Joseph Piscatella

Biography

Joe Piscatella is one of the country’s most respected experts on how to live a healthy lifestyle in the real world.  Successful organizations know that healthy employees are a competitive edge - more productive, have greater energy and cost about $3400 less each year in health care benefits.  That’s why it is a smart business decision to help employees develop healthier lifestyle habits. 

But information alone will not make your company healthier.  Most people already know about the benefits for themselves and their companies of not smoking, eating healthy, exercising regularly and managing stress effectively.  But they still don't practice those habits.  That's where Joe can help.  A high-energy speaker with a proven program for success, he is a man with a visionary message and the extraordinary skill to tell it.  He uses the art of a storyteller, contagious humor and decades of experience to deliver a powerful, practical message that moves audiences to adopt healthier habits.  Says the Benefits Education Manager for the Weyerhauser Company, “If companies want their people to live healthier, they have a responsibility to help them develop positive skills.   Joe Piscatella is a bridge to those skills.” 
 
  
NATIONAL EXPERT
It would be great if his appreciation for good health was the result of native intelligence.  Unfortunately, that’s not the case.  At age 32, Joe underwent coronary bypass surgery.  The prognosis was not good with doctors predicting he would not live to be 40.  But Joe’s philosophy was that “you can’t change the cards you were dealt, but you can change the way you play them.”   And he did by developing a healthy living program.  How has it worked?  He has now celebrated his 30th anniversary of that surgery and has experienced heart disease reversal.
 
Today the effectiveness and practicality of his advice is recognized nationally.  He is a frequent guest on The Today Show, CNN, Good Morning America and Fox News.  He has hosted three PBS television specials on lifestyle and health.  He is the only non-medical member of the National Institutes of Health Expert Panel on Cardiac Rehabilitation.  And his 12-week community weight-loss initiative in Holland, Michigan, resulted in 650 people losing 4200 pounds.
 
 
CAPTIVATING SPEAKER
Joe delivers powerful keynotes and breakout sessions rich in humor, insights and “how to” tools.  Joe knows the science of balanced living.  More importantly, he puts a face on that science.  He captivates and motivates audiences, and inspires them to take ownership and responsibility for their health.  And he does it in a way that makes people laugh.  TIME magazine says “Joe Piscatella skillfully weaves humor, a fresh approach and common-sense ideas into an energized presentation that delivers outstanding results.”  Over 2 million people have attended his programs. 
 
 
 
BEST-SELLING AUTHOR
Joe's work includes ten best-selling books.  His newest books are Take A Load Off Your Heart, a cutting-edge book on stress, and The Road to a Healthy Heart Runs Through the Kitchen, straight information on a healthy diet.  Says Dr. William C. Roberts, Editor-in-Chief of The American Journal of Cardiology, "Joe Piscatella knows more about healthy living than anyone I know."


 
FOUNDER, INSTITUTE FOR FITNESS & HEALTH
Joe is the Founder and President of the Institute for Fitness & Health, an organization that consults on maximizing participation in worksite health programs.   Some his clients include the Boeing Company, Exxon/Mobil Pipeline Company, Sprint, the U.S. Naval War College, Starbuck’s Coffee Company, the Federal Reserve Bank and GE Asset Management Company.  

Publications

THE ROAD TO HEART HEALTH RUNS THROUGH THE KITCHEN

It is now almost 29 years later, a milestone Joe reached by "walking the talk" about a healthy diet. THE ROAD TO HEART HEALTH RUNS THROUGH THE KITCHEN is a sequel to DON'T EAT YOUR HEART OUT showing how one family altered its long-term dietary lifestyle to manage cardiac health. The book is centered on the principles of healthy eating as set forth in the most recent USDA Dietary Guidelines. It provides informaiton on specific cardioprotective foods from fish to soy, and offers a Mediterranean style of cooking and eating based on whole foods rather than processed. Bernie's 300 recipes are delicious, healthy, easy-to-prepare, completely family friendly, and analyzed for key nutritional information. This is the book that proves good food and good health go together. Says Joe, "I recently celebrated the 28th anniversary of my bypass surgery by hiking on Mount Rainier with my wife, Bernie. I could not have climbed from an operating table to a mountaintop without changing my diet. And I could not have changed my diet without the information and recipes in this book."

He is also the author of:
Don't Eat Your Heart Out Cookbook
Controlling Your Fat Tooth
The Fat-Gram Guide to Restaurant Foods
Choices For A Healthy Heart
The Healthy Heart Cookbook
Take a Load Off Your Heart
Fat-Proof Your Child

Titles

TAKE A LOAD OFF YOUR HEART 
successful strategies for managing everyday stress  
In this era of downsizing and re-engineering, of too little time and too much to do, of increased career and family commitments - many people are living with chronic stress. It can effect their health and their performance, both of which cost the company. Unbridled stress can cause poor decision-making. That’s why stress management is a business leadership issue. In this innovative seminar, attendees gain the tools, methodology and coping skills to manage their stress effectively.

LIVING HEALTHY IN A DOUBLEBURGER.COM WORLD 
smart choices for a healthy heart  
People today understand the importance of a healthy, balanced life-style to their personal and professional lives. Unfortunately, understanding alone does not lead to behavior change. The pace and pressure of modern society may keep you from your goal. In this practical program, attendees will learn how to overcome societal obstacles in order to institute and maintain healthy life-style habits. Topics include diet, exercise, stress, smoking and attitude.

MAKE YOUR HEALTH LAST AS LONG AS YOUR MONEY 
will you have the health to enjoy retirement?  
The fact that more people today are planning for retirement is reflected in a heightened interest in 401K’s, IRA’s and mutual funds. While financial planning is extremely important, equal consideration needs to be given to a plan to optimize health. Like financial security, achieving optimal health is not automatic. This seminar is a blueprint for what to do now to maximize your “health span” -- the number of years of your life you will have good health. Remember, just because you can afford retirement doesn’t guarantee that good health will be a part of it. This program will help to insure that your health will last as long as your money.

LIFE IS NOT A DRESS REHEARSAL 
you only go around once in life  
The way you choose to live has much to do with your cardiovascular health. Heart disease is the #1 killer of Americans; 1 out of 2 people in the U.S. dies from it. In this program, attendees will learn how to create habits for a lifetime of cardiac health, how to manage stress to control cholesterol, how to eat well and not worry about weight, how to exercise specifically for your heart, and much, much more.