Ready to feel better as you age?

This site offers health, wellness, fitness and nutritional information. It is not intended to be a substitute for, nor does it replace, professional medical advice.

Hi, I'm Ginger!

I help women build strength and habits from the inside out, so health finally fits your real life.

At 58, I’m a veggie gardener with 19 raised beds, a mom of two (one grown and one flown: a Cardiac ICU nurse and a U.S. Navy sailor serving in the submarine fleet), and a firm believer that the long game is the only game worth playing.

I’ve worn many hats and weathered many seasons. So have the women I work with.

My path to health wasn’t a straight line, and honestly, that’s what makes me good at this.

I wasn’t an athlete growing up. My fitness journey began in my 20s, fresh out of college and newly minted as a Flight Attendant. I fell in love with step aerobics, weightlifting, yoga, and long layover walks with my Walkman (yes, I’m dating myself). Movement felt good. Life felt manageable.

Then my 30s and 40s happened.

Motherhood. Volunteering. Keeping a family fed and functioning. A demanding airline career with on-call shifts. I convinced myself that more was always better: more workouts, more commitments, more time at my kids’ school, less sleep, nonstop multitasking. I was doing ALL THE THINGS, and I was proud of it.

Until my body and brain said otherwise.

By 2012, I was exhausted, living with chronic pain from a lumbar herniation, pre-diabetic, carrying unresolved grief, and at my lowest point, both emotionally and physically. What pulled me through wasn’t a program or a plan. It was therapy, a real shift in priorities, and learning (slowly, imperfectly, and with a lot of practice) to treat myself with the same curiosity and compassion I’d always extended to everyone else.

That shift changed everything. It’s the foundation of how I coach today: no extremes, no starting over every Monday, just strength and habits built to hold up in the life you actually have.

The pivot

So I left my 20-year airline career, became a certified trainer, and eventually built a coaching practice around the thing I wish someone had handed me years earlier: a way of approaching health that leads with curiosity instead of criticism.

Not “what did I do wrong?” but “what can I learn here?”

Not perfection. Information and small, daily action.

I know what it’s like to put yourself last. To carry everyone else’s needs while quietly running on empty. My work is about helping women build the skills to care for themselves, not as a reward for getting everything else done, but as the foundation everything else runs on.

Together, we work on nutrition, movement, strength, and lifestyle habits, so you feel capable and steady through perimenopause, menopause, and beyond.

Mantras

Eat real food;

I'm not selling any supplements or quick fixes.

Progress, not perfection;

applies to learning to improve our eating and movement habits as well as our mindset.

Stress resilience:

a (priceless) life skill everyone can foster and develop. As we age, it’s even MORE vital.

Move well, move often: strength is what lets you carry your own groceries and luggage (yes, even into the overhead bin) for decades to come.

Women face real and specific risks: sarcopenia (age-related muscle loss), osteopenia, osteoporosis, blood sugar dysregulation, and the cumulative weight of chronic stress. My work addresses all of it, not through rigid protocols, but through habit building, mindset shifts, strength training, and nutrition education that makes sense for your real life.

When I’m not coaching, you’ll find me tending the garden, hiking, strength training, sipping coffee (or tea!), or brewing kombucha in my kitchen. I’m also a recovering perfectionist (a lifelong work in progress), which means I know firsthand that the inner critic is loud, persistent, and almost always wrong.

You don’t need to be harder on yourself.

You need a coach who gets it, because she’s lived it.

A free, relaxed 30-minute conversation to see if we’re a good fit, for both of us.

This goes both ways: you’re deciding if I’m the right coach for you, too.

No pressure, and you don’t need it all figured out first.

A free 30-minute conversation to see if we’re a good fit, for both of us. You’re deciding if I’m the right coach for you, too.

Strong Bones

Steady Blood Sugar

Real Life Included

Areas of Expertise

How I coach: strength training, nutrition coaching, mobility and corrective exercise

What I specialize in: bone health (osteoporosis and osteopenia), blood sugar and metabolic health, strength and nutrition support for women on GLP-1 medications, perimenopause through post-menopause, back injury (disc bulge, herniations, and fusions)

Also experienced with: exercise during and after cancer treatment (with a special focus on post-breast cancer treatment), pre- and post-natal, new to fitness, sustainable weight loss,

I specialize in working with women in midlife and beyond. My passion is helping clients steady their blood sugar and lower their risk of metabolic syndrome. Both are linked to heart disease and inflammation, and higher blood sugar levels are associated with even increased cancer risk.¹

Back injuries are personal for me. Between my own lumbar herniation and years of rehab and coursework, I’m experienced with lumbar and spinal herniations and fusions.

Together, we build habits around real food, regular movement, and stress resilience that last.

¹In a study of 29,629 patients, higher HbA1c levels (a long-term marker of blood glucose), even within the non-diabetic range, were associated with 28% higher risks of almost all cancers.

Source: Hyperglycemia Associated Metabolic and Molecular Alterations in Cancer Risk, Progression, Treatment, and Mortality, Cancers, 2019.

CERTIFICATIONS

  • American Council on Exercise (ACE) Personal Trainer (2013)

  • Precision Nutrition Certified Level 1 & 2 (2015/2017)

  • Precision Nutrition Specialist Certificates: Coaching Dietary Strategies, Nutrition for Metabolic Health, and Change Psychology (2024)

  • Certified Women’s Coaching Specialist, Girls Gone Strong (2023)

  • BoneFit Certified, Bone Health and Osteoporosis Foundation (2026)

  • Certified Pre & Postnatal Coach, Girls Gone Strong (2018)

  • CETI: Certified Cancer Exercise Specialist (2013)

  • Functional Movement Systems (FMS) Level 1 & 2 (2012)

  • Hardstyle Kettlebell Certification (HKC) (2012)

RECOGNITION

  • Precision Nutrition Women’s Coaching Mentor (January 2016)

  • Precision Nutrition Women’s Coaching Finalist (January 2015)

EDUCATION

  • University of Georgia, B.A. (1990)

ADDITIONAL TRAINING

  • Empowered Performance with Katie St.Clair (2026)

  • Coaching Through a Trauma-Informed Lens, American Council on Exercise (2025)

  • Functional Foot Course with Rali Malcheva (2025)

  • Functional Capacity Screen (FMS-FCS) Course (2019)

  • TRX Suspension Training Course (2017/2020)

  • Original Strength Level 1 & 2 Course (2013/2014)

  • Core Exercise Solutions Pelvis Pro Course (in progress, expected completion spring 2027)

EXPERIENCE

  • Personal Trainer, Kinetic Systems (2013–2019)

  • Personal Trainer, Y of Central Maryland (2010–2017)

  • Indoor Cycle Instructor, Y of Central Maryland (2009–2016)

  • Les Mills Body Pump & CX Worx Instructor (2008–2014)

RECOGNITION

  • Precision Nutrition Women’s Coaching Mentor (January 2016)

  • Precision Nutrition Women’s Coaching Finalist (January 2015)

“I learned you can’t diet, detox or restrict your way into behavior change. You need to address your triggers; your underlying emotional triggers you often aren’t even aware of... that awareness helped me create healthier changes that are sticking.”

A.D.
A.D. (Health Coaching)

“Ginger really understands movement patterns, especially with respect to injuries. When I first contacted Ginger, I was rehabbing from a lower back surgery... She doesn’t rely on quick fixes, or gimmicky exercises.”

M. Stapleton
Personal Training

“Nothing like hauling bags of mulch to make me appreciate the core work you’ve had me do over the years! Feels good to be able to carry 80 pounds without strain!”

Julie L., Columbia, MD
Personal Training

Areas of Expertise

How I coach: strength training, nutrition coaching, mobility and corrective exercise

What I specialize in: bone health (osteoporosis and osteopenia), blood sugar and metabolic health, strength and nutrition support for women on GLP-1 medications, perimenopause through post-menopause, back injury (disc bulge, herniations, and fusions)

Also experienced with: exercise during and after cancer treatment (with a special focus on post-breast cancer treatment), pre- and post-natal, new to fitness, sustainable weight loss,

I specialize in working with women in midlife and beyond. My passion is helping clients steady their blood sugar and lower their risk of metabolic syndrome. Both are linked to heart disease and inflammation, and higher blood sugar levels are associated with even increased cancer risk.¹

Back injuries are personal for me. Between my own lumbar herniation and years of rehab and coursework, I’m experienced with lumbar and spinal herniations and fusions.

Together, we build habits around real food, regular movement, and stress resilience that last.

¹ In a study of 29,629 patients, higher HbA1c levels (a long-term marker of blood glucose), even within the non-diabetic range, were associated with 28% higher risks of almost all cancers. Source: Hyperglycemia Associated Metabolic and Molecular Alterations in Cancer Risk, Progression, Treatment, and Mortality, Cancers, 2019.

Certifications

  • American Council on Exercise (ACE) Personal Trainer (2013)

  • Precision Nutrition Certified Level 1 & 2 (2015/2017)

  • Precision Nutrition Specialist Certificates: Coaching Dietary Strategies, Nutrition for Metabolic Health, and Change Psychology (2024)

  • Certified Women’s Coaching Specialist, Girls Gone Strong (2023)

  • BoneFit Certified, Bone Health and Osteoporosis Foundation (2026)

  • Certified Pre & Postnatal Coach, Girls Gone Strong (2018)

  • CETI: Certified Cancer Exercise Specialist (2013)

  • Functional Movement Systems (FMS) Level 1 & 2 (2012)

  • Hardstyle Kettlebell Certification (HKC) (2012)

Additional training

  • Empowered Performance with Katie St.Clair (2026)

  • Coaching Through a Trauma-Informed Lens, American Council on Exercise (2025)

  • Functional Foot Course with Rali Malcheva (2025)

  • Functional Capacity Screen (FMS-FCS) Course (2019)

  • TRX Suspension Training Course (2017/2020)

  • Original Strength Level 1 & 2 Course (2013/2014)

  • Core Exercise Solutions Pelvis Pro Course (in progress, expected completion spring 2027)

Recognition

  • Precision Nutrition Women’s Coaching Mentor (January 2016)

  • Precision Nutrition Women’s Coaching Finalist (January 2015)

  • Personal Trainer, Kinetic Systems (2013–2019)

  • Personal Trainer, Y of Central Maryland (2010–2017)

  • Indoor Cycle Instructor, Y of Central Maryland (2009–2016)

  • Les Mills Body Pump & CX Worx Instructor (2008–2014)

Education

  • University of Georgia, B.A. (1990)

Travel Gut-Happy

Get My Free Gut Travel Guide

I spent 20 years as a flight attendant, so I know a thing or two about time zones, airport food, and long days in transit. I still travel every year (my oldest lives across the country, and I head overseas every few years), so this one’s personal. Grab my free guide and take the guesswork out of feeling good on the road.

This site offers health, wellness, fitness, and nutrition information. It is not intended to replace professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Ginger Wanko is not a registered dietitian or licensed healthcare professional. Please consult your physician, physical therapist, or registered dietitian with any concerns about your health.