By Amy Schehchter
Everyone hits a point in their lives where they feel stuck and ready for a positive change. That moment came for Pearl Chiarenza a little over 10 years ago when she moved to Florida from Virginia. Recovering from a medical procedure, looking for employment, and helping her family adjust to the move was difficult. She looked in the mirror and realized she had gained weight and lost a bit of the person she was. That’s when she decided to do something about it and took her life back losing 57 pounds between Labor Day and the end of October through healthy eating and living habits. She wanted to share this discovery with others out there who had reached the same low point and were not sure how to fit healthy habits into their busy lives.
Chiarenza founded her Lakeland location of Bodyworks Health & Wellness Center in 2011 followed by the Valrico location and since then, the clinic has helped the community lose over ten-thousand pounds. Through one-on-one coaching and a diet plan called It’s The Greatest Diet (ITG), clients will reset their pancreas through a ketonic diet and then learn how to integrate fats, fruits, and carbohydrates back into their diets for sustainable weight loss.
Chiarenza candidly reminds clients, “It’s easy to lose weight. Maintenance is the hard part,” but she knows that the goal is to teach healthy habits that allow for lifestyle changes. Bodyworks Health & Wellness Center tailors a program to your personal needs taking your family life, work life, and medical history into account. They offer different programs, simple to pro-plans, with varying levels of support to clients “as young as 12 to 13 to people as young as 80,” Chiarenza said with a smile. In fact, she relays the story of a 13-year-old who lost sixty-one pounds over the last year gaining confidence and habits that will take her into a healthy adult life. The different programs offer one-on-one coaching sessions at least monthly, but based entirely on individual needs. They offer over 60 foods from which to choose from in-house, so clients can choose three meals a day from an approved grocery list and are taught how to shop for remaining meals on their own. Some programs even offer grocery shopping outings and healthy cooking classes.
Chiarenza also knows the importance of giving back to the community. She is very involved with the Sylvia Thomas Center, a nonprofit that assists adoptive and foster families in the local area. She also coordinates events through Women’s Successful Living, an organization designed to help women who have experienced financial and personal problems to set goals that help them lead positive, happy lives. She takes the same attitude with her clients because she truly wants everyone to find the work-life balance where there is always a focus being a healthy individual, mind and body. It’s easy to see why they were voted Best of Brandon and Best of Southshore and why Chiarenza was recently honored as Woman of the Month by Successful Women Aligning Together (SWAT).
With a new year can come a new you. Bodyworks Health & Wellness Center is currently offering $150 off the normal introductory price to get starting which includes food and coaching. For a $20 entry fee, current clients can participate in a weight loss challenge where the first prize is a three-day cruise for two, second prize is $300 cash, and third prize is one week of free food.
Free seminars are offered twice monthly. For information on pricing or questions, visit bodyworkshwc.com/ or facebook.com/BodyworksHWC/. Contact Bodyworks Health & Wellness Center at 324-8988 (Valrico), 324-8988 (Lakeland), or 449-3308.The Valrico office is located in the Salons by JC Building at 3448 Lithia Pinecrest Rd., Ste. 29 inValrico. For more information on Women’s Successful Living, visit womenssuccessfulliving.com/ or facebook.com/womenssuccessfulliving/.
