Imagine for a moment all the cells in your body, huddled together waiting for – but not receiving – the carbs, protein, healthy fats, vitamins and minerals needed to do their jobs. Instead they receive food completely lacking in nutrients – could that be the reason for the increase in hunger signals they send out? And worse?
“Not only do our bodies not ask for this stuff – cookies, crackers, chips – they don't know what to do with it. Artificial colours, trans fats, chemicals – there are no enzymes to break them down,” says Louise Blais, general manager at The Club at White Oaks Resort and Spa in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
Our confused and nutrition-starved cells shuffle the stuff into fat cells after our liver works overtime trying to break it down. The processing of junk food causes the liver to become depleted and unable to deal with the real thing when it finally comes along.
Not a pretty picture but one that is repeated day in and day out, meal after meal, snack after snack.
The result, says Blais, is people who are tired and can't focus or concentrate.
“We need to teach people the science of nutrition,” says Blais.
The Club at White Oaks first opened its doors in 1978, and has provided top notch fitness facilities and programming.  
And although almost every square foot within The Club has been expanded or improved, one thing was missing...nutrition programming.
The complexity of nutrition is what has kept most fitness facilities from offering nutritional programming, says Blais. Those who believe exercise is their best option for weight loss might be surprised to hear that exercise alone, without nutritional balance, accounts for only about 20 per cent of the weight loss or body transformation equation.
And that means most of the people who join gyms to lose weight can only count on being 20 per cent successful.
So to support members with weight loss, body transformation or performance goals, White Oaks needed a sound nutrition program — a reproducible, flexible, sustainable program grounded in scientific research ... affordable, individualized plans based on real food. The Club at White Oaks found a program that fit its extensive criteria and has now entered into a new partnership with Precision Nutrition.
The Precision Nutrition System was launched by Dr. John Berardi after 13 years of nutrition research and coaching. Dr. Bernardi has a PhD. from the University of Western Ontario in Kinesiology, including a specialization in exercise and nutrient biochemistry.  For more than 10 years, he has helped thousands of people, from the completely sedentary to the highest performing athletes, achieve their weight loss and/or performance goals. The Precision Nutrition program is not a diet and does not offer short-term solutions. Long-term weight loss or body transformation success does not come from temporarily changing anything in your diet, said Blais.
“There has to be a readiness to change. It comes from changing the way you think just as much as changing the way you eat,” she added.
Traditional diets don't work in the long term.
“In fact, the diet industry may be the only business that thrives because it doesn't work,” she noted.
Popular diet programs promote one diet – everyone gets the same plan. The Precision Nutrition program is tailored specifically for each person based on their lifestyle and goals.  All White Oaks nutrition coaches are also certified personal trainers. And the trainers have spent the last six months getting extensive training to qualify them for the certification to deliver the program.
A nutrition coach will determine each person's needs and then develop a realistic and individualized nutrition plan incorporating many of the foods the individual already eats. For the best results, attention will be paid to both what and when you eat.
To effectively lose weight and sustain it, it is not as simple as eating less and moving more.
Research has shown repeatedly that eating fewer calories and exercising is not sustainable. While exercise is needed for good health, what you eat and not just the caloric content is far more important. It is the right combination of macronutrients: proteins, carbohydrates and fats, eaten at the right time that is needed.
“People need to eat healthy fats, unrefined and unprocessed carbs, grains, veggies and fruit. People need to prepare their own food — quality matters as much as quantity.”
An exercise component is also part of each individualized plan and your coach will follow results closely and provide all the personal coaching and assistance needed to be successful in all aspects of the program.  
Biweekly coaching sessions will provide the tools to change the way you think about food and nutrition. As well, weekly measurement sessions will ensure you remain motivated and on track, never letting a relapse take hold, says Blais.
In addition, there will be cooking demonstrations to introduce healthy foods and how to prepare them and trips to the grocery store.
“It is a journey,” says Blais. “We are all somewhere on the health spectrum, the goal is to move forward.”
Dr. Berardi will be delivering a free seminar about the Precision Nutrition program at White Oaks on Sept. 22 at 7pm. For more information on Dr. Bernardi's seminar, or on the program itself, call program facilitator Louise Blais at 905-688-2032 x5298.