Rachel Alt

In 2023, Rachel Alt, 49, felt like she’d tried everything to get healthier and lose some stubborn extra weight, but nothing was working for her. In an effort to make some real changes, she started seeing Holy Name registered dietitian nutritionist Tracee Yablon Brenner, who told her about the “Healthy Weight + Healthy You” program.

“I love learning new things,” said Rachel, “so the idea that there was a program on nutrition that covered a wide range of topics was really interesting to me.”

The 8-week program was comprehensive. It included weekly wellness workshops with nutrition and fitness specialists, meal planning with recipes and grocery lists, in-depth nutritional evaluations, and group exercise classes.

Rachel, who already loved to work out, particularly enjoyed the exercise classes and the weekly workshops. She has now incorporated Tabata-style workouts into her regular routine.

Rachel credits the program’s self-hypnosis workshop with “changing her life.” Prior to joining, she wanted to learn how to decrease her alcohol intake and stop eating before she felt hungry, but she didn’t know how. Self-hypnosis has helped her change these habits. She also learned new strategies from a workshop on time management. Though these two workshops were most impactful for Rachel, she feels the program will appeal to a broad audience.

“Everyone can get something out of this,” she said.

On the nutrition side, Rachel loved the meal planning tools the program provided. She says that they make it easy to eat healthy and delicious meals and take the guesswork out of cooking. She also gained lots of new nuggets of information that she applies to eating, cooking, and shopping. For example, she taught her husband not to eat standing up because it triggers a fight or flight response in the body, and she regularly refers to the Environmental Working Group’s lists of produce most and least likely to contain pesticides.

She has high praise for Tracee as well as Nutrition Outreach Manager Debbie Bessen.

“I think Debbie and Tracee are amazing and I love working with them,” Rachel said. “They really make you feel important and they invite feedback.”

Rachel said she has seen vast improvements to her gut health, energy levels, and ability to focus since she participated in the program. She credits the self-hypnosis and the time management tools she gained with helping her prioritize her wellbeing.

“I feel very fit. I feel very strong. I feel very healthy,” Rachel said. “If they offered [the program] again I would do it again because I’m sure I would learn even more.”