ANITA STONE BIO AND PRESS INFO

How many times have you watched "The Biggest Loser" on TV?

That show doesn't impress me...even my 3rd grade son could take someone who weighs 300 pounds, clean all the bacon, sausage, and hamburger out of their refrigerator, make them exercise an hour or more per day, and show you that they can lose weight!

Anyone can LOSE weight.

The grand feat, the magna cum laude, the ultimate accomplishment, the coup d'etat, is to KEEP the weight off!

In addition to that, it's fairly easy to lose the first 10, 20, or 30 pounds. It's NOT easy to lose the LAST 10-20 POUNDS! How many people have you heard saying, "I just can't get this last 10 pounds off!"

That's where the rubber meets the road.

Exact nutritional guidance and a prescription for exercise are necessary to conquer weight loss plateaus and achieve permanent weight loss.

Where does this guidance come from?

You can hire a personal trainer for $40-$60 an hour. You can hang out in health food stores. You can spend hours on the Internet. You can talk to your doctor (if your doctor looks like Santa Claus himself, go get a new doctor). You can buy books, or go to the library. You can follow your aerobics instructor out to her car every day after class (what I did, since I didn't have the money for a personal trainer!). In short, go anywhere and everywhere you can to learn what you need to know about diet and exercise. That's what I did! Back in those days, we did not have the Internet, so I'll have to admit it is far easier today than it was back then. I found that once I learned that my body works much like a science project (more like a science experiment for me!), then it was much easier to have the "willpower" to eat what I needed to eat in order to get the results I desired.

Even Weight Watchers didn't teach me what I needed to know.

I learned a LOT at the numerous Weight Watchers meetings I attended, but could never figure out WHY the weight dropped off so slowly and then would creep back on, once I stopped "checking off the boxes" and weighing my food. I got so tired of weighing chicken breast, I could have thrown that little diet scale through the kitchen window! But I didn't know any other way, so I was a revolving-door Weight Watcher member...and fell for every "fad" diet that came along...until I got tired of giving them my hard-earned money and found another way.

I learned to eat like an athlete, not like a bird.

Once I started hanging out in the health food stores, and reading the labels on the food supplements they sold at the gym, I learned about "sports nutrition." Wow, what a revelation! I totally changed my outlook toward food. In the past, ALL diets focused on "Don't eat this, don't eat that."

Once I reversed that thinking, and started learning that if I didn't eat enough healthy food, including lots of protein, then my body wouldn't be able to function correctly---I found that the reason I was "always too tired to exercise" was because I was basically unhealthy and that's the reason I never had any energy. One of the main problems wasn't that I was eating too much, it was that I wasn't eating enough (of healthy food)!

I was tired of being tired!

Once I started eating right, exercise was not so difficult anymore! My body finally had the proper nutrition it needed to do its job. Once I started eating enough protein, I had a startling discovery! I felt alert! Awake! Not like jumping-up-and-down energy, but that tired, sluggish, always-wanting-to-take-a-nap feeling was gone forever.

No more diet scales....

I haven't weighed food in years. I eat as much as I want, of healthy food that is! Sometimes I overeat! Sometimes I undereat! But I try as much as possible to make sure I eat all of the healthy food my body needs, every day! Usually I go to bed thinking, "I should have eaten more of this or that today, oh well, I'll try to eat it tomorrow!" When you are eating the right kinds of foods, cooked correctly, you will never need to "weigh food" or "count points" again!

I'm not a Super Athlete!

I'm just your normal American mom of two kids. I never intended to be a super-duper-triathlon-winning athlete. In fact, I am not athletic at all. When flying objects come toward my face, rather than hit them with a bat or a racquet, I duck! I was never good at any sport, and it actually surprised me that I could even do aerobics! When I started aerobics, in the 1990's, it was the tail-end of the Richard Simmons and Jane Fonda days. We did lots of knees, kicks, and grapevines, in fact, I'm positive that Richard Simmons invented the grapevine! Then step aerobics and kickboxing caught on...and yoga and pilates became popular too! Thanks to Jack LaLanne and his Silver Sneakers program, now our (growing) aging population is exercising to the Big Band tunes of the 40's in fitness centers all across the country. All of this has kept Group Fitness (what it is called today) exciting and ever-changing. No one who joins today's fitness centers should ever have an excuse to stay home! There's always something fun and exciting happening -- this has kept me from quitting my exercise program over the years. It's never boring, and I love my job!

By the way, how did I ever get hired for the job of Aerobics Instructor? After I had lost all of my weight, my aerobics instructor, DeAnn Field, came up to me one day, and said, "Anita, you're here every day anyway, why don't you just work here?" As much as I was there that year, she was probably surprised that I wasn't eating and sleeping there as well!

My goal has always been to just "NOT BE FAT!"

I've had opportunities to participate in bodybuilding competitions or races, but those activities require the type of discipline that I am not willing to do. At one point, I was much thinner than I am now, and my gym members pulled me aside and told me that I really looked better a little fatter! I went home and looked in the mirror and realized they were right -- I looked like skin on bones! Now I stay in the 125-135 pound range, and I've been very happy with that size for almost 12 years. In fact, this has been the only decade in my entire life that I have been a normal weight for the entire ten years!

Yes, I have fat clothes and skinny clothes, just like every other woman in the world! But mine are only 1 size apart! I never allow my students to "keep their fat clothes" that are 3 sizes too big--those clothes have to go! During your weight loss program, realize that not everyone needs to be a size 2. A body fat analysis will tell you if your body fat percentage is in the healthy range.

Then "You Tube" came along --

I stayed after class at the gym many, many times, teaching my members how to lose weight. Then "You Tube" came along! Voila! I could make one video and it could be shown to thousands! I love technology! I put up over 50 videos on You Tube last year and had well over 100,000 views.

I set up a widget on my blog that tracks where my visitors come from, and I have people from all over the world who visit my blog every day -- some are from countries with names that I can't even pronounce!

Many blogs and websites are posting my videos; I tried to count how many one day and I kept losing track of the number, so finally I gave up. My website name, "video fitness coach" dominates the first 10+ pages of Google for that search phrase.

Fitness is a Journey

I named my first online tele-class "Journey to Fitness," because of the long road I traveled before finally reaching my destination. I have now turned it into a "podclass" and in the future, will put the entire 12-part course online and on DVD.

Weight Loss "Top 10" - The TOP 10 absolutely essential strategies you must know for excellent health and weight loss success!

I received an email from one of my online members from Miami named Sue. She was asking about dieting. I sent an email back to her that had several main guidelines for nutrition and weight loss. Later, when I looked at that email, I realized thatI had given her a "TOP 10 LIST" on dieting! Actually there were 11 on the list, but I condensed it down to 10 for the sake of having a catchy name for my new Weight Loss Seminar! (Don't worry, if you come to my seminar, I'll squeeze in that 11th point somewhere...!) I will also be teaching "Weight Loss Top 10" as a podclass online. The registration page is: www.videohealthcoach.com/register.html.

Wake Up, Live the LIfe You Love

In late 2007, I heard about a book publisher that had put out several best-selling books that were centered around the "Wake Up Moment" theme. Most successful and powerful people say that they have experienced one or more "wake up" moments in their lives. These moments inspired them to change directions or choose another path, which later led to success or achievement. The goal of each Wake Up book is to touch the spirit and change the reader's life in a positive way through reading the inspirational stories written by their many authors from all walks of life.

My Makeover Story is featured in "Wake Up Moments of Inspiration," a "Wake Up" book that was released on March 19, 2009. This book is wonderful for a bedside table---many people love to read a short, inspirational story before going to sleep. Would you like to inspire your employees to improve their health and achieve their personal and professional goals? "Wake Up Moments" can be purchased in bulk at a reduced price to give as a gift to your employees, or to use as a fundraiser for your charitable organization.

Employee Wellness Programs

I became interested in speaking for Corporate Wellness Programs in 2009. As a result of the recent political changes in America, it seems almost certain that healthcare costs will start to become shared by everyone. This means that if your neighbor is overweight and incurs thousands of dollars in medical expenses as a result, then it is likely that you might be paying for it. Wouldn't it be wise, then, to encourage your co-workers and employees to improve their health?

Healthy employees are happier and more productive. They have far less absenteeism and are more alert. Employers who search for opportunities to provide resources that will encourage their employees to improve their health will more than recover the cost of their investment with lower medical insurance premiums and a more productive workforce.

If you would like to schedule a Wellness Event Speaker at your business, school, or organization, contact me.

I drew the line in the sand...

I remember the day I drew the line in the sand...if I can do it, you can too! Getting fit and healthy means that you have to give up a few things, whether it's extra slices of pizza, or not getting to watch your favorite show on TV because you have to go exercise at the gym (don't tape those shows, you don't need to be watching TV anyway!)

But what you get in return FAR OUTWEIGHS what you've given up....many, many, many times over. The sacrifices can't even COMPARE with the benefits. Many new dieters have their eyes focused on everything they "can't have," until they finally learn everything they "can have" as a result of losing the weight, that they "couldn't have" before, when they were overweight.

How about these trade-offs?

A slice of pizza vs. being able to wear a sundress in the summer.
A chunk of cheese vs. being able to shop for clothes in the "normal" sizes.
A hot dog vs. not feeling like you are the fattest one at the party.
A piece of cheesecake vs. being able to wear a swimsuit at the beach, instead of a T-shirt and shorts!
A donut at the gas station vs. being able to fit comfortably into a seat at the movies or on an airplane.
A double cheeseburger vs. being able to go outside and play with your kids.

Don't you think the benefit FAR OUTWEIGHS the sacrifice? I do!

By the way, almost all of the foods listed above have lower fat/lower calorie versions that you can eat in place of the full-fat-bad-for-your-heart-and-health originals! Come to my classes and I'll let you in on all of my secret underground weight loss tactics!

A little help from a friend...

Sometimes all it takes is a helping hand to lift you up, to set you on the right path, and to give you a little push to start you going in the right direction. I hope my Journey to Fitness and Video Fitness Coach programs will do that for each person who attends my classes.

Contact Me...

...if you would like to schedule an interview or appearance for your TV show, a radio spot for your morning or evening drive times, or a Wellness Program speaker for your next corporate health and wellness promotion.

Because of my "Wake Up Moment," I now...
love the life I live!