Month: August 2014

Dear Readers,

I am not the first to say this phrase certainly but as I walking on my treadmill last night I realized I am on Workout Day 65. That represents 65 times I have chosen to exercise this year. GO ME!

But I have to realize that there are far more people who are inches away from “workout day 1” because they haven’t started yet because they feel too far afield of the process to ever “catch up” . I have news for you, there is no such thing as “catching up” when you are competing to be the best you that YOU can possibly be. I could very easily be upset by the fact that in my first dance class in 9 years that I was having trouble keeping up and even knowing what the heck the instructor was asking us to do but you know what, when I started working out in December of 2013 I walked, slowly and had trouble going for longer than 5 or ten minutes, so like so many things in life, it is a process and in the world of dance, I am a beginner, a neophyte, a total novice. For someone who prizes the expert status I have in so many other fields, this is a hard sentence to type.

That is okay by me because I have seen the progress I have made in the world of fitness, so dancing “one step at a time” into success is going to be fun and I hereby declare I will NOT feel bad about my progress by watching someone else do an amazing pique turn, I will instead focus on the approaching day when I do a perfectly executed cha cha. Is there something you say “yeah, I would like to be better about that, but …. (insert excuse here) but haven’t? Start now.

Let today be your Day 1 and stop complaining, start doing!

Think about it!

Well my dear dear readers, I am so excited to report that I had a FANTASTIC visit with the dentist on Tuesday.

These are truly amazing words considering the posts of the past– two years ago –

https://jenniferhastonsays.wordpress.com/2012/10/09/your-health-needs-integrity-too/

Suffice to say, In the past, my dental health has been deplorable and so I have spent time, money and tears on my teeth and it has NOT been FUN.

After several months of more concentrated flossing and brushing and using mouthwash, the results are a very healthy report from my dentist!. By itself that is a wonderful thing, the sense of accomplishment I feel is real, the real proof though is that while getting a routine cleaning this Tuesday, it only took an hour and there was no pain! Usually I need about 7 shots of anesthetic to handle a cleaning! NO PAIN is HUGE for me since the dentist is normally an ORDEAL and I dread going, I dread being there (despite the extremely kind and considerate staff, you know who you are) and its an absolute misery.

Now I will go ahead and admit, I have not done it every day but I have been much more focused on taking care of my teeth and these are the results, can you imagine if I did it every day, how much better can it get? It is such a nice feeling to know that we are no longer in “recovery” mode with my teeth and working on “maintenance” YAY!

As a public service, the following youtubes are provided so you don’t have to wonder what is the proper way to brush your teeth, floss your teeth, also .. ask your hygenist at your next cleaning, they will be happy to show you.

Flossing

Brushing

My tips-

1. Set a reminder for yourself and floss, brush and mouthwash twice daily

2. Make it fun, pick a toothpaste that will help you work on your problem areas but put fun stickers on your tube of toothpaste

3. Realize baby steps (daily activity) will REALLY work.

Think about it! and Brush, Brush those Teeth!

Dear Readers,

I have struggled with my weight for most of my life. Last year I had an incredible breakthrough about loving my body as it is and a big part of that was the glamorous photo shoot (albeit to celebrate some major weight loss) I scheduled for my 37th birthday and I have continued to make strides on “not calling myself fat” “thinking of myself as overweight” even though several people around me including my loving husband tell me I look great,

It matters that I believe it and slowly, ever so slowly I am coming to the conclusion that this many people saying it, it must be true. I carry myself with more confidence because for the most part we eat paleo and I do not feel deprived because I know the cheat day is coming and coming soon when I can have all the dairy, processed foods, and grains that I want.  It was recently that I decided that I was done with the guilt that comes along with eating foods that make me happy. You know the ones, ice cream, cookies, fries, nachos, anything that has cheese or chocolate attached to I am in love! I recently read a wonderfully witty book called

“French Women Don’t Get Fat” http://frenchwomendontgetfat.com/ (check out the website!)

for years, she has been teaching women about bien dans sa peau–

roughly translated-it means feeling good about how you look-

that spent a good deal of time exploring the differences between American and French women and a big takeaway is the guilt we (Americans) feel over eating that piece of cake instead of eating it and truly enjoying it and then not feeling the need for more. The author provides some great advice including adding exercise (don’t tell me your building doesn’t have stairs) in your daily routine.

Julia Roberts touches on it playing Elizabeth Gilbert in “Eat, Pray, Love” – “I have no interest in being obese but I am done with the guilt… ” and so am I.

I exercise and I eat healthy foods (what a concept!) except when I don’t and I REFUSE to feel guilt over it any more!

Dear Guilt,

For a long time now, you and I have been together.

I have realized that you don’t help, you are hurtful and really not productive.

It’s definitely not me, I am AWESOME, you suck

We are never, ever getting back together,

Not Love,

Jennifer

 

When you throw a pebble in a pond, do you watch the rings form and do you ever count how many there are as the water slowly stills?

I was thinking about that yesterday as I was helping a customer with a difficult problem. Every person has the same chance to make a difference. You decide whether to be a force for good or evil. That is a little black and white so let me quantify it better by using math. You can add or you can subtract.

When you lift people and support their dreams, you add.
When you say things like, “you can’t do that” “that’s silly” you subtract.

Be an good pebble,not a bad pebble. you have no idea how far out your rings extend.

Who knows, you could inspire the next Maya Angelou, Elizabeth Barrett Browning or Mahatma Gandhi.

Think about it!