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Andrea Metcalf – @Andreametcalf
Andrea Metcalf has been teaching fitness, training clients, and coaching on the subjects of nutrition and health since 1983. She is a published journalist, broadcast celebrity, and nationally known fitness, education, and motivational speaker. Her work has been featured on the Today Show, Oprah.com, and many other publications and media outlets. Her book Naked Fitness, published in 2011, presents a new way to align yourself, walk, and eat your way to feeling great in your own skin. Her DVDs – including PainFree, Pt-2-Go, Keeping Fit Cardio, Pilates, and Strength – are available nationwide.
Benjamin Teal – @benjamteal
Benjamin Teal is the author of Build-Muscle-and-Burn-Fat.com and creator of Middle Management™ for fitness.
A two sport athlete in college (though not at the same time, there was a battle lost with a door and… well, it’s a long story), he struggled with his eating and exercise habits once life as an athlete transitioned to life as a “shirt and tie middle manager.”
Ben briefly forgot everything he had learned about staying lean and building muscle and gained over 100 pounds in a failed experiment with the “Deliver Me Delivery” Diet.
After a series of events conspired to wake him up (including a broken office chair in a meeting to decide on places within the company to “trim the fat”) he created the Middle Management Method, a system of fitness based on business principles, and successfully lost the weight he had gained.
Today, he is one of the most widely followed fitness “tweeters” with over 50,000 followers, and runs several websites including the FatLossAcademy.com, a 52-week, take-you-by-the-hand, course on how to use Middle Management to make a lifestyle change.
In his spare time, he spends as much quality time as possible with his two sons (2 and almost 1) and his wife Wendy. When they go to sleep, he masquerades online as a frog from the Caribbean…
Carla Birnberg- @MizFitOnline
Carla Birnberg is an award winning writer, community builder, personal trainer, and bodybuilding competitor. A blogger since 2001, she launched MizFitOnline in 2007 to share her health & fitness knowledge with those who might not have access to one-on-one training. As a result of her online personality and background in counseling, Carla has gained attention of publications like Women’s Day, Experience Life, ivillage.com, Glamour, Women’s Health, Fitness, Yahoo!, Yahoo!Shine, and Runners World magazine. Carla was also identified by Entrepreneur.com as one of ten individuals who exemplify the ability to create a strong personal brand and, most recently, selected by Austin Fit magazine as one of Austin’s 5 Fittest Moms. Carla also serves as fitness expert and regular guest on Mom Talk Radio and Dr.Fitness & the Fat Guy. In her spare time, she juggles motherhood, filming motivational/exercise videos, crafting irreverent tweets, recording a biweekly podcast all without breaking a sweat….and, when she does, she simply calls it cardio.
Charlie Hester- @Charliegirl2490
Who is Charlie? Mother, wife, professional dieter, flailing novelist, songwriter and commercial producer. But that’s the boring usual stuff.
Actually Charlie is a certifiable nerd/geek, guaranteed to be the most awkward person at any social function, proud owner of a slightly smaller butt, and you will recognize her by her extremely loud snorty laugh as she is running to the bathroom to pee. Yeah, that’s the stuff that makes Charlie so very… well, Charlie! At least that’s what she keeps telling herself. And her husband. And her therapist. Charlie is the author of the underground hit blog “Operation Shrink Charlie’s Big Butt.” She has been dieting since January of 2009, and started blogging about her unorthodox experiences with dieting shortly thereafter. She has lost a total of 80 pounds permanently, with the usual bounce of 5-15 pounds that come and go, causing her much frustration and cookie binges. But no matter what the scale says, her unusual humor keeps audiences coming back for more. Kinda like Kentucky Fried Chicken…
Christie Inge – @christieinge
Christie Inge is a life coach who specializes in teaching women how to use intuitive eating as a gateway into true, authentic living. Her personal path began more than four years ago when she realized that the dieting roller coaster was only making her relationship with food and her low self esteem worse.
In search of support, she started a blog that offered her a connection with like minded people that she had never experienced before. While sharing her ups, downs and everything in between, she healed her relationship with food and discovered that there was much more to life than calories and fat grams.
With her open, honest and authentic approach to blogging, her blog quickly became known as a safe haven of support within the non-dieting community. Through this network of support, she discovered her innate ability to empower women to live free from dieting by sharing her own lessons along the way.
In the spring of 2010, she launched her private coaching practice and now also offers group coaching programs. Though she bases her coaching practice on what she learned in the school of hard knocks, she is a board certified holistic health practitioner and an (almost) certified intuitive eating counselor. You can find her on twitter, facebook and her current blog, Nourishing Circle.
Christy Mensi – @shrinkingjeans
Christy started blogging her weight-loss in 2006 with a group of friends – way before it was cool to be a weight-loss blogger. In November of 2008, because her jeans were too tight, she resolved it was time to reach her goal weight. After sleepless nights and thousands of emails with Melissa, the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans was born. Started so women could realize they’re not alone in their weight-loss journeys, the Sisterhood has evolved into a place where readers participate in weekly check-ins and weight loss challenges. Each member is given support, encouragement, friendship and accountability. The Sisterhood strives to take weight-loss outside of the individual, creating a group effort.
More than a weight loss blog, on a daily basis, the Sisters (and Ryan) post about their goals, struggles and triumphs, keeping it real and pretty funny. The site is filled with valuable information on health and wellness, healthful recipes, product reviews, fitness and workout tips, and giveaways. The Sisterhood differs from other weight-loss sites because we acknowledge setbacks happen – and sometimes, you can’t say no to those nachos. Our community offers tips and encouragement to change setbacks into steps forward, addressing the physical and the mental, creating a roadmap to lasting health.
Christy is a wife and mom of two chatterboxes. Previously, she worked in the real world as a graphic designer, and now realizes nothing is more real than raising happy and healthy kids. She’s an avid photographer, reader, runner, and a little obsessive about all things organic.
Esther Crawford – @EstherCrawford
Esther is a blogging success story. In 2004, she began a travel blog to document her experiences living in the Middle East, which over the years morphed into a life memoir. After video blogging her 70lb weight loss journey with Weight Watchers she became an online spokeswoman and content creator for the company. Esther is currently featured in print ads and in a commercial with Jennifer Hudson for the new Weight Watchers PointsPlus program.
She is a social web strategist and outreach coordinator. She’s worked on campaigns with some of the largest digital agencies and brands in the world, and regularly speaks and holds workshops at events across the country. Esther is also the Founder of ShePosts.com, a popular news and commentary site for mom bloggers.
Esther holds a MA in International Relations from Durham University in England. She resides in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and is a birth mom to a toddler and foster mom to a five-year-old. Her personal blog is FaintStarLite.com.
Gina Wright – @fitblogr
Gina Wright is a graphic designer and the writer behind FitBlogr. While on her journey to find a healthy balance in life through blogging, she may know a thing or two about building websites. She’s been creating them for almost a decade. With a full-time design job and freelancing her abilities, Gina knows the way around the design world and has seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. She loves turning the ugly into the pretty.
When she’s not glued to the computer you can find her playing with her dog, reading, training for a race, designing shirts, or being outdoorsy with her husband. Gina hopes to one day write a book about her experiences in running, but for now, she’s focused more on the running than the actual writing.
Jack Sh*t – @jacksht
Jack Sh*t is the mastermind behind the weight-loss/healthy living site Jack Sh*t, Gettin’ Fit as well as the author of a number of imaginary blogs, including Whittle a Bit with Jack Sh*t, Scrappy Jack’s Scrapbook Shack and The Huffington Post. He has blogged his 80+ lb. weight-loss adventure while striving to provide hope for the hopeless, clues for the clueless and smiles for the … ummm… people who don’t smile so much. His first book You Know You Love It When I Talk Diet-y will be published as soon as he finds a publisher drunk enough to publish it. Besides being a full-time blogger, Jack makes a handsome living creating exotic animal sculptures out of candy corn, which he sells at local flea markets, truck stops and craft fairs.
Jacqueline Carly – @fitarella
Jacqueline Carly is an ex-eating disordered big girl turned healthy living advocate focused on creating online communities that recognize and connect individuals and organizations making a difference in the lives of others. Her popular blog Fitarella.com was born out of her passion for spreading the word about living a healthy, fit, fun, full life. Her motto is being fit & healthy isn’t about restriction, deprivation or self-punishment. It is about self-love, balance, mindfulness and respect for your body.
Jacqueline is a Board Certified Holistic Health Counselor from the renowned Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York City, a Certified Fitness Instructor, Personal Trainer and Endurance Coach. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Northeastern University with a Bachelors in Business and Leadership and is currently working on her Masters in Nutrition. She works with various publications and brands and frequently gives talks on Holistic Wellness. Most recently, Jacqueline has been in the press for being the number one vote getter in the online competition “Your OWN Show: Oprah’s Search for the Next TV Star” out of over 9,500 video submissions. She garnered 9.4 million verified votes. Her latest projects include starting the first Middlesex chapter of Girls on the Run (an international organization that educates and prepares preteen girls for a lifetime of self respect and healthy living) and developing positive non-fiction television programming.
Jen Emmert – @priorfatgirl
Jen Emmert is the owner and lead author of the blog PriorFatGirl which she started to document her own healthiness journey of losing 100lbs. A journey in which losing 100lbs was the easy part — Jen quickly found blogging to be a thereputic resource as she not only faced dealing with losing weight but also the most unimaginable and tragic of lifes events; an unexpected death of her mom and best friend.
Jen has maintained her weight loss since hitting her goal in August of 2009 but is the first to admit she isn’t perfect. In fact, Jen has continued to document her almost daily struggles of being healthy in an unhealthy world. Although PriorFatGirl.com was originally intended to be therapy for Jen, PriorFatGirl.com has since turned into a community of support and motivation for readers as they are encouraged to fight through everything life thows at them in order achieve their healthiness goals.
Jen’s story and PriorFatGirl.com has been featured in Shape Magazine, on WCCO-Minneapolis, Minneapolis Star Tribune, aol.com and many other media outlets. Jen lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota with her boyfriend, Carlos and their furry child, Iggy.
Jendi Pagano – @VloggingTips
In 2007 Jendi started her daily life blog and quickly became addicted to blogging and social media. In 2008 she started making videos for online. There were many sites with complicated information, but none with simple tips for new video bloggers. She launched SimpleVloggingTips.com to encourage and inspire other new video bloggers and is available for questions through her live show every Friday at 2pm EST on MomTV.
She works at just about anything online that will pay. Some of her jobs include video marketer, writer, editor of one of the MomsTalkNetwork blogs, social media director, virtual assistant, and speaker. Her home is in PA with her husband, 3 homeschooled children, dog, cat, and rabbit. Follow @vloggingtips if you’re interested in online video and @jendisjournal if you’re interested in her crazy life online or off.
Jenn Nims – @girl-heroes
Jenn blogs over at Girl Heroes about sanity (or not) on her quest for “insane” health. She enjoys homeschooling, goats, being barefoot, roadside dives, daydreaming, and celebrating women, “Girl Heroes”, who change the world by choosing health.
As a HKC and RKC certified kettlebell instructor, Jenn loves to see people grow in strength and confidence. She prefers outside the box training, using many tools including kettlebells, to create short, effective, and fun workouts for herself and her Iron Vigor clients. In addition to strength training, Jenn also studies and competes in taekwondo. She is hoping to earn her black belt in the summer of 2011. Hiiiya!
Jenn lives in CA with her husband, two boys, two pugs and a cat of royal descent.
Jennette Fulda – @jennettefulda
Jennette Fulda is a freelance writer and web designer who makes the Internet a more beautiful place with her company, Make My Blog Pretty. Jennette is best known in the FitBloggin’ community for blogging about her 200-pound weight loss via diet and exercise at PastaQueen and for her book, “Half-Assed: A Weight-loss Memoir” published in May 2008. Her second memoir, “Chocolate & Vicodin: My Quest for Relief from the Headache that Wouldn’t Go Away” is out in February 2011 from Simon & Schuster. If you manage to spell her name right, more info can be found at JennetteFulda.com.
Jess Milcetich – @run_girl_run
When she’s not busy training for marathons and blogging about the whole process at jessruns.com, Jess Milcetich spends her free time on Facebook and Twitter. In her day job she works in social media outreach, creating and implementing social media and brand-building strategies for her organization. When she’s off the clock, she’s actively engaged in the healthy living community on Twitter. (You can find her @run_girl_run).
With a background in print journalism, Jess dove into the social media world after a gig at a newspaper when she realized its potential to spread information in a way traditional media couldn’t. Now she loves teaching others about how they can use social media to effectively interact and share their message with others.
Jim Doran – @jimdoran
Jim Doran is a software engineer at Johns Hopkins University, where he blogs, designs and develops Web sites. He also teaches people how to design and make Web sites at the Community College of Baltimore County. Jim is a technical editor for O’Reilly media, where he has contributed to WordPress and jQuery books.
Jim has a black belt in Kung Fu, which he has practiced for 18 years. He likes skateboarding, is a volunteer docent at the American Visionary Art Museum and plans to finally destroy the publishing industry with his zines and comics.
Josie Maurer – @YumYucky
Josie Maurer is not just a greedy woman equipped with double stomachs lined with steel. She’s an exerciser, too. In 2009 Josie chewed her way onto the scene with her zany-informative foodie and fitness blog, YumYucky.com. In that same year the blog received kudos from Fitness Magazine on their list of Favorite Food and Nutrition Blogs, and also earned a 2009 Food Buzz Blog Award nomination.
With a knack for creative content, the popularity of Josie’s blog continues to grow as websites like Self Magazine, Fit Sugar, Wedding Channel, and even the celebrity gossip site, Dlisted, have linked to her posts.
The Yum Yucky brand also opened the door to a freelance career as Josie writes on fitness, family, and lifestyle topics in print and new media. Her first eBook, Yum Yucky’s Guide to Taming the Sugar Beast, is currently in production. Her localized niche blog, DelawareMommy.com, is also coming soon.
As the co-founder of Fit Blogger’s Guide, Josie and her partner, Ryan Sullivan (@nomorebacon), share their knowledge with hobbyists and budding pros on the nuts and bolts of health and fitness blogging.
Josie resides in Delaware with her husband and their four child-spawns, ages 17, 14, 6, and 2.
Julie Anderson – @juliejulie
Julie Anderson, a self-proclaimed “casual runner” is the slightly frazzled, middle-aged mom of three kids, and two neurotic dogs. She made up the Chubby Mommy Running Club blog many years ago on a whim, to share little stories, connect and encourage people, tell jokes, and complain about her hair. Lo and behold, her readers asked her to start real clubs so they could meet in real life, since you can’t actually run on Facebook or Twitter. Julie does like to run, sometimes, preferably outside, when it’s about 72’ with a few scattered clouds, and she’s not too tired, crabby, stressed-out or in the middle of a nervous breakdown. Julie is the Founder of Twist Pop Media, a creative content development company, and also writes for CafeMom.com’s “The Stir” blog, in the Healthy Living and Home and Garden sections. On Twitter she’s juliejulie, and her mantra is“Try Not Cry!” because “Just Do It!” seems so demanding.
Karen C.L. Anderson – @ KCLAnderson
KCLAnderson (Karen) blogs about the literal ups and downs of what happens after achieiving “weight loss success” – and the results are not typical! “Before & After: A Real Life Story” explores:
- what it means to accept yourself no matter what
- not wanting to struggle
- giving up the scale permanently
- pouring bottles of wine down the drain
- getting angry at clueless doctors, and
- the belief that if you view this* as hard, a battle, or a war, that’s exactly what you’ll get
Her recently published book – AFTER (the before & after)
As a freelance writer, Karen prides herself on being able to capture ideas and personalities and put them into words that move and motivate others. She thrives on procrastinating and does her best work under pressure. Prior to becoming a freelancer, Karen spent 17 years trying to fit her right-brained self into a left-brained career as a trade magazine journalist in the field of plastics. She worked mostly in New York City, which helped make up for the trauma.
Karen currently lives in New London, CT, with her husband, Tim who is most definitely a left-brainer. She sincerely appreciates that in him.
*health, wellness, fitness, weight loss etc.
Karla Walsh – @karla522
Karla began blogging at Healthful Bites in September 2009 to build on her health journalism skills. During that time, she was finishing up her college coursework toward a degree in magazine journalism and community and public health. After graduating and earning her community health education specialist credential, Karla was lucky enough to turn her internship experiences and blogging history into an editorial assistant position at Fitness Magazine, where she has been working since June 2010.
When she’s not (attempting to) balance work and blogging, Karla enjoys sweating along with workout DVDs, discovering healthy restaurants in her new hometown of New York City and tweeting with pals, especially during The Biggest Loser.* You can also catch Karla as a regular guest on the Dr. Fitness and the Fat Guy podcast.
*Not-so-little-known fact: Karla is a bit of a fan of the show, and
Bob Harper in particular.
Kate Brown – @invinciblekate
Kate Brown is an ISSA Certified Fitness Trainer and Community Director at DailyBurn, which currently has close to one million members. She is also the motivation coach for the free Body by Glamour 2011 shape-up program. She specializes in creating fitness programs that generate results and wellness lifestyle design that transforms people’s lives. Kate believes that everyone deserves to be healthy and happy if they just commit to taking care of their wellness. She lives in New York City, and in her spare time she competes in the sport of triathlon.
Kate became interested in nutrition and food activism while living in the Portland, Maine (a foodie’s mecca), and she can shuck a lobster in under 60 seconds. Kate’s newest project is called FoodStripped, a one year economic experiment in eating non-processed foods.
Kath Younger – @katheats
Kath Younger, RD writes a popular healthy food blog read by over 10,000 visitors a day from around the world. Kath Eats Real Food is a celebration of life through the lens of food. Kath writes about everything from recipes to organization tips to encouraging readers to try new “real” foods, including wheatberries, kale chips, chia seeds, and her famous whipped banana oatmeal. Having lost over 30 pounds after graduating from college, Kath is a Registered Dietitian and operates a Great Harvest Bread Company with her husband in Charlottesville, VA. She has been writing KERF since 2007.
Katie Heddleston – @KatieHeddleston
Katie Heddleston is the Registered Dietitian behind Healthy Heddleston. Blogging about her life as an RD, Katie showcases gluten free recipes and her active life running, biking, and more! Katie currently operates a private practice serving the Cleveland, Ohio area. Blogging since April 2010, Katie has found a true passion in writing and creating healthy recipes. She hopes to take her career into freelance and cookbook writing!
Katie graduated from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio with a MS in Public Health Nutrition and a BS in Nutrition. She also completed her Dietetic Internship through Case, experiencing many wonderful rotations — especially her 10 week block rotation in Kauai, Hawaii.
Feel free to approach Katie at FitBloggin’ — she’d loved to talk nutrition with you!
Katy Widrick – @kwidrick
Katy Widrick is addicted to all things media. By day, she works as Executive Producer for a television show (GROWING BOLDER, airing on PBS stations nationwide) and heads up the company’s social media outreach, including Facebook and Twitter. By night, she’s a blogger who muses on everything from healthy eating to triathlon training; bad grammar to organic gardening. She’s passionate about helping others use the latest tools and technology, and has recently started sharing tips and tricks through videos and how-to segments on http://KatyWidrick.com.
Katy also started the weekly #Fitblog chat on Twitter, which attracts hundreds of people from all over the world, spanning all ages, sizes and health goals
Kelly A. Olexa – @KellyOlexa
Kelly’s extensive professional experience is a mixed blend of Sales, Marketing, and Business Development. She has worked for tech startups, several small to medium-sized businesses, as well as Fortune 500 organizations.
Kelly holds two Bachelor of Arts degrees from The Ohio State University. Kelly has enhanced her sales and marketing experience by immersing herself in all things Social Media. Her personal blog, www.KellyOlexa.com, is focused on her passion for fitness and health, and has garnered a captive audience. This exposure produced myriad opportunities for Kelly to develop social media strategy for Fitness Celebrities, Supplement companies and numerous health/wellness brands. Kelly’s natural on-camera presence and charisma landed her a spot as one of 100 Ford Fiesta Agents for the “Ford Fiesta Movement”. In addition, Kelly’s engagement on Twitter has resulted in over 29,000 followers, regular placement among the “Twitter Elite” Top 100 (via Hubspot, TwitterGrader) nationally and in the Top 25 for Chicago. In August of 2010, Kelly became a member of the Sears® Fit Club Team, contributing regular content on the Sears® Fit Club Facebook page. Every day, over 100,000 subscribers are paying attention to what Kelly Olexa has to say.
In her “spare time”, Kelly completed her first book, on social media for business professionals. This book, due out in 2011, addresses how big brands and individuals can effectively utilize social media to generate buzz and build sustainable relationships.
Lisa – @WorkoutMommy
Workout Mommy (also known as Lisa) is a former marathon runner/fitness junkie turned stay at home mom. She now spends her day running after her 3 little boys and finding creative ways to stay fit and strong. This may include lunges around the driveway or kettlebell swings at the park. She believes it is all about making the most of what time you have and setting priorities.
Lisa is a Certified Personal Trainer with NASM and will be taking the Hardstyle Kettlebell Certification (HKC) in January 2011.
Lisa’s blog Workout Mommy is listed as one of Shape Magazines Top 3 “Shape up” blogs as well as one of Fitness Magazine’s favorite fitness blogs. On her blog she provides motivation, inspiration, and ideas on how to fit in exercise, fitness, and health in your busy day. She also shares her struggles with losing the baby weight and her attempts to avoid chocolate. (Sometimes she is successful, but often times she is not!)
Lisa firmly believes that fitness will do wonders for your physical health as well as your sanity. Her motto is: “Never underestimate the power of a workout!”
Lisa Johnson – @LisaJohnson
Lisa Johnson owns the award-winning Modern Pilates studio and has quickly established herself as a writer of integrity on all things fitness. As a trainer who is “in the trenches” working daily with people, Lisa brings a unique perspective to her fitness writing. She is not only an active fitness professional but also knows how to translate even the most complex movement to the average Jane. She is number one on twitter for Pilates and in the top 10 for Fitness. She left last year’s FitBloggin with a lot of gumption and information and turned all that into a thriving blogging career.
Liz Neporent – @lizzyfit
Liz Neporent is a columnist and blogger for AOL’s That’s Fit and a contributor to ABC News online including her influential Reporter’s Notebook series which covers diverse subjects as Children and Energy Drinks and Obesity in Fruit Flies. She is also a regular contributor to dozens of other websites, publications and national media outlets. As a writing and health expert consultant to Harvard Health Publications she has written and managed the writing of several books including The Winner’s Brain with authors Jeff Brown and Mark Fenske and the upcoming Harvard Medical School’s Guide to Managing Migraines. In fact, Liz is author or co-author of more than 15 books including Fitness For Dummies, now in its 4th edition and Weight Training for Dummies, currently in its 3rd edition. Neporent brings a strong science background, fitness authority and a sense of fun to all of her work as noted with her wildly popular AOL posts about topics such as Naked Yoga, Barefoot Running and Weight Loss Ice Pants. She holds a masters degree in exercise physiology from New York University and is certified by the American Council on Exercise, where she served on the board of directors for six years and now serves on the emeritus board and as a national spokesperson. She is the fitness and media advisor for The Hudson Valley Women’s Health Initiative, a charitable organization dedicated to educating people about medical, health and fitness issues. She lives in New York City with her husband Jay and super cute daughter Skylar. Follow her on twitter @lizzyfit or check out her website www.w360.com.
Matt Frazier – @nomeatathlete
Like so many health blogs, No Meat Athlete started as a way to document a journey. In this case, that journey was endurance runner Matt Frazier’s mission to qualify for the prestigious Boston Marathon by switching to a vegetarian diet.
But rather than end when the journey did, No Meat Athlete was successful in making the difficult leap from blog to brand. In a year and a half, No Meat Athlete and the running-carrot logo have become symbols of the “fit vegetarian” lifestyle—nearly 1000 runners in over a dozen countries worldwide now wear the well-known “Runs on Plants” shirts to show other runners just how much is possible with a plant-based diet.
Matt has written an ebook, Fuel Your Run the Tarahumara Way, and has been featured in several other ebooks, including A Merry Life Guide to Creating a Better Health Blog. He has written for Zen Habits, one of Time Magazine’s 25 Best Blogs of 2010, and has been interviewed on radio and on many websites.
A few months after launching No Meat Athlete, Matt launched Health Blog Helper, a blog to help new bloggers setup their blogs, attract traffic, and eventually make those blogs a dependable source of income via multiple streams. Through the site, he also offers personal blog coaching services.
When he’s not running or blogging, Matt’s a full-time graduate student working on his Ph.D. in Applied Math. He enjoys reading, gambling, music, and brewing beer, and currently lives in Maryland with his wife and son.
Monica Olivas – @runeatrepeat
Monica is a fun-loving, run-loving, blogger who grew up on the mean streets of Pico Rivera and made her way to become a real housewife of the OC – only she’s not blond or fancy. She has a degree in Communications and worked as a journalist before deciding to pursue health and fitness writing.
She began her blog, Run, Eat, Repeat, in February 2008 as a way to document her weight loss and the journey of training for her first marathon. She quickly fell in love with sharing her day-to-day life, training, eats and adventures with complete strangers through the internet. Now she can’t imagine life without RER and all the friends she’s made through blogging.
She is currently pursuing a second degree in Nutrition, writes for Breathe Magazine, and is looking for more ways to
incorporate chickpeas into her day.
Paolo Sambrano – @paolo
Being unemployed is extremely conducive to losing weight. Just ask
Paolo Sambrano. After quitting his job in July ’09, Paolo took upon himself to finally lose (and keep off) the weight he’s been struggling with for most of his life. After starting I Get Wet as a secret means to keep himself accountable. Paolo’s kept up with I Get Wet for a year now. Which is much longer than the video blog he kept in 2006 to lose weight and the ill-fated time he thought he wanted to become a professional fighter. Paolo is proud to still be using I Get Wet as a means to broadcast (publicly, now!) his thoughts on weight loss, health, and food. Because, while Paolo has lost sixty pounds, he hasn’t forgotten how to be a fatass.
As a ‘solo performer’ (Paolo only recently learned not to cringe reflexively when referring to himself as one) Paolo recently completed the first full run of his debut full-length solo show, “Bi-Poseur” (directed by stand-up comic and solo performer, W. Kamau Bell) in San Francisco. Paolo is currently working on his next solo show, about losing sixty pounds, his relationship with food, and the Biggest Loser Industrial Complex, named curiously enough, I Get Wet.
For more Paolo Sambrano related hi-jinks, feel free to follow Paolo on Twitter, @paolo.
Ryan Sullivan – @nomorebacon
Many have mistaken Ryan Sullivan’s weight loss blog NoMoreBacon.com for an anti-pork campaign. It’s quite the contrary. His blog tells the story of his 140 pound weight loss and painful breakup with salty cured meats in order to live a healthier life. After tipping the scales at 400 pounds he knew it was time for his poor eating habits and lack of activity to change for good. What started as an accountability journal quickly became a stepping stone into radio and television appearances as well as a weekly spot writing for On Fitness, the health and fitness blog at USNews.
His technical and design background also led to the rapid growth of ReviveMyBlog.com, a site aimed at helping bloggers focus on what they do best; share their voice. ReviveMyBlog is a blog consulting and design shop that has redesigned hundreds of blogs and websites. It helps bloggers grow their readership, monetize, and share their point of view with the world without feeling intimidated by the technical side of blogging.
In an effort to share more of the tips and tricks of blogging with the fitness and healthy living blog community, Ryan, along with @YumYucky has launched FitBloggersGuide.com. It’s a resource for all bloggers, new and old to achieve whatever goals they may have for their blog; including moving from hobby to pro status.
Ryan resides in the beautiful state of Utah with his two boys the Bacon Bits, and his amazing wife Jackie.
Scott Stawarz – @scottstawarz
Scott Stawarz is the principal technologist of Octavity.com, a technology studio in Lake Zurich, IL. At Octavity, Scott helps businesses solve problems with e-commerce, blogging, search engine optimization, social media marketing, networking architecture, and software development. In addition to consulting, he provides training to technology training centers and businesses. Scott is an adjunct faculty member at Harper College, in Palatine, IL where he teaches Internet technologies, SQL Server databases, and social media optimization. Scott is a 10 year Microsoft Certified Trainer holding numerous technology certifications. In 2004, Scott co-founded Simpleweight.com with his brother as a way to manage their fitness and challenge others to do the same. It gave Scott an opportunity to meld his passions for helping people, technology, and fitness. Scott uses Simpleweight as a way to experiment with new technologies, Internet marketing, analytics, and experimental search engine optimization techniques. In 2010, Scott completed his first international distance triathlon, presented at the first ever Fitbloggin, and spoke at WordCamp Chicago. On the Internet, you can find Scott blogging at simpleweight.com, octavity.com, and scott.stawarz.com.
Shauna Reid – @shauna
Shauna Reid is an Australian writer living in Scotland. Her memoir The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl (Harper Collins) tells the tale of her 175 pound weight loss. She’s been blogging since 2001 at dietgirl.org. Her blog and book have been featured in People magazine, The Washington Post, ELLE, O magazine and Marie Claire to name a few.
Shauna is producer and co-host of the Two Fit Chicks and a Microphone podcast with Carla “Mizfit” Birnberg and co-founder of Up and Running, an online running class and community for women which launches in early 2011. You can find out more about Shauna’s shenanigans at shaunareid.com.
Sue O’Lear – @MrsFatass
Sue O’Lear is the wife, mom, and hotass behind the blog DidIJustEatThatOutLoud? Born and raised in Flint, Michigan, she hightailed it to Chicago after high school and spent some very formative years studying acting by day at DePaul University, and studying life at night working in a swanky bistro in Lincoln Park. She then moved to Ann Arbor where she received both her degree in Psychology from the University of Michigan and a really special marriage proposal (she said yes). She eventually came full circle, moving back to Flint in 2001 to start her family.
In April of 2009, after two particularly grueling years, Sue began writing DidIJustEatThatOutLoud?, which she calls “One girls journey from Fatass to Fabulous.” Believing that there is no topic to personal, too ridiculous, or too deeply embarrassing to be discussed (bless her heart), her blend of humor and honesty was recently recognized by Australian Women’s Health Magazine as one of the best blogs to follow for weight loss motivation. When she is not defending her choice to call herself MrsFatass or writing about bodily functions, she is also studying to become a nurse.
Sue, her husband, and their two children currently reside in Wilson, North Carolina.
Susan Ito – @ foodiemcbody
Susan Ito, aka Foodie McBody, blogs about weight loss, health, food and fitness at FoodFoodBodyBody. She began blogging when she was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes in January 2009, and owes her weight loss and health to the healthy blogging and Twitter community.
She is a graduate of San Francisco’s incomparable Solo Performance Workshop, directed by W. Kamau Bell & Martha Rynberg. There she transformed her blog into a live solo performance show, “FoodFoodBodyBody.” She has performed to sold-out audiences in San Francisco’s City Solo series at the Off-Market Theater, at the Stagewerx Theater, and at St. John’s University in New York City. She is also a Weight Watchers leader in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Tina Haupert – @carrotsncake
For more than three years, Tina has shared her life through journaling her daily meals on her blog, Carrots ‘N’ Cake. Each day, she strives to find the right balance without losing out on fun or good taste. Tina also writes a weekly feature for Health.com and directs the social strategy for a nutritional rating company called NuVal. Her first book,Carrots ‘N’ Cake: Healthy Living One Carrot and Cupcake at a Time