Nutritional counselor Gary Appelsies wants his clients to succeed. That’s why he forgoes standard techniques of strict dieting and food deprivation in favor of designing personalized lifestyle plans for better health. He possesses knowledge of more than 100 dietary theories, has a quarter-century’s worth of experience as a natural-foods chef, and received the Health Leadership Award from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York City, one of his alma maters and an important player in the health industry. With this wealth of nutrition-oriented knowledge and experience at his disposal, Gary transforms unhealthy habits into helpful ones that clients can maintain long-term, or at least until their next hot-dog-eating championship.

He does so through variations of health coaching that may take the form of one-on-one sessions, family meetings, or in-home cooking classes. Gary focuses on more than just the physical effects of food; he directs attention to the emotional and mental power of certain eats and helps his clients better understand their cravings. To curb them and boost energy without prescribing intravenous shots of coffee, he overhauls diets with new foods and healthy, easy recipes.