SweatPink Houston finally kicked off this weekend! Approximately 18 Houstonians showed up for our first event, held at Athleta Rice Village.

We started off with a HIIT workout led by Teresa Nguyen. She took us through a warm-up, then a high-intensity blast of:

• Squat jumps
• Jump lunges
• Burpees
• Pushups
• Mountain climbers
• High knees

Teresa also added in some abs, a welcome core workout before the cooldown. The workout took 30 minutes, and it was so much fun.

Afterward, we had a few guest speakers and raffles, including raffling off Athleta’s awesome new Up for Anything pant.

The Lowdown on MyPlate

Registered Dietitian Rebecca Reed provided a lot of helpful information about what a healthy plate looks like. She brought along the MyPlate.Gov printout and explained what should go into each portion. (Lean protein, carbs like rice and sweet potatoes, lots of vegetables.)

Becca also set up a snack table for SweatPink Houston, which included an assortment of veggies (and a spicy seasoning she likes to sprinkle on them!), some fruit, and a little bit of dark chocolate, which makes everyone happy.

Safer Skincare

Betsy Widelitz introduced the SweatPink Houston group to Beautycounter, which makes safer skincare and beauty products. A lot of the products we use today contain chemicals that may cause health problems, up to and including cancer. Beautycounter has banned 1,500 chemicals from its products. These chemicals are still in use in most commercially available cosmetics.

Betsy also demonstrated the products: a face mask that left the tester’s face feeling and looking soft and radiant, and a five-minute face that works really well after a quick workout. She also showed how one particular serum could brighten up a tester’s face and help slow the aging process.

Ladies, Get Your Pap Smears!

Our last speaker was Dr. Mark Jacobs, Certified Principal Investigator at TMC Live Research. He studies incidences of cervical cancer. One surprising statistic is that, even among women who get regular Pap smears, a good number of them will develop cervical cancer. TMC Life Research is currently conducting studies to identify and monitor women who are at a higher risk of developing cancer, and to find new ways to improve cervical cancer screening methods.

In addition to Pap smears, Dr. Jacobs recommended the HPV vaccine to women young enough to receive it. He also explained how Pap smears may be failing us because of the small sampling of cells they collect.

A Great First SweatPink Houston Event

Overall, Athleta was the perfect place to kick off SweatPink Houston. Stay tuned by joining the Facebook group and following the hashtag #sweatpinkHOU on Instagram for more information!

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