Under the arched wood roof of an old church building in downtown Bellevue, Dr. Mark Adams teaches the concept of whole body health. As a board-certified naturopathic physician and graduate from Bastyr University and Harvard University, Dr. Adams also holds a Masters of Science degree in exercise and sport science from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He has spent his life exploring and living his passion of health and wellness in both theory and practice.

In 2005, Dr. Adams launched an integrative health service that managed personalized strategies for better health. He created Onvo Whole Body Health, a program which focuses on the broader picture of health and helps clients examine nourishment, movement and community.

The concept breaks the business down into two parts. Onvo the business and Onvo the place. Dr. Adams created a business model that would align the Onvo program with outside health and fitness-based companies in the community such as athletic training, yoga and Pilates classes, naturopathy, chiropractic care and massage. What makes Onvo Whole Body unique is the program’s capacity to align to each client’s needs according to nourishment, teachings, and partnerships with other fitness-based businesses in the community.

The classes and services are held in various rooms under one roof and Dr. Adams teaches his seminars and workshops in the old choir balcony overlooking the broad space of the former alter room.

Today, more than 1,500 individuals have gone through the Onvo program.

The idea, said Adams, is to give each client a map of sorts and to guide them in the right direction towards whole body health. To do this, Dr. Adams created a 28-day program called Get Lean, Get Healthy. Through the month-long program, Dr. Adams guides clients through a journey, providing the building blocks for healthy, long-term living.

“I ask my clients to consider two important questions,” he said. “First, how do you get the most impact on a daily basis and secondly, how are we created to function and live? I find when we really examine these two questions, the answers form a new way of living.”

Dr. Adams walks his clients through the process of creating momentum to look better, feel better and to become healthier.

“I ask each client to look at their personal experience with health. I can talk about nutrition until I’m blue in the face, but you need to actually talk what you learn and put it into practice,” he explained. “The program I created provides the knowledge and the tools, but it’s up to each individual to put that into practice for the 28 days.”

Dr. Adams considers the Get Lean, Get healthy program a practical springboard to ensure life-long health.

He challenges his clients to step back and look at things in broad sense.

“You can’t live on a diet, but you can live on an attitude,” Dr. Adams explained. “Health is another word for life. It’s not about being perfect, it’s about being better.”

Lindsay Larin can be reached at 425.453.4602.

The 28 day program, Get Lean, Get Healthy concentrates on eating real foods, honoring your hunger, and seeking a rhythm, not a routine.

To learn more about Onvo or to join the 28-day program, visit www.onvo.com. Onvo is located at 10838 Main Street in Bellevue, 425.646.1101.