What do elephants and cancer have to do with my fat-loss journey?

In thinking about how the cancer had destroyed my mom’s body, it occurred to me that in order to avoid this disease, I needed to prepare my body so that it would be able to fight off any disease that it might encounter. Not only did I need to get down to a healthy weight, but I also needed to eat better quality of foods, become active, and well, become a responsible adult. Read More . . .

Out with the old, In with the New

Health with Friends is partnering with other Austin area health based businesses to host a free athletic wear clothing swap at Pathway to Fitness, a personal training studio at 4009 Medical Parkway. Shoppers are encouraged to bring their clean, gently used athletic wear to Pathway to Fitness July 18 – 22nd, and return July 23rd from 12 noon to 3:30 pm to shop for free. Unclaimed items will be given to Goodwill, or sent via the Red Cross to recipients in Alabama, Tennessee or along the Mississippi Delta. Join Us! It’s going to be So. Much. Fun. Find out more: Details on Clothing Swap Read More . . .

Introducing: Health with Friends!

I’ve recently added a new service for my customers that I’m really excited about. I’m excited about it because I am in this business to help folks be healthy. I want my clients to live better lives than they are right now & I know so many of them can, but just don’t know how, or where to start. Some folks don’t have the social support that they need at home to be successful. That’s where Health with Friends comes in. Health with Friends is a Goals Based Support Group. As a Health Educator, I assist my clients in making behavior changes where their lifestyle is concerned. I work within the 5 pillars of health: nutrition, activity, sleep, stress management and smoking cessation. Health with Friends also works within these 5 pillars of health, but rather than being accountable to just me, their wellness coach, nutritionist or personal trainer, they’re Read More . . .

TweetUp + Workout = #TWorkOut

  Everyone is doing it these days; How about you? I'm of course talking about Twitter! Twitter is best described as a micro-blog. Everything must fit within 140 characters or less. Where a blog allows one to express thoughts and opinions, and expand on it, "tweeting" is short & concise & basically what's interesting to you at that minute. Honestly, I didn't get twitter when Gary first introduced it to me; "I don't care that John is going to the grocery store! I don't need to know that." but as I started "following" interesting folks in my industry, I realized that it's a way of connecting with others that is completely unique. Occasionally folks who are on Twitter will have a TweetUp. It's where folks who tweet get together & meet face to face. Stephanie, from Venus Envy Training (@venusenvyaustin) and I (@esherman) have organized a Tweetup with a Workout. Read More . . .

There are No Short Cutz

Studies show that one of the keys to losing and maintaining weight loss is a strong social support system. But what if you don’t have a strong social support system? Are you doomed to a future of being overweight? Nope. Not at all. If you know my story, you know that it took me a long time to get where I am today, and I don’t know if I would be where I am without my support family. I don’t really remember when it happened, but Gary had started working out with his trainer, Mike, who was really into bodybuilding. It was through Gary that I learned about the user forums on bodybuilding.com. I started participating in the online forums there, & learned a LOT about lifting weights, eating cleanly, and losing weight. I also learned that although the forums were moderated, any shmoe with a keyboard can write whatever Read More . . .

The Little Thing in Your Head That’s Keeping You Fat

Guest Blog By Tom Venuto www.BurnTheFat.com I have no doubt that a scientist somewhere just read the title of this article and said out loud, “YES! Venuto is right! That little thing in your head – the hypothalamus – it IS the thing that is keeping you fat! By George, that Venuto guy isn’t a dumb bodybuilder after all – he’s been doing his research!” At which moment, I will be shaking my head and thinking, “you need to get out of the laboratory and into the real world, with real people, buddy.” Okay, okay, to be fair, Neuro-endocrine control of appetite and body fat really is quite fascinating. But today, I’m talking about PSYCH-ology, not PHYSI-ology. The little thing in your head that’s keeping you fat is actually just a…. Limiting belief! Self-limiting beliefs are among the biggest problems that people deal with in their struggles to achieve a Read More . . .

The Best Kept Secret in Austin

I’ve lived in Austin for almost 8 years (yikes! has it been that long?). I’ve been actively engaged in the fitness community for about 3 years now. When you come to Austin, you can’t help but know about RunTex & the running community here – Runtex has such a presence here. I think they sponsor absolutely every race imaginable; they provide cold water on the town lake hike & bike trail; through word of mouth, they are THE store for runners, everyone talks about RunTex; and they have RunTex University, which I had heard of but never understood: until now. RunTex University’s mission is to improve the fitness of our community, state and nation through the support of endurance events and training programs. We look forward to sharing our passion with each of you. I was confused about RunTexU because when I went to look at their training programs, I Read More . . .

It’s always something

A few weeks back, my husband, Gary & I were walking into Sports Authority when we saw the dreaded folding table set up in front of the entrance surrounded by little girls holding boxes of cookies! Girlscout cookie season has started. What really struck me about it was that this occurred just 3 weeks after the New Year. I thought about all of those people who had made resolutions to "eat healthy" this year, or "give up junk food". I thought about them because after three weeks of eating differently; depriving yourself of everything that you think is good (because that's what healthy eating is. Isn't it?), all that is needed is one innocent little girl selling something that only comes around once a year to derail you from your commitment to your health. Two weeks later was the SuperBowl. It is now said that the SuperBowl is the 2nd Read More . . .