stephanie dexter -

Dear Friends:

It’s the first day of spring – and as I look outside at the grey sky and snow falling, I can’t help but wonder – where is it? Spring – where are you? Have you disappeared along with the promise of many of our New Year “health” initiatives?

Have you lost your “oomph”, that resolve that seemed so strong in the month of January when you decided that this year would be different? Have those upcoming important dates – weddings, reunions, and trips lost their ability to motivate you everyday?

What can we do about this? We all start out with the best of intention; however, sometimes life gets the best of us. We become overwhelmed, tired, distracted and just too busy to deal with the work that is involved with choosing a healthier lifestyle. I have good news though! It doesn’t have to be complicated and we can wonders by just making some small changes to our everyday lives. Here are some of my tips to get healthy everyday:

Tips and tricks

Eat more fruit – those who eat enough fruit don’t have raging sweet tooths.
If night time eating is a result of emotional eating (loneliness, boredom, sadness, etc.), you need to figure out what’s motivating that and put into place non-food ways to cope with that stress.
Brush your teeth right after dinner. It will lessen the urge to eat.
Eat mindfully – not while watching TV, reading or at the computer.
Skipping breakfast will have you craving naughty foods by mid morning. Fill up healthfully with a fruity breakfast full of anti-oxidants. In a blender, mix together 1C non-fat plain yogurt, 1 1/3C frozenstrawberries (no sugar added), 1 peeled kiwi, and 1 peeled banana. Blend until milkshake consistency. 1 serving is 2C at 348calories, 1.5grams of fat.
Tired in the late afternoon. Forget the caffeine pick me up and have a cup of low fat yogurt instead. It will give your brain and body a boost with its combination of protein, carbohydrate and fat.
Trading places in your pantry. Make some healthy substitutions by replacing your corn/peanut oil with olive, whole wheat bread instead of white, fatty luncheon salamis, bolognas for canned tuna, lean roast beef, turkey breast.

Our “anchor” bracelets have arrived and are available for purchase. $2.00 per bracelet plus postage. Please email me for further information: info@stephaniedexter.com

The “Ultimate Pajama Party” – Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge

This past weekend I had the pleasure of speaking at a wonderful women’s event called the Ultimate Pajama Party. There were hundreds of women enjoying a weekend full of laughter, karaoke, seminars and most important to me – food! Food that was wonderfully prepared, absolutely delicious and didn’t require that I do dishes! What is better than that??!

At this conference there were many excellent speakers on a variety of women’s issues. They were inspirational, educational and enlightening. Please stop by their web pages for further information on some topics that might be relevant to your wellness journey.

www.BrendaEastwood.com Hormonal Hostage No More
www.wellpro.com Christine tells you how to look and feel 10 years younger
www.BeliefReppatterning.com Suze Casey gives insight on how to change those “negative” thought processes to more productive ones.
www.lindaedgecombe.com for a reminder that life needs to be full of laughter to keep perspective!

I’m pleased to announce that I will be speaking at the www.ultimatepajamaparty.com at the Fairmont Lake Louise, October 19-21, 2007. I promise you, it’s a weekend you won’t forget! Please consider joining me.

Why are you doing this?

I’ve been very busy these days working towards a personal goal. I am currently training for the Vancouver Marathon (42.2k) to be held on May 6, 2007.

It’s terrifying, exciting and exhausting all at the same time. To help me in this endeavour, I have had to recruit assistance in all areas of my life.

Firstly, I had to ask for support from my family, specifically my husband and children. It’s been a huge time commitment – travelling back and forth to the city to train with a marathon group. Similar to a wellness journey, I actually had to come right out and ask for help. (Note: family members are generally not mind readers) Help keeping life and home organized, work in focus and for the time commitment I needed to set myself up for success.

At a recent class with my marathon group – our crazy, knowledgeable instructor Lorne asked a very simple question. WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?

He wanted us to think about whether we had internal or external motivators to keep us going on kilometre 38 – when every muscle will be screaming at us. Was this a fitness or weight loss initiative? Was this a dare (can you believe that someone would actually try to run a marathon on a dare)? Was this a result of a healthier lifestyle? What was our motivation for putting our body through such a punishing exercise because when we “hit the wall” – we will be asking ourselves this question over and over.

I know why I am doing this marathon. Because I can. At one time, I could barely walk and talk. Moving was painful, everything hurt. Most importantly though, I didn’t feel I was worth the effort to do anything – including exist. It’s a goal and a deeply personal one at that. Only I can run this marathon. Only I can push through the self-doubt. Only I can prove to myself that I can do anything I put my mind to.

Last Sunday, after an exhausting few weeks that were extremely busy work wise, I ran 29k with my run club. I was cold and tired, sick of winter. It was the most miserable run of my life. I was very quiet, not joining in with the group chatter. That’s when I discovered why I was training for this marathon. I had to go deep and ask myself, am I worth the effort this takes? Who am I doing this for? Is it really that important?

Why are you getting healthy? As your resolve fades and it always does – that is normal you must be able to answer the deeply personal question – WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?

You see, on your wellness journey, the work takes place in your head and it shows on your body. The answer to myself last Sunday “yes Stephanie, you are worth every bit of effort!”

What’s your answer?

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