In 1974, at 18, Nancy Jerominski, had a bright future. She was a good student, winning academic accolades. She started her own business at 22. Success seemed a given except for a sideways turn at 26.

"I drank like all young people," Nancy said. "But not so much in high school," she added.

She was driven. Her fitness industry business was doing well. Nancy was making money and getting high on life. At 26 she began to drink more. A lot more. She smoked and began using cocaine. She slid downward for eight years, ultimately losing her business at 34.

That didn't stop the behavior. She drank more, snorted more and continued the downward spiral for seven more years. Then came a big change. Like some people, the light bulb went on.

"I was a walking dead person a 41," she said. Her destructive lifestyle caught up with her. She knew she'd lose everything, including her life, if she didn't change. She checked herself into rehab.

She quit drugs and alcohol. The rehab was working. At 45 she sustained a nasty back injury that sidelined a courier career. Finally, she quit cigarettes and decided to go back into fitness.

"I wasn't ready to hear the message "(of health) in my younger years," she explained. The message is "willingness to change," she added. Those two decades were learning years she does not want others to go through. She blazed the wrong trail and lived to spread the better message of good nutrition and exercise.

Nancy blazed a new trail in the fitness industry. She earned the distinction as a Corrective-High performance-Exercise-Kinesiology (CHEK) Exercise Coach and as a Holistic Lifestyle Coach, level 2. The C.H.E.K Institute is known worldwide for excellence in education and innovation in the integrated fields of corrective exercise, high-performance conditioning and lifestyle and stress management.

She studied practical nutrition, joining the Weston A. Price Foundation. She practiced what she learned and succeeded.

During her comeback, Nancy spent several years at local health spas and gyms relearning this trade. She became certified through the American Council on Exercise (ACE) She met wonderful, dedicated people who thought like she did. She met people who needed her.

That experience created NLJ Fitness and Consulting in SeaTac. IDEA awarded Nancy her MASTER PFT (personal fitness trainer), the highest measure of achievement and standard of professional excellence in the field of personal training.

She earned the distinction as a Corrective-High performance-Exercise-Kinesiology (CHEK) Exercise Coach and as a Holistic Lifestyle Coach, level 2. The C.H.E.K Institute is known worldwide for excellence in education and innovation in the integrated fields of corrective exercise, high-performance conditioning and lifestyle and stress management.

That's a lot to say, but Nancy can back it up. There is more to her than titles and designations. She has successful clients like Patty R., a Type 2 Diabetic.

Patty met Nancy at a Seattle fitness club about three years ago. She needed help. Overweight, she was out of shape with no clear picture of what to do. She'd had a different personal trainer but seemed to be going nowhere. Nancy stepped in and everything changed. It wasn't just training she needed. Nancy changed her lifestyle.

Patty had been active in her youth, but approaching her mid 50's she felt herself falling behind. The energy to ski and hike was not there. She began to eat nutritious food for her metabolic type. Nancy had her on an organic sustainable, nutritionally dense diet and a consistent exercise program of balance, stretching, and resistance training.

"Now I can work in the yard all day if I want," Patty said. Her energy is back, medications have been reduced and her weight is under control.

Kurt Groesch is semi-retired. He's 55 and weighs 170 lbs. In November of 2006 he bloated out to 200. His rotator cuff was sore and golf was a pain. Nancy stepped in with her approach. Kurt now does dips on the parallel bars. His shoulder has healed and he's outdriving his buddies at the course.

Joe stumbled on Nancy's Web site (www.nancyjerominski.com) while researching physical trainers in the Seattle area. He'd read about Dr. Weston A. Price, a nutrition pioneer whose studies of isolated nonindustrialized peoples established the parameters of human health and determined the optimum characteristics of human diets. Dr. Price's research demonstrated that humans achieve perfect physical form and perfect health generation after generation only when they consume nutrient-dense whole foods and the vital fat-soluble activators found exclusively in animal fats.(www.westonaprice.org)

Here's Joe's take on working with Nancy: "Ultimately I think it's up to each individual to allow himself or herself to open up to an alternate way of thinking as opposed to what is conventionally taught in schools. Then decide what's best and what works. I completely changed my food shopping (organic markets) and eating habits in February 2008, while at the same time adding daily exercise to my life. I meet with Nancy once a month to review my training schedule. We make various adjustments as needed to provide further strengthening, flexibility, and endurance. This slow and steady approach has worked for me to produce what I hope is a lifelong, solid improvement rather than a temporary fix. This lifestyle change has enabled me to positively contribute to the environment. I shop at local organic markets and buy only 'green,' sustainable items, while improving my mental and physical well-being."

Nancy's influence does not stop here. Michele Clarke-Mason, Burien resident, owner of meanttobefoods.com and a member of Weston A. Price Foundation is a believer. Michele grew up in the food service industry. Nearly 10 years ago she was suffering from an autoimmune condition.

She began to study herself and how she could cure this malady. The SAD (Standard American Diet) diet did not work for her. She earned a certification as a nutritional therapist. She started her own company of sustainable, traditional,nutrient dense foods with much of the basis from the Weston A. Price foundation. It worked and she'll be the first to hop on her soapbox to tell you how hyper-passionate she is about good health and nutrition.

With her history a distant memory and a life dedicated to taking care of herself Nancy continues to focus on what she can do for others. Educating and training willing clients, hoping the same light bulb of health will glow for them.

Nancy will hold a health and wellness workshop Sunday March 8, 2009 at the Ascension Wellness Center in Des Moines. If you are interested, please contact Debra Jackson with Aruba-J Wellness Center at 206-592-1423 for times or to register.