By Melissa Wagoner
“If there was the perfect way to eat there would be one book,” nutrition and exercise coach Rita Horter said.
Instead there is an entire industry devoted to the subject which, she admits, can be confusing to those looking to eat better and become healthier.
Horter, who grew up in Silverton, said she is a lifelong sugar addict and fitness enthusiast but in 2014 she realized even her daily exercise regimen wasn’t keeping her healthy.
“You can’t out-exercise a poor diet,” she explained. “I was basically trying to out exercise my fork.”
She embarked on a 21-day sugar detox program that changed her life and led her to enroll in a year-long health coaching program through the Institute of Integrative Nutrition.
“You walk away thinking, ‘I know nothing,’” she laughed. “But I know enough – enough to feed myself and my family and to help people along the way.”
After completing her studies Horter started doing one-on-one nutrition coaching but discovered that she wasn’t making a lot of headway.
“I found that people really want to have something to sink their teeth into and not necessarily to talk about their eating choices,” she said.
Around this time Horter also gave birth to her second child, Charlotte, who spent several weeks in a neonatal intensive care unit in Portland.
“You just forget the intensity of having a newborn,” she said.
Adjusting to life with an active preschooler and a newborn meant Horter also adjusted her own career goals. Already a “bootybarre” instructor in Silverton, she decided to find an established program that would give her clients a more tangible means to reach their fitness goals while allowing her to work from home. Researching the nutritionists she had admired in her coursework led her to join the online Beachbody program.
“I use my knowledge from all my experiences and my education and I support people through a challenge group and an education group,” Horter explained.
Most of Horter’s clientele consists of mothers and, as a mother herself, she knows that time can be a scarce commodity. To minimize this challenge she uses social media, such as Facebook, to help her reach out to new clients and to coach current ones.
“Facebook definitely has its negatives,” Horter said. “But being a mom can be very isolating. Sometimes it’s
having that connection with people going through
the same stuff.”
Horter knows there is not one perfect plan for everyone but she strives to help people find their way to a healthier lifestyle whether it is through a program or on their own.
“I think that healthy eating is all about experimentation and seeing how your body responds,” she said. “There’s no one size fits all approach to nutrition.”
