Life was a challenge right from the start. I was born two months premature (back then was a big deal) and the doctors didn’t think I’d survive, but I proved them wrong. Growing up in a small town in Iowa was a struggle because we never had certain luxuries that other kids enjoyed. One of the factors that has driven me to do better for myself and my family was my dad getting laid off from work a lot. It’s important to me that my kids not face those struggles. I am the second of 4 kids, wasn’t an athlete and never competed in sports. My parents just didn’t want my straight A’s to suffer. I was your typical nerd, but it helped me do well in school, finish college and obtain my doctorate of optometry.

It was in optometry school that I first stepped foot in a gym—completely turned off by Adam, the owner (whom I call hubby now) and hid in the ladies’ room only because I did not have a clue as to even which part of the machines you were supposed to sit on, and I had very low self esteem—did I mention I never got asked on a date til college? I was your textbook skinny fat girl, thin and squishy—isn’t that what we are led to believe is desirable? From that point on I was hit or miss in the gym doing your typical long stretches of “cardio” and very light weights. I was very much intimidated in the gym, if anyone looked good I made sure I stood as far away as possible from them. In Adam’s office there was an autographed pic of Monica Brant and flipping through the fitness magazines I learned who Amy Fadhli was--Adam’s crush) and thought I could NEVER look like that and WHAT did he see in me. But that was new standard of ideal for me, just didn’t have the knowledge or drive to become it.

After graduate school I moved around quite a bit because ever since I was little I said I would move away from Iowa. This led me to Dallas, Chicago, and a variety of places which I loved tremendously, but when I learned I was pregnant with my first child, I knew I didn’t want her backyard to be a cement parking lot so I moved back home. I was very fortunate to become partner in a 60 year old optometry practice near my hometown. I now have two beautiful children, Hailey (age 6) and Hunter (age 4). Hailey weighed over 10 lbs, and I almost died again from complications due to her size. Then just like many Moms, my babies became my priority…NOT looking good and working out. Working out became nonexistent and I very quickly returned to my skinny-fatness.

When I was done nursing my second child I decided I should start doing monthly breast exams and lo and behold I felt something…I had it checked out and the doctor was right—it was nothing, but the mammogram found something in the other breast. The words you never want to hear, “You have cancer” rang in my ears. Never did I feel so weak and helpless. Fortunately it was early enough that the treatment I chose has left me with a very small chance of recurrence, but this was an awakening…how could I leave my kids without a mother? About a year later I made the decision that I was in control, I choose my path so I changed my way of life to healthy living…if it was going to come back I wanted to make sure I had done everything possible to keep it away…I made the decision to start LIVING and stop EXISTING.

For me a large part of taking control of my life was determining how I spend my time caring for my body, whether it is eating the right foods, exercising or spending time with my family. I started reading and learning about things in fitness articles and was amazed at how wrong I was doing everything before. I was achieving much better results with small changes. The feeling alone of being in control of something, of how you can change your body was amazing! For the first time ever I was happy with the way I looked, but even better is the feeling I get when I am asked to help others change themselves. Now I maintain a healthy diet and focus primarily on weightlifting 4-5 times a week and cardio is not a huge part of my routine. Peanut butter is my downfall though, it works for me but I’d love to kick the addiction. Everyone is different, one thing does not work for everyone and another joy is figuring out what works for you as well.

When I’m not at work or in the gym I enjoy spending as much time as possible with my family, my two dogs Harley and Hobie, and any other living creature that somehow ends up in our home. When I have a free minute I also like to go target shooting at the range where I am affectionately called, “Bulls-eye”. Through my breast cancer diagnosis I am now part of a great group of women called the Breast of Friends who are all survivors and our big event of the year is the annual Dragon Boat Races, of which I love to be a part. I have to laugh now because my children will ask when can they go to they gym and they will ask me to feel their muscles as they are flexing their biceps. As crazy as it sounds, being diagnosed with cancer was one of the best things that could have happened to me because it has helped me to LIVE and the positive changes will help my children to be as healthy as they can be.