In today’s article, I would like to tell you a story…

Imagine it’s your 35^th birthday. You’re two months away from getting your doctorate. Your life is on track with your passion. You feel like you’ve found your purpose and calling. All the puzzle pieces are falling into place.

You feel excited about the future.

Then, the unthinkable happens…

I should mention, this also happens to be a true story. I know because…

This is MY story.

It’ raw; it’s real and it’s from the heart – my heart. And I want to share it with you. People ask me all the time how and where I get the drive and compassion to do what I do.  They want to know why I am so vigilant about my own health practices, and what drives me to work so hard, creating programs that get real results.

The unthinkable did happen on my 35^th birthday. On what should have been one of the happiest days in my life, something devastating happened that would forever shape not only every birthday thereafter, but the very essence of how I would live each day by igniting a blazing drive deep inside me to do what I do.

At the young age of 56, my sweet Mom died of a heart attack on my birthday …a heart attack that could have been prevented.

I think that’s the part that hurts the most.

Just a few months before I had sent her a book by Dr. Dean Ornish called Reversing Heart Disease.

Just a few days before she died, we were chatting about how she had just started smoking again, because my father hadn’t quit and she figured if she smoked with him, she could help him to smoke less and eventually quit.

I had told her I would help her implement a health protective diet when I came to visit for 2 weeks in June, right after I graduated.

She seemed open and excited about my upcoming visit.

SO when I got the dreaded news on my 35th birthday that she suffered a massive heart attack and was gone before the paramedics arrived, I was crushed.

All I could think of was what could have been.

Then came the barrage of “If only’s.”

If only she’d read Dr. Ornish’s book.

If only she could have participated in his program, where he taught people how to eat and live to reverse heart disease.

If only I could have been better at convincing her to change her ways….

My mom’s passing increased my passion for my chosen career even further.  It magnified my already intense dedication to taking care of my own health.  After all, I do have her genetic tendencies – heart disease is rampant in my family.

I decided to make a difference in the lives of other, yet unnamed people who were heading down the same path as my mom, and to save their loved ones from the terrible pain of losing parents in the prime of life.

It was with this fervor, and from this pain that I began my career in holistic, natural health and healing.

Just two years later, when my dear Dad also died suddenly from heart disease, leaving my 13 year-old sister an orphan, my passion increased exponentially.  Consumed by grief and anger, I screamed at my brother over the phone that he better change his ways, because I was not ready to receive another phone call, announcing the loss of another loved one.

Also, look at my Mom in this picture. Would you believe that this picture was from St. Patrick’s Day (she was proudly Irish, my Dad obviously a proud Italian…they compromised on St. Patrick’s Day) merely two weeks before she died on my birthday? She was happy and excited for my impending visit, so her sudden death was a shock to us all.

The loss of both of my parents from a preventable condition fueled my passion to find ways to keep others from suffering the same fate, to prevent others from losing loved ones needlessly.

And…

I do this so that my Mom’s, Dad’s, and Sister’s deaths would not be in vain.

You see, the ones left behind…we suffer immensely. Have you ever lost someone you loved…way too soon? Then you too know the devastation of which I speak.

It was the last straw when my younger sister was diagnosed with lymphoma, and died an excruciating death at the age of 44 just 3 months later.  I know there were things she could have done much sooner to prevent this. This did not have to BE.

Just look at the difference between her vibrant 18 year old picture and the pain and unhappiness that shows on her face in the later picture, which was taken 5 years before her painful death. The two weeks before she died, my sweet, loving sister Cathy was hooked up to machines, bald and on a respirator.  She was in hospital for most of 3 months. I would like to say it was a peaceful transition but that would not be the truth. It was a horrific experience for her, and ended with a $1.5 million hospital bill, and she STILL died. A good portion of Cathy’s suffering had to do with her diet choices, despite any help I tried to offer her.

So, how is this tragic story also one of triumph?

It was after my sister’s death that I vowed to reach tens of thousands, eventually millions of people using the power of the internet and technologies that allow me to empower so many more than I could using the one-to-one medical model.

And now I’ve been able help thousands with proven programs that empower them get their lives back on track.

Every time I get a testimonial I sob with joy over the fact that fate brought the right person to me for guidance…and that person listened, followed through, and experienced a revolutionary health transformation.

And the product of my passionate desire to empower people to take back their lives, my Energy Recharge System, is now available to a great deal more people who need it…way more than I could help in private practice alone.

How is my Energy Recharge System a triumph for people who want a realistic, achievable, proven way to become truly healthy in a short period of time?

Watch this video to learn more, and read on below it for other stories that went from tragedy to triumph. Will your story be next?

Click the picture below to watch a special video I created:

I realize now that it’s hard to make changes simply by following a book, especially when the new habits are so drastically different.  The Ornish program I mentioned earlier is so successful because people are guided and taught new skills and have the group support. Group support, it turns out, is incredibly important for most people. Then there are people like Dr. Gabriel Cousins, who has a 21 day program that is also residential like Ornish’s but it costs $11, 000 for 21 days.  That’s almost $4000 per week!

For a lot less, you can get an entire year of coaching in my Energy Recharge Inner Circle. My mission is to stop the same fate that happened to my Mom, Dad, and sister from happening to as many people as I can reach. That includes you!

All the details for you to get started are here: Energy Recharge Coaching Program

In memory of my family members, and with love and appreciation for you,

Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo, MS, DC, CCN, DACBN

Comment Below:  What are you willing to do to energize and nourish yourself to Vibrant Health?