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The rules of healthy eating and exercise have changed since the last time you checked. Didn't get the memo? You're not alone. Westport-based Wellness Coach, Nutrition Counselor and Fitness Trainer Geri Zatcoff has noticed that in spite of recent research and developments, many of her clients are stuck following outdated advice.
"One of the biggest problems is that people are still motivated by the concept that fat is bad," she says, referencing the "fat-free" craze of the 1990's. "Then what they end up doing is replacing that fat with carbohydrates - often refined carbohydrates." Metabolically, this practice is the equivalent of shooting yourself in the foot, she explains. Carbs, particularly simple carbs, are quickly converted by the body into sugar. Fat, meanwhile, is the substance that slows the entry of sugar into the bloodstream. Quick-sugar highs cause insulin levels to spike, which, over time, can cause everything from weight gain to diabetes.
Fat-phobia is just one of the many misconceptions that can be hazardous to our health. Geri says her "life changed" when her eyes were opened to the truth about how we eat and what it does to our bodies. It was during her 12 year stint as Director of Fitness and Wellness at the Westport YMCA that she found a pamphlet on a Nutritional Medicine conference in Clearwater, Florida on her desk.
"I'd already been getting progressively more and more interested in nutrition," she says. "When I read about the conference, something just clicked. I knew I had to go. When I got there, I was riveted to my chair. I didn't know what they were talking about, but I was fascinated."
"That's when I decided I was going back to school."
Geri already had a master's degree in Exercise Science. Before landing at the Westport Y, she spent two years living in Italy, teaching fitness in Rome and working at a health spa in Tuscany.
"It was when the whole idea of spas was new," she says. "We had people like Franco Zefferelli coming there. At that point, only celebrities and the very wealthy had personal trainers." This was true back home as well. Upon her return in 1991, Geri became one of the first people in the country to receive her certification in personal training at the American College of Sports Medicine. A decade later, Geri had her master's in Human Nutrition, too, from the University of Bridgeport.
"I love nutritional counseling," she says. Geri quit her job at the Y in 2006 to start her own business. Now, she draws on her years of varied expertise to help clients with everything from weight loss to stress to diabetes.
"Each person is different - that's what makes it so interesting," she says, citing glucose tolerance as a trait that varies by the individual.
"Muscle mass and the amount of exercise a person does dictates how much carbs they can eat."
As a next step, Geri would like to find a way to bring her knowledge into the school system.
"Kids desperately need education in nutrition," she says. "This is the first generation ever with a shorter life expectancy than their parents. That's scary! Something needs to change."
Geri can be reached at 203-454-5560. www.zatcoffwellness.com
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