Dino Nowak: Lose the Diet, Lose the Weight

CBN.com THE BEST DIET – NO DIET
Dino Nowak is not the latest fitness guru promoting the next fad diet. Instead, he is a personal trainer that has researched and studied the fitness industry from the inside out. “Fitness is not found in a specific size or shape. There are so many diets out there, and America is unhealthier than ever. Our society is always looking for the quick fix, and this industry is generating billions of dollars off their misplaced trust, “ says Dino. His new book, The Final Makeover: Your 40-Day Guide to Personal Fitness, highlights the myths and fads of the industry and explains the importance of the emotional and spiritual aspects of your health and how they impact your physical body.

GROWING UP
Dino, a self-described military brat, got use to taking care of himself at an early age. By the age of 17 he had practically traveled the world and been stationed in Wisconsin, Hawaii, California, Oklahoma, and North Carolina. In high school, Dino began establishing his own identity through his athletic ability as a soccer star and weight lifter. After graduation, Dino attended Rochester School of Technology in Upstate New York. After college Dino earned an engineering degree and went to work for a pharmaceutical company. But he soon realized that was not what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. “Now where do I go,” Dino asked himself. His real passion in life was health and fitness. During college, Dino had worked as a personal trainer at a gym and received certification from the Cooper Institute for Aerobic Research.

A friend of Dino’s invited him to a Jim Brickman concert. Afterwards, Dino was invited backstage where he met the musician and offered some fitness advice. Brickman was impressed with Dino and asked him to be his fitness trainer. Two weeks later, Dino moved to California to work with Brickman as his trainer.

INSIDE OUT APPROACH
While working in Hollywood as a consultant and trainer to powerful Hollywood celebrities, Dino began to notice that these people were talking with him about their problems during their fitness sessions. As he began to emotionally understand where these people were coming from he also saw this as an open door to talk about the Lord. Realizing their emptiness, Dino created a program called ESP Wellness – which stands for emotional, spiritual, and physical fitness.

His program addressed the emotional fitness of a person first by taking a closer look at one of the biggest reasons for overeating – emotional eating. Dino believes people are using food to help handle life. They self medicate in order to deal with the ups and downs of life. For example, when you’ve had a hard day at the office you have a pack of Twinkies, or you serve yourself up a big bowl of ice cream when the kids won’t behave.

According to Dino, emotional eating is a sign that something is out of balance in your life. His book offers ten steps for breaking free from emotional eating.

• Realize you are doing it.
• Learn to recognize the difference between physical hunger and emotional appetite.
• Call a time out.
• Pray.
• Use a food journal.
• Eat on purpose.
• Use food for what it was meant for.
• Use activities, not food to deal with your emotions.
• Throw out unhealthy views about food.
• Turn to God as your true source of comfort.

IDENTITY CRISIS
Dino grew up in a loving Catholic family. However, it wasn’t until college that he dedicated his life to the Lord when a fraternity brother invited him to a non-denominational church. It was at that service that Dino began to more closely examine the question of God’s existence. The next Sunday Dino returned to the same church and gave his life to the Lord.