Hi! My name is Isabel, I’m a dental hygienist and I am happily married and have a daughter who is 3 years old. I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (basically everywhere) at the age of 21. A few years later I was also diagnosed with osteoarthritis on my back. It took me a while to come to terms with these “issues”. I am happy to say that I have been in remission for about 5 years now. Although at times I do feel my hands or my knees or some other part of my body in pain I move forward. My rheumatologist always told me not lift weights and no vigorous exercise, so I never really got into working out.
My health journey began about 9 months after I had my daughter. I was tired of seeing my big belly and eating crap all the time. I called Anna and started working out three times a week. As the weeks went by I started noticing myself making better choices with my diet and eating healthy not only for myself but for my daughter too. I want her to make good choices and it starts from the household. I truly believe that. I started cooking and “prepping foods” for the week. I was determined to look “hot” again. In addition, Anna helped me through my arthritis. She made it easy for me to work my way up in weights (slowly but surely). My back feels so good as well as my entire body!
Exercising made me feel like I had control over my arthritis, not the other way around. I’m in control! Take that doc! I can do it! And it’s helping me.
Along with finding time to work out between my new baby (I breastfed and pumped by the way for an entire year!) I actually found exercising to be enjoyable for me. It was “me” time. I started to jog on Saturdays and then I added Zumba on Sundays. Before I knew it, I was working out 4-6 days a week because I loved it! It was on a wonderful and consistent path for about a year and a half when my husband and I decided to start trying for baby no. 2. Unfortunately I had an ectopic pregnancy and found myself so depressed and lost my exercise “mojo”.
Maybe about three months after the incident I got up the courage to start all over again. So, I called up Anna, started to work out 2-3 times a week while my husband and I were still trying to have another baby. Since then I have been on and off because I do get moments of depression and feel like absolutely nothing will help me. But the truth of the matter is, whenever I do exercise I always feel so much better after. So why is it that I go through this roller coaster? Well, life happens and I understand that. I’m going through things emotionally and physically that I can’t explain but I do know that this is me and I am trying my best to stay healthy not only for myself but for my family. I have motivated my husband to start working out again too, he has been going for 6 months now and he looks and feels amazing! This is my story. To be continued.
