From HR profession to wellness coach: How Janna Kropelnicki is changing lives one client at a time

For Morganton resident Janna Kropelnicki, being a FASTer Way to Fat Loss coach isn’t about the money; it’s about helping others regain confidence, lose fat, and gain strength by building healthy habits that stick.

Kropelnicki, 63, retired from a career in the human resources field in 2018. Not long later, an autoimmune disease that had been in remission for seven years flared up.

That set her on the path to FASTer Way to Fat Loss.

“They put me on a medication that was terrifying,” Kropelnicki said. “It completely takes away your immune system … and it wasn’t really helping my Crohn’s Disease. And then COVID came around, and I thought, ‘Okay, I have no immune system and they’re terrifying me about COVID.’”

When her body responded poorly to a second treatment, Kropelnicki reached out to a functional medicine doctor. She asked if dietary changes could help her condition.

“After years of my doctors telling me it has nothing to do with what you eat, it had everything to do with what I was eating,” Kropelnicki said. “I have been six years in remission with no medication.”

That jumpstarted Kropelnicki’s interest in nutrition, which soon paired with fitness.

Despite a revamped diet and teaching Pilates five days a week, Kropelnicki said she noticed she was not losing belly fat. Plus, at about 60 years old, she knew she needed to start building muscle.

“As the algorithm will do, you think it and it will throw people in your path, and it threw this FASter Way coach in my path,” Kropelnicki said.

When Kropelnicki saw the program offered meal planning, nutrition tracking, exercises, and a coach, she went for it.

“My belly went away within 12 weeks. I had dropped 14 pounds and I started building strength, and my Crohn’s remained in remission,” Kropelnicki said.

Kropelnicki was so pleased with the outcome that she spent the time and money to become a coach.

“If I could help just a few people … that would be great,” Kropelnicki said. “Now that it’s become more successful, I want to share that with (more) people.”

Kropelnicki has both male and female clients ranging from people in their 20s to people in their 80s.

The program offers an easy and sustainable path to develop healthier habits, Kropelnicki said, and it’s built on eating whole foods and workouts that last under an hour.

“I want people to understand that at a certain point in your life, you have to stop doing excess cardio and thinking that’s going to (help fat loss). You’ve got to build strength, you’ve got to be more strategic about your exercise, and you have to eat enough food to feed your body,” Kropelnicki said.

Most people are not eating enough, Kropelnicki said. Her clients are often surprised when they see the macro-nutrient goals in their personalized meal plan.

Kropelnicki said macro-nutrients include protein, fat, and carbs.

FASTer Way to Fat Loss clients go through a six-week program tailored to them based on their age, their goals, and their capabilities. Workouts are modified for those with injuries, limited mobility, or other challenges.

Kropelnicki said she currently has 50 clients, seven of whom are enrolled in the six-week program. All others went through the program and now have a month-by-month contract. It can be fully online or done partially in-person, and clients have the freedom to workout at home or at a gym of their choice.

The six-week program costs $249, Kropelnicki said. It includes Kropelnicki’s services as a coach and an app that houses everything from workouts to a calorie counter that automatically calculates and tracks macro-nutrients. It also contains the client’s meal plan.

Kropelnicki gets a portion of what clients pay for the program while the rest goes to FASTer Way to Fat Loss.

Those interested in the program can reach out to Kropelnicki via email at fasterwayjannak@gmail.com.