Secrets to Your Success: Tanya Zuckerbrot
Tanya Zuckerbrot, registered dietician and founder of the F-Factor diet, says we live in a world where we simply can't control a lot of things, but we can control what we eat every day. "You know, what's at the edge of that fork," she says, "it's up to you."
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Tanya grew up in a family of cooks and says, "I just think that I have always loved to cook and loved to eat." After college, Tanya headed to NYU to get her master's in nutrition. She went into private practice as a registered dietitian and started working with doctors to treat their patients. She says when she worked with cardiovascular patients, the goal was to lower their bad cholesterol and improve their good cholesterol, and when she worked with diabetics, the goal was to manage their sugars. But with both patients, they were losing weight. Although the diets were different, each diet included fiber.
"If someone loses 20 pounds, people notice," says Tanya. She started receiving phone calls from friends of clients, asking if they could get "the weight loss part." Tanya had struggled with her own weight and found success following her own program. Her high-fiber diet plan became the basis for her 2006 best seller, "The F-Factor Diet." "I believe in it," she explains, "which is why I do it, and I get the results."
Today, Tanya has a new book, "The Miracle Carb Diet," and a line of high-fiber bars. She also maintains her private practice, where high-profile and celebrity clients pay $10,000 for 10 sessions. She says she's found success because she cares and wants to help as many people as she can. She'll even answer texts from clients when she's out to dinner with her husband. "I care about my clients 24/7, not just for the 30 minutes they're paying for," says Tanya.
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Tanya says she believes in nutrition and the impact it has on someone. "I understand the value of giving someone the gift of control and of looking their best and feeling their best," she explains, "so they can face each day with more confidence."
She advises others to set goals, because by setting goals, it's easier to create the steps to change anything in life. "Every time you set a goal and you achieve it," says Tanya, "that's where your self-esteem comes from."
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