Book Brenda

Our Wellness Weekend is planned for September 27-28, 2024 at Canaan Valley Resort in Davis, WV.

Does food matter to our health outcomes? If so, what food is best for optimal health? 

Is it just inevitable that we grow older expecting a poor quality of health and life? Or can food turn it around?

Brenda Workman, Food for Life Instructor, plant-based enthusiast, and empowerment speaker is hosting the third annual wellness weekend at Canaan Valley Resort in beautiful Davis, West Virginia.

The past two years of this event were designed just for women, but this year, it will be opened to men and women who are interested in improving their health, losing weight, and making lifestyle changes that will last.

Four years ago, Brenda was suffering from high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Her doctor recommended a whole food plant-based diet, and the rest is history. She was ready to make a change to lose weight and mostly, to improve her health. She wanted to age with a good quality of life. Brenda eventually was able to discontinue her cholesterol meds and blood pressure meds. She went on to lose 60 pounds as well. Her energy level shot up and to her surprise, she loved the food. 

At this event, Brenda will share information from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine about how food affects weight loss, diabetes, and heart disease. She will also be sharing practical ways to make food changes when life is so busy. 

Chuck Carroll, well-known Exam Room Podcast host and Weight Loss Champion, will be the guest speaker at this event. Chuck will share a presentation on food addiction. Chuck has lost 280 pounds and is maintaining that loss on a plant-based diet.

Amy Jasperse, pharmacist and diabetes care and education specialist at the Robert C. Byrd Clinic in Lewisburg West Virginia, will be speaking on managing diseases with plant-based eating.

Yoga movement opportunities will be included as an option for participants and led by Yoga Instructor, Eileen Moore. 

Plant-based food will be served at this event. Helpful resources and recipes will be distributed.

Participants will be educated, inspired, and motivated to make lifestyle changes toward better health. You don't want to miss this weekend. 

Bring your spouse, your mom, your sister, your brother, your co-worker, or your best friend. 

Early Bird Registration
Hotel Booking
Wellness Weekend Agenda

Speakers:

Brenda Workman

An Empowerment Speaker, Plant-Based Enthusiast, and Licensed Food for Life Instructor. After years of dealing with high cholesterol and then developing high blood pressure, Brenda decided to follow the doctor's order by starting a plant-based diet. To her surprise, her doctor eventually discontinued her meds for high cholesterol and blood pressure and she lost 60 pounds. She regained her energy and she still LOVES her food four years later. 
 
Brenda became a licensed Food for Life Instructor through the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in 2022 and hosts plant-based cooking classes, as well as wellness events for staff meetings. She started the Wellness Weekends in 2022, as a way to educate, motivate, and inspire people about the wonderful health benefits of a plant-based lifestyle.
 
Brenda received her Master of Education degree from Bluefield University & her certification in Plant-Based Nutrition from Cornell University. 
 
Brenda is a mom of 4 grown children and a "grandmama" to 10 beautiful grandchildren. She loves to spend time in her backyard veggie garden and making homemade whole-wheat bread. She also loves prayer journaling and reading non-fiction. 

Special Guest Speaker

Chuck Carroll

Chuck Carroll lost an incredible 280 pounds to become “The Weight Loss Champion.”

At one time, his 5-foot-5 frame once struggled to support the 420 pounds it was carrying around every day. With a 66-inch waist and 6XL shirt, Chuck’s daily diet was a 10,000-calorie fast food feast. Every bite was carrying him closer to an early grave and he knew that if he did not make drastic changes to break a severe food addiction he would be dead before his 30th birthday.

Today he speaks passionately about breaking the fatal food cycle and helping others as host of The Exam Room podcast for PCRM. The show has been viewed an incredible 80 million times on YouTube and Facebook and received more than 12 million downloads on Apple Podcast and Spotify where it has become the #1 ranked nutrition podcast in 79 countries.

Amy Jasperse

Amy is a pharmacist and diabetes care and education specialist serving southern West Virginia and is among a small group of pharmacists with this designation across West Virginia. Her current role is in clinical practice at the Robert C. Byrd Clinic in Lewisburg. The clinic is headquartered on the campus of the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine (WVSOM).

The West Virginia native is a 1995 graduate of the Ferris State University College of Pharmacy. She has over 30 years of pharmacy experience as a technician, pharmacist, and educator. She served as adjunct faculty for the University of Kentucky and the University of Cincinnati Colleges of Pharmacy and currently is a preceptor for the University of Charleston School of Pharmacy. In 2009, Amy became a certified diabetes educator and developed an accredited diabetes education program for a local independent pharmacy group and another for the Robert C. Byrd Clinic in 2020.

Amy has worked voluntarily since 2015 to build a culinary medicine elective on the campus of the WVSOM. In December 2019, she began her role at Robert C. Byrd Clinic.  She also works as the consultant pharmacist for the clinic doing monthly clinic medication inspections, developing policies and procedures, providing drug education to the staff and patients, and coordinated covid vaccinations during the pandemic.

Disease prevention and reversal through plant-based nutrition is a particular interest for Amy and she has been a certified culinary medicine specialist since 2020.

 Movement Leader

Eileen Moore

Eileen has M.S. in Special Education, 200 Hour Registered Yoga Teacher, and 95-hour Trauma Informed Kids Yoga Training. She is a fitness enthusiast and can be found with her family on the ski slopes, trails or on the water!  She is an educator at heart and always circles back to teaching and sharing with others.   She loves that yoga is for everyone and always looks forward to welcoming new yogis, meeting them where they are in their practice and continuing to grow on their journey.