A fit and healthy lifestyle doesn’t happen overnight. For most people, it is learning process – a journey. As with every journey, there is a story that goes with it. This is the story of my journey towards a fit and healthy lifestyle.
I’ve been an athlete my whole life. I started playing soccer at an early age. I did gymnastics, I loved roller skating. I even gave basketball a try, though it was clear my feet were more coordinated than my hands. Soccer was my love; I lived and breathed it; I dreamt about it; I played it all of my childhood and young adult years. I played intramural volleyball in college, which seemed to work better for me than basketball, but it lacked the physical contact and competitiveness on which my personality thrived.
I got married during my senior year of college and said goodbye to my soccer days. I also said hello to about 15 extra pounds. Without a soccer field to keep me in shape, and because I had no idea how to eat properly, the pounds were chasing me.
I forced myself to take up running to get back in shape. My super-star-cross-country-running husband loved this, except for the fact that I ran at a snails' pace. (Picture it - hubby literally running circles around me just so he could get a workout.) I always hated running distances. I was usually the fasted chick on the soccer field, but asking me to run a long distance at a constant pace was torture. I think that’s why I loved sprinting – I could get the running done quicker! But after a year of forcing myself to run (ok, my husband pushing me and coaching me to stick with it), I became addicted and I loved it! I even ran a bunch of races, eventually a half marathon and I actually worked my way up to (almost) keeping up with my hubby!
When I got pregnant with our daughter, I ran until I was 32 weeks pregnant. I still lacked the knowledge of how to fuel my body with proper nutrition, but that would soon change. When my sweet daughter was four months old, she suffered a severe, anaphylactic reaction to cows milk based formula. We almost lost her that day. Upon allergy testing, we learned she was allergic to 15 different foods. Though I continued nursing until she was over one-year, she was labeled failure to thrive at her 12-month check up. She was a sick little girl and we spent months going through numerous tests to find out what else was wrong with her. Over the next two years, she would have three more severe, anaphylactic reactions.
Because of my daughter’s limited diet, her allergist suggested feeding her hot dogs and vegetable oil to increase her caloric intake. Something in my mommy heart didn’t feel right about this. I took it upon myself to learn everything I could about nutrition. I read and read and read. I also wanted to know why my daughter had such severe food allergies and why food allergies, in general, were on the rise. I began learning about the massive amounts of chemicals in our food. I began to theorize that all the chemicals we are exposed to wreak havoc on our immune systems and cause our bodies to mistake food proteins for harmful substances (ie. an allergic reaction). Now, five years later, there are actually scientific studies that back up this theory!
With my new theory, I took it upon myself to begin figuring out how to eliminate these toxins from our lives. And let me tell you, this is not an easy process! Even now, five years later, I am still researching and learning. The changes I made were small and slow, because I really didn’t know how or where to start.
Another important part of my journey has been that I am an injury-prone gal. I don’t think I’m a klutz, but my body has always been susceptible to injury. (Of course I now know I was setting myself up for injury for lack of proper stretching and strength training....but that's another story!) I started physical therapy for back pain when I was 16, the same year in which I had a knee injury. In college, at the age of 18, I had my first hip flexor injury. Oh, and let’s not forget the four concussions I had in a two-year period during highschool and college. After college, my back pain worsened and I went through more testing and more physical therapy.
At the age of 26, I realized the hip flexor injury I had in college was chasing me into adult years and was getting worse. I couldn’t kickbox anymore. Running had become extremely painful. But, it didn’t stop me! I kept doing what I could and I stayed in shape. After I had my son in 2010, I even decided to work towards becoming a Certified Personal Trainer. About two years after my hip pain became chronic, after numerous doctors telling me there was nothing wrong with my hip, my physical therapist finally figured out what was causing my chronic pain.
When I was 28, I had hip surgery to correct a Femoracetabular Impingement (FAI) and torn labrum. However, during the surgery, my doctor discovered I had a good deal of arthritis, a larger tear than expected, and an extremely tight psoas. To put it in perspective, the majority of hip surgery patients are over 60. And to have hip arthritis at such a young age is even more rare. I had a long recovery in front of me – two months of complete non-weight bearing and a year of physical therapy. (It’s been 18 months since my surgery and I’m still in physical therapy!) Over the next few months, I can’t tell you how many times I heard from my doctors and physical therapists, things like: “you’ll never run again,” “no impact exercise,” “hip replacement is your only option,” “you’ll never squat again,” “many physical limitations.”
I don’t think heartbroken quite described my state. I actually decided to give up. Yes, QUIT! I was not going to complete my personal training certification – who would want a trainer who was out of shape and couldn’t even do most of the exercises she was asking them to do? What a joke! I was going to loathe in self pity and let myself get out of shape and unhealthy.
Thankfully, God is the TRUE physician, and He is my true source of strength. I was weak. There was no way I could press on by my own strength. Thankfully, He saw fit to re-cultivate that “never give up mentality” that usually came so easily to me. And with some trainer friends encouraging me that I could be such a motivation to others suffering from physical limitations, I decided to fight back, work my tail off, get my certification, and get as strong as I could.
Before my surgery, when my recovery was expected to be very minimal, I was told I could return to running at one year post-op. SIX MONTHS after my surgery, and after being told I would NEVER run again, I laced up my running shoes and went for a jog! It was one of those miracles – my doctors, physical therapists, and anyone else who understood the extent of my surgery, were shocked. It shouldn’t have been possible! I can’t deny that I was and still am in pain. My hip flexors will never be the same. I have trouble sitting, I can’t lie on my right side, and I can’t sit on floor with my legs crossed. But it’s ok because I can do SO many things I thought I’d never do again.
Now, as a personal trainer and a passionate advocate for clean, whole foods nutrition, I look back at the hardships of my daughter’s allergies and my physical difficulties and I see the blessings that have come. My daughter’s near death experience and the months of sickness forced me learn about nutrition and healthy eating. Had we not gone through that, I would never have learned how to feed my family. I would have been setting my children up for a lifetime of unhealthy food choices and putting them at risk for diseases and other health conditions. And I like to think that I have been able to pass on that knowledge to others and help them feed their families. If I didn’t have all the physical limitations that I do, I wouldn’t be able to empathize with clients who have suffered injuries or other chronic pain. I know first hand the pain, frustration and hopelessness that can result from these challenges. While I might have less tolerance for excuses :), I believe God has given me the knowledge to help others work around their challenges to become fit and healthy and strong.
If I can help educate just one person; if I can impact just one life, then it is all worth it!
Don’t use your challenges as excuses! Use them as means to make you stronger, and then educate others about how you overcame!
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