Meet the Life-Minded Health Team
Tanya Poppa, Owner & Nutrition Coach
After several years of owning a CrossFit gym (Real Fitness Sarasota), I could no longer deny the massive role that nutrition plays in our lives. Exercise alone is simply not enough! I would constantly hear things like, "I work out to eat what I want," or some kind of guilt-ridden statement correlating exercise with punishment or good foods with bad behavior.
Fad diets like South Beach, Atkins or Paleo seemed to work well for some gym members, but not all. Often times, I would see them gain the weight they had lost right back after a fall off the wagon. All of this confusion around food choices and fad diets inspired me to get to the bottom of the issue.
After navigating through research, certifications and courses, I realized that tracking macronutrients and understanding the fundamental truths about nutrition were the best way to sustainably achieve body composition change and results. But, not only does understanding the science and the basics of nutrition change your body, it changes your entire outlook on food.
My passion and desire to share this with clients was the catalyst for Life-Minded Health (formerly Life-Minded Nutrition), which I began in 2019. I wholeheartedly believe that understanding macros, tracking them and re-training our brains about food is attainable for everyone!
Certifications: Specialist in Fitness Nutrition, CrossFit L1, CrossFit Olympic Lifting, CrossFit Endurance, ISSA CPT, BS Environmental Science (Eckerd College)
Meredith Donohue, Director of Fitness Programming & Nutrition Coach
I began working with Tanya a few years ago to improve my relationship with food. For many years, I struggled with yo-yo dieting as a repercussion of BodyBuilding Competitions. I was a chicken, broccoli and rice girl for many years and that’s how I would lose weight - including muscle. I felt skinny but not strong.
It was easy to reverse that after competing, eating everything in sight which then would result in being uncomfortable in clothing and feeling slow in workouts, plus more.
After a year with Tanya, I fell in love with food and nutrition and had a completely different mindset. Fats weren’t scary, carbs fueled my workouts, protein helped reduce my cravings and I had a better body composition than I’ve had my entire life.
Wanting to help others in the way Tanya helped me, I decided to educate myself with nutrition certifications and courses. I’m now a Sports Nutrition Specialist with a passion for sharing how food and water can be incredibly healing both mentally and physically.
Learning about different foods and its nutrients has evolved my view of WHAT goes into my body, WHY it goes into my body and HOW it affects my body.
Certifications: ISSA Nutrition Specialist, CrossFit L2, USAW L1, Pre/Postnatal Training Specialist, BS Exercise Science (Western Kentucky University)
Breezy Leins, Director of Nutrition & Nutrition Coach
I've been interested in nutrition and diet for as long as I can remember. I became a vegetarian in 2006 and started working with Tanya in 2018 out of curiosity and interest in my own nutrition and diet - specifically protein.
After playing multiple high school sports and volleyball in college, I was constantly questioned about how I supported my athletics and muscle with a vegetarian diet, to which I never knew the answer. After graduation and a couple years of getting more serious and focusing on CrossFit, I decided it was time to figure out the answers and learn how to properly support myself.
I had purely informational and performance goals when I started with Tanya, and I absolutely fell in love with understanding how to properly fuel our bodies using macros, clean eating and flexible dieting. I was eating more than ever before, all the while performing at my best and feeling stronger, healthier and better than I ever had in my life.
I wanted to help others make that positive lifestyle change, so I became a Precision Nutrition Level 1 Nutritionist and joined the Life-Minded Health team! I also received my CrossFit Level 1 Trainer certificate as well.
I am so passionate about helping everyone find their own deep health, and I love coaching others to enjoy nutrition with a balance of macros, flexible dieting and exercise!
Certifications: Precision Nutrition, CrossFit L1, BS Biology (Indiana University East)
Rachel Koepsel, Director of Operations & Nutrition Coach
I began working with nutrition when I joined the fitness industry as a personal trainer and group training instructor. As I grew throughout the company I worked for, it became crystal clear how integral your nutrition is to achieving body composition change, performance goals and holistically leveling up your life.
Many clients I worked with were stuck in certain outdated or fabled mindsets and had an “all-or-nothing” mentality about nutrition. It held them back from getting where they wanted to be and even sabotaged their wellness experiences.
I battled an unhealthy body image throughout my teens and early 20s as a competitive athlete. Becoming more educated and open-minded to proper nutrition, healthy lifestyle behaviors and improving my relationship with food is what helped me kick those habits and toxic beliefs to the curb.
The right nutrition makes all the difference in how you function, feel, think and perform, and I’m passionate about spreading this knowledge with others to help improve their quality of life. We can’t survive and thrive without sustainable nutrition, and it’s so fulfilling to help people improve their lives for the better.
I dove headfirst into CrossFit several years ago and did some work with my own body composition, performance and healthy mindset. Getting back on track with my nutrition and incorporating macros into my lifestyle was a true catalyst in these changes! I’m beyond excited to create educational, inspiring content for all of you and help change lives as a coach.
Certifications: Precision Nutrition, CrossFit L1, NASM CPT, NASM Performance Enhancement, NASM Corrective Exercise, USAW L1, BA Journalism & BA Sociology (Butler University), MA Mass Communication, Digital Strategy (University of Florida)