PVCC Puma Press: October 2004

	........................

	Photo courtesy of Romy Seleznov
	Author, teacher, personal trainer and holder of three Miss Arizona Fitness titles, Romy Seleznov wants to spread the word about healthful living. One way is through her book, “Be Lean: How to Get the Body You Love and Love the Body You Have”
	........................

Romy Seleznov, a teacher who lives by example, uses her personal fitness struggles to help others find a healthy mind-body connection

By Teri Schrader
Special

Romy Seleznov is dwarfed by the large leather couch she sits on in the living room of her Phoenix home. But as she leans forward bursting with energy, she grows much larger than her 4-foot-11-inch, 98-pound frame.

Seleznov’s small size might cause you to underestimate her. But that would be a mistake, because despite her size, she has big plans.

The three-time Ms. Fitness Arizona, who is also an inspirational author, personal trainer, former middle school teacher and PVCC adjunct, plans to change the world.

Dreams of changing the world are not new for Seleznov. As a high school history-buff with a passion for writing, she’d re-write history by composing “better endings.”

I’d write history as fiction “because I’d be so horrified by some of the things that happened,” she laughs and seems apologetic for her “nerdiness.”
Now what horrifies her is the future—the future health of Americans.

She wants to change the world by reversing the trend of increasing obesity. Seleznov explains, “The alarming rise in obesity related diseases such as diabetes and heart disease indicates that we need a new holistic approach to the problem. Obviously, past approaches have not worked.”

Seleznov wants to change the world by changing the way people think about their bodies and their health. “Being a middle school teacher you see children when their self-concept and self-esteem is at its most vulnerable,” she says.

........................

Photo by Gehl Imaging
Romy Seleznov practices what she preaches. A Shea Middle School teacher and three-time Miss Fitness Arizona, she teaches her students good living habits.
........................

She wants to change the world by stopping the over-use of prescription drugs. “Seeing the astronomical rise in students who are being put on anti-depressants and Attention Deficit Disorder drugs … was just heart breaking. People need to realize there are natural alternatives that don’t have the dangerous side-effects of synthetic drugs,” she explains.

As a middle school teacher for the past nine years, Seleznov has seen the negative health trend firsthand. She began teaching healthy living to her students at Shea Middle School in the Paradise Valley School District. Her curriculum included nutrition, fitness, mind-body connection, positive thinking and substance abuse prevention.

Despite her efforts and the student’s enthusiasm for her class, she admits, “It was hard to make the message stick. After all, the parents were doing most of the cooking. The parents needed education, too. Once the students would leave my nine- or 18-week course, they’d forget. Like anyone, students need to use the information or they lose it.”

Since she knew if she didn’t get the message to the parents, the children wouldn’t stick with it, she began educating parents too. Seleznov taught nutrition and healthy living classes to adults through Paradise Valley’s community education program and at PVCC. She taught adults “how to eat to lose body fat and re-wire their relationship with food as well as the role of vitamins and nutrition in the prevention of disease. I knew I could help more kids if I could help more adults,” she says.

Over time, Seleznov began to realize that in order to change the world, she would need to reach an even larger audience. “I knew that there were so many more adults that I needed to reach, so the children would start to look at exercise and nutrition differently. That’s what inspired me to write my book.” she says.

Seleznov became a personal trainer in 1999 and started her own business, Essential Fitness, Inc. Inspiration for Seleznov’s book, “Be Lean: How to Get the Body You Love and Love the Body You Have,” also came from her personal struggles with health and fitness.

........................
Teaching healthy living to children is not enough, you’ve got to reach the parents. Practicing good nutrition and healthy living is a family effort.
........................

Seleznov’s book reads like a conversation with a good friend, a friend who knows all your “imperfections” and admits to having a few of her own. Her “imperfections” are detailed in her book as she discusses how she was “at war with her body.”

“I didn’t like my body. I didn’t like who I was from about the time I reached puberty. I had all kinds of health issues, horrible migraines and terrible menstrual cycles,” she says.

She admits to making many mistakes as she transformed herself from chubby adult to three-time winner of Ms. Fitness Arizona. She now sees these struggles as positive. “I believe there’s a blessing and a lesson in everything,” she says. “In whatever we experience, we can help others.”

Seleznov recently took a leave of absence from teaching to promote her book. She admits she’s going to miss her students. “The kids are hysterical,” she says. “They are just so funny. They remind you moment-to-moment not to take anything too seriously … I try to be funny and silly, but I have to really have someone to remind me.”

But, who can blame Seleznov for taking herself seriously? After all, she has big plans. She plans to change the world.

Seleznov’s book is currently available at Postal Connection located at Cave Creek and Union Hills.