You can have fibromyalgia and still workout

The logo above is one I made to possibly go on custom shirts my team can wear at our Tough Mudder in June of next year. Yes, I have fibromyalgia. Yes, I will be running a 10-12 mile military designed bad ass obstacle course in a few months. Am I in pain a lot? Yes, I am. But it is not as much pain as it was before I started getting healthier. To be honest, once I started exercising regularly my flare ups went from 4-5 times a week to once a week. It was very difficult at first, I was having to fight through a lot to keep up with my workouts, but as time went on it got easier and easier. There are still days where I can't do exactly what I planned. If the kids get up crazy early or are sick and I miss my morning workout it gets very difficult because my flare ups typically happen at night. Whenever I have an evening workout its like playing roulette because I have no idea what shape I am going to be in when I finally get around to getting down to the basement to do my video. BUT, I still do it. IT IS WORTH IT! There is a very good chance someone reading this right now has their laptop in bed with them, heating pads on their legs/back/neck/anything , just waiting for it to finally ease off and you are thinking "Yeah right, I'd be happy just to walk right now." I know, I get it, I'm there with you. Exercising really does make it better. If I stop my workouts, like when I get injured or if there is a holiday that throws me off like Christmas just did, within a week I am back to getting my flare ups several times a week again. I ask this of anyone with fibro... Please, start getting more active when you aren't having a flare up and do it on a regular basis. Also, start cutting out processed foods. Your body has no clue what to do with all of those chemicals and they are making you sick in more ways than you know. And consider an elimination diet to see if you are sensitive to anything. For me, it was gluten. Cutting out gluten has made a huge difference in my life. So start by picking one thing and cutting it out entirely for a couple weeks, if there is no difference than you have no sensitivities to that food. If you do notice a difference I would consider sticking with it. Going gluten free has not been easy for me, there are a lot of learning curves along the way, but compared to the pain I am in when I eat gluten it is completely worth it. You can treat your fibro with healthy eating and exercise, I promise you. Is it going to go away? No, it's not, I wish it did because I would do anything to make it go away entirely just like you. But it WILL make it easier to live with. And I am not going to let my fibromyalgia hold me back.

How I found Beachbody

I spent a very large part of my life overweight and with a lot of health problems. I have fibromyalgia, PCOS, costochondritis, and a gluten intolerance. (I learned each of these one at a time while in my 20s) My husband and I had to fight hard through multiple types of fertility treatments to have our two beautiful, miracle babies. I was overweight before that, and I gained a lot of weight during that struggle, most of it while trying to get pregnant and on all the hormone injections. After I had our second daughter I decided I was finished being overweight. I saw my husband doing all these amazing and fun things like running 5Ks and doing Tough Mudders and I was jealous that I wasn't able to do all those things too. I was done. While breastfeeding our youngest we discovered she had multiple food sensitivities, forcing me to go on a very very strict diet (no dairy, no gluten, no soy, no eggs). While on this diet I was eating good, clean, healthy food and started losing weight automatically. I knew cutting out gluten was a good idea for me already, I had found out before that I had issues with it, but was never able to force the switch. Cutting out all the processed foods had a huge impact on me too. Suddenly, my fibro flare ups became less and less frequent, I was feeling so GOOD! Which, when you have fibromyalgia, is truly an AMAZING thing. While this was all happening my husband had decided to start up P90X to prepare for his next Tough Mudder. The changes were amazing, I couldn't believe how fast I was watching him change right in front of me. I was practically following the same eating plan as him (I wasn't about to make separate meals for me, I just ate what I made for him) so I figured I was already halfway there, why not start doing some workouts too and get those kinds of results too. Well, I tried a few P90X ones with him and just couldn't hold out. They were too long and too hard for someone like me who NEVER worked out and was just starting out. Then I heard about T25. Also a Beachbody program, and only 25 minutes for every workout. I loved it, they fit my abilities perfectly and I was able to fit them in during the baby's naps. Before I knew it I had lost 40 POUNDS! I was wearing pants I hadn't fit in since college, I would go weeks between fibro flare ups, I had more energy, It was amazing. So amazing, that I decided to be a Beachbody coach. I took a bit of a roundabout way to getting into Beachbody, mixing a P90X diet with T25 workouts, but it still got me hooked. I wanted to spread the word about how well these programs work, how convenient they are, and see if I could coach other people through their transformations while I am finishing mine. I still have long way to my goal weight, but now I know how to reach it! Since starting this journey I have ran a 5k and a 10k, and I am signed up to do a Tough Mudder with my husband in June of 2014. No longer will I let my weight keep me from doing what I want to do!