“Your dad might look a little scary.” Scary? What is this, Halloween? What Steve means is that they just cut a big nasty hole into his scalp, sawed open his skull and chopped up his brain like a slab of sirloin, and he’s gonna look the part. The part of a man taken apart and put back together. Humpty-fucking-Dumpty. I wonder if I will be able to tell now? Will I see the cancer under his skin or smell it rotting on his breath? “I just wanted to warn you. Try to act as happy and as normal as possible. It’s very important… and keep the visit short. He needs to rest. Two days ago the sun fell through the window like a promise of summer. Dad and I leaned against the kitchen table and joked and crunched tuna melts. That was happy. That was normal.

To honor the wonders of Valentine’s Day (yes, I’m being sarcastic), we decided to put together a little prize package that includes a lot of truth around the ups and downs of love. The packet includes an amazing anthology from The Sun Magazine entitled, The Mysterious Life of the Heart, the latest movie from award-winning filmmaker Kara Herold, Bachelorette, 34, and a couple of other sweet goodies.

I stood there, staring in the mirror. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I thought. “Right f-in now?” It was t-minus two hours until he was arriving for the whole weekend, and not one, but two big zits right next to each other were red as a Santa costume and protruding like Kim Kardashian’s ass. “This is only going to get worse,” I thought. Ah, my skin. Or my bane, whatever you’d like to call it. I dealt with acne from puberty (which started at 10 for me – yeah, my breasts were larger at 12 than they are now) up until college, when I got on birth control pills. The wonder of several years of (mostly) clear skin, even bigger boobs, but oh yeah, a bigger waist to boot (and those fantastic mood swings). Yep, little spots of red on this part of my cheek, another one over here on my chin. After years of only wearing foundation when going out, I began to wear it on a daily basis. I finally figured it out – I have rosacea.

Many people think losing weight is simply about looking better physically. Some might also jump on the weight-loss bandwagon due to health concerns. But what many people fail to understand is that losing anywhere from several to more than a few pounds can effect the whole person by creating a positive outlook on life. Each of us is a whole being, made up of a mind, body, and spirit. When one of those entities is out of balance, the other two feel it – and are unfortunately “brought down” in the process. This can lead to low energy levels, depression, and eventually, disease. The key is not to try and work on all of those areas all at once, but rather to find your way in through one area, which will end up touching the other two.

As the new year opens, many of us are resolving to get off the couch and get our bodies into shape. But if we don’t examine our underlying attitudes towards exercise, then we may end up facing some mental barriers to getting physical. Changing your mind might just be the first step to changing your body. Here are a few common notions – and their truths – that I have witnessed as a personal trainer.

Oh, yes, you know what I’m talking about. And not in that, “Curses, foiled again!” kinda way. We’re all bad girls (and boys) deep down. Don’t get me wrong – I think this is a good thing. The only problem is when it becomes a choice between being a bad girl and being healthy. This, in a nutshell, is my continuous problem, challenge, thorn in my side, whathaveyou. Has been (not as in I’m a has-bin…you know what I mean) since about age 24. Ok, it actually was even before then, but that’s when I first began to realize it. Hey, drinking a lot of alcohol isn’t good for my mental stability! Eating a lot of sugar, whether that be cookies and ice cream or lots of yummy fruit, jacks me up and then down! Jazz hands!

Hipsters are apparently on my radar lately. I feel like I’ve heard that word about 18 times in the last two days. What do hipsters have to do with health? Well, nothing really. Other than they make me laugh. Where I’m currently living – Asheville, NC – is flooded with them. And I’m sure I’ve been called one at one point or another.