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Dixie Westebur was already a member when she walked into Avera McKennan Fitness Center as the doors opened for business on that very first day over 15 years ago. She knows the power of health and fitness and her commitment is long-running. When the Center first opened, Dixie had already made several attempts to lose weight. When she joined AMFC she made exercising here part of her weekly routine. But despite the dedication to working out, she needed to address her approach to diet and nutrition. So she joined Weight Watchers about 12 years ago. The new accountability with regard to food, sticking with the program and remaining committed to her exercise routine led to a loss over time of 70lbs. And she kept it off.
About a year ago, Dixie decided she could stand to, and wanted to, lose more weight. She started personal training sessions with Mark Shane working primarily on the Pilates Reformers for about 4 or 5 months. She also started running, taking it slow. Soon things began to change. She began to trim down and firm up and in not too long a time period, she’d lost another 25lbs. She laughs as she talks about having to buy new, smaller-sized clothes and her husband Marlin’s encouraging words, Hey, you’ve earned it – go for it!
Dixie’s been motivated over the years to take care of her health and fitness after seeing so many overweight patients with multiple health problems. There is a history of heart problems in her family and Marlin is diabetic. She and Marlin work together to maintain a healthy exercise and nutrition routine. They have 5 grandchildren who she wants to be able to keep up with.
She does strength training 3 times per week and cardio everyday – up to a couple of hours per day with about 7 miles on the treadmill. Now Dixie can’t stand to go without exercising for long and she depends on the energetic boost she gets from her workouts. When traveling, she always books a hotel with an exercise center.
Dixie has worked at Avera Hospital for 41 years, first as an RN and now she handles outpatient procedure scheduling. She and Marlin like to travel and usually go on a cruise each year. Two of the grandchildren are in Colorado, so there are plenty of trips there too. She wishes that everyone who wants to improve their over-all health, energy level, strength, enjoyment of life and stamina would go ahead and take one step at a time, with support, to make real changes because it’s so gratifying to be able look in the mirror and say – Hey, reward yourself, you’ve earned it!
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