About

Why I Don’t Work in Hospitals Anymore 
(And How I Help People Get Healthy Instead)

Diane Gudmundson, Athletic GrandmaHi, I’m Diane – a nurse, fitness coach, and weight-lifting grandma.

But it wasn’t always this way.

My childhood dreams of owning a fitness centre (and the yard sand-pile pictures of me flexing my teenage muscles) all faded into memory as I worked my way through university to become a registered nurse (BN).

I plunged into work at a local hospital, and soon discovered the disadvantage of my role.

Much of every shift we nurses and doctors managed emergencies. Desperate people came in either dizzy or breathless or clutching their chests. We raced to diagnose and treat what we could. Over time, I realized the same kinds of symptoms continued to stream in. Many were serious and the vast majority of them could have been avoided with proper education, exercise and nutrition.

Hospitals and doctors don’t generally treat things with nutrition. Ills require pills, as we’ve come to believe. Doctors would prescribe, patients would happily receive, and everyone was happy with the bandage solution (which really was no solution at all).

Most people didn’t seem to realize they had any control over their health. No one had ever told them!

I desperately wanted to give patients their power back – to tell them how a fitness plan or nutritional plan could reduce pain. Improve their health. Maybe even save their lives. But it wasn’t my place. Doctors advised and my job was to do as the doctors told me.

I wanted to help people, but felt powerless. As I thought about it, I realized I could truly help people while remaining in the medical field, but for me it meant making a change.

So I left the hospital to become a nurse practitioner. In this role I could help people in local clinics just as a doctor would. I could creatively problem solve with patients, I was free to advise them, and could also order tests and prescribe medications. I could also connect them with services, information, and people to educate them about medications, health, and nutrition.

I finally felt like I could really help people and deliver lasting change.

Then my mid-thirties hit, and I had some health of my own to manage. The hormonal and metabolic changes mercilessly added pounds to my body. (Ever been there?)

But I discovered how to blast that belly fat and keep it off.

(Hint: it has a little something to do with clean eating and getting off the couch. Many of the programs I coach are fantastic and fun options.)

And now I’m living the life I love.

I maintain my role as a nurse practitioner, working to empower people with control over their health. When I’m not doing that, I coach various fitness programs and lead workshops about nutrition.

Somewhere among all that I’m also a full-time grandma to my handsome two-year-old grandson. (I’m so thankful to have the health and ability to play on the floor with him or chase him down for naptime.)

Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired?
Desperate to escape the mid-thirties bulge that’s captured you?

I can help you get your power back.

Let’s talk.

Contact me here if questions, or sign up for a program to do with me as your  coach today!!