Author And Mom Of Fairfax Share A Mission

The following article written by Emily Wills appeared on page 8 in the Health & Fitness Section in the Tuesday July 12, 2005 Edition of the St. Albans Messenger.

FAIRFAX — When a person has a true passion - something they love and consider their mission in life - it is apparent from the first moment you meet them.

This is certainly true of Toni Stone and her daughter, Noelle Federico.

While posing them for their picture, the Messenger photographer said, "Smile like you're happy" and Stone added, "and live healthy."

That is the essence of the message they wish to disseminate to others.

Stone is an author and a life coach who has lived in Fairfax for 13 years. She is a lifelong resident of New England, who feels her calling is to offer people the chance to accept accountability as they work toward better lives.

Stone lived in Boston for many years where she worked with mothers at a local helping them achieve their goals and live the lives they wanted. She asked that they do this by taking concrete steps, such as making worksheets that contained the steps they required to reach their dreams.

She also worked as the coordinator with the Boys' Club of Boston, leading ethnic integration programs for the various cultures within the city.

Stone said that through these life experiences she discovered "that particular principles can help you increase prosperity and help people succeed. When I found these things out for myself, I knew that I had to share my discoveries,"

After Noelle was born, Stone wanted to work from home, but still make a difference in people's lives.

So, 30 years ago she began her company, Wonderworks Studio, and now has helped many achieve goals that they may have believed were unattainable.

Noelle Federico knows a bit about reaching for the unattainable, too.

After having her son four years ago, she was 60 pounds overweight and vice president of a new company. Nature's Youth Inc., which promotes healthy lifestyles through innovative natural supplements and other products.

At first, Federico felt a disconnect between her job and her life. "I knew I wanted to lose about 25 pounds" she said, "but 1 thought hard core nutrition and exercise were only for those crunchy, obsessive types."

Then Federico went to her chiropractor, who told her bluntly that she believed Federico was at least 40 pounds overweight.

"That made me so angry," Federico says. "I wanted to ignore what she had said, but it bothered me too much. My mother always taught me that if a comment bothers me that much, it's because there is Some truth to it."

So Federico began working to educate herself about nutrition and fitness. She joined Weight Watchers, and between its guidance and the help of Nature's Youth's president Jeff Jones. she lost the 60 pounds and has kept it off.

"I worked for a nutritional company!" Federico said, "but I had no clue how to integrate good nutritional and exercise habits into my daily life. If I didn't know, how can most people who don't have the job I do?"

This realization gave Federico the inspiration to write "Practical Change,” her book about "'eight ways to rejuvenate your life" and achieve your goals.

"I wrote this book because I lived the path of weight loss," Federico said. "No one tells you what hard work it truly is. I tell people how to eat right, and yes, I tell them to take a multivi-tamin. Do I hope they choose to take mine from Nature's Youth? Of course, but I just want them to take one. I want them to make positive changes that will better their lives."

Federico recently moved to Tennessee, and Nature's Youth Inc. is 'already a-multl-mJllrott1 dbHitfviritfaS-; try nationwide. Aside from financial success, she is interested in making art impact on children as well as adults.

She recently started an organization called Nature's Youth Fit Kids. The goal is to develop age-appropriate curriculums of nutritional education that she will provide free to schools with necessary materials, and pay for instructors; the school would only need to block off time for the classes.

Federico and her team will work to develop kids' ideas of food and exercise and with the aim of educating the next generation on healthful habits. In
that way, she hopes, the obesity that is plaguing America now will be phased out.

Federico is donating 5 percent of the profits from "Practical Change" to this program, and intends to solicit food companies to donate funds to support the program as well.

What life comes down to for Stone and Federico are choices. "The discipline it takes to become prosperous and successful is the same discipline it takes to become healthy," Federico says. "Make the discipline it takes to work towards your goals - to eat healthy and to exercise - as ingrained as brushing your teeth."

Stone and Federico acknowledge that living in Vermont has played a big role in the paths their lives have taken.

Stone says that when she first moved here she hated the long winters. Cabin fever made her take up quilting, a positive reaction to the negative feelings she had held. Now Stone makes more than 200 quilts a year. She has learned to love the winters, and also uses the inside time to work on her writing.

Federico remembers moving to Vermont with her mother and having a huge garden for the first time. "I went out back and was so excited to see that lettuce was growing in our backyard, and it looked just the way it did in the supermarket!" she joked. The ability to grow fruits and vegetables in backyards across the state is important to Federico.

"People here in Vermont have the means to live healthy lives, if they are
only shown how," she says. And that is the mission she and her mother have taken on now.

Note: To learn more about Stone's ' programs, visit http://www.wonderworks.org, or call 849-2257. To order a copy of Federico's book "Practical Change," visit either the Amazon Web site or Barnes and Noble store or Web site, or http://www.practicalchanges.com.

You may also call 1-800-478-7111 for more information about "Practical Change."

To learn more about Federico's company Nature's Youth, Inc., visit online at http://www.naturesyouth.com.