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spoonieironman

•Bedridden➡️Ironman🏊‍♂️🚲🏃
•Chronic Illness Advocate🥄
•Helping Spoonies with fitness, mental health, habits, & more #progressnotperfection
📍NYC
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This is a face that’s so confused about what hap

This is a face that’s so confused about what happened in 2020. It was the first year I can remember that I did NOT go into the hospital for my own illness.

You read that right. With all the crap that we all dealt with in 2020, I didn’t even have to head to the ER for dehydration with my ostomy. This is down right shocking to me.

Now I did go to the hospital when it was absolutely necessary to help my family or loved ones. And if course I had to go to the hospital for the birth of my daughter, when this picture was taken. (Can you sense a little fear in this eyes?)

I hope for my own health and yours that 2021 is a better year for all of us. That it’s a year with limited me hospital visits, procedures, and chronic illness.

Now we’re 20 days into this year which means we have 345 more days to put in the work and do our best to stay out of the big house.
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#chronicillness #invisibleillness #chronicallybadassclub #chronicillnesswarrior #spoonie #spoonielife #spooniewarrior #autoimmunedisease #spoonies #spooniecoach #chronicpain #chronicfatigue #crohns #crohnsdisease #ulcerativecolitis #ostomy #ostomylife #ibdawareness #crohnslife #rheumatoidarthritis #asthma #hospital #brainfog #butyoudontlooksick #staystrong #mymedicationshouldntcostthousandseverymonth #humirahelps #patientadvocate #spooniesupport #spooniestrong

Every other Tuesday I have to give myself a shot i

Every other Tuesday I have to give myself a shot in order to control my immune system and give my body a chance at health.

I get asked all the time why I don’t use the pen and go with a syringe. Well, it’s because I had a couple of bad experiences with the pen.

After being scared to push the button, hear the thump, and have a needle shot into my leg, I’d pull away watching thousands of dollars of medication drip down my leg.

Now I have control again and after everything I’ve been through, seeing a needle doesn’t bother me that much. And it bothers me a lot less than seeing money wasted if I don’t perform the shot perfectly.
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#chronicillness #invisibleillness #chronicallybadassclub #chronicillnesswarrior #spoonie #spoonielife #spooniewarrior #autoimmunedisease #spoonies #spooniecoach #chronicpain #chronicfatigue #crohns #crohnsdisease #ulcerativecolitis #ostomy #ostomylife #ibdawareness #crohnslife #rheumatoidarthritis #asthma #humiranight #brainfog #butyoudontlooksick #healthcarereform #mymedicationshouldntcostthousandseverymonth #humirahelps #patientadvocate #spooniesupport #spooniestrong

Aspen demonstrates how I feel on a fatigue day or

Aspen demonstrates how I feel on a fatigue day or after my Humira shot. 🛌😴💤

HIYA Fellow Spoonies! I’m super excited about a

HIYA Fellow Spoonies! I’m super excited about a new advocacy project I will be working on for 2021, Spoonie Sunday Strolls. Why am I so excited? Because walking and motion is healthy for almost every any chronic illness and talking about everything we go through is healthy too. So join me this Sunday for a stroll to start discussingeverything Spoonie life.

A few years ago I had the honor of not only hearin

A few years ago I had the honor of not only hearing Jim Abbott speak but I also shared someone my story with him and we spent some time together as well. It was beyond inspiring to listen to his story in person and how he figured out a way to make his dream come true, pitching in the majors. ⠀
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Whenever I see this picture it gives me chills and gets my blood moving to do more. If Mr. Abbott can figure out a way to pitch at the highest level of baseball in the MLB, what can I do with my chronic illness? The key, problem solving. ⠀
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Living with a chronic illness is all about problem solving and figuring out the challenges we face on daily basis. We have to look at the adversity we face, make the hard decisions to push ourselves in the right direction, and then take the appropriate actions when the opportunity shows itself. ⠀
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I’m not saying this is easy. In fact from personal experience it isn’t. But when I started to not only want change, but wanted to make change happen, it changed my life. I went from bedridden to IRONMAN in just a few years. From being treated in my parents master bedroom with a visiting nurse every day, to crossing the finish line of a 140.6 mile race. ⠀
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Now I’m not saying that should be your goal. In fact, I don’t suggest it. The human body is not supposed to go 140.6 miles in 17 hours. But there must be some goal that you have in mind. Some direction you’d like to see your life head, and that my friends is YOUR finish line. ⠀
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Once you figure out what that is, it’s about one foot in front of another, making slow and steady turtle steps, and doing your best to be 1% better every day. ⠀
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Before you know it, you’ll be in a completely different life and I can’t wait to see where you go!

Aspen and me are running into 2021 ready to take o

Coddiwomple - To travel in a purposeful manner to

Coddiwomple - To travel in a purposeful manner to a vague destination. Isn’t that a perfect way to describe life with a chronic illness and living in 2020 with COVID?⠀
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Link in bio! Check out my latest blog post about how to live life with so much uncertainty but still move it forward with the challenges we face as Spoonies.

#WatchTheTail Since I know you all love when Aspen

#WatchTheTail Since I know you all love when Aspen makes an appearance, here is some dog park action and then a dog nap with her crew after.

Merry Christmas to everyone celebrating today! I h

Merry Christmas to everyone celebrating today! I hope you all are able to enjoy the end of the holiday season safely and happily with your pod.

My 2021 Advocacy Plan - Link in bio. It's been a

My 2021 Advocacy Plan - Link in bio.

It's been a few years since I've sat down and created a plan for my advocacy. For 2021, I've got some big plans to share a new chapter of my life and help others along the way. Check out my latest blog post where I share my 2021 advocacy plan and some of the ideas I'm excited about.

Also, I'm super excited about sharing this because now it's out in the universe and I have to hold myself accountable. If you want some extra motivation, put a goal you have out there for others to see. You'll be amazed at how it can impact your mindset and keep you on track.

Forgot to post my run from last week. Got in an ad

Forgot to post my run from last week. Got in an additional 6 miles to bring my total to 18 out of 30 I need to complete for @feedingamerica. The background looks a little different now with all the snow we got here, but I also see how I look a little different as well. ⠀
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Within a few weeks of getting off Prednisone I can already see that I'm losing weight. When this happens, I'm sadly still hard on myself. I HATE losing weight and always have to work tremendously hard to keep weight on. ⠀
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These days I'm a little more understanding with myself and I've accepted that there will be swings in my weight and body composition. In an ideal world, I would have a more consistent body type, but with Crohn's disease and an ostomy I find it difficult. ⠀
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In the past, I would have been more upset seeing how much weight I lost in such a short period of time. These days I've learned that my body works differently than others, and I have to just do what I can to be healthy every day.

It's been a while since we've had a nice snowy nig

It's been a while since we've had a nice snowy night with a fire, knowing that will be waking up to enough snow for Aspen to go crazy in.
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It's nights like these which allow me to reflect on tbe little things in life that bring smiles to my face. To me a fire during a winter storm and a smiling dog running through snow are pretty high up there.
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What are some little things that you joy? Especially during times like these and years like this. I think we all can't can't wait for 2020 and this COVID mess to be over so we can get back to even more little things.
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For me, a @mets baseball game with friends enjoying a @samueladamsbeer Summer, walking around a local fair with cotton candy, and a trip to mother fucking @waltdisneyworld top my list when things are safe again.
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And that brings me to my next questions...top 3 things you want to do when it's safe with a chronic illness?

Today I'm starting a new addition to my health jou

Today I'm starting a new addition to my health journey. For about a year now I've been following @nickbarefitness and @bpnsupps, with their Black Friday sale it was time to try out some of their products.

Strong Reds is a combination of all natural fruits such as acai, cherry, pomegranate, blueberry, papaya, raspberry, and more to help my body in a variety of ways. Including inflammation and digestion.

Strong Greens is a combination of all natural vegetables such as wheat grass, beet juice, tumeric, cocunut water, and more to help my body in a variety of ways. Including increased energy, digestion, focus, immune health and more.

I did get some other products of @BPNsupps which I will be trying but figured I'd share these two first.

I'm pretty excited to add them to me routine and see how they not only help my performance for training, but also my general health living with a chronic illness.

So far they smell good, so bottoms up!

Note, I'm not sponsored or a representative for @BPNsupps but I wouldn't mind being one of they asked. 👍😉

Are you self-caring today? If you haven't or aren'

Are you self-caring today? If you haven't or aren't, make some time to do so. You'll feel better that you did. I know I do right now.

I wasn't going to today, but after a very rough week with family matters, I told myself I had to. The stress this week grew exponentially and it started to take it's toll on my body too.

So I set up my bike and spun my lefts for 30 minutes since I knew it would help. But it doesn't only help me feel better, it helps me be better in so many ways for others as well.

We forget sometimes because it's easy to, but it's's vitally important that we make self-care a priority. If we don't, we know what will happen. Things can easily spiral out of control.

If you're feeling overwhelmed and life is compounding on you right now, stop, breath, and remind yourself to make time for you. In the long run you'll view that self-care time as priceless.

On the training side, I'm still trying to get my feet underneath me after getting off Prednisone. Right now I'm focusing on building a strong baseline heart rate, before I start ramping it up again. So far, I'm using self control to not go harder.

Is there anything better than a fluffy puppy cuddl

Is there anything better than a fluffy puppy cuddling into you? It instantly can calm you down, lower your HR, help anxiety, stress, and improve your health in a variety of ways.
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Bonus, on top of all that and more, they're pretty damn cute and will always find ways to make you laugh. ___
I've also heard that laughter is the best medicine too. And we can all use a little more of this med!
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You know what, doctors should just prescribed dogs for us. 🤣

Got in 6 cold miles again today and it seems like

Got in 6 cold miles again today and it seems like I might, just might be becoming a winter runner.
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Best part about this run is that I ran about 30 seconds per mile faster than 3 days ago, but my HR was the same at 150.
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Now it's time to rest, recover, and get ready for another 6 miles on Saturday to benefit @feedingamerica.

Crohn's & Colitis Awareness Week is over but that

Crohn's & Colitis Awareness Week is over but that doesn't mean advocacy stops.
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This is my Tuesday night every other week. Recovery tools for training and maintenance tools for my IBD.
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Its structure like this and following a plan that's made it possible to make it through this crazy year.
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When COVID hit the world, I didn't know what I'd do or how my body would react.
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The first few months were tough as I fell into a flare and had to make the tough decision to go back on Prednisone.
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But since then and since I got my strength back, it's been the structure of my old life which has given me the confidence to continue moving forward again.
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While there are times that I've looked at all the world which I HAVE TO PUT IN as a negative.
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I'm now beginning to look at the healthy habits I've created to guide me through the tough times. Even a year like 2020.

Today is the last day of Crohn's & Colitis Awarene

Today is the last day of Crohn's & Colitis Awareness Week. It's been amazing to see all of the awareness that has been created and shared in a variety of ways to show that IBD is not just a bathroom disease.
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I personally think one of the most important purposes for awareness is to show people how Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are more than people think, and are completely INVISIBLE to the eye.
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But this week we made #IBDVisible!

On the sixth day of Crohn's & Colitis Awareness We

On the sixth day of Crohn's & Colitis Awareness Week I want to thank the little things that make life better with IBD. The heating pads, the pups, the sitz baths, and so many other creature comforts that help us get through the bad days, to make it to the better days.⠀
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What are some of your most cherished creature comforts?

On the fifth day of Crohn's & Colitis Awareness We

On the fifth day of Crohn's & Colitis Awareness Week I wanted to share one of the most important lessons that I've learned with my IBD, this is my own journey and I'm allowed to set my own pace to complete anything I put my mind to. Let me explain.⠀
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This is one of my favorite pictures from my 140.6 mile IRONMAN experience which I completed in 16 hours and 13 minutes, by far the back of the pack but I'm okay with it. It was captured about 139.5 miles into my journey. I was in pain, I was exhausted, but I was about to cross the finish line of eh IRONMAN race. ⠀
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See, it's okay to go at our own pace. We don't have to compare ourselves to others. What's important is that we're taking one step in front of another, making forward progress in our own life. As long as we're making the effort we're capable of, we'll get closer and closer to whatever our finish line might be. ⠀
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From bedridden to IRONMAN. From bedridden to career. From bedridden to family. From bedridden to whatever you want to do. Set a goal and go after it. You'll be amazed at what you're capable of when you go at your own pace and don't punish yourself from going slower than someone else.

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