Eric Viskovicz
Founder and President

Eric has an Economics and Biology Degree from the University of Pittsburgh. He has 7 different certifications and is a certified nutritionist. He has trained the Dodger Organization, Bette Midler, Kurt Angle, Janine Eser as well as many other actors and professional athletes, professional runway models, and olympic gold medal winners.

Eric has been helping people with weight loss and fitness for what seems like his entire life. After college, he began his career as a personal trainer, working with many professional athletes, well-known actors and actresses, and models. He has trained the Dodger Organization, Bette Midler, and Olympic gold medal winners, among other high-profile clients.

Eric holds a degree in economics and biology, seven health and fitness-related certifications, and is a certified nutritionist. He also has an extensive background in helping people with eating disorders recover and learn to bring balance to their lives.

Eric has a tremendous passion for his work and cares deeply about every client that comes to his fitness camp. And even when they leave, he continues to offer them support and guidance, helping them with their struggles as they continue on their journey. He always strives to provide the best possible tools for his clients to have the best possible chance for success. This includes outfitting the facility with state-of-the-art equipment and hiring talented and caring professionals for his staff, to name a few.He has grand visions for his company. He wants to explore as many avenues as possible, to offer people the means to make the lifestyle changes necessary to be healthy and fit for life. His ventures include a healthy food distribution company, a Web site offering nutrition and fitness information in a variety of downloadable formats, an allergy-based nutrition program, and a camp for obese kids, among many others.

Eric holds a degree in economics and biology from the University of Pittsburgh. He has seven fitness certifications, and is a certified nutritionist.

Sarah Sventek
Executive Vice President

Sarah knows the business of L.I.F.E weight loss programs inside out and has been an invaluable component of its success. Starting out as a client at the camp more than eight years ago, she gained an intimate understanding of the program that has enabled her to better serve its clients. Since then she has made many significant contributions to every area of the company.

In her current role as Vice President she is vital to the operations of the company and is an excellent contact person for people interested in the fitness programs. Throughout the years, she has been the lead salesperson, bringing in countless contracts. Early on at the company, she developed the meal plan and nutritional aspects of the program – even cooking the clients’ meals, at one point. She also has worked with clients as a personal trainer and weight management specialist.

Her specialty has been working with women and children in the following areas: fat reduction; lifestyle change for fitness and nutrition; body sculpting; toning and glute work; childhood obesity and fitness; heavily obese women; and prenatal and postpartum exercise.

Sarah holds a bachelor’s degree in child development with a concentration in human development. She has the following certifications: Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Weight Management Specialist, and Certified in Prenatal and Postpartum Exercise.

Joel Lyftogt
Vice President

From his strong business background, Joel brings to L.I.F.E. countless valuable business abilities. Along with those are his personal attributes – he is creative, hardworking, fun-loving, dedicated, communicates well, and is compassionate. He believes that hard work is a measure of what you do every day, not just some days. His motivation for what he does at L.I.F.E. comes from watching his mother work through a serious illness back to health. She regained her health by changing her lifestyle to include proper nutrition and exercise. From this, Joel has passion to live fully and teach others about living healthfully.When he was initially looking into this company, he saw how the owner was genuinely doing this to make people’s lives better. And when he saw the way Eric maintains contact with so many of his former clients, and how he talks to them, helping them push through all those times when they want to quit – he knew he wanted to work here.

Joel would love to help grow this company into something more than a live-in fat camp. With obesity at an all-time high, he feels that we need to take Eric’s message to a broader audience. And, with all of the fad diets and TV infomercial scams, the opportunity to create a real product that is effective is exciting. Among others, his initiatives include making schools a healthier place for kids, and making health and fitness knowledge accessible to everyone.

Joel holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California, School of Cinema-Television. He is Rescue Diver Certified – PADI.

Nicola Gibson
Director of Personal Training

Nicola has her own L.I.F.E. success story to tell. She became extremely overweight back in 1999. Growing up she was always active in sports, but as her profession changed, so did her level of activity. She had gained 70 lbs. and was very uncomfortable in her skin. She came to the weight loss camp, and found it to be a great fitness network, and challenging, yet rewarding. It was new and exciting, and the variety of boot camps kept her interest, and it worked! She went from size 18 to size 6, and has kept the weight off for 9 years. From being overweight herself, she understands the issues from both sides of the fence – the struggles, frustrations, plateaus, and results, and most importantly, the maintenance.

She has learned a lot about the philosophy and vision of the company by working closely with the president, Eric Viskovicz, for the past nine years. After losing the weight, her newly found confidence led her to become a certified trainer, and in turn she has been able to help others as she has been helped. She started with L.I.F.E. as a boot camp instructor, and now holds the position of Managing Director overseeing the Marina Del Rey facility. She looks forward to being a part of the continued growth of the company – each year helping more people change their lives.

Nicola holds an Associate Degree in business and finance and an Associate Degree in interior design. She also holds the following certifications: massage therapy, NCCPT, ISSA, L.I.F.E. instructor, CPR, and AED.

Karen Sherwood
Nutritionist

Karen possesses a tremendous amount of enthusiasm and knowledge about food and diet! Clients greatly benefit from the one-on-one consultations that they have with her, where she guides them to optimal health. She looks at them as a “whole person” and recognizes their physical and dietary needs as well as their mental and emotional needs. Along with the company president, Eric Viskovicz, Karen closely monitors each client’s physical and emotional condition. Clients also go along with her to the grocery store where she teaches them how to shop for health and weight loss.In her position at L.I.F.E., she has worked alongside doctors and chiropractors, helping clients get through everything from diabetes, to heart disease, to cancer. At a health spa, she worked with acupuncturists and physical therapists, helping people to lose weight and keep it off.

For Karen, changing people’s lives is the most rewarding thing anyone can ever do. If she knows that she’s made a difference in the life of one person, it gives her satisfaction like nothing else can. She is always looking for ways to better serve the company and its clients, whether it’s facilitating group discussions, hosting food tastings, or searching for new products. She loves where she works, and says that the atmosphere is amazing – music, active, fun people, and the staff are like family to her.

Karen is a certified nutrition consultant (NC) and holistic health practitioner (HHP). She is currently studying for a master herbalist certification, and eventually a yoga certification.

Arleigh Thorp
Assistant Director of Personal Training

Arleigh has always been athletic and in sports, so when she was in college she wanted to learn more about the body and how it works. That led her to get a degree in kinesiology with an option in education. Knowing the biomechanics and anatomy of the body helps her choose the appropriate exercises for each client. In education, she learned many motivating and goal setting strategies that she incorporates into her training techniques.

Growing up in sports taught her a lot about how far you can push yourself. She thinks that most people don’t realize how much they are capable of. At camp, the clients are at different levels of fitness, and she’s able to continually push them at whatever stage they’re at to become more fit. Clients often learn that they can do far more than they throught, and this gives them confidence to continue to push their limits.

She loves that she can learn from the other health and fitness professionals in the company – this has made her a more well-rounded trainer. She shares Eric’s vision and wants to be a part of building the company, so that they can help many more people change their lives.

Arleigh holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in kinesiology with an option in secondary education, from Long Beach State. She has the following certifications: NCCPT, CPR, AED, and L.I.F.E. instructor. Her honors include: receiving an athletic scholarship to play softball at Long Beach State; being collegiate softball team captain for two years; and playing on an All-Conference team.

Schuyler Yancey
Assistant Personal Trainer

Schuyler possesses a level of intensity that is infectious, motivating, and generates an energy in the gym that is all his own. He has the ability to effectively respond to issues in the moment, which is invaluable given the variance of activities at camp and the diversity of clients.

If you’re going to do anything, do it well – that’s the attitude that Schuyler comes to work with every day. He also loves the people he works with, and the idea that this is a family company and we treat each other as such, is incredibly appealing to him. He wants to help build the company into a fitness/nutrition/lifestyle change powerhouse, while maintaining the principles that it was founded upon.

His dedication to doing things well is reflected in the following awards and recognitions that he has received: won state high school competition; was in the communication honors society and on the dean’s list at Marymount Manhattan College; and won best actor in a Vermont theatre festival.

Schuyler holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in acting and a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications from Marymount Manhattan College. He is CPR, AED, NCCPT, and Camp Technique certified.

Marco Roman
Personal Trainer

Marco comes to L.I.F.E with more that 20 years of private trainer expertise, working with clients of all ages and levels of experience. As a former owner of a thriving personal training business and private gym, he had the pleasure of working with high-profile actors and models, as well as while working in a corporate setting at Oscar de la Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, he trained professional athletes. In a fitness capacity, Marco has also appeared in commercials, TV shows and workout videos.

• Marco’s philosophy towards his clients’ wellness begins with trust building. His sincerity, warmth, and humility make it easy for clients to quickly feel comfortable. His compassion allows him to see each person as special and deserving of the opportunity to become healthier, once they’ve made the decision to do so. From there, Marco has the pleaasure of giving clients the motivation to bring about change intrinsically. He feels it’s a privilege to work with L.I.F.E. team members in applying the philosophy of Eric Viskoviczregarding fitness and nutrition that focuses on lifestyle changes for lifelong wellness.

  One of the many aspects that attracted Marco to L.I.F.E. is its holistic approach to wellness. Getting rid of fad diets and gimmicks, and reaching clients in a healthy way is a good fit for Marco. He looks foward to working with each client as they creat new, healthier lifestyle and is honored to share in their journey towards wellness.

  Marco holds a Bachelor of Science degreee in biology from National Autonomous University of Mexico, in Mexico City. He is a certified personal trainer. He is fluent in English, Spanish, and basic Italian

Nina Lebovitz
Massage Therapist

Nina’s ability to balance and rejuvenate her clients is intuitive, as well as aesthetically and scientifically based. She has more than 20 years of study and practice in massage therapy, culled from Asian, European, and local practices. She studied at Thailand’s renowned Wat Po Traditional Medical School; learned new methods and skills through local licensure and certification processes; and refined her techniques through countless hours in professional practice. She is rewarded with countless expressions of gratitude from clients, along with a positive transfer of energy resulting from her healing efforts. It is a pleasure for her to see the healing benefits of her work.

The activities of L.I.F.E. are dedicated to creating a healthier, more enlivened outlook and approach to living, through the essentials of exercise and sound nutrition. This, and the wisdom and practices of the founder and director, Eric, are recognized and appreciated by Nina. She will continue to help the company’s targeted growth initiatives through maintaining the high level of professional expertise that she possesses, and will support the energy and ethics that the company strives to maintain.

Nina earned a graduate certificate of study and practice from Wat Po Traditional Medical School in Bangkok, Thailand; is certified from the Massage School of Santa Monica; completed a course of study and practice from American College Massage School; and is licensed in massage therapy in the City of Los Angeles.

Bernay Khoonsrivong
Chef Assistant

Bernay is driven to deliver the best service possible, to ensure that the clients are comfortable at camp, and are satisfied with their stay. She developed strong customer service skills through her managerial positions and as a server in the restaurant business. Bernay makes sure that the meals are of the highest quality, and that the food is weighed and measured for the right amount of protein, carbohydrates, and fat for each client depending on their gender and weight. She also oversees L.I.F.E.’s new allergy-based nutrition plan, making sure that the dietary requirements of each person on the program are followed exactly.

When Bernay sees the amazing results that clients get, it makes her happy to know that she played a part in helping them through their life-changing journey. One of the reasons that she was attracted to the company was because she saw the clients’ results, and how they were provided tools to use throughout their lifetime for optimal health.

Bernay attended California State University, Long Beach.

Seong

Laura