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From avocation to vocation: how Victoria Carver’s fitness journey paved her life’s work

Leona Long

For Victoria Carver training for the Ironman was more than a quest for wellness, it became a calling.

Graduating from college was the wakeup call Carver needed to realize that she wasn’t happy with herself or her life.  She led a sedentary life, exercising sporadically, mostly just before a vacation or an event that required her to wear a nice dress.

“My diet was out of control and I was consuming far more calories than I needed,” said Carver. “I was a total snacker: grabbing a handful of this or a bowl full of that in between my meals and convincing myself that it wasn’t that much extra food. Yet, I found myself 40lbs overweight.”

Carver knew it was time to make a drastic change and push herself out of her comfort zone so she signed up for a sprint triathlon that was three months away. 

“I fell in love with the sport,” said Carver. “Having three different sports to practice kept me from getting bored with the individual activities and I loved setting my goals and achieving them on race day. I kept increasing my race distance and completed my first half Ironman that next April and my full Ironman in Cozumel that November.”

Carver’s Ironman journey did more than transform her mindset and physique. It changed her career path.

“I was so amazed at how much my life benefitted through healthy eating and exercise that I completely changed the course of my career,” said Carver. “Where I always thought I would attend medical school, I decided instead to pursue a master’s degree in Public Health through the University of North Texas’ Health Science Center. I knew I wanted to dedicate my life to helping others reach their health and wellness potential on a larger scale than traditional medicine could offer.”

Now Carver is sharing her passion for health and wellness with the University of Alaska’s employees. An employee of Zomo Health’s mission, she works in the Butrovich Building on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus as the onsite wellness program coordinator. In this position, she helps �������ϲʿ���appfaculty and staff reach new levels of health and wellness by engaging them in healthy behaviors and challenges.

“As someone who has experienced first hand the benefits of getting active and healthy, I can provide that perspective in person to the people I meet,” said Carver. “I know the struggles and frustrations that can come with these types of lifestyle changes, but I also know the joy and the victory that comes once those changes are made. I’m so excited to share that with others while also providing them with the tools they need to be successful.”

For more information about UA’s wellness program, log into using your username of your FIRSTNAMELASTNAMEBIRTHYEAR (all caps, no spaces) and your default password is your birthday in MMDDYYYY format.

Carver can be contacted at (907) 450-8203 or victoria.c@zomohealth.com.