Paseo Club Hero Jessica Schulman: Trying new things and getting stronger

Jessica was lucky to be raised in a family that valued healthy eating and fitness. Her mom bought whole organic foods, and her dad took her out to swim and play basketball regularly. This foundation set Jessica up to have robust health throughout her life.

A growing interest in health and nutrition

As a young woman, Jessica’s stepfather, who she was very close to, became ill with metabolic syndrome. He developed insulin resistance and was later diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. The most common treatment at that time was to prescribe insulin — which her stepfather began to take daily through an insulin pump  

Her mom was concerned about this approach and decided to research lifestyle options that could optimize her husband’s health. This led the family to the Pritikin Longevity Center and Dr. Dean Ornish’s Preventive Medicine Research Institute. These two “gurus” were trailblazers in promoting a healthy, whole-food diet, exercise, and the mind-body connection to help with weight loss, heart health, diabetes, insulin resistance, and aging. 

Although her stepfather learned a lot about how to improve his health, making long-term behavioral changes ended up being too difficult for him to sustain, and he ended up passing away due to complications related to his diabetes.

This devastating experience was heartbreaking and ended up being a pivotal experience for Jessica. She already had a degree as a registered dietician and masters in public health from UCLA. However, she realized that “knowledge of nutrition was not enough.”

She began to wonder, “How do we get people to change behavior and then sustain those changes?” She adjusted her focus to health education and health behavior and later got her master’s degree in clinical psychology (emphasis in close relationships and wellness) from Antioch University and obtained her PhD in Health and Human Performance from the University of Florida.

Beginning a family and unexpected hardship

Jessica decided to begin a family in her late twenties. She had a wonderful pregnancy, birth, and postpartum period. In fact, she was so healthy she rode a stationary bike the day she went into labor. Her beautiful daughter was born, and she was able to breastfeed her.

This piece ended up being potentially life-saving because when her daughter was six months old, she became severely ill and was later diagnosed with a genetic immune defect (called PI or primary immunodeficiency). Her daughter’s body could not make antibodies, making her extremely vulnerable to any passing illness.

This upended Jessica and her family’s entire lives. “Everything changed in terms of my lifestyle. We became housebound. We had to limit exposure for a period of time until we could figure out what (my daughter) was able to tolerate. All my activities came to a halt.” Jessica had to do everything she could to minimize exposing herself, and thus her baby, to infection.

Creating a new life

It took many months for Jessica to learn how to leave her home to do activities and keep her daughter safe. Her first place of refuge was the Paseo Club. 

Going to the gym and getting on the treadmill or lifting weights ended up being a supportive haven where she could begin to practice self-care again. She soon began to swim once a week and occasionally attended a group fitness class.

These workouts became a gateway to meeting other members and instructors, helping her form a greater sense of community. “I met some amazing people with whom I am friends to this day. They were there to help me grow as an athlete and a mom, creating a safe place to go.”

Becoming a competitive athlete

Masters Swimming 

Jessica met Coach Jimmy Owens of Paseo Aquatics. He encouraged her to join the Paseo Club Masters Swim program. During the peak Covid era, she swam five times per week. Jessica “never felt better.” She noticed her strength, flexibility, balance, and joint health all improved. 

She did not intend to begin to compete in swimming, but she signed up for her first meet simply due to “positive peer pressure.” Paseo Hero and friend Tiffany Duque encouraged her to attend her first swim meet. Although Jessica was concerned it would be as uncomfortable as when she swam in high school and she would spend the entire event freezing cold and stressed about her times, she ended up “having a blast.” 

Her involvement in Masters led her to regional and national meets and even to Medellin, Colombia when she participated in the 2022 Pan-American Masters Swim competition.

She describes herself and her swimmates as akin to “kids in the pool.” She loves the camaraderie and how encouraging the Masters environment is. 

Triathlons

Jessica affectionately describes her friend (also, a Paseo Hero) Greg Santilli as “relentless” in his pursuit to get her involved in an Ironman. It took Jessica a few years to finally try one, but with the support of her fellow teammate and Ironman, Fred Arnold, Jessica began competing in Olympic distance triathlons with member Angie Morgenstern and then Ironman 70.3 events. 

She has since participated in the Santa Cruz 70.3 and the Indian Wells 70.3 triathlons. The latter, she ended up getting first place for the open water swim portion (1.2 miles) for her age group. 

Plus, a little bit of fun

However, Jessica is not always focused on competing. A funny story she recounts is when Coach KP met Jessica at the pool one day and said he knew she would be a tennis player. Long story short, Jessica graduated from Starters Tennis last year and now considers the tennis courts to be her “playground.”

Staying nourished while being active

Jessica follows a performance nutrition plan meant to sustain her for hours of training. Her daily intake is only an example of what one athlete does to nourish their body. This program is not meant for all people. A nutrition plan is based on individual factors such as age, health, gender, activity level, genetics, and much more.

Jessica discovered that she is a creature of habit. She often eats the same thing throughout the week, with more variation on the weekends when she eats with friends or at restaurants more frequently. She aspires to the 80-20 rule when she eats 80% healthy foods and 20% freedom or flexible foods.

• Early Morning Pre-Breakfast - Milk with collagen or protein powder, a banana, and a handful of salted nuts (food to eat in the car while heading out the door)
• Brunch 10 am - 2 hardboiled eggs, whole wheat bread with cheese, fruit, another cup of nonfat milk, and often a matcha latte with nonfat milk and minimal sugar
• Lunch 1:30 pm - Small tuna, veggie, or PB&J sandwich with a crunchy salty side, such as pretzels 
• Dinner 5:30-7:30 pm - Kale salad with an array of toppings, such as quinoa, nuts, avo, garbanzo beans, feta, fruit (blueberries, apple, or pear), a little chicken, and bread on the side for carbs. Another common dinner is salmon with brown rice and veggies.
• Bedtime snack 9-10 pm - Bread with peanut butter and a glass of milk or a piece of fruit

Click here to listen to Dr. Jessica's Podcast, Eavesdropping with Dr. J

Lessons learned

Jessica’s years at the Paseo Club led her to some really meaningful insights. Here are the ones that have impacted her the most. 

1. She can do double or triple the amount of training that she did when she was 20 years old and was putting herself through college as a fitness instructor at the John Wooden Center at UCLA.  
2. Befriending all the wonderful members, friends, and instructors has been instrumental in getting her to grow. Being inspired by others helps her step out of her comfort zone. 
3. Adopting Greg’s motto of Carpe Diem helps her appreciate the amazing, wonderful life she has lived and continues to live. 
4. She feels “more blessed and grateful than ever.” 
   • For Coach Jimmy Owens, who is up and ready every morning with his whiteboard, keeping the Masters swimmers on track and not chitchatting too much 
   • For friends, Masters swimmers, and fellow members like Greg swimming at the crack of dawn, Tiffany (always a length ahead and inspiring Jessica to push a little harder), Angie for inspiration, National Swim Medalist and teammate Christy Burton, and Fred for showing her the ropes of open water swimming.
   • For the whole PCM (Paseo Club Masters) community. 
   • For coaches Jimmy, Trevor, Harrison, Allison and instructors KP, Raisa, Gabe, Jodi, Cezanne, Melanie, and Lynette (who she describes as “kick-a**)
   • Plus many others, too numerous to name

Living her best life

Jessica and her family have undergone a huge evolution in the last 2+ decades. 

Jessica’s daughter is now in her twenties and is a Paseo Club member, too. She struggles with chronic fatigue and chronic pain as side effects of her genetic immune deficiency, but she can attend Liquid Cardio and ride the stationary bike at the gym.

Jessica reports, “I feel so fortunate to have been on this journey and been able to celebrate my daughter and my son’s health and my athletic successes. I feel so grateful to be a mentor and source of inspiration to others.” (This includes her students at College of the Canyons and Los Angeles Mission College where she is a professor). She also feels great appreciation and affection for all her friends at the Paseo Club, who encourage and push her on the regular. 

Jessica has realized a key component to aging joyfully — that “with age, we can try new things and get stronger.” This positive outlook has helped her to continue to be curious, active, and playful. It allows her to explore new sports, such as pickleball (which she miraculously did not take to), and to keep working on getting even more fit — such as returning to weight training — something she knows she is supposed to be doing.

The Paseo Club is more than just a fitness center. It is a social community where you can grow, learn, connect, and relax. The Paseo Club is for people of all ages, interests, and abilities.

We offer pickleball, tennis, fitness, swim, and Pilates facilities. There are also several social events each month, from Wine Down Wednesday to Member Mixers. 

Join the club today and make 2025 your year for health, fitness, and connection!