Student Spotlight
Emily Stinnett, candidate, M.S. in Holistic Nutrition
This young real estate agent was thrilled to escape snowy Illinois for a Caribbean cruise in February 2004. But it wasn’t the islands that lured Emily Stinnett and, this also wasn’t just any cruise.
Created by CCNH alumna Ann Louise Gittleman, Ph.D. and sponsored by Clayton College, Gittleman’s second annual Fat Flush Cruise featured a full week of holistic spa pamperings, one-on-one nutritional assessments, plenty of fitness activities, and great camaraderie among the 65 attendees all of whom chose the Fat Flush Cruise in order to improve their eating and other lifestyle habits.
Gittleman’s brand new book, Fat Flush Fitness, taught the group that gentle exercise such as walking and bouncing on a mini-trampoline, balanced by a solid commitment to getting enough sleep, are easy decisions that lead to better health.
Stinnett’s interest in holistic nutrition began about three years ago, when she realized that her body was actively rebelling against a lifetime of dietary deficits and over-exercise. I had no energy, and my muscles ached all the time. Perpetual dieting and bad food choices resulted in low blood sugar and a lack of essential nutrients. I was suffering from severe mood swings and had difficulty concentrating.
As if all that weren’t enough, she adds, I was suddenly gaining weight while eating less and less food and exercising to the point of exhaustion. This made going to college a frustrating experience instead of fun.
Growing up during what she calls the low fat/no fat generation, Stinnett began ice-skating at age seven. Over the years she skated for three hours a day, while trying to exist on a diet of highly processed fat-free food products. Maintaining an ideal weight became so important to her that she didn’t realize how off-balance her body was and literally spinning out of control.
One night at church Stinnett prayed that God would reveal to her what to do about these debilitating energy, weight and emotional issues. As she searched the Bible and read about God’s dietary laws, she realized that whole foods are our natural gifts of sustenance from God, not diet soda and fat-free frozen entrees.
I started reading Ann Louise Gittleman’s first book, Living Beauty Detox, she recalls, and my hunger for nutritional knowledge was ignited! She went to a local bookstore, looking for more book titles by Ann Louise, and was happy to find a copy of The Fat Flush Plan. I read the whole book twice and immediately decided to do everything she said. The entire approach is based on sound nutritional principles of how the body works.
Nowadays, Emily Stinnett delights in shopping at whole foods stores and welcoming the healthy fats back into her diet. She takes family and friends with her to health food stores, instructing them on how to choose nutritious organic foods. She also follows the teachings of Linda Page’s famous natural health textbook and lifestyle guidebook, Healthy Healing.
When Stinnett decided she wanted to study holistic nutrition and earn a graduate degree, Gittleman recommended Clayton College of Natural Health. Stinnett was delighted to learn that her other guru, Linda Page, was also a CCNH graduate.
I decided that if Clayton College was good enough for them, I knew that I would love it, too. And I do!
Editor’s note: Emily Stinnett’s moving story of regaining her nutritional health recently caught the interest of Woman’s World weekly magazine (3/2/4 edition) and the Chicago Herald News (publication date TBD).
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