Power-lifting nurse helps Franciscan center focuses on prevention, wellness for cancer and cardiac disease

Robin Eads approaches her passion for powerlifting in much the same way she does working with her patients as an advanced practice nurse at Franciscan Health Indianapolis Healthy Living Center.

“I like to say I do lifestyle management,” said Eads, 52 of Indianapolis. “It’s about decision making.”

It comes down to simple steps, among them: Get enough protein, eat mostly whole foods (those with shorter ingredient lists), get enough sleep and do resistance training.

Also, it’s about goal setting, accountability and, yes, even allowing for a dietary indulgence like a doughnut.

Eads works with patients who’ve come through cancer treatments or heart disease, including many who also have other chronic conditions, helping them to adopt habits for overall health and disease prevention.

What she found was that those same principles helped her in the gym, first when she set out to lose extra pounds and eventually when she embraced powerlifting.

Eads recently set state records for her age and weight class at the 2025 Powerlifting United Circle City Open for the squat, bench press and deadlift.

The 5-foot 4-inch, 145-pound Eads combined for 771 pounds in those three lifts. In fact, her DOTS score—a method used in powerlifting to compare athletes across weight classes and genders—qualified her for Powerlifting United’s national championship this July in New Jersey.

As she embraced powerlifting, Eads started intertwining her own fitness journey into her work with patients at the Healthy Living Center on the Franciscan Health Indianapolis hospital campus on the far-south side.

“She practices what she preaches, very literally,” said Dr. Christopher Doehring, vice president for medical affairs for Franciscan Health in central Indiana. “She takes that very seriously in her own life.”

The Franciscan Healthy Living Center, which opened in 2020, is designed to help those who’ve been through cancer, heart disease, surgery or other serious conditions improve their health factors, including diet, fitness, sleep and mental health. It focuses on wellness and early detection of disease; a provider referral is required.

The center is currently seeing about 70 patients, with appointments typically scheduled for every two weeks. Appointments usually last 30 minutes to an hour. “Having more than 15-20 minutes gives me the ability to develop relationships with my patients,” Eads said.

Once a patient progresses in the program, appointments might be cut back to once a month or even once a quarter. Since its founding, the center has worked with more than 300 patients.

Honey Gadient of Indianapolis was referred to the Healthy Living Center after treatments for breast cancer.

She was diagnosed in May 2023 and endured months of chemotherapy, surgery, radiation and immunotherapy. Before her cancer diagnosis, she had been going to the gym and working hard on her fitness, losing about 30 pounds.

But the cancer treatments left her tired. And after getting through tough times, she began to reward herself with food. “Through all my chemo treatments I did fine, and then I started gaining the weight back,” she said. “It was extremely frustrating.

“Everything tasted terrible,” she said of the effects of the cancer treatments. “The only things that tasted good were the foods I shouldn’t eat.”

One day she was discussing her frustrations with a radiology nurse.

“I think you need to see Robin at the Healthy Living Center,” the nurse responded.

During their first meeting at the center, Eads asked Gadient for her biggest struggles.

Healthy eating and exercise, Gadient said, adding: “And I don’t see the scales moving. I just want to give up.”

Eads responded by telling her, “It isn’t always about the scale.”

The two worked out a plan that focused on increasing protein, fiber and water intake. Gadient started eating more lean meats and high-protein yogurt and going to the gym three times a week consistently.

While at the YMCA and at Eads’ urging, Gadient started lifting heavier weights on the machines than she had before.

“One of her favorite sayings is, ‘I want you to be making ugly-girl faces by the time you finish your set,” Gadient said of Eads’ advice.

So far, Gadient has lost about 15 of the 50 pounds she wants to lose. And she said her body-composition scans since starting at the Healthy Living Center reveal she is losing dangerous visceral fat.

“I feel like I am finally back to feeling good again, energetic,” she said. “I don’t feel sluggish.”

When Eads helped to start the healthy living center, she was 20 to 25 pounds heavier than she is today—and that’s when a key realization hit her.

“If I am going to tell patients to do these things, and I don’t do them myself, what kind of provider am I?” she said. “I am transparent with my patents that I do the things that I ask of you. When patients do these things, the amazing part is, they reach their goals.”

And she digs into the details.

For diet, she recommends patients eat 80% for their health and 20% for them, which means occasional treats like cookies. However, she asks her patients to not drink any soda—regular or diet.

Eads recommends her patients get about 90 grams of protein and 30 grams of fiber daily. She said her patients on GLP-1 medications typically lose 40 to 80 pounds and those not on those drugs lose 30 to 50 pounds, although some of her patients have lost more than 100 pounds.

For exercise, she favors strength training, noting that three predictors of longevity are grip strength, lower leg strength and lower leg balance. “My goal is to put muscle on my aging patients or my patients who have been sick, to increase longevity,” she said.

She also screens all her patients for sleep apnea because that condition is often underdiagnosed and causes other health problems.

Gadient, the breast cancer survivor, started off seeing Eads every two weeks and then slowed to once a month as she progressed.

“I feel like she is always going to be a resource for me,” Gadient said. “The thing with Robin is, she is living it with us. She’s an example.”•