Happy New Year! The New Year can be a wonderful time for self-reflection and self-assessment. It can be a time to take stock, imagine, and chart courses into the future. Yet this time often comes with many pitfalls – especially where commitments toward health and well-being are concerned. As you know, the “diet and exercise” mindset sets us up for …

Thanksgiving is less than a week away and the blogosphere is all a twitter concerning holiday weight gain. One site claims that Americans gain, on average, 5 – 10 pounds during the holiday season and other sites simply “explain” the phenomenon – too much food. And it’s not just the Internet that is focused on this concern. It is the …

There is no better master class intensive for personal growth than being on a film or tv production set. As the founder of and spokesperson for Happy Calories Happy Exercise™, I don’t talk about that other part of my life much. But to answer the question of “how” to apply various principles and tools of self-actualization, I learned to do it through …

“If I never have to answer that ROI question again, I’ll be a happy woman” my friend said. My friend was speaking to a group of business professionals on the use of social media as a marketing tool. And she began her presentation by addressing the question she is most commonly asked, “How do I determine my return on investment?” …

Whenever I am the special guest for a teleseminar or radio interview, there is one question that inevitably comes up. How did I learn to connect with my body? I always answer that question truthfully – Pilates. But in the limited amount of time we have during an interview, I never get the opportunity to dive into a deeper discussion. …

In this interview, I share the answer to the question I am most often asked: What is a Happy Calorie?

Coke is in a bit of hot water these days. Their “Be OK” ad illustrating how a can of Coke – equaling 140 “Happy Calories” – can be used to “spend on extra Happy Activities” was just banned in the UK. And as the original “Happy Calories, Happy Exercise Girl,” I have to agree – that ad should be pulled …

So…what do you do? It seems like an innocent question, a type of common everyday small talk. And what I find interesting is that my conversations are nearly always the same. So…what do you do? I’m an author, speaker and wellness consultant. Oh, what’s your book? Happy Calories Don’t Count (neither does unhappy exercise) What’s a happy calorie? I find …

Winter weather seems to drag on into spring in Seattle. So when the sun finally came out, my husband and I jumped at the chance to take a walk at a nearby park. There are old railroad tracks that border the park. And with the giddiness of children, we decided to try walking on the rails. At first, I walked …

In our efforts to achieve and maintain an “ideal” body weight (however that’s defined), an issue that frequently surfaces is “emotional” eating. And quite frankly, I believe it’s a lot of hogwash. That’s not to say that the pain we suffer as a result of our dysfunctional relationships with food is not real. That pain is very, very real. However, …