How Optimal Nutrition & Raw Foods Revolutionized My Life 

Theresa Intilli Klausner, MS, FNP-BC  * Board Certified Family Nurse Practitioner * Certified Health Coach: Regional Director for TSFL * Doctoral Student George Washington University DNP Program

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"I was fat, hypothyroid, depressed and in my 50’s; I thought I would just have to deal with being fat for the rest of my life.  I had tried everything and spent so much money trying different diets, NOTHING worked.

There is nothing more depressing than feeling like you are being tortured all week long, really following everything to a tee, step on the scale for that incredulous moment of time: ‘THE WEEKLY WEIGH-IN' and feel your spirit PLUMMET to the bottom of the bones in your feet when the news is announced, “you’ve lost 1/2 a pound this week!”  “WHAT!?"  Your insides scream, "it can’t be!”  Then you hear the hopeless but encouraging other person say, “well, a 1/2 pound is BETTER than gaining a pound!”  

So, there I was, disgusted, embarrassed, deflated and fat. 

 Then one day, Gabrielle tells me about The China Study, "read the book she tells me." So I start reading, it’s fascinating, making great sense, and I was starting to pay attention to what I was putting into my body. But I still needed help.  So, I found a stepping stone called Take Shape for Life through a colleague of mine, Dr. Nelson.  He said, “Terri, try this program, if you follow the program you will loose weight, as a matter of fact, you will loose 2-5 pounds every week!”  I said, “Sign me up!”  So I did.  I lost 17 pounds the first month and I just kept on going until I lost FIFTY pounds in FOURTEEN weeks.  This was amazing!  I felt fabulous, I felt like I got my life back.  I was actually loosing weight and it didn’t hurt!!!  I was taken off of four medications for high blood pressure, acid reflux, joint pain and pre-diabetes!  This was what I needed, I needed that boost, that catalyst to get me to where I needed to be.  It was great!

But now, maintenance came upon me.  What do I do to MAINTAIN my weight loss? I had learned too much and worked too hard to ever go back. I wanted to eat real food and be free of worry about gaining weight back.  I wanted to continue to keep my triggers away from me and have my cravings decreased. Again, full circle back to wonderful Gabrielle. I asked, help me please, I need help to keep the triggers away and the cravings away but would like to enjoy food as well. So I hired Gabrielle to spend a week at my home and teach me the ins and outs of optimal nutrition. Gabrielle taught me how to prepare everything from gourmet raw dishes to better choices in cooked vegetarian meals. She taught me about vitamins, minerals, and superfoods! As a nurse practitioner & currently achieving my doctorate, my husband (a doctor) and I laughed at how the medical field has little to do with nutrition and much to do with pharmacology.  

Gabrielle has been such an influence on my life and my continued health that it STILL amazes me!  Gabrielle has transitioned me so well into living a sustainable healthy lifestyle and maintaining my weight loss for over a year and a half already!  I would never have thought that I, Ms. Meat Eater and Sugar-holic, would ever be following such an incredible, healthy, holistic life style through nutrition!  It is truly amazing!  Gabrielle has been a life saver! She introduced me to new ways of thinking, healthier choices, and whole foods that taste FABULOUS! 

 I just love what I eat now and cannot fathom at times that this incredible food that tastes so amazing is actually GOOD for me too!  Guilt-free food, how amazing is that?  And I feel great!  No more sugar highs or lows, no more acid indigestion, joints feel great, no more chronic sinus headaches and my head is clear.  My menopausal hot flashes have even gone away, thank goodness to maca!  I am eating incredible, tasty, healthy food!

I still have so much to learn, and continue to learn through the knowledge that Gabrielle holds, and the growth that I have experienced through this entire process.  This has truly been an amazing and heartfelt journey that I am so grateful to have been able to experience.  This is not a diet - something I needed to realize in life - no diet is ever successful. This has revolutionized me and has actually brought me onto the path of a lifestyle change of optimal health.  I am so excited to see where else this is going to bring me, because it only gets better! 

Cheers to lifestyle changes for optimal health! Get revolutionized!  Thank you dear Gabrielle for helping me through this insightful process, for always loving me no matter what and for never being judgmental - your grace of heart speaks volumes to me.  You allowed ME to find my own way, on my terms and in my own time - you have no idea what kind of power that lends.  I needed my own playing field and you were insightful enough to see that, and you came onto my playing field, giving me the strength to do what I needed to do, giving me the tools that I needed to use.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart."

Theresa Intilli Klausner, MS, FNP-BC Board Certified Family Nurse Practitioner Certified Health Coach: Regional Director for TSFL Doctoral Student George Washington University DNP Program