Tips on How to De-stress: Jennifer Gilbert Knows All

Jennifer Gilbert knows a thing or two about stress and how to overcome adversity. An entrepreneur and founder of the event planning company Save the Date, she recently published a powerful memoir based on her experience from a violent attack when she was 22.  Her new book “I Never Promised You a Goodie Bag” has been highly praised by Marie Claire, Vanity Fair and People Magazine. You may have seen her recent appearances on the Today Show and Good Day New York or recognize her from her brief role on the Real Housewives of New York.  Below are her tips on how to relax, reboot and de-stress when things start to get a little crazy! – Melissa

As an event planner, business owner, mom to 3 small kids and now a writer, I have so much stress everyday that if I didn’t find ways to manage it, I would never be able to handle my life as it exists. Believe it or not, I m fully prepared to handle all and any emergencies at work; it’s with the rest of my life that I need to ‘de-stress’ myself!

So here are tips that I use that have helped me over the years when I get to my ‘jump off a cliff point’.

The first thing I do is physically get up and change my surroundings. When I am emailing with a vendor or uncooperative client who calls me after hours, and things start to escalate, I literally say ‘can I get back to you’ and get up and walk around the block…its calms me down and helps me from reacting immediately. It’s literally a ‘STEP AWAY FROM THE KEYBOARD’ moment. I think I have saved friendships and relationships by letting things ride out for a while.

When I get up in the morning and I feel the stress coming on, I go immediately to Soul Cycle. I sweat and petal to get the emotions out so I come out of class clear, and focused on what I need to do for the day.

Between lifting my kids (who are way too old to be lifted), my 4 inch high heels all day, and my huge bags (my FAVE at the moment is a sort of rocker beige one from Chanel), by the time I get home, my back is killing me. My body feels so tight that my shoulders are up at my ears. I get undressed, and lie on my back with my yoga blocks lining my spine, open my arms to the side and just breathe. I let my back unwind from the day.

When its “mom’s night in,” I give myself a time out, lock my door, pour a glass of wine and fill up my bathtub. I do the whole ceremony…I light my Diptyque Candle (my favorite is Tubereuse) lower the lights and drink my wine.

Sometimes there is nothing like a little treat. My guilty pleasure is chocolate, and the Godiva Truffles for me, (especially the new chocolate lava cake ones) are my Zen, happy place in my mouth. Chocolate does make me feel better, even if my butt may not like it!

If I need someone else’s help, to get my body relaxed, I get a deep tissue massage at Euphoria Spa. It is the best massage around and just stepping off the elevator, makes me feel better.

Buy Jennifer’s Book, “I Never Promised You a Goodie Bag”

Jennifer Gilbert is the Founder and Chief Visionary Officer of the New York based special events company Save the Date®. Her nineteen year old company is recognized by the media and a discerning clientele as “the one stop shop” for event planning. Through hard work and steadfast ambition, Gilbert has transformed a company that launched with a single database into a powerhouse amongst her competitors. Catering to Fortune 500 Companies, their families, as well as Not-for-Profit organizations, Save the Date® will generate a staggering $30 million in business this year. It was this business savvy that earned Jennifer Gilbert the “Entrepreneur of the Year” award in 1998, just five years after founding the company. This award was quickly followed in 1999 by recognition in Inc. Magazine as one of the “Great Companies Started” and then in 2001 she was given the Entrepreneur Award of Excellence from Working Woman Magazine. In addition to her ever growing business, Jennifer sits on the boards of women and children’s organizations. She is also often recognized on the street for her brief role as the event planner on Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of New York.” Her most recent accomplishment is a book deal with Harper Collins for her newly published memoir, “I Never Promised You a Goodie Bag.” Early critical praise is flooding in and the memoir was featured in the May 2012 issue of Marie Claire and the June 2012 issue of Vanity Fair, as well as appearances for Gilbert on the TODAY show and Good Day New York. Jennifer Gilbert is a graduate of the University of Vermont and received a Bachelor of Science in Consumer Marketing with a minor in Business, and graduated the MIT Birthing of Giants Program. She lives in New York City with her husband, daughter and twin boys.

How-to Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle: Tips from Exhale Spa’s Nutrition Intuition

In the health and wellness world, March is the month dedicated to nutrition awareness and at exhale we decided to celebrate with a day of awareness entitled NUTRITION INTUITION.

I was joined by two of exhale’s healers: Laura Benge, our National Spa Director and Rachel Lustgarten, R.D. nutritionist, Keri Glassman, nationally recognized nutrition expert, Katie Lee, Cookbook author and lifestyle expert, and Jeremy Bearman, Executive Michelin- starred Chef of Rouge Tomate NYC for a panel discussion on how to incorporate good nutrition, simple cooking and tasty food  into your life on a daily basis.

We spoke on the difficulties of maintaining a healthy lifestyle day to day and some takeaways on solving those challenges; tips like how to cook a nutritious meal in less time than ordering delivery! Prepare raw foods as soon as you bring them home from the market: clean the greens, wash the lettuce, chop the vegetables and store them in containers to be used during the week as dedicated meals or reliable sides for chicken or fish.

Keri made the point that a holistic lifestyle is key to a lean, sexy, happy body. And that it’s not just the food that you eat but your sleep, stress reduction techniques and peacefulness of your home space will all factor in to maximizing health and wellness. According to Keri, a spritz of lavender in the bedroom is a great start to a sleep worthy space! Katie suggested to start your week with a good nutrition plan and if you cheat a little on the weekend, you can start again on Monday. She also shared that preparing foods in advance, like boiling a pot of rice, quinoa or lentils, or steaming a bunch of broccoli and refrigerating are easy ways to stay on track.