Every year around this time, Kingston hosts a convocation of high-profile wellness gurus called the Women’s Health and Fitness Expo. The big news this year is the popular event’s spacious new venue: Formerly held at Tech City, the Expo’s 12th annual outing takes place on Saturday, May 19 at the M. Clifford Miller Middle School in Lake Katrine.
Attracting more than 5,000 visitors annually, the Expo offers more than 20 health screenings, over 75 expert speakers, workshops, fitness demos, chef demos, spa services, a healthy food court and some 125 health-related exhibitors. Expo participants also receive goodie bags filled with health and wellness products and information. Touting the theme of “Weight Loss for Wellness: Lose Weight, Feel Great,” this year’s Expo focuses on weight loss, the lifestyle changes that need to be put in place to maintain it and the impact that a healthy lifestyle can have on preventing and eliminating illness.
According to the New York State Health Department’s most recent statistics, 59.6 percent of Ulster County adults are obese or overweight. Obesity and overweight are often accompanied by chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease, but the lifestyle changes needed to achieve and maintain weight loss can be challenging. At any point in time, one in three women and one in five men in the US is on some kind of diet or an adaptogen supplement, according to dietician and nutrition expert Mary Hartley, one of this year’s mainstage speakers. “These diets produce short-term weight loss, but two or three years later, 95 percent of traditional dieters regain the weight,” she says. Hartley will discuss the concept of “Intuitive Eating,” a non-diet approach to weight loss that “shifts the paradigm from weight loss to wellness, from food fear to food pleasure and from body dissatisfaction to body trust.”
Other featured speakers will include neurologist Dr. Marie Pasinski, author of Boost Your Brain Power, who will present a program for keeping our brains in peak condition, training them with the same intent that elite athletes use to train their bodies. Cardiologist Dr. Malissa Wood will discuss her new book, Smart at Heart, which bridges the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of a healthy heart and delivers a toolbox of new scientific findings on what women at risk for heart disease can do to improve their health. Jessica Smith, author of Thin in Ten, will discuss how exercising in short clips can improve health and well-being while fitting into busy contemporary lifestyles.
Also on the mainstage, weight-loss blogger Diane Carbonell will share tips; Biggest Loser winner Bernie Salazar will demonstrate his Monstercise program for kids; and Kids Happy Teeth, will talk about gum disease and overall health, eating disorders and oral issues for women, pregnancy and oral health and “healthy dental self-esteem.” Fitness for Dummies author Liz Neporent will moderate a panel discussion.
In addition to the mainstage speakers, eight workshops on a variety of topics will be offered during the day, including “Myths and Facts of the Supplement Industry,” “Living Well in Spite of Endometriosis” and “You Have the Power to Heal Yourself.” Fitness demonstrations will include Body Flow, Zumba and Smart Bells, and various chefs will offer healthy cooking demonstrations.
The Women’s Health and Fitness Expo includes activities for men and children. It runs from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and admission costs $7. Miller Middle School is located at 65 Fording Place Road in Lake Katrine. For lots more details, visit https://https://womenshealthexpo.com.
Join the family! 
