alive's Meaningful Makeovers

alive follows up with Toni Hadgraft and Rob Klettke, our Meaningful Makeover participants. We check up on the changes they've made to their diet and exercise routines.

Who hasn’t dreamed of being made over–poof!–into someone thinner, stronger, more energetic, attractive, and self-confident?

When we launched Rob Klettke and Toni Hadgraft on their six-month alive makeovers in January, we promised to eschew the magic wands wielded in media makeovers–there would be no miraculous overnight transformations.

Instead, Rob and Toni would change their diets, try new foods and unfamiliar healing remedies, and commit more hours each day than seemed possible to physical fitness. We asked our makeover participants to dig down deep within themselves and find the motivation to make inner transformations, to become healthy from the inside out.
It wasn’t easy.

Looking Back

When we first met Toni, a costumer, she’d been “looking for the catalyst” that would change her life. She wanted to “rearrange the pounds” and was hoping to address the insomnia that had plagued most of her adult life. Her biggest challenge at the time was fitting a healthy lifestyle into an erratic work schedule.

After 10 months, she’s lost an admirable 24 lb (10.9 kg), is doing weight training regularly, and has improved her muscle mass to body fat ratio. An added bonus is that her skin, at age 54, “has never been softer or clearer.” Best of all, she no longer suffers from severe migraines, which she attributes to having learned to eat small meals more often throughout the day, keeping her blood sugar levels balanced. “I feel and look better than I did at the beginning,” she tells us.

Rob came to us with a laundry list of health issues he was hoping to address before starting a new career as a professional writer. He had migraines, digestive issues, insomnia, and dizziness and struggled with afternoon fatigue. He also wanted to lose weight and get fit.

“I am happy with solving my afternoon sleepiness and my digestive issues,” he said. Post-makeover, he now “thinks more often about how I should be taking better care of myself.” Rob was pleasantly surprised to find “it wasn’t that difficult to improve my eating habits (eat more often, include more good proteins, reduce sugar intake).” As a result, he lowered his cholesterol and improved his liver function. In addition, several infrared sauna treatments recommended by naturopath Nigma Sciortino “seemed to relieve a lot of the tightness and kinks in my neck and relieve my stress headaches.”

A Few Unmet Challenges

Rob struggled, though, with the exercise component of the makeover. He admits that he’s “still trying to find the physical activity that turns me on to exercise,” a challenge many of us share. He still suffers from occasional migraines, insomnia, and dizziness. Rob didn’t achieve the weight loss he’d hoped to. “I wasn’t successful getting myself to the gym between classes and work.”

Toni’s greatest hurdle turned out to be giving up coffee. She still “really misses that first soul-satisfying cup in the morning.” Despite this change, her insomnia hasn’t gone away entirely, although it has improved. Toni’s demanding work schedule continues to provide challenges to her fitness routine, but after a friend warned her she’d gain all those pounds back without exercise, Toni recommitted to weight training. “I have great incentive to prove that friend wrong.”

Finding Solutions

“The makeover hasn’t changed my life,” says Toni, “but it has helped me move in a better direction. I take the protein shake with flaxseeds and a multivitamin every day. I have made all the dietary changes suggested.”

“The probiotics, and cutting down on the dairy products, really helped with my digestive issues,” Rob told us, “and so did the milk thistle. I’m drinking the protein shake and eating smaller meals, and it has helped my energy levels.”

Looking ahead

Having weathered the makeover, what is their advice to you, our readers? “Start with a positive mindset that you’re going to succeed,” says Rob. “Do a little self-reflection first to determine what kinds of activities will suit you–then do them.”

Toni recommends “finding an exercise buddy who can laugh and commiserate with you. Even if you don’t love the workout, when it’s done, you can sit back and enjoy the positive results together.

“Set an open mind and you will succeed,” she continues. “Take pleasure in the changes as they occur.”