Best-selling author and lifestyle expert Joe Piscatella will provide San Antonians with advice on how to manage stress, eat smarter and exercise effectively, despite all the obstacles life throws your way, at a free public presentation on February 3. Piscatella is one of the foremost authorities on lifestyle habits and cardiac health. His writings include: Don’t Eat Your Heart Out, Choices for a Healthy Heart, Controlling Your Fat Tooth, Fat-Proof Your Child—All About Healthy Kids and The Fat-Gram Guide to Restaurant Food.

After having coronary bypass surgery at age 32, Piscatella learned an approach to healthier living that works in the real world, and it's this proactive perspective that audiences value. Learning how to effectively incorporate the latest medical research and recommendations into his own life, Piscatella has succeeded in building healthy lifestyle skills that have led to heart disease reversal. Today, at age 54, he is recognized as a leading authority on bridging the gap between medical science and practical application. He is the only non-medical member of the prestigious National Institutes of Health Expert Panel on Cardiac Rehabilitation.

Presented by Methodist Heart Hospital, "Living Healthy in a Doubleburger.com World" begins at 6:30 p.m. at Colonial Hills United Methodist Church, 5247 Vance Jackson Rd. Call the Methodist Healthcare HealthLine at 210-575-0355 to make reservations. With advance notice, we can arrange phone interviews with Piscatella in advance of the event and seating for media who wish to cover the event. We also can arrange for interviews with individuals who have changed their lifestyles after reading his books.

If you are interested in doing a story, please phone Shirley Wills at 822-2378 or 860-5289 (cell) or JoAnn King, 575-0171 or 917-7916 (pager). For media assistance during the weekend, please phone Methodist Hospital, 575-4000, and ask for the public relations representative on call.