Ronda Gates, M. S.,a motivating and entertaining agent of change, is one of the most respected health promotion and weight management consultants in the U. S. Her company, LIFESTYLES by Ronda Gates, develops and delivers programs and products that support a healthy lifestyle.

Ms. Gates' original degree degree is in Pharmacy. Her postgraduate education includes studies in nutrition, psychology, exercise science and adult development. Ronda, who is on the advisory board for Medical Wellness Association and Breastcancer.org also holds Fellowship status in the association of Worksite Health Promotion. Ronda is certified by the American College of Sports Medicine as a Fitness Director, the American Council on Exercise as a Fitness Leader, and until recently she had a prestigious position on the Reebok Research Training and Development Team. Ronda is also certified by Yale University LEARN Institute and the Cooper Institute for Aerobics Research as a LifeStyle Counselor with an emphasis on weight control and stress management. She was instrumental in the development of the Covert Bailey Fit or Fat licensing program and continues to have a relationship with Covert that supports management of his materials. Ronda is also qualified to administer and evaluate the Myers Briggs Type Indicator in Organizations. In her pursuit of understanding the self-defeating behavior process, she completed a one year Process Living and Process Therapy training with psychologist Anne Wilson Schaef, Ph.D., where her emphasis was on codependency, workaholism and eating disorders.

Ronda is a columnist for Leisure World News and WalkAbout Magazine. Additionally she's been published in Living Fit magazine, Shape Magazine, American Journal of Health Promotion, The Oregonian, MS magazine, Club Business, The Downtowner (Portland, OR) and many industry publications. She has been a consultant to Weight Watchers and a spokesperson for Speaking of Women's Health Foundation. In addition, until she semi-retired to Arizona she was a health reporter for ABC's Portland affiliate, KATU-TVs AMNorthwwest. Additionally she has contributed many on air hours raising funds for PBS. Ronda is the author of five best-selling books including Smart Eating (with Covert Bailey), Beauty More Than Skin Deep which addresses skin care and a woman's relationship between her inner and outer beauty, The Lowfat Lifestyle, the first low fat cookbook, The Scale Companion: How To Find Your Ideal Weight with exercise researchers Dr. Frank Katch and Dr. Victor Katch, and Nutrition Nuggets/Changes which was honored by Reebok as the best educational resource published in 1993. Her last book was Outwitting Osteoporosis (with Beverly Whipple, PhD) an overview of osteoporosis risk factors, prevention strategies, treatments and resource. In the flush of the computer bubble, Ronda launched the LIFESTYLES Planner, the first computer software package that provides strategies for a two-week jump start to a healthier lifestyle.

During a 20-year collaborative association with nutritional biochemist, Covert Bailey, M. S., Ronda was instrumental in the development of the Fit or Fat System and was Associate Producer of Bailey's PBS productions including a 13 part Fit or Fat for the 90's series. Gates and Bailey co-authored the best selling book, Smart Eating. A recent transplant from Oregon to Arizona, Ronda now spends as much time as possible practicing what she’s preached for more than fifty years. She teaches an aerobic conditioning class, plays tennis and cycles daily, and hikes in Arizona's Superstition Mountains as often as possible. Her less active pursuits include woodworking, beading and participation in a bluegrass group.

For additional information about this charismatic edu-tainer or to schedule a presentation by Ronda for your organization she can be reached at her Arizona office: