Writer, certified personal trainer, Ironman, and marathoner with over ten years of experience as an occupational therapist. I write primarily about health, fitness, and women in endurance sports.
Meant To Be Shared
Rosalinda Mendoza ’06 draws on her heritage and education in bringing mezcal to the U.S.
“I always knew I wanted to start a business,” says Rosalinda Mendoza ’06. Early on in her journey to entrepreneurship, she chose to study economics at Whitman College—with that future business dream in mind. What she didn’t know at the time was the company she’d eventually launch would tie her deeply to her family’s cultural heritage—and require flexibility and fortitude.
In late 2019, Mendoza left a stab...
Heart of a Champion
National champ Tanner Filion ’23 says his teamates and coaches make him stronger, faster ... and happier.
On March 19, 2022, Tanner Filion, ’23 won the NCAA Division III National Championships in the 200 backstroke in a record-breaking performance he never saw coming. The then junior’s time of 1:41.49 not only smashed the previous record by two seconds, it was a hairsbreadth from the qualifying time for Division I Nationals. Filion also made Whitman history as one of the few Blues to win a na...
You Might Not Be Hungry After a Workout—But You Should Still Eat Something
Training for my first marathon, I convinced myself that my stomach just couldn’t handle breakfast before an early morning run. I’d head out on multi-hour-long runs on an empty stomach, consume a gel or two with a few swigs of watered-down Gatorade mid-run, then wait a couple of hours after I was done to eat my bagel and cream cheese.
During that training cycle, my legs were so sore that I often had to trade my runs for the elliptical. At the time, I wasn’t sure what was going on, but looking ...
The 3 Best Acupressure Mats for Peak Stress Relief
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Relaxation, improved sleep, reduced aches and pains. Sounds pretty good, no? All these—and more!—are the purported benefits ...
I hide food from my husband. It's helping me heal from my unhealthy relationship with food.
I've been hiding food from my husband to avoid fights.
Keeping my own stash of sweets has been key to helping me heal my relationship with food.
He understands that I can be more present with him and our kids when I'm not preoccupied by food-related anxiety.
"Where is the Chocolove bar I just bought?!" I say, enraged. My husband is blushing and has a sheepish grin on his face. "I might have eaten it," he admits.
This was a common interaction between my husband and me — until I started stockpi...
How to Channel Your Rage Into a Workout So You Actually Feel Better
This article is part of All the Rage, an editorial package that digs into the science of anger. SELF will be publishing new articles for this series all week. Read more here.
We’ve all done it. You hit the gym for a lifting session or lace up for a rage run when your anger is brimming and you need an outlet. Feels amazing, right?
Of course, as a certified personal trainer, I wouldn’t exactly recommend rage over consistency, quality sleep, or adequate fuel as a way to help you meet your goals....
What gravel cycling is and why you should give it a try
Krystal Salvent was an avid road cyclist — until she found herself lying in a ditch after a driver ran her off the road. That experience prompted the Boulder, Colo., co-leader of Black Girls Do Bike Denver to buy her first gravel bike. “If I can remove that obstacle for myself and focus more on my bike handling, rocks and maybe rattlesnakes, I think I’m a little better off,” she said.
Salvent represents the growing community of gravel cyclists, who prefer pedaling alongside fields and forests...
3 Ways Mindy Kaling Went From Hating Exercise to Actually Enjoying It
For Mindy Kaling it took a major mindset shift to finally find joy in her workouts. Now at 42 she’s overhauled the way she thinks about exercise.
“I’m the healthiest I’ve ever been,” she tells SELF. “I love it.”
As an actor, writer, director, producer, comedian, and mom, Kaling knows all too well about the difficulty of setting aside time for herself. But carving out time for movement—and keeping it fun and interesting—makes her better at everything else she does, she says.
“I am funnier, mor...
Thanksgiving means family, food — and plenty of harmful diet talk. Here’s how to deal with it.
The holiday season means holiday gatherings. Gatherings, of course, mean food, and food — especially the treats that make an appearance at only certain times of the year — often leads to talk about the effect on our waistlines. For people with a fraught relationship with food and their bodies, these conversations can be stressful, draining and sometimes toxic.
Marquisele Mercedes is no stranger to such talk. When she was accepted to her first-choice graduate program, a close family member off...
8 People Share Their Best Tips for Navigating the Fitness World in a Larger Body
The fitness world can feel intimidating for anyone. But as folks in larger bodies know all too well, it can often be exclusive, unwelcoming, or even unsafe.
Diet culture is largely to blame, Nancy Ellis-Ordway, Ph.D., LCSW, a Jefferson City, Missouri, psychotherapist specializing in eating disorders and weight stigma, and author of Thrive at Any Weight, tells SELF. It can work its way into physical spaces, like gyms and studios, where fitness instructors can rely on harmful, body-based “motiv...
Pro Triathlete Sika Henry Raced Her First Ultramarathon. Now Her Confidence Is Sky High
When pro triathlete Sika Henry signed up for her first ultramarathon, she had no expectations—which is exactly what drew her to the event. On November 20, Henry crossed the finish line at the JFK 50 Mile in 9:01:36, over two and a half hours behind the first woman.
“I thought I would be devastated,” Henry told Runner’s World, regarding her results.Instead, she was thrilled. “I was not competing against anybody for once. Place was just completely inconsequential to me.”
For years, the athlete ...
Here’s why you should let your mind wander — and how to set it free
If you’re overwhelmed, you’re not alone. Even before the pandemic, 60 percent of adults in the United States reported sometimes feeling too busy to enjoy life, according to a report from the Pew Research Center, and 52 percent said they were usually trying to do at least two things at once.
Some experts say the antidote is free and accessible to anyone willing to try it: setting aside some time to let your mind wander.
This practice has been portrayed recently as “doing nothing,” thanks in pa...
Ingenious Collaboration
Jim Edmunds wasn’t sure what his next step would be after graduating from Whitman College.
“Like a lot of students, I was sort of a blank slate as to what I was going to do,” he says. At the time, he didn’t see himself creating a company that would ultimately give back to both Whitman and to the greater Walla Walla business community.
Fast-forward 44 years, and not only is Edmunds the founder of software firm Ingeniux, his company is helping create technology to support regional entrepreneurs...
Gyms are going ‘green,’ but are they actually eco-friendly? Here’s what to look for.
As wildfires, floods, hurricanes and other climate-related disasters grow more frequent and severe, many people think businesses need to step up their sustainability efforts. According to a 2015 Public Affairs Council survey, 59 percent of Americans believed major companies were generally not doing a good job of protecting the environment.
Some fitness facilities are trying to do their part. In April 2021, for example, gym chain Life Time updated its five-year sustainability plan. The company...
Lonely after a move? Or just in need of more friends? Try these tips for connecting.
Americans are on the move, in a pandemic-related phenomenon that real estate experts have dubbed the Great Reshuffling. A July 2021 Post-Schar School poll found that 17 percent of Americans had moved since the pandemic started, while more than 1 in 4 had considered taking the plunge. In many cases, this means that Americans are seizing the chance to live in newly affordable cities or to stake out space for themselves in suddenly thriving exurbs. But even if a move is positive, relocating, par...