Photo by Brian Marcus
Florida is the new F-Factor in nutritionist Tanya Zuckerbrot’s life. During the pandemic the founder and CEO of the F-Factor Diet, the popular fiber-rich weight loss plan, bought a home in Delray Beach.
“We are proud homeowners,” Zuckerbrot confirms.
Zuckerbrot and husband Anthony Westreich hope to split their time between New York and South Florida once her twin daughters, now in 10th grade, are in college. The couple’s blended family also includes three sons, two in college and one a senior in high school.
The registered 50-year-old dietician with a thriving private practice in New York City became a media star with a bestselling 2006 book, “The F-Factor Diet: Discover the Secret to Permanent Weight Loss,” and the 2012 follow up, “The Miracle Carb Diet: Make Calories and Fat Disappear with Fiber.” The cornerstone of Zuckerbrot’s program to lose weight without hunger is upping the number of fiber grams (the F-Factor) eaten daily.
With her respected credentials, celebrity clients and telegenic appeal, Zuckerbrot extolled the health benefits of fiber and the F-Factor diet, appearing frequently on national TV programs and was a sought-after lecturer and consultant.
Her career path and discovering the F-Factor of weight loss were both “happy accidents,” Zuckerbrot says. A 1993 graduate of the University of Michigan, she wanted to be a healthy chef, but instead ended up with a Master’s Degree in Nutrition and Food Studies from New York University.
When she opened her private practice, “weight loss was the furthest thing from my mind,” she says, but in prescribing high fiber diets to manage cardiovascular disease and diabetes she found that patients saw improvements in health and lost weight without hunger. Delighted clients began referring others. Her practice then shifted to specialize in weight loss.
Today, as a wellness influencer on social media, she encourages a total lifestyle approach to the F-Factor way of eating. Her website (ffactor.com) offers tips to stay inspired, recipes and products like supplemental fiber and protein bars and powders for smoothies.
“I’ve lived the F-Factor way for 25 years,” she says. “I don’t call it a diet. Diets are temporary solutions. I speak with the most pride and authority that it’s a way of life. The F-Factor message is about being your best self, not settling for mediocrity, not in your health, not in your appearance.”