Fitness Files: Laura Cipullo
I was introduced to Laura Cipullo through a mutual contact, as you already may know I love connecting with fellow like-minded individuals! After meeting up at a local coffee shop to discuss all things health and wellness I knew I had to feature Laura in the NMFIT Fitness Files series. Laura is the founder of Laura Cipullo Whole Nutrition Services in New York City. Her company offers services for children, adults, families, groups and education that help clients achieve and maintain good health.
My mission is to provide individualized nutrition counseling, to clarify misconceptions regarding the efficacy of quick-fix diets, and to apply medical nutrition therapy to promote optimal health and lifelong wellness.
My goal is to help you achieve long-term dietary changes through health promotion and disease prevention and treatment, with a nutritional care plan specific to you that embraces wholesome nutrition and a balanced lifestyle. — Laura Cipullo, RD, CDE, CEDRD
Continue reading the interview below to learn more about Laura and her new offerings in 2017!
NMF: Has fitness always been a major part of your life or was there a catalyst/point in your life when you made it more of a focus and priority?
LC: I was the kid climbing the walls. Well, I would scoot myself up doorways! I had loved moving with my body whether it was dance, skiing or hiking as a child. I ran track in middle school and high school until I was injured. I went to college in Colorado in hopes of finding like-minded people who loved activity as much as I did. Well, I found outdoor enthusiasts who were even more experienced and avid then myself. This is when I actually found yoga. My yoga practice started freshman year of college at Colorado State University. There was a women’s yoga class at 6:30 am. Thinking back, is was quite similar to ashtanga yoga. But that all came to a screeching halt when I was injured in a motorcycle accident in 1996. This is when I learned about my body. This became the catalyst to work with both my mind and body not against it. The pain I felt made me aware of what seemed like every single muscle fiber and bone. Never had I been so aware of my body and never had I wanted to disconnect from body so badly. So what was once running and rock climbing quickly became learning to walk again, evening the atrophied side with the muscular side and using the power of my mind and breath to accept my present moment and move forward. I lost all my activities and my identity. It was the most challenging and painful time in my life but it made me who I am today. I have experienced almost every body therapy from cranial sacral therapy to Bowen’s technique. To this day, I am sensitive in my body and to others’ knowing how important alignment is, and how stress or injury affects the whole mind and body.
NMF: What are a few of your go-to healthy snacks/drinks that help keep you on the straight and narrow?
LC: My favorite snack is by far yogurt. It has been since high school. Over the years I have come to love Greek yogurt and Icelandic yogurt. I just tried Quark and love this too. Kind bars, Clif Z bars and Nature’s Made chocolate chip cookies are my go-to snacks. My diet is exactly what I share in the Women’s Health Body Clock Diet. The recipes I share are literally what I eat and snack on. In terms of drinks, I start everyday with a double tall soy latte and then I carry my Swell bottle everywhere while drinking hot-warm water throughout the day.
NMF: How do you train your mind and stay motivated?
LC: I have always been motivated and adventurous. I mean that is also how I ended up on the motorcycle before the accident. I really think my motivation is fueled by my passion for what is right, ethical and honest. It has always perturbed me that people give unsubstantiated nutrition advice or give advice without having training. I think our world has food and body messaging confused. I want people to get educated and honor their bodies rather than manipulate their body or exercise to lose weight rather than to feel well. When you turn inward, and sometimes that only happens when we are forced - you realize your mind and body are one. It is an art and science.
NMF: How do you change your body? What are your fitness favorites?
LC: I don’t believe in changing the body. Wording is key. We need to honor our body. Working from within rather than working from the outside to change our inside. The energy comes from within you and that is what moves you rather than running to lose weight or just burning calories. This is how we teach Positive Nutrition in my New York City private practice – Laura Cipullo Whole Nutrition. All of my books share the same theme. In fact, this is why I am opening my latest labor of love – the L’ifestyle Lounge in Closter NJ. On January 1, 2017, the L’ifestyle Lounge is the product of twenty years in the world of nutrition, yoga and mindfulness. It is a safe space for self-care. It is all encompassing addressing the whole person without gimmicks. After 19 years as a registered dietitian, certified diabetes educator, certified eating disorders specialist and a registered yoga teacher in New York City, I am putting all the pieces of the puzzle together and giving others the to opportunities and education to learn self-care and coping skills from an early age. This is not about fad diets, detoxes or changing who you are. It is finding who you are by listening to your breath, mind and body. It is having the opportunity to learn how to eat all foods and how all bodies fit and can be fit – yes large bodies can be healthy just like thin bodies can be unhealthy. So the long answer is yoga. That is my favorite form of fitness because it engages all senses and challenges my mind and body without hurting it.
For more information on Laura click here!
Follow me on Twitter and Facebook @NadiaMurdockFit Instagram@NadiaMurdock