Meet Gloria,
An important disclaimer. I am not a doctor, unless other wise stated the contributors to this blog post are not doctors and are not attempting to give medical advice. Please consult your physician before changing any health habits. Just because something worked for an individual does not mean it will work for you. We are not employees of any health company. Not every statement in answer to my questions will be my opinion, C3 Wellness, Essential Care's or TriVita's. The purpose of this information is to share one person's journey so that you can fortify more courage to start or further pursue your own. Please use common sense and talk to a professional about your specific circumstances.
When I was in High School I went to a
boarding academy. After my first year there I gained 25lbs going from 105 lbs
to 130 lbs. Worst shape of my life!
I don’t know that I have ever had a wellness motto or philosophy per say. I have always been aware of healthy eating & have tried to eat healthy for the most part. I grew up eating healthy, nothing came from a box & everything was homemade. My mom always had a huge garden & those things were eaten during the summer & frozen for the winter. Mom always canned 1,000 or more quarts of fruit & veggies every summer. I also grew up as a vegetarian with a very well balanced diet. Growing up I was always very active, however as I hit high school, my shyness kept me from getting involved fully in anything athletic. As I look back over my life I can see that I seem to have a pattern of being active for a while & then periods of time of not doing anything ... sort of a all or nothing kind of approach.
11 years ago I again began being proactive about my health & started martial arts. Within a very short time I saw huge changes in my body. Shortly after I found out I was pregnant & so was unable to continue. I had my last child when I was 30 & after he was born I started running. I was consistent in my training & ran my first 10 km run & after did several 5 km runs. That same year we were in a serious car accident, which involved months of physiotherapy & it was shortly after that I started to have some very serious health issues. This began the long 2 year process of tests & diagnosis & ultimately I was given the news that I have Multiple Sclerosis. My health had never been worse. My days were spent mostly in bed due to the extreme fatigue, muscle weakness, numbness in my extremities, poor sleep & neuropathy I was experiencing. Suddenly I was faced with some major health & lifestyle choices! I found I was overwhelmed with the diagnosis & the decisions I was faced with & becamestuck in limbo for almost 2 years, just trying to cope. Thankfully, my husband, tired of seeing me struggle so much, took charge & started researching what I could do for my health so that I could start living again. With 4 months of his research & putting a plan in place. After only 2 weeks of starting my new plan I had significant changes & felt like I was able to live again.
My greatest obstacle in my wellness journey is ME! I couldeasily blame my MS, life or a plethora of other things, but the truth is there will always be something to blame if we chose to focus there. At the end of the day it is ultimately me, the choices I make & the perspective I choose to focus on. What I know to be true is although we all have obstacles in life, we all CAN do something! It may not be as much as we would like or it may not be in the way we would hope, but we can do something. Another truth is ... something is better than nothing! So rather then set the bar so high it can never be achieved, start small & increase over time what it is we can or are able to do. It is better to start small & be doing even a little than to doing nothing at all.
This is a picture after the Canada Day Run
in 2008! Ray did the 10K, I did the 5K & the kids did the 2.5K! This was a
wellness win for me because we were able to do this as a family & with
friends too!
I could say one of my biggest triumph’s to date is running a10km run 10 years ago, however I would say that my greatest accomplishment is right now. Since January I have been making those small decisions to do at least something towards my goal. I just had my 40th birthday & my goal for this 40th year is to be in my best health yet. I am on the journey for the rest of my life so I’m starting small & moving forward as I can, challenging myself as I go. For me it’s about changing my mindset more than anything else. I am my own worst critic & can sabotage myself before I even start. By changing my thoughts I can stop the all or nothing history & overall be in a better place.
I don’t believe that you can depend on the government or our health care system to take care of one’s health. If I had of been depending on that then I would have dealt with my MS treatment very differently. As soon as we put our health in someone else’s hands we lose our power & become a victim to whatever our results will be. It’s too easy to play the blame game & not to do the hard work that being healthy takes! At the end of the day, no one is going to care about your health more then you, after all it is YOUR life!
My eating is far from perfect ,that is for sure! I try to eat healthy, but my biggest issue is not eating enough. Rarely do I eat breakfast & often I find myself at the end of the day realizing I haven’t eaten at all. This is an area I have been more focused on as I know it is such an important part to how I feel overall, energy etc. I do try to cook healthfully & make sure that there are salads & veggies with our meals. This is a definite area that is under work!
My current activity includes the gym & home exercising. I try to get to the gym 2 x’s a week with the majority of my exercises using weights. I for sure get to the gym 1 time a week & then at least 1 at home workout. Remember I said I have started small!!! These are attainable goals for me right now & so I am ok with that!
Supplementation is a huge part of my life & it has been a huge life changer for me. Since starting my supplementation after my MS diagnosis my MS symptoms have been improved by 90-95%. This is the reason why I can function to work, live & exercise!
The greatest threat to my wellness journey has been my MS diagnosis. Learning to balance how I am feeling & how far I can push myself without crashing has been the toughest part. That is another reason why starting small is so key for me. Get my body used to moving again & then build from there!
The MS 5K Walk! My friends & family
joined me in raising over $2,000.00 for MS research & joined me on the
walk! J
If I could share one thing about wellness it would be to START SMALL! Do something that fits into your lifestyle, set yourself up for success not failure, don’t try to change everything all at once, pick one thing & work on that ... As that becomes a habit, work on the next thing. You are on your journey for the rest of your life so you don’t have to do everything RIGHT NOW!!! Look at the big picture ... if you are moving closer to your ultimate goal, no matter how slow, then you are having success!... Oh wait! That was supposed to be one thing!
How do I know you??? ... Well you are my husband & the father of our 3 children! We’ve known each other since 17 & 18 ... for 22 years!
Our wellness connection is that we have made wellness a family focus & part of our family mission is to be an example & help others on their wellness journey!
I have learned that I inspire you because you have shared it with me. Sometimes it is not easy to see how one can be inspirational to your spouse, especially when you are married to someone who is inspirational to so many. Yet I do know that we have a mutual feeling between us that we inspire each other in many different ways.
My wellness goals, for the future, are to feel as good without clothes on as I do with them on! Ultimately at the end of this year I would like for us to do a photo shoot together as we both achieve our goals! 40 & FABULOUS!!!! My goals also include consistency in my exercise (3-4 days/week)... no more stop & start, & better eating habits (eating breakfast & not missing meals)!
To me a wellness community is a group of people to come together to help & encourage each other to learn & grow in their wellness journey. It is a place for inspiration, realness & motivation. No judgment!
Something people wouldn’t know about me regarding my wellness journey is that in college I use to swim 5 days a week as I was training to be a lifeguard.
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