Category Archives: Health & Fitness

By Jill nagy

Laura Newey, a nurse practitioner with additional training in medical aesthetics, recently moved her practice to the Blackmer Building at 28 Clinton St. in Saratoga Springs. 

The business, called Bellatas Medical Aesthetics, provides skin care, including botox treatments, microneedling, and treatment of skin pigmentation issues.

Bellatas is a made-up word meaning the state of being beautiful (bella), according to the owner’s husband and marketing person, David Newey. Her practice is a level beyond that of a non-RN aesthetician, but not at the level of a dermatologist or plastic surgeon, he said. But dermatologists and plastic surgeons incorporate aspects of medical aesthetics in their medical practices.

The most popular treatment at the Bellatas spa is botox, injections of low doses of the botulism toxin, used to smooth wrinkles and tighten skin. Newey recently added microneedling treatments, which uses a machine called Morpheus 8, that lightly pierces the skin with multiple needles, resurfacing the skin, promoting collagen growth, and reducing wrinkles. 

By Christine Graf

Heather Lofink, a local Licensed Mental Health Counselor, is on a mission to help athletes reach their maximum potential. 

A Saratoga Springs native, Lofink worked at St. Peter’s Addiction Recovery Center before opening her own private practice in the One Roof health care building at 58 Henry St. in Saratoga Springs in February 2021.

“I put my calendar out three weeks before I opened, and I was full before I officially opened my door,” said Lofink. “I’ve been full since the day I opened, and I probably turn away three to five people a week who are reaching out for help. That’s really hard.” 

Lofink is trained in eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), a psychotherapy treatment endorsed by the American Psychological Association and Word Health Organization. EMDR is designed to alleviate the distress associated with traumatic memories. 

After receiving her initial training in EMDR, she completed a sports performance EMDR course. At the time, her teenaged son was in the midst of a baseball batting slump, she said. Despite attending clinics and working with batting coaches, he was still struggling at the plate. It wasn’t until Lofink started to work with him, applying what she had learned in her trainings, that things finally improved.

Jenna Lord, director of nursing at Wesley Health Care Center, has received the 2021 Professional of the Year Award from LeadingAge New York. 

The Professional of the Year Award recognizes contributions of a professional working in the aging healthcare field toward the well-being of the elderly or chronically ill in his or her community. The award nomination is open to any long-term care, housing and services professional who demonstrates civic involvement as well as professional dedication, accomplishment and field expertise.

 “The Wesley Community congratulates Jenna on this outstanding recognition as the 2021 LeadingAge New York Professional of the Year,” said The Wesley Community CEO J. Brian Nealon. “Jenna consistently exhibits outstanding leadership and helps us provide compassionate senior care to our residents and their families. We are grateful to have her on our team.”

Lord is responsible for leading and supervising the nursing staff and overseeing the care provided to residents at the Wesley Health Care Center. She has extensive health care experience and has been an active member of the Wesley Health Care Center team since 2008. 

“I am honored and humbled to receive this award and to be recognized by my peers, administrators and LeadingAge New York as ‘professional of the year.’ I would not be able to achieve anything without the amazing team at Wesley,” said Lord. “Working alongside so many talented nurses, and caring for the aging, is something I consider a privilege.”

Lord’s dedication to the profession led to her recognition as Registered Nurse of the Year at Wesley Health Care Center in 2018. She received the honor following numerous peer nominations and an extensive review by a panel of administrators at The Wesley Community. 

For plant-based cooking and nutrition instructor Deb Czech, the ongoing COVID pandemic and its health impacts have expanded the reasons why people are starting to put more plants on their plate. 

Czech is the owner of Planted Platter of Saratoga Springs, a business providing plant-based cooking classes, coaching services, and customized workplace wellness programs. Planted Platter also collaborates with Capital Region nonprofits on plant-based cooking events for their members and clients.

To address rising consumer interest in plant-based diets, Planted Platter is offering a dozen online classes this fall that people can mix and match to their own health needs. 

“The fundamental principles of a whole-food, plant-based diet remain the same across all classes,” said Czech. “What changes is the presentation of medical information and research specific to a given condition, whether that’s Type 2 diabetes or heart disease or anxiety or menopause or something else.” 

By Christine Graf

After being closed for four months during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Capital District Sport & Fitness (CDSF) has expanded their facility at 21 Wood Road in Round Lake. 

Owners Mike Sirani and Dan Jones are Capital Region natives who met while on the baseball team at Springfield College. Both men have degrees in exercise science as well as extensive experience working with professional, collegiate, and high school athletes. 

Opened in June 2018, CDSF specializes in small group, semi-private training and offers customized workout programs that are developed based upon a client’s movement assessment, goals, health history, and injury history. With their 1,500-square-foot expansion, they are able to offer additional gym space as well as a baseball pitching cage that runs the length of the gym. 

A CDSF membership is not required to book the pitching cage coaching sessions that are available to athletes in middle school through college. 

By Christine Graf

According to a study conducted by the American Psychological Association, more than 40 percent of adults have reported gaining unwanted weight, an average of 29 pounds, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Saratoga County professional life and health coach Laura Conklin said that many people have turned to food for comfort during the pandemic. The owner of HELD Life & Health Coaching, Conklin offers individualized weight loss programs to her clients and works with them to uncover the root causes of their weight gain as well as their motivation for losing weight.

“If you are struggling with your health or weight, chances are that there are some things going on in your mind that need some balancing and reframing. When people come to me wanting to lose weight, we start getting into some core issues of what they believe about themselves. It’s about a deeper level of transformation than just body weight,” she said. “Without strong motivation, it’s easy to put aside all of the strategies and revert back to overeating.”

There is no one-size-fits-all model for weight loss. Conklin said there is often trial and error involved.