20 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY JANUARY 22-28, 2026 www.montereycountynow.com Maybe you are one of the millions of Americans to make a New Year’s resolution related to eating better, exercising more, sleeping better or fill-in-the-blank. One of the things that makes health and fitness trends interesting to cover is the role that personal responsibility plays—each of us has some agency, and there is no shortage of related professionals offering various services to help you develop and sustain good habits. But of course there are systemic issues too. Health and wellness are not simply a matter of personal responsibility, especially obvious in a world of shifting institutional guidelines. Health is happening on both an individual basis and also at a population scale. We hope we’ve captured that breadth in our annual health and fitness issue, with stories that range from personal to systemic, quirky to deadly serious. Here’s to a healthy 2026 for each of us and all of us. —Sara Rubin, editor Health& Fitness 2026 Fun Young Run 8 Flu Season 10 Politics of Health 17 Tipping the Scale 21 We Are What We Eat 24 Muscle Mass 28 For the Win 40 Culture Shock 42 HEALTH & FITNESS STORIES Clockwise from above: Gillian Young Barkalow won Fit Model events in November at the NPC Natural City of Lights bodybuilding event in Las Vegas; Andrew Renard and Michelle Carter of Kitchen Table Cultures with bone broth at the Del Monte Farmers Market; runner Mason Ayala has met his goal of competing in 10 races before turning 11. BODYGRAPHICS PHOTOGRAPHY DANIEL DREIFUSS DANIEL DREIFUSS
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