A Dietitian's Journey from Afghanistan

Barbie Tucker fits well into the vibrant mosaic of friends and neighbors that comprise the City of Woodstock. She has family that never left Rusk Street, where she was raised, while she enjoyed a lifestyle that took her around the world and, somehow, brought her right back home.

An enthusiastic woman turning 44 this year, Tucker took a road of interesting challenges to get to where she is today. "Two things that stuck out for me," Tucker said of her childhood dreams, "were being a mother and being a teacher. I knew I wanted to go to college, but I didn't know exactly what for, or how I was going to pay."

For the former homecoming queen and pageant winner, a scholarship might have seemed like the most probable solution, but Tucker also wanted to travel. She took a detour to fulfill that wish—she joined the Air Force.

Although she felt no hesitation toward joining, it wasn't something Tucker intended to make a career out of. Her eventual climb through the ranks to retire as a Major was pure circumstance.

After a four-year stint, complete with failed attempts at juggling work and school, Tucker applied for a transfer to the reserves.

"I was very frustrated with trying to go to school at night. It was going to take me forever to get my degree," Tucker said.

Thankfully, reserve duty sent her to Jacksonville, where she could attend college full-time and receive her Bachelor's in nutrition. She was commissioned as an officer almost immediately after, however, found herself back on active duty, making it difficult to focus on her goals.

"I stumbled into all of it, and just kept getting back to the military," Tucker said.

But it was this backward pull that would set her on the path to success.

During a difficult deployment to Afghanistan in 2007, Tucker met the woman named Paula who would inspire her to utilize her education. Her father had defected years ago with the unpopular belief that women should have the right to be educated. Although Paula lives in America with a husband and three sons, she has dedicated her life to bringing her father's message of equality back to Afghanistan, leaving loved ones behind to do so.

"She believes in her country so much that she goes there for two years at a time as an interpreter, and there is a bounty on her head," Tucker said. "What I saw in her was the power of women. In the middle of chaos, in the middle of war, here was a woman who was so powerful, and not because she was a certain dress size or because she had no wrinkles."

It was Paula's belief in the women of her country that reminded Tucker of home and how preoccupied women become with appearance versus happiness, she said. That contrast plays a part in her philosophy as a dietitian.

"It's about what we're capable of. You can choose to be the change, you can choose to be the person who gets up and does something, and it can be for yourself or for others," Tucker explained.

She took that lesson to heart, retired from the military after 25 years of service and returned to the field she loved. Her primary goal is to teach proactive aging to her clients. By preparing for the future, patients may be able to significantly reduce the mental and physical deterioration that often comes with old age.

"To age successfully, the individual must strive to integrate the many facets of healthy living into a daily lifestyle," Tucker said.

This includes maintaining a long-term diet that adequately nourishes the body, as well as exercise designed to target many muscle groups at once, as opposed to standard strength training.  Her focus in getting there is on communication.

"I have to get to know them and figure out what they value, what would make them change. The single parent working two jobs isn't going to drive all over town looking for organic this and that, I have to figure out how to motivate that person," Tucker explained.

For those starting from the bottom, whether their issue be weight loss, diabetes or vitamin deficiency, Tucker offers some beginner advice.

"Don't try to change all at once. If you haven't been working out, make a plan to get up 15 minutes early and do that stretch yoga program on TV before work," said Tucker.

That she stresses getting healthy for the years ahead is an issue that hits close to home.

"My mother has health problems, and caring for her and watching her suffer is heartbreaking. I want to be able to help her. I want to be able to help others," Tucker said.

In a way, her life has always been about service, whether as an airman, a dietician or a parent. In her business, she takes a personal approach to a global concern, forming relationships with each of her clients that she hopes will nurture them on their way to better lives.

When she isn't working, Tucker lives with her mother and 7-year-old son in Woodstock, now a mother herself, exactly as she planned 20 years ago.