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the Homer Horizon | January 24, 2019 | 9
Overall wellness highlighted by 22nd Century Media’s Healthy Living Expo
Laurie Fanelli
Freelance Reporter
A new year often produces
a renewed dedication to
health and wellness, but it
can be hard to know where
to start.
What type of exercise is
best for reaching individual
goals? What are the pros
and cons to different diets?
How does one incorporate
preventative medicine into a
wellness regimen?
Answers to these questions
and more were found
at 22nd Century Media’s annual
Healthy Living Expo,
held Saturday, Jan. 19, at
the Tinley Park Convention
Center.
Along with having the
opportunity to chat with 68
health and wellness vendors
— up almost 20 from 2018
— expo-goers also enjoyed
speaker sessions, cooking
demos and workout sessions.
Heather Warthen, chief
events officer for 22nd Century
Media explained that
the expo offered wellness
tips and techniques for anyone
and everyone.
“We bring in a variety of
vendors, from travel and insurance
to mental wellness,”
she said. “We’ve got yoga
places. We’ve got fitness
places. There’s definitely
something here for everybody.
It’s painting a different
picture for people on what
health and wellness looks
like for all aspects of life.”
VitaLife, of New Lenox,
was on hand highlighting
how a healthy body and
mind go hand in hand.
“Our push is to be healthy
weight-wise, but we focus
on the person as a whole,”
explained health coach Esther
Estela. “Weight is just
one aspect. In turn, we also
help people change their
mindsets to have a healthy
lifestyle in every aspect of
their life.”
The Chiro One team of Frank Agbejimi and Chloe Luckett
strike a pose at their expo booth.
Fit4Mom franchise owners
Mandy Dunne, Michelle
Marinello and Camilla Emmerick
empowered expo-goers
to make fitness a family
affair.
“We start with stroller
strides, so mom brings the
kids, and they sit in the
stroller for a 60-minute
class,” Emmerick said.
“The instructors blow bubbles,
sing songs and read
books, and the kids get to
see their moms working
out, which I think is the best
part.”
Another fun fitness opportunity
found at the 2019
Healthy Living Expo was
with Tinley Park’s Heart
& Sole Dance. Monica
Smaniotto, operations manager,
explained how dance
benefits the body, mind and
spirit.
“Dance is great not only
physically, but mentally, as
well,” she said. “A lot of
our older clients will come
in and tell us it helps their
memory. From there, physically,
you don’t really realized
that you’re exercising.
So we have people who
come in for lessons, and
they’ll be dripping sweat
when they’re leaving.”
Those looking for an athletic
approach gravitated
toward fitness studio ChuloFit,
which offers personal
and group training, as well
as classes.
Owner Lamont Doyle
said, “ChuloFit is a fitness
studio where we make
people feel comfortable. We
come up with innovative
workouts while providing a
great community.”
Winter weather may have
deterred some people from
venturing out, but those
who attended were able to
sample from the fitness buffet
at the convention center.
Kathy Lawlor, of Oak
Forest, and her husband,
Mike, were especially interested
in the cooking
demonstrations.
“It’s a new year — new
healthy living — so I’m getting
some ideas on how to
eat better and stay healthy,”
Kathy Lawlor said.
Along with the cooking
demos, healthy eating tips
could be found from expo
vendors, including Hacked
Snacks, Smoothie King and
Greenridge Farm, the last
of which is a small, familyowned
company based out
of Elk Grove.
Greenridge Farm Sales
Director Bobby Ruhaak explained
how the company
went back to basics to offer
its customers a natural line
of deli goods.
Greenridge Farm Sales Director Bobby Ruhaak offers samples to John Trickle, of Tinley
Park, on Saturday, Jan. 19, during 22nd Century Media’s Healthy Living Expo. Photos by
Laurie Fanelli/22nd Century Media
Chef Tim Baran, of Joliet Junior College’s Culinary Arts program, holds a cooking demo at
the Healthy Living Expo.
“We take pride in our
products,” Ruhaak said .
“We do everything all naturally,
so we use whole muscle
meat, tumble it in natural
spices, and roast it or smoke
it. Everything is done the
way it used to be done before
all the chemicals were
introduced, and we don’t
add any nitrates, nitrites or
binders.”
As many people look to
the new year as a time to
strive for new goals, so does
the fitness industry. Danni
Allen — Planet Fitness director
of health, wellness
and member engagement in
Cook County — said there
is a lot more in store in the
coming months.
“There’s a lot of things
to be excited about in 2019,
especially with Planet Fitness,”
Allen said. “We’ve
brought out a lot of new
equipment, like the PF 360,
which has kettlebells, battle
ropes and more fun, functional
fitness types of things.
At the same time, we’re doing
everything we can to go
beyond the four doors of
Please see expo, 12