understandable advice about what foods to eat to help support their bodies. I knew that this was what I wanted to do with my life.

What happened after you enrolled in IIN's program?

Following the simple recommendations, I greatly improved my health and my lifestyle.

How did it affect your practice?

I was also able to complement my medical massage practice with health counseling and support myself by owning my own business and making my own hours. Integrative Nutrition not only taught me what foods worked for my body but also how to nourish and enrich every aspect of my life.

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Fabiola Simpson

What did you enjoy the most about IIN?

On a personal level, it was really important for me to overcome some fears—fears of expressing myself and fears of allowing myself the right to feel my feelings. I learned to embrace the totality of myself, everything that is within me, even the things I’m not so proud of and really embrace, honor and respect the unique individual that I am.

What happened after you enrolled in IIN's program?

I became a much more understanding and compassionate person. Now I can extend that to my family, my friends and my clients.

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Frank Giglio

Frank Giglio is a classically trained chef, who decided to give up dairy, meat, coffee, alcohol and cigarettes—cold turkey, when he started classes at Integrative Nutrition. He started drinking green juice instead of coffee in the morning for energy. He started going to the gym and eventually started running marathons. He lost more than 40 pounds while in school and is now completing a raw-food chef apprenticeship at the Tree of Life Center in Arizona.

Why I came to the school:

I was running a vegetarian deli, but I wasn't fully committed to a healthy lifestyle. I would eat well during the week, but on the weekends I would hang out with my friends and eat whatever. I wasn't exercising very often, and one day, I felt the roll of my belly going over my pants. My weight was a concern, but I was also feeling a bit lost in my life. I didn't have a purpose and I felt like I was just going through the motions.

What I love about the school:

I tried a lot of diet books, from macrobiotics to raw food and others, but they never seemed to click for me. When I started learning the principles of Integrative Nutrition, I found what food really worked for my body.

What I love about my life now:

I am blessed that Integrative Nutrition helped me become the person I knew I could be. With my training at Integrative Nutrition and my current position here at the Tree, I am using the proper tools to live the best life I can.

Besides working in the kitchen, I have been putting in a lot of extra time in the garden. My training here is like part 2 to my Integrative Nutrition training. I look forward to building my lifestyle coaching. I wish to help people who want to transition into a raw food lifestyle, through group lectures, food prep classes and one-on-one sessions.

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Gabriele Kushi

What were you doing before IIN?

Back in 1971 while living in Germany, I became interested in macrobiotics. I graduated from the Macrobiotic Kushi Institute in 1979 and started a counseling and teaching. Along the way I met Joshua. Later on I learned about IIN, became so excited and knew it was going to be an excellent school.

What did you love about IIN?

While my daughter was in the program last year, I was a client in her 6 month program. Through that process, I experienced the value of IIN and what Joshua is teaching. I wanted to incorporate it into my own practice.

My experience at IIN was wonderful. I met so many great minds and received so much support and positive energy from my fellow students. It truly gives you the power to go out there and not feel alone because there are so many people who are doing the same thing.

What are your favorite aspects of the program?

After doing consultation for so many years, I had a lot of clients come and go. I really find value in offering a 6 month program to have continuous education and support for my clients. What I love the most is that every session is different and inspiring. If you are inspired and they are inspired, you are really creating a lasting impression and you have the pleasure of seeing people succeed over time. I love it, I have a lot of clients now, it’s beautiful.

What was your motivation for writing your book Embracing Menopause Naturally?

I went through menopause myself and during that time I really embraced my interests in women’s health. I wanted to bring women’s wisdom into the world to help inspire people and make the world a better place to live in. Every woman is different and experiences menopause differently. But if you have a good base of natural nutrition it eases your experience with this transition that every woman goes through in her life. I wanted the information to be available to men as well so that they understand and support the process.

What is the most important thing readers should take away from your book?

Embrace the change, be present for it, and let it go. Don’t try to cover it up with hormone replacement therapy or surgery. If you don’t go through it consciously, you will miss out on a valuable life experience.

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Glen Colello

What were you doing before IIN?

I was the program director at the Boys & Girls Club for 12 years.

What are you doing now?

I am the owner of Catch a Healthy Habit Café, Connecticut’s only all-raw foods café.

Why I came to the school:

When I was working at the Boys & Girls Club, I started exploring health and wellness and started getting healthier. I started sharing what I was learning with the kids. My boss came to me and said that since I didn’t have a degree in nutrition I wasn’t allowed to tell the kids what to eat. My desire to share created a need to be certified.

What I love about the school:

The community. I met some of the most important people in my life at IIN. The school also encouraged me to continue building community and support in my own community. The continued support for the alumni is absolutely amazing.

What I love about health counseling:

IIN gave me the communication and listening tools to really talk to people, and find the why of what is happening. When given the space, people will share with you what their real problems are. At the café, people get a chance to sit, have a smoothie and talk about what’s really going on in their lives.

How is your work-life balance going?

I love my job. I am exactly where I want to be. My work feels like play. I still incorporate time away from the café, but I am loving life!

Future:

I am looking to expand or upgrade the café. I also plan to get out there in a big way in the world of raw foods as an educational speaker. I want to continue to open up the possibilities of the raw foods lifestyle for the masses by making it more accessible.

What were some mistakes that you learned from?

I went to the school thinking that I could get everything done by myself. Once I started asking for support and created a space for experts such as accountants and decorators to support my business, it freed me up to do what I am good at. Together, as a team, we were able to accomplish everything faster than if I was doing it alone.

What obstacles did you have to get over?

I had to get over the obstacle of myself, of thinking that I wasn’t ready or that Connecticut wasn’t ready for an all-raw foods café. I also had to overcome the negativity that other people had around something new and different.

I thought that I was not ready when it was time to sign the lease. But I took that fear on and did it anyways! That was the key, feeling the fear and doing it anyways.

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Helen Hendrickson

Helen Hendrickson was working part time as certified personal trainer, using her supplemental income to raise money to run marathons. But so many of her clients wanted to know more about nutrition, she decided to enroll in our program. She loved health counseling so much that she created a business called Fit For Fun, combining personal training with health counseling.

What you were doing before IIN:

A friend gave me the catalog and I was immediately interested. When I started, I already knew I wanted to start my own business. I loved working directly with clients, helping them to find their center.

What you are doing now:

I am founder and director of Fit for Fun. I opened a location in Central Cambridge, last January with a large room for personal training and office space for health counseling. I encourage people to combine nutrition with personal training. I help them find ways to take care of themselves and nourish themselves on all levels. So many people are focused on weight loss, but so much of what is out there is so disempowering. I support them to love their bodies now.

What I love about the school:

I really loved learning from so many famous people in the field. And I learned how to deal with all the conflicting information on nutrition. I also received great training in counseling and business development. I had so much support to just get out there and start health counseling.

What I love about health counseling:

It’s really wonderful. I love providing a space for people who are busy to sit down and think through how they are doing in their life. I’m the conduit, the question asker. People take a break from rushing around and get in touch with the knowledge of what they should be doing for their health. And I see them get well from stopping stomach aches to experiencing more energy to losing weight and taking better care of themselves.

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Howard Fuchs

What were you doing before IIN?

I am the Teacher in Charge for Long Beach Public School's Alternative High School. I weighed 505 pounds. I ate a lot of unhealthy food growing up. In high school and college, I was able to keep off weight by playing sports. But I gained 250 pounds after college. Weight gain took control over my life. My body was in horrendous pain.

How did you find IIN and a healthy lifestyle?

I attended the school to be on the same page as my wife, who graduated last year. I had a void in my life that I was filling with food. Most people made excuses for me, that it would be difficult to lose weight, but my wife, Colleen, supported and pushed me to do something. She thought I was going to die on her. I did the Optifast program, it was a tool to lose a lot of weight quickly, just a tool, a quick fix. Through Optifast and improving my diet and my exercise routine, I lost 290 pounds. Even though I looked different and people related to me differently, I still felt a void.

By experimenting and making small improvements to my diet, bits and pieces of healthy eating and lifestyle came together. I still go to binge eating when my life is out of balance. When there is chaos, I reach for pizza and junk food. It’s a constant battle and a work in progress. If you had asked me 5 years ago about weight loss, I would have said that it’s all about dieting. I would have never thought there were factors other than diet influencing my weight. The concept of primary food has tremendously influenced my relationship to weight. I have learned that while I love my work as a teacher, running a karate school and working with autistic kids, if I don't make time for self care, I can wind up at 500 pounds again. As a result, I have been giving myself more breaks and managing my time better.

What do you envision yourself doing?

I want to teach martial arts to autistic kids. I want to work with Colleen to help people who are overweight and who want to lose weight permanently.

What has your experience been with the media?

It is free advertising. The media has its own agenda. But even if you can’t freely say everything you would like, it’s an opportunity to share and help people. I received more than 100 requests for health histories from the Tyra Banks show.

How has IIN influenced your relationship with your wife?

Our communication has improved. We communicate what we need and what we are missing. We are both more self-aware.

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Jackie Duarte, MD

Tell us a little about your background.

I am a physician trained in internal medicine, currently a fellow in complementary and integrative medicine at Weill Medical College of Cornell University.

What led you to explore IIN's program?

I found out about Integrative Nutrition at a conference and I signed up because I was interested in integrating nutrition into my clinical practice. After training from conventional medicine, I was very uninspired and disenchanted with the way I practiced medicine. I felt that seeing patients every 10 or 15 minutes was not the way I wanted to practice medicine and I knew I needed to find ways to practice alternatively.

What happened after you enrolled in IIN's program?

IIN has given me hope and given me a renewed sense of love for what I do. I now practice a form of preventive medicine where I help people from within and I am a true healer. I am very grateful to IIN.

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Janet Kaye

What were you doing before IIN?

I was a music and drama director at a school teaching preschool through eighth grade for 18 years. It was my joy and my life. When my husband was diagnosed with brain cancer, my life was changed forever.

How did you find the school?

My daughter inspired me to take the class. We were already on our wellness journey. I thought I had the healthiest refrigerator in the area, but when my husband Bruce got sick, I knew I needed to learn more. Food became our medicine. After Bruce passed I was so sad and emotionally distraught, I just jumped in with my daughter. I told her, if you want me to do this with you, I’m there. Traveling by myself was a big deal, and I never thought I would be a health counselor. I just wanted to learn more, have fun and spend some time with my daughter.

Who were your first clients?

My son Jonny had an issue with weight from stress eating. While I was in school, he asked for my help. He got into the program big time and lost 50 pounds. A couple of doctors in town saw the change in him and asked how he did it. He said, “I don’t know ask my mom.” I became friends with a cardiologist in town, who had many patients dealing with their weight and in crisis situations. He asked me to help with their diet and lifestyle. That’s how I found another star client, Paul. He failed his stress test at the doctor’s office and was told he needed surgery. But the doctor said he couldn’t guarantee he would survive surgery. He asked if there was anything else he could do. The doctor referred him to me. After our program, Paul thanked me for saving his life.

What I love about health counseling:

People are blown away by how tasty wholesome foods can be. And they say, “I’ll never go back to the way I used to eat.” It’s the most rewarding part of the whole deal. Once I started seeing clients, I knew it was time for me to start giving back and get out of my sadness.

What are you looking forward to?

Teaching more classes. Two spas have contacted me to do a series of lectures. I’m also working with two professional corporations, developing wellness programs for their employees.

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Jason and Carol Kessler

Jason, why did you choose to come to IIN?

I have an MBA and I had been working on different business ideas for a few years. At the time I was a partner in a wellness studio, teaching yoga and I wanted to figure out how I could apply my drive for business to a health and wellness setting. I saw the IIN catalog in my yoga studio and knew this was the next step for me.

Carol, what inspired you to join IIN?

I come from the South, so I have always had a love for food. Growing up, we just ate what was in our backyard, so the term organic was never in my vocabulary. It was just what was available to us. When Crisco was invented I started cooking with that. Healthy cooking never really passed my mind. I loved making different types of BBQ sauce and my friends encouraged me to sell them. I didn’t have the business mindset, but thankfully my son, Jason, has an MBA and a thirst for entrepreneurship. I told Jason that I needed help, but he told me he would only get on board if the product was organic and if I enrolled in this school with him. I went nuts when I saw the brochure and signed up right away.

What was your relationship like before going through PTP?

We’ve had a lot of life experiences together, which has provided a foundation for an incredible friendship. Back in the day, our time together was centered on food. It’s funny how it’s come full circle. Since food was such an intricate part of my life growing up I wanted the same for my family. Now Jason and I work together with food!

How did this experience of doing it together affect your relationship and also your educational experience?

Jason was always into health, but I never put much thought into it. It wasn’t until he showed me the catalog that I realized how I could improve my health and my cooking. I remember, early on in the program, Joshua had family members taking the course together stand up. I was amazed by how many family members came together, but I think Jason and I were the only mother/son pair. As children get older, there is more of an opportunity to learn from one another. I know I have learned so much from Jason and he’s learned from me. My best friends are the ones I’ve gone to school with, so I really mean it when I say not only is Jason my son, but he is also one of my best friends. Even though school is over, the learning never ends. Jason and I continue to reflect on all the knowledge we gained.

What are you doing now?

We continue to evolve my mom’s tomato sauce recipes and add more to WholeMato’s inventory. I am in charge of seeing what the market really needs and my mom is in charge of development. We both came to Integrative Nutrition to expand our knowledge and to build our business. We now know that we can change the world through health counseling and teaching others how to eat better and care for themselves.

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Jason Kessler

Jason Kessler left NASA to start his own wellness center in New York. While studying at IIN with his mother, he discovered agave. Using the ingredient, he launched Wholemato, a diabetic-friendly, organic, gluten-free, agave-sweetened ketchup, in 2007. Today, it is now distributed in over 180 stores nationwide, including Whole Foods.

What was life like before IIN?

I worked for NASA in Washington D.C. for 8 years, traveling around the world and working 17-hour days. After being transferred to New Orleans, I worked less hours, practiced yoga and built furniture. I was so happy. I realized how important it is to have a balanced life of work, creativity and health. After completing business school I developed a wellness center in New York City and became a certified yoga instructor. My parents joined me in New York and my mom worked on her special BBQ sauce, which she had been tweaking over the years.

How did you develop your ketchup idea?

My mom and I were in class at IIN when we first learned about agave. We had never heard of this natural sweetener before. Since my grandmother is diabetic, we were curious and started experimenting with it in the kitchen for our recipes. Agave completed my mother’s prized BBQ sauce which eventually turned into Wholemato Ketchup.

What’s the best accomplishment since you launched your product?

The moment when someone tasted the ketchup, before they verbally say anything, that look of “whoa”, that is the best. Kids love it. The best accomplishment is knowing that we’ve got a product that so many people enjoy and knowing that it is good for them.

How is your product different than other healthy ketchup versions?

The taste. Plus, it’s the only organic and diabetic-friendly ketchup packed in glass.

What are your tips on being successful?

Have ambitious goals. Know what you want to be doing. It is important to be strong in what you are doing. If I did not commit so hard to BBQ sauce, I wouldn’t be here talking about ketchup.

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Jeanette Bronee

What were you doing before IIN?

When I joined the program, I was looking for a new career. I had been a busy fashion executive for a long time and I needed to figure out how to merge the busy executive life and health.

What did you learn?

I learned more about nutrition, how to counsel and set up a practice. It wasn’t a hard decision to make because it provided me with what I needed to shift my career and change. I did that completely.

Tell us about your practice.

I now have a full practice. I have worked with more than 200 people in my program. One of the big, great gifts that I have now is that every day I go to work and I can help people do what I have been able to do for myself.

What did you personally gain from the program?

I am at high risk for cancer and I studied nutrition for many years because of this risk. Now I am able to help people take better care of themselves and help them balance what I was struggling with all those years—this busy lifestyle and being healthy at the same time. IIN provided me with that possibility.

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Jena La Flamme

How did you find IIN?

I had been traveling in India, studying yoga, when I met Joshua and learned about the school. I moved and started from scratch. Through the school I got my health in order, made a lot of great friends and found community.

What happened after you enrolled in IIN's program?

I got settled in New York. I started my practice following the school’s very simple instructions. I came to build a clientele and incorporated my previous modalities of bodywork and yoga to create programs that represented my creative approach. I had more clients than I could handle, so I hired an administrative assistant and other health counselors, who are graduates of the school, to be a part of my team. The Jenna Wellness Group was born. From there, it kept growing and growing to the point where we have recently opened the Jenna Wellness Center in the Chelsea neighborhood in Manhattan.

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Jenn Edden

What led you to IIN?

I survived a massive gas explosion back in January 2003 at which point I decided life was really short and I needed to do something more with my life.

What happened after you enrolled in IIN's program?

I was immediately turned on knowing that when I graduated I would not only be certified but I would also have the tools to start my own practice. The greatest lesson I learned from the school is realizing what I eat creates my feelings and my thoughts, and that my thoughts create my life, so I eat as well as I can and to a great life.

Your studies led you to start a practice, correct?

I’ve been in private practice for about three years. I am also affiliated with a medically run holistic center in Glenn Cove, NY. I run group cleansing programs in the fall and spring. I also have time to have fun and spend time with my family.

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Jennifer Cassetta

What were you doing before IIN?

I had just started my own personal training business and I taught martial arts.

What are you doing now?

I have a business called Health & The City, healthandthecity.net, combining martial arts, personal training, urban warrior fitness group classes and health counseling. It all goes hand and hand.

Why I came to the school:

I wanted to incorporate nutrition into my business but I didn’t want to become a Registered Dietician. I didn’t think it would be helpful to counsel people by telling them how many calories of one thing or another they should eat. I liked the holistic approach that IIN teaches.

What I love about the school:

IIN was a great eye-opening experience and anyone can go to the school. It provides a lot of practical tools and materials for starting your own business. It makes a holistic approach accessible and easy to incorporate into a pre-existing business.

What I love about health counseling:

I love making a difference in people’s lives by taking a holistic approach to tackling issues. I love being able to live my life the way I want. I have the freedom to take my business anywhere.

What are your future plans?

I plan to expand my company by hiring more Health Counselors and trainers. I am currently working on a book proposal.

What obstacles did you have to get over?

Fear of not being able to make it with my own business.

How?

Fear is a lifelong challenge, - which has pushed me to constantly improve my business skills and work on self-development. This has given me the confidence that things are going to work out. I know that when I am being my best self, I will attract the best clients.

What challenges did you encounter with your business?

When I tried to trademark “Health & The City,” HBO lawyers called me saying that I was copying Sex and the City. At that time I could have let my fear get in the way and let HBO take away the name. Instead I leveraged my resources in order to get over this challenge. I had a contact in the media and the story took off. Articles were written about how corporate HBO was going after my business. It snow balled and eventually HBO backed off.

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Joanne Colan

Why did you choose to go to IIN?

IIN was a really beautiful gift that I gave myself. It kind of felt a little bit self-indulgent to spend school fees on myself and take myself back to school, but I really wanted to do it. It’s opened an enormous amount of doors for me.

What happened after you enrolled in IIN's program?

There was something that really rang true all year. It was this simple thing that Joshua said in the first weekend, which was ‘There is a health crisis going on.’ It awakened my sense of social responsibility. Realizing my potential and knowing what makes me feel fulfilled is really about serving others. IIN gave me the tools to really do what I can.

How did you connect this education to your professional life?

I am very fortunate to have a fabulous career in the media. I am a real advocate for independent media, for the democratization of journalism, and for citizen journalism. I help bring traditional media and mainstream companies, into this sort of new media internet age. I found there is an untold need to be creating content in the media for nutrition and health, about what we’re doing to our planet, and just how to live a more fulfilled and aware life for oneself and for others around us. I really thank IIN for giving me the tools I need to be able to do that.

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Judith Sobresky

What were you doing before IIN?

I was an engineer and engineer factory manager in Austin, Texas for 15 years. In 2005, I left my job looking for the right education to build a life coaching practice.

What are you doing now?

I am building my Health Counseling practice and working in schools to create change.

Why I came to the school:

I initially enrolled because I felt like it was the best fit for my life coaching business. Before classes started, I had an ectopic pregnancy. The doctors misdiagnosed me, and I ended up in the hospital undergoing a major abdominal surgery. I lost half of my blood and most of my cognitive function. The doctors sent me home a few days later with no directions, only a bottle of pain killers. A few weeks later I returned to the doctors still not able to form clear sentences and feeling extremely weak. The doctors still did not offer me help. I felt the medical community had failed me.

Slowly my mental, spiritual and physical condition improved. From practicing Health Counseling at school, I began to process what happened to me. It’s amazing to see where I am now, a year later. Attending the school was the best decision I’ve ever made.

What I love about health counseling:

I love talking to people and watching them unravel their thoughts. I love the moment that someone has an “aha” moment. You can see the sparkle in their eye when they get it. This process gets people to come up with their own answers instead of listening to what society prescribes us.

What were some mistakes that you learned from?

My initial response to the ectopic pregnancy was to just deal with it and move on. Now, I realize that was a big mistake. During school, I discovered that I needed to reach out to people and talk about what happened in order to process it. I realized that the process of healing goes beyond the scope of the medical community. You can not heal your whole self by prescribing a pill.

How did you heal?

The most powerful thing for me was practicing a Health History consultation with a fellow student. Physically and cognitively I was much better, but something was still holding me back from healing. My fellow student asked, “Did you ever think about how complex this was?” This one question got me talking about everything, through that process I was able to step out and be an objective observer rather than living in it over my head.

This one high mileage question touched on something and completely changed me. Could one conversation change your life? Yes, it can. It changed mine.

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Larry Rogosky

What were you doing before IIN?

Before I went to IIN I have had a very successful massage practice for about six years and I was doing a lot of massage, and I love what I do but I realized that at least half of my clients were asking me health-related issues like “oh, what supplements should I take” or “how should I eat”, all this stuff and I was giving them advice and I realized I’m not getting paid to do this extra, so I thought I should get some training and get paid to do that!

What happened after you enrolled in IIN's program?

So I did going to IIN, so now my practice consists of still quite a bit of massage and I also do private one on one counseling, I do some groups, I do a lot of lecturing, I speak around the city quite a bit, and what’s awesome now is that I am not using my sweat nearly as much because I am using my voice a lot more and I’m actually touching a lot more lives in a different way so I found a way to really combine the two to make it work to create really a holistic practice.

Your studies led you to start a business. What's the name of your business?

The name of my business and my website is Urban Body Fix, http://www.urbanbodyfix.com, so you can go there and check me out and see what else I am about, but I love where I am headed and I think that life is really, really sweet.

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Lynn Goldstein

What were you doing before IIN?

I was working full time in a hospital. I started that job with the intention of helping people heal through diet.

What were some of the reasons that led you to explore IIN's program?

After years of working at the hospital, I realized that people kept coming back to me getting sicker and sicker. No matter what I did or said I wasn’t really making much difference, it was very disheartening. I knew that if I really wanted to evoke change in people I was going to have to find a new way of doing it and reach them at a different level. I took a good hard look at my education. I realized that, although it was very valuable, it was really lacking, it only taught me one way of doing things. It really taught me to treat a disease and not a person. That was really the piece that I think that was missing.

What happened after you enrolled in IIN's program?

Integrative Nutrition was the perfect complement to the education I already had. It taught me all these other diet theories that I hadn’t learned in my original education, and it really taught me how to reach people and how to work with people. That completely changed how I counseled and really made a big difference in the effect that I had on people and helping them heal. The school was really very good at giving me confidence as well. I was one of those people that was terrified of public speaking and now, since the school was so good at encouraging it, I give monthly lectures to doctors’ offices and corporations.

Your studies gave you the courage to start a private practice.

[IIN] was also very good at giving me courage to leave my job. I had always wanted to leave the hospital and start a private practice and since I have graduated school I have left the hospital. Now I have a full time, thriving private practice.

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Nancy Weiser

What were you doing before IIN?

I was a marketing executive for a Fortune 500 company.

What led you to explore IIN's program?

Three years prior to enrolling, I’d never heard of Integrative Nutrition nor was I looking for a new career. I was home one Sunday reading The New York Times when I stumbled upon the name of an IIN graduate and the name of the school. I called the graduate, called the school and the next thing I knew I was signed up for the program.

What happened since you enrolled in IIN's program?

I’ve been living my life’s dream—balancing my family with work I feel I was born to do. I specialize in helping busy parents prioritize the health and nutrition of their families in an over-scheduled and hypercompetitive world. I counsel the whole family. It is my mission to help ensure that the next generation gets to experience optimal health.

Tell us about your practice.

I have established and grown my practice and it’s very satisfying work. I really get to spend time with my children. At the same time, I am functioning at a higher frequency, having more energy and getting more accomplished than I ever thought possible. Integrative Nutrition taught me that I can create the life that I want to live.

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Peter Lappin

What did you learn at IIN?

I learned the importance of self care. Working with my clients I’m always motivating them to take better care of themselves by improving their diet, getting more exercise or spending time doing the things they really love to do.

How do you take care of yourself now?

For me, I have to get weekly massages. I was the type of person who would only spend money on something, if I could carry it home in a bag. I learned that for me to stay motivated and have the energy and passion to help others help themselves, I have to take care of myself as well.

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Pina DiPalma

How did IIN help?

Attending the school helped me remedy the health issues that I was experiencing for 2 decades, but had no idea how to fix. I was struggling with debilitating menstrual cramps, insomnia and an overall feeling of imbalance in my life. By eliminating refined sugar and minimizing dairy, I was able to break free of the monthly menstrual pain I was experiencing. My insomnia improved greatly by minimizing caffeine and eliminating refined sugar. After learning how to balance primary foods, I was finally able to understand the imbalance that I felt day to day for years. My life has improved so much since first starting IIN. I finally feel that I have control over my health and well-being.

Do you recommend IIN's program?

I believe that any person who enters the doors of IIN will leave far better off, right from the very first weekend. The wealth of information that the school offers allows you to feel in control of your life and your health. It gives you the tools and support to start a practice and feel confident that you can help any person live a happier and healthier life. Completing IIN’s curriculum has been one of the best things I’ve ever done. I have a new healthy lifestyle and I couldn’t be happier about it.

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Sheryl Larsen

How did you hear about IIN?

I’ve been interested in nutrition, fitness and food all my life but it wasn’t until I read that infamous red catalog that I found the program I was looking for. When I had first told a friend that I had signed up for IIN, he said, ‘it’s never too late to become what you were meant to be.’

What led you to explore IIN's program?

I was having a pot of coffee and triple chocolate anything for breakfast just to wake up in the morning. My greens basically consisted of broccoli rolls and spinach pie. When I was sitting in orientation, I felt that my whole life was preparation for what was about to take place. It seemed that the different puzzle pieces of my life started to piece together. I was actually able to see the picture.

What happened after you enrolled in IIN's program?

Before, I couldn’t go a day without chocolate and now I can’t go a day without greens. I learned so much in the Warm Up Program alone that by the time classes actually started it was already worth the tuition. I learned to cook better. My food became more flavorful and colorful. So did my life.

What did you do after graduation?

I started my own practice. I was able to see a vision of being able to help people take better care of themselves become a reality.

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Terry Walters

After graduating in 2000, Terry Walters completely changed her career from working full-time in educational marketing. Now as a mom and full-time health counselor, she has more than 1,000 subscribers to her seasonal newsletter and has recently published a book, Clean Food: A Seasonal Guide to Clean Food with Recipes for a Healthy and Sustainable You.

What you were doing before IIN:

I had a passion for natural living and healing for 20 years prior to attending the school. My friend gave me the school’s brochure. I had no intention of changing careers. I had just had a baby and was pregnant with my second while in school. Attending school was a life-changing year in so many ways.

What you are doing now:

I am actively health counseling and teaching. I write a seasonal newsletter and I’ve taught cooking shows on the local T.V. network in central Connecticut.

What I love about the school:

The greatest thing that I got from the school was the confidence to listen to what was inside me. I realized that my passion did not have to be sidelined. I did not need to have two definitions of succes: professional and personal. Going through the program answered how I could integrate my whole life. It helped me make my life more meaningful and true.

What I love about my work:

I love being able to share my passion. I don’t feel like I am teaching people with my work. I help them to see that they can take control of their lives. My job is to “wake people up.” It’s a beautiful process.

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Theresa Caveney

What was the most impactful thing about IIN?

One of the first things Integrative Nutrition teaches you is bio-individuality. Everybody is unique and special in their own way. The sooner you are in touch with that concept, the better your practice becomes because you can relate to your clients in that way as well. I was expecting a continuing education in holistic health. I did not realize how much it was going to impact me personally as well.

What happened after you enrolled in IIN's program?

I had some health issues that I was concerned about. I started modifying my diet in small ways and ended up healing myself in a lot of ways. I gave up caffeine and dairy. I have a lot more energy and I sleep through the night. I learned about self-awareness and I now chose to slow down more often during times of struggle or stress. I learned about thoughtful listening, which is really important with clients. I was challenged to not be afraid, because fear only gets in the way.

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Vincent Duarte, MD

What were you doing before IIN?

My wife invited me to join IIN. I didn’t really believe in this kind of thing but I did it because she convinced me. It really changed my life. I lost 30 pounds and I dropped my cholesterol from 210 to 167 on diet alone. This change meant a lot to me, considering I lost both of my parents to preventable diseases like colon cancer and heart disease.

What were some of the reasons that led you to explore IIN's program?

I was very dissatisfied, uninspired, and disenchanted with the way I was working in my clinic. I would see patients every 10 or 15 minutes and I felt very unhappy with the way I delivered care. Graduating from IIN gave me the chance to believe in what I did again and allowed me to be the true healer that I know I can be.

What exciting things have happened recently?

We have created our own business called Food is Thy Medicine. Our intention is to spread the word that IIN has taught us, by preventing diseases with lifestyle changes for people like us who believe in the human spirit.

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Yvette Laboy

What led you to explore IIN's program?

I had lupus for 14 years and in 2003 I almost died. I was told I couldn’t be cured. At Integrative Nutrition I learned a lot about nutrition, how to eat right and take better care of myself. When I went to see my doctor in February of 2007, he told me he could no longer find the lupus in my system. I had the worst lupus ever, which is a systemic lupus erythematosus, but I’m still here to tell the story. I have Integrative Nutrition to thank, because it changed my life.

What happened after you enrolled in IIN's program?

It was a great experience. I met many wonderful people and I’m a happier, healthier person now.