Zonya Foco

Zonya Foco Speaker Biography

America’s Nutrition Leader

As America’s Nutrition Leader, Zonya is a master of inspiration, motivation and visual humor, providing hard-facts information and simple solutions that help everyday people improve health, create balance and maximize energy. She is the only Registered Dietitian (RD) and Certified Health and Fitness Instructor (CHFI) in the country to have earned the prestigious Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designation. If you’re expecting a lecture-style presentation from this "energizer health bunny" — DON’T! Zonya pulls out all the stops in her live presentations, video seminars and TV show—delivering equal parts entertainment and education all the way. Zonya helps people laugh at their bad habits and discover the joy in adopting new, healthier habits.

In fact, she has identified eight core habits that create the acronym DIET FREE, published in her coauthored DIET FREE novel, Water with Lemon. In 2010, Zonya launched her complete DIET FREE video seminar lifestyle program for individuals and leader-facilitated programs, and produced the two-hour "DIET FREE with Zonya Foco, RD" TV program aired on national public television. Zonya has also hosted a weekly television series, "Zonya’s Health Bites," on national public television.

She has partnered with Health Alliance Plan (HAP) of Michigan since 2004 to develop and present its award-winning Weight Wise member programs based on her DIET FREE habits. Zonya has also worked with Bob Greene as a guest presenter for "Oprah & Bob’s Best Life Challenge," providing entertaining and educational cooking presentations.

Zonya received her bachelor’s degree from Eastern Michigan University in 1987 and then worked for eight years as a clinical nutritionist for the Michigan Heart and Vascular Institute at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor. It is from these clients that she discovered the need for a "countertop coach" cookbook and in 1998 wrote Lickety Split Meals for Health Conscious People on the Go, filled with easy recipes and healthy tips for everyday families. In 2008, Zonya reworked the recipes and tips and created Lickety-Split Diabetic Meals (published by American Diabetes Association) to help those with diabetes in their quest for a healthier, happier life.

In addition to spreading the word through speaking platform, books and TV show, Zonya has appeared on local newscasts across the country, nationally syndicated daytime talk shows and QVC. She has been published in the popular magazines Prevention, Today’s Dietitian, Total Health, and Fast and Healthy Cooking.

Zonya Foco Speaking Topics

The Power of One Good Habit

How can we ditch the diet mentality, yet still eat healthfully to combat obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer? Let America’s Nutrition Leader show you how the tiniest, painless habits, when done daily can add up to a huge change in the way you look and feel. Make a different choice here, add a little movement there. Without dieting or deprivation, you can rev up your metabolism, drop your blood pressure, lose 50 pounds or take 50 points off your cholesterol in just one year! The math is really quite simple. It's you and the complete adaptation of one good habit after another that adds up to success, which adds up to a lower number on the scale and a much healthier you!

Excelling at Your Career without Undermining Your Health

How you eat directly affects your energy, stamina, productivity and resistance to disease. And a demanding career and hectic family life can crowd out the opportunity to exercise regularly and eat right on the run. So it’s Zonya to the rescue with simple things you can do to sneak in exercise and consume foods that work like high-octane fuel to increase your energy and thinking ability. You’ll get the competitive edge with Zonya’s nine-point eating plan for optimal energy and health while you climb the career ladder. Discover desk-drawer delights and briefcase bites that will help trim your waistline while dropping your risk for the big killers like heart disease, cancer and type 2 diabetes. You can be your best possible self at work and at home. Right now is a great time to start!

Surefire Solutions for De-stressing and Balancing Your Life

You have a good life…. but maybe you just have too much of a good thing. If you’re too busy, too tired and too stressed, Zonya has surefire solutions that will bring balance to your life and a bounce to your step. When you’re ready to get a grip, Zonya will show you how to start by simply letting go. So take a deep breath and get ready to laugh out loud as you learn the restorative power of saying the word “no.” If, on the other hand, you have trouble saying “yes” to exercise, Zonya will share her secrets for ways to make working out work for you. (Yes, you really can sneak exercise into your daily routine.) Stress is more than a state of mind; it’s a person without a plan for actually living stress free. Now’s the time to settle back as Zonya serves up stress-reducing strategies to simplify your life. Find out what ingredients a stress-free kitchen must have; learn what foods can turn the tables on your stress level; and reclaim your right to live a healthy, vibrant life filled with energy and joy.

Finding Fitness in You with “E” Harmony

Have you ever felt like you were in a dead-end relationship with your exercise routine? You joined the gym with glee but now never go. You set your alarm for an early walk only to hit the snooze. We know exercise is good for us. The benefits far exceed boosting metabolism and burning fat, to improving our immune system and helping fight heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, dementia and depression. The secret to exercising; however, is to find what you love. Not just tolerate—but what you absolutely wouldn’t dream of staying in bed to miss. Hard to fathom? Not after this session with Zonya! It’s all a matter of matchmaking your unique personality with just the right exercise activity until you find your true soul mate—E Harmony! Zonya helps you “power date” all kinds of E choices you never knew enough about, like water aerobics, kick boxing, Jazzercise, tai chi, line dancing, arm-chair exercising, and Zumba. You’ll learn about people who were just like you before they found “the one.” True E Harmony! With your “E matches” in hand, you can date your way to finding your true exercise love. Soon you’ll begin exercising like never before, and live happily ever after!

Fit Families for Life!

Zonya knows it isn’t always easy getting kids (or adults for that matter) to eat healthy and exercise well. She also believes that the fastest way to fight childhood obesity is through parents. Zonya’s “Fit Families for Life” presentation is the perfect opportunity for parents and kids to learn together and discover how healthy habits can be a fun family affair. Leave it to Zonya’s zany visuals and engaging style plus healthy “family competitions” to transform the fussiest eaters into junior—and senior—champions of good health and fitness. Laugh and learn together as she introduces crafty, creative and successful ways to make good nutrition and exercise easy and fun for the entire Fit Families for Life (FFL) Team!

Be Good to Your Sweet Heart

Your heart—it beats for you constantly, minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day, year by year. Is what you’re eating the best it can be for your heart and cardiovascular system? There’s so much more to heart health than just low-fat and low-cholesterol food. Get the inside scoop on fish, flax, fiber, garlic, and of course, exercise. Sound intimidating? It doesn’t have to be. Learn how to integrate these heart-healthy habits into a lifestyle the whole family will enjoy. Be good to your sweet heart—after all, it’s good to you!