Mother & Daughter Makeover Challenge Revealed

After a four-month journey to transform mind, body and spirit, we present the new and improved Patricia IANUZI and Juliane O’BRIEN!

This summer we named Patricia Iannuzzi of Belleville and her daughter Juliane O’Brien of North Caldwell the winners of our Mother & Daughter Makeover Challenge. Over the last 16 weeks, they worked closely with our advisers to carry out a customized plan of action to improve their health and well-being.

From the start, they had a number of challenges to tackle, including time restraints, family commitments and previously scheduled vacations. Juliane, 39, is a stay-at-home mother to four children ages six, three, two and eight months. Patty, 62, is a retired teacher who dedicates herself to helping Juliane manage the “chaos” of the house. Both had mostly sedentary lifestyles and needed to change their daily routine to include healthy living.

First, brighter, younger smiles were provided courtesy of Aesthetic Smiles of New Jersey’s Edward Romano, D.D.S., and Matthew Vaccaro, D.D.S. Juliane had her teeth cleaned and then whitened, while Patty ultimately decided against veneers and opted instead for a whitening treatment as well.

“Dr. Romano also did some refilling and replaced two bottom caps, all in white. No more silver. I love it!” says Patty.

“My mouth is happy,” adds Juliane. “The dentists and their staff have been wonderful. I even take my sixyear- old daughter there to have her teeth cleaned.”

While Juliane and Patty were treated to a number of cosmetic touchups to transform their looks, the most amazing transformation occurred in the duo’s mindset.

“One of our overarching goals early on was to approach living a fit and healthy lifestyle as a permanent change, not a quick fix,” says Julie Cohen, holistic health counselor and owner of Mad Nutrition. “For instance, when I first met Juliane, she was skipping meals and wasn’t planning meals ahead of time, which led to poor choices for the whole family.”

With Cohen’s guidance, Juliane stopped bringing junk food into the house. She started cooking meals consisting of more whole foods and more protein, which gave her extra fuel to run after her kids. “In a short period of time, Juliane became really conscious of managing her meals and her portions, and getting her kids and husband on board with eating well too,” explains Cohen. Those healthy changes even helped Juliane maintain her weight loss, 20 pounds and counting, during a four-week lapse from exercise due to vacation and a minor injury.

Patty, meanwhile, dealt with emotional eating. “Like so many of us, she eats when she’s not necessarily hungry, and when she snacks she doesn’t keep track of what she’s eating,” notes Cohen, who had Patty work on proper portion sizes and adding nutrients—increasing the ratio of veggies to pasta at meals, for example. Better nutrition combined with more conscious eating has helped her snack less often.

For help with creating new habits and eliminating unhealthy ones and more, the duo turned to hypnocounselor Kathleen Lindert of Advanced Hypnosis Counseling. According to Lindert, both needed guidance to make lasting changes and feel good about what they were doing.

“Part of what was holding Juliane back was her house wasn’t orgnized,” she says. As a mom of four, Juliane was torn between cleaning the house and exercising. “We taught her to feel good about being able to go to the gym. Stop debating with yourself and just do it, then take pride in your accomplishments,” says Lindert.

Similarly, “we gave Patty the ability to say no, or I want that, or I’m going to take care of myself first,” says Lindert. “Age doesn’t matter, just make the change; go out and do it.”

According to AE Fitness Montclair general manager Giancarlo Cifelli and the duo’s trainer, Maureen Kelly, Juliane has made amazing progress despite the challenges of trying to carve out time for herself while juggling four small kids. “Juliane showed great determination in sticking with her exercise program. I am very proud of her efforts,” he says.

Patty’s accomplishments in the gym, while modest, are still impressive. Cifelli explains: “Patty has worked hard, but embarking on an exercise program for the first time in your life at age 62 is challenging. She was plagued with aches and pains that hampered her progress.” Still, Patty persevered through her workouts, losing more than 15 pounds so far, and has committed to a healthy lifestyle outside the gym by walking around her neighborhood several times a week.

“Our trainer, Maureen, was with us every step of the way and encouraged us to get and stay fit,” says Patty. “We could feel that she really wanted us to succeed.” Both mom and daughter continue to mix up their routine with Zumba classes as well.

For the final reveal shoot, Keith Jones, owner of GregDavidSalon in Orange, gave Patty a chic chinlength bob and Juliane long, graduated layers with a few highlights. Makeup artist Sasha Freckleton- Fowlin gave both ladies fresh and natural looks (and tips for replicating them at home).

A Bloomingdale’s Short Hills Personal Shopper selected clothing, shoes and accessories that reflect fall trends—such as leather accents and embellished necklines— but that stay true to the pair’s style preferences. Finally, jewelry by Jules Fine Jewelry in Fairfield completed the looks. Owner Michelle Gabriel says, “We took into consideration their bone structure, skin coloring and really what they were comfortable with.” His selections included cuff bracelets and turquoise dangle earrings.

After the shoot, Farhad Rafizadeh, M.D., who specializes in cosmetic surgery of the face, breast, body and skin, performed a breast reduction on Juliane.

“I had always been self-conscious about the size of my chest, and I’d been getting increased pain in my back and neck,” explains Juliane. “I feel so much more confident with the way I look in my clothes now.”

Now that the process is complete, both Juliane and Patty plan to stick to their new, healthcentric lifestyle. They feel they’ve been given the tools and knowledge they need to keep moving forward. “Together we gained important knowledge that has already helped us lead healthier lives,” says Juliane. “We are exercising, planning and cooking healthy meals, and we’re more confident in our appearance.”

Adds Lindert: “They were very remarkable women to take the challenge. It was difficult for both of them, but they stepped up and they did it!”