forth magazine women's edition

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Editors Note

So excited to start the New Year out with the Women’s Edition of Forth Magazine. You will certainly be inspired by the strength and triumph of such amazing women. I ask when you finish reading this issue, that you would share this edition with other women you know that will be inspired and uplifted by the strength of these incredible Women.

Thank you again for your continuing support.

Mardea Tolbert Editor in Chief Forth Magazine USA

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Contents

02 04 Editor’s Note

Aieshia Dickey A

06 12

Dhashi Perera

Latonya Wise

14 17 Pirana

Shawanna Kennedy

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AIESHIA DICKEY

Memphis Native, veteran of the U.S Airforce. She is an Zumba Instructor, photographer, Fashion model and Entrepreneur. Aieshia recently made an incredible transformation when she decided to change her diet losing over 40 plus pounds. She wants to encourage women to go natural in losing weight.

It’s a lifestyle. You can catch Aieshia walking the catwalk across the Country.

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DHASHI PERERA Full Name: Dhashika Perera/Bartholomeusz Age: 45 years old Date of birth: 1973 Feb 16 Nationality: Sri Lankan Country Living in:

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Canada Height: 5 Feet Competition Weight: 98lbs Off season Weight: 108lbs Status: Married for 23 years Education: IT and Project Management

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y name is Dhashika Shehani Perera/Bartholomeusz. I migrated to Canada in the late 80’s with my parents and siblings from Sri Lanka. We left our motherland mainly due to the civil war that erupted in the early 80’s. Although I have lived in Canada most of my life I am very much Sri Lankan and embrace my culture in every aspect. Growing up in Sri Lanka I mastered classical dancing and continued it for many years in Canada, while participating in many Canadian Sri Lankan cultural events. One of my favorite hobbies are cooking. That’s mainly cooking authentic Sri Lankan dishes. I love wearing the sari (that’s 6 yards of material wrapped around you) to functions, which I also think of it as the most glamorous costume in the world.

I have no big story to tell about myself or my fitness life. All I can say is that ever since I was a child I have been passionate about sports and fitness. and still continue to play sports every opportunity I get, such as volleyball, netball, badminton, cricket, squash, track and field etc.

I come from a very athletic family. My dad is a well known Table Tennis and Coach in Sri Lanka dated back in the 1960’s and 70’s in Sri Lanka, and my mom Savitri was also involved in many sports from athletics to netball during her younger years. I’m also happy that my siblings are into weight training, sports and lead a healthy lifestyle. The reason I originally started training at the gym 15 years ago was to be able to keep up with my sports in order to build stamina, cardio, strength and endurance. And since the first day I stepped into the gym I have not looked back as I saw my physique change, the more I fell in love with strength training. In 2012 I participated in my first fitness competition and to date I have com-

Photographer-west studios Mua.Pretty Me

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peted in about 8 competitions placing anywhere between top 3 and top 5. Sometimes I do get the opportunity to compete with my sister Nilu who is also an avid bikini athlete. I get to play sports and tournaments with my brother Dilan who is a very multi talented athlete. We are one active and competitive family I must add.

As a mother and a career woman; juggling work, family life, house work and training is a huge task and daunting at times. This is when priority and time management comes to play.

However as they say.. plan ahead and never fail to plan.

For me, training and eating healthy is not a chore it’s a lifestyle. Regardless of what your status, you should be able to make time to take care of yourself and your body. If you don’t do it, no one else will do it for you.

What inspires me the most is the ability to inspire and empower others. The ability to reach out to people especially South Asian Women who tend to give up on themselves, their physique after marriage or childbirth because they become too busy taking care of others and neglecting themselves and their health and fitness. I am able to let them know it’s never too late to start taking care of their bodies and

Photographer..Rob Holden Mua .Cherry Dolls 8

Photographer .Jim Orgil Mua. Thiso Make-up

be physical fit. Seeing that how some individuals with disabilities and sicknesses struggle to train and stay fit; that itself a huge inspiration for me. I ask myself if they can do it, what is my excuse?. Knowing that both women and men look up to me

for motivation and inspiration and that I am able to make a difference in someone else’s life and give them hope that it is not the end of the world if they fall off the wagon, just get up and get on it again. If I can do it at 45 years old, I believe that 9

anyone can do it. To me age is merely a number and “I will not let age change me, I will change the way I age�

I have faced many challenges in life when it comes to competing and weight training. But I would

say the biggest challenge was getting my parents to accept that lifting weights will not make a woman look like a man.

The other challenges are 1. training for a competition with a broken ankle and training 6 weeks after a major abdominal

surgery for a competition. All these challenges did not make me sad or break me. It only made me stronger and determined to keep doing more and more. I look at these challenges as a road block in my journey, and without any challenges

Photographer Rob Holden

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there would be no accomplishment. One thing is I am blessed to have a wonderful husband, a son and a circle of family and close friends who constantly support me and motivate me. I owe a lot of credit to my hubby Russel and son Kyle for putting

that this race in a marathon and not a sprint. Having said that my biggest accomplishment thus far is; that I was given the opportunity to grace the cover of one of the greatest fitness magazines “Forth Magazine”. I am truly blessed for this opportunity and to be able to be among many strong, beautiful and powerful ladies.

Photographer Rob Holden Mua ...Cherry Dolls up with me during prep as you all know how difficult and stressful prep can be not only on us but those who are close to us. They have stuck with me through every prep, supported and helped in every possible way and been my pillars. I am also greatful to have an amazing and a knowledgeable coach, Scott Habbermehl from Hollywood Built to guide me all the way. As a natural athlete it’s not easy to build muscle or get leaner; but with his expertise it makes everything possi-

ble and I am proud to be a natural athlete even when the odds are against me. To me competing is not always about winning, it’s more about progress. I prefer to be healthy and fit for a long time rather than train to only to look good on stage.

I can’t say that I have accomplished much yet in my competition and fitness career. I am still new to this sport and i know if I keep going that I can achieve and accomplish more and it’s merely all about progress. I believe

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My vision for the future is to inspire and motivate as many people as possible. Let them know how important exercise and nutrition is. Let them know how important it is to be physical fit & healthy.

I believe that when you look good physically you feel great mentally. Don’t let age define who you are and what your capabilities are. Don’t let your gender, status, race, culture stop you from being active or being physically fit. You can still maintain all these things and still be beautiful and be fit. “Sports and Fitness knows no gender or cultural boundaries” Magazine Cover Photographer: Jim Orgill MUA : Christina Loughrin

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LATONYA WISE

y name is L,aTonya W’ise and l1m from Columbia, SC’. I am a firefighter, f’itness tra1iner, and single mother of a beautiful 3 year old daughter. Fitness has b,een a part of my life for, most of it ... l started playing sports at an early age. All through sc.hooi I played basketball and softb,all. After college I was missing the ‘’team and athlete environment1’ so I turned to CrossFit and powerlifting. I’ve participated in numerous competitions and events over the past 5 years. I love motivating and encouraging others on their fitn1ess journey. When I’m not ‘’being a super hero’’ at the fire station, as my daughter likes to say, I enjoy reading, cooking, a1nd traveling.

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PIRANA #Photography Credit @kreative kage #MakeupCredit @glambyangel #CreativeDirect, or Credit @iampiranha #ClothingStylist Credit @iampiranha

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Tis the Season! It is about YOU...

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hawanna Kennedy Your Power pusher, a Transformationalist, Confidence Coach, Empowerment Speaker, published Author and Workshop Leader Know the POWER of N.O.W Procrastination is the biggest thief of time.

And since life is measured by time, it is, in fact, the biggest thief of life.

The bible says: A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an anned man. (Proverbs 24:33-34) Think about this story: a man kept on putting off buying shares from a particular local company.

He kept saying ‘I don’t know enough about the company to invest in shares’ or ‘I will go down to the stock exchange and buy some shares tomorrow.’ He kept procrastinating until shares were no longer available to be sold. Years later,

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that company was worth millions and some of those that had bought shares from the company came into a great amount of money.

Now think about that man’s regrets, think about the blow to his self-esteem and possibly, the opportunity to live a comfortable life that he missed.

You don’t want to be at the place where you look back at your life and realize you have accomplished nothing.

This is the pain of procrastination.

One of the greatest enemies to your SELF-FIRST journey is procrastination. Whatever you have decided to do, do it as soon as possible, do it NOW. Do you know why? You lose your drive and passion for new decisions the longer you procrastinate. You tend to feel guilty and depressed whenever you compromise on your decisions. These feelings will affect your motivation to stick with your decisions.

As you have made up your mind to put yourself first, remember the power of N.O.W with these statements: No time is better than now to start ...

The sooner you start carrying out your goals, the better you begin to feel about yourself.

The sooner you start feeling

more confident about your decisions. The bible says ‘He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap’.

There is no better opportunity to start than now! Only focus on the benefits of why you should start now ...

You may be tempted to weigh the pros and the cons of your decisions and seek a compromise. But think about this: if you had a decision to make about losing weight since it is affecting your overall health, are you likely to think much about the cons? I’d think your answer would be ‘no’. Deciding to put your goals and dreams first is as important a decision as putting your physical health first. In fact, your health and wellbeing depend on putting yourself first!

When in doubt, do what you are sure of...

Sometimes we tend to procrastinate carrying out our goals because of uncertainty.

For example, it may be a decision to be a freelance author, but you are not sure what you want to write will sell. Avoid procrastination by developing your writing skills while you figure out what to write on.

Questions 1.

Can you think of opportunities procrastination has cost you? Give examples 2.

How do you think a 18

habit of goal-setting helps in preventing procrastination?

Action steps If you already have your goals written down, act on them now, no matter how little your efforts are. Break them down into smaller action steps you can immediately act on, if need be.

Remember ... SelfFIRST: is not selfish but rather selfless in order for us to be of greater service to ourselves, family, business, and community.

Book me for your next event! www.theselffirstmovement.com Join the email list today and receive your free downloadable gift.

Please Follow me: Shawanna Kennedy on facebook and Shawannaksays lostagram “Once you know your WORTH, you know your WORTH to the Worldl”Shawanan Kennedy Authored the book ·The Power of Putting YourSELF First A Guide to becoming the best version of you ever, to aid those ready to begin their process of change. This book is available NOW on Amazon and Kindle get your copy today!

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