Wednesday, March 27, 2024

DiCristo Takes on Coronado Health

Chef Pam and Coach Christopher

DiCristo Meals and Coach Christopher DiCristo come together in a tale as old as time. Nutrition and fitness go hand in hand, each one assisting the other and rising to peak levels of health together. Pam and Christopher do the same. The engaged couple are very different, Pam hailing from Georgia and Christopher a Jersey Man. Both found their passion at a young age: Pam in the kitchen and Christopher in the gym. When their paths crossed in LA, so did their passions. Now living together in Coronado, they bring both of their joys under one roof with DiCristo Meals and Coach Christopher DiCristo Fitness. This dynamic duo is here to change lifestyles.

Coach Christopher DiCristo Fitness

Coach Christopher DiCristo Fitness

While fitness has always been present in Christopher’s life (he accompanied his dad to the gym before class in middle school), he also admits to his own conflicts. “As a teenager, I struggled with my weight. I experienced bullying, and negative body image for years. Battling with negative body issues, insecurities, and low self-esteem from youth up into early adulthood, I understand the emotional toll it can sometimes take on your mental, and physical health.” What helped process this was going to the gym. Christopher explains, “the gym felt like safe space, where you can create yourself.” He began to earn certifications for cycling training, TRX training, and then personal training. Christopher discovered a real love for helping others.

Alex’s Transformation with Coach Christopher.

Alex has been working with Coach Christopher for eight months. He shares, “Working with Christopher has completely changed my outlook on life. He showed me that through dedication and hard work, anything is possible.” Alex has lost 60 pounds through the dieting, exercise, and training that Christopher taught him. Alex explains he is, “living the absolute healthiest lifestyle I could ever have imagined. Working with Christopher changed my life because through him believing in me, I was able to believe in myself.” There are many gyms in Coronado as well as seemingly endless apps, online videos, and other digital options for fitness. Alex chooses to work with Christopher because “he’s not like most personal trainers in San Diego. His workouts are very big on HIIT cardio (High Intensity Interval Training), so every workout is unique in its own way, and you will never get bored of doing the same workout, because Christopher is extremely creative in each workout.”

Coach Christopher can be found training many places on island. While he is one of the newest trainers at Sweat Equity, he also has 1 on 1 training he can provide in your home, couples training (a couple can also be a couple of friends or a couple of siblings), teen classes, and group classes on the beach followed by a healthy DiCristo Meals picnic.

DiCristo Meals

A DiCristo Meal: lemon seasoned grilled fish with sweet potato mash and green beans.

Pam started her journey in the kitchen at an early age. Growing up in a family where the motto is, “if you want to eat, you have to participate,” she learned pealing and cutting and moved into cleaning, skinning, and cutting a chicken before the age of 10. Pam recalls everyone in the kitchen together and her grandmother humming and singing while they worked, comparing them to “chemists in the kitchen.” Her godmother was particularly involved in her love for cooking. “She is the ultimate chef. If you are invited to her dinner, it is a privilege. She has a special unique gift,” Pam smiles.

Christopher and Pam met in LA when he became her trainer. At her heaviest, Pam shares that she was almost 500 pounds. When Christopher learned that Pam was a chef, he was optimistic about the changes she could make, until he saw that her latest creation at the time was a hot dog wrapped in bacon. “It was 4th of July!” Pam quipped at him. While Christopher was working out in the gym, Pam brought him lunches and he became her food tester. Clients would ask where he got the meals, which led to Pam and Christopher’s meal prep ideas.

Chef Pam this October Titled: World’s Healthiest Gumbo at 30th Annual World Championship Gumbo Cookoff in Louisiana

As someone still on her health journey, Pam feels that makes her more relatable to clients. “I get the cheat calls,” she laughs, “the ‘I slipped up’ admissions; I think people feel comfortable coming to me because I have been there.” Pam’s goal is seeing “how many people we can get to embrace healthy and good tasting food. People get overwhelmed by diets. For me counting calories was dramatic. I didn’t want to commit to ‘I can have this now, but then I’ll have to have this later'”. Talking during her cooking classes, she shares with others, shows them what to do, teaches them why to do it. Her theory being that when you know how and what to do, that is something you can commit to doing and be sustainable. “Give them an option where they can eat healthy and enjoy it, that’s the lifestyle. Not interrupting [life] or making someone feel deprived.”

Christopher and Pam’s Meal Prep Veggies

Pam’s teaching: “I don’t want people to think, ‘do what I do.’ I want them to understand so they can do it on their own.” She also makes the big claim that, “with the right combination of herbs you would choose rice over ice cream.” As she sliced and diced during the interview, she gave me a bite of broccoli, no butter, no salt, no cheese – just herbs. I can’t speak for the rice, but that broccoli I would definitely choose over ice cream!

DiCristo meals offers a variety of options utilizing the FDA and GSA certified kitchen within Business Products Express. There are specialty meals for purchase (hello Thanksgiving!), family meals (boasting less dishes, no prep, no cooking, and guaranteed left-overs for lunch the next day), and options for couples and singles. For those who are looking for guidance in cooking but don’t need the full meal plan, Pam teaches cooking classes. Past classes have included: teen cooking, kids cooking, and adult classes such as authentic southern cooking and Taco Tuesday.

DiCristo Kids/Teens

Pam and Christopher enjoy helping clients in the kitchen, in the gym, and in their overall head space. Who they really both enjoy helping the most are children and teens. Pam smiles, “Children are my favorite. I used to think I wanted to be a teacher and this is the closest I get to come. Kids are funny!” Christopher shares that his dream is to one day have a camp that, “focuses on overweight kids. It will include gardening, cooking, working out, and improv class to build confidence.”

Coach Christopher and Chef Pam working out together

Coronado is a health conscious town, with many residents making a gym session their daily habit and a plethora of meal prep services, so what makes DiCristo stand out? Christopher has a simple answer, “Pam and I connect with people. You can have the highest certifications, but it’s about connecting heart to heart with clients.” I have taken gym classes with many instructors, and can say that Coach Christopher is rare. He sees you. He sees when you could be doing better and pushes you, he sees when you are giving it everything and backs up. Even in a group setting, it is obvious that Chris pays attention to everyone and can motivate them appropriately. Alex shares, “Christopher DiCristo challenges you and encourages you to defeat the ‘resistance’ inside of you to meet your fitness goals, and convinces you that you are capable of the change. Christopher believes in you and will always have your back. He will never give up on you, no matter what the scale says. Working with Christopher not only changed my life, but it saved my future, and it can save yours too!”

————————————————————————————————-

For Coach Christopher DiCristo Personal Training click here.

For DiCristo Meals click here.

 



Alyssa K. Burns
Alyssa K. Burns
Alyssa is a graduate of Coronado High School and was in the founding broadcast journalism class at CHS. She earned her BA in Communication from CSU East Bay and completed her MBA from CSU San Marcos. Her passion for writing and interest in the behind the scenes of business, leads her to write frequently about Coronado businesses. You can find Alyssa walking around the ferry landing with her husband and shih-tzu terrier or enjoying a cup of coffee at one of Coronado's favorite cafes.Have a story for The Coronado Times to cover? Send news tips or story ideas to: [email protected]

More Local News