[17:48]  That does not mean I have gone or will ever go to the Olympics. I compete in the masters division, which is the over 35 group. We have a lot of fun at masters nationals, where if you show up on the first day, you might see someone who’s 80 years old lifting on a platform.

[18:07]  TS — Are you serious? Oh my goodness!

[18:10]  MD — I’m serious. The way masters nationals works is the first day is the oldest and lightest. I believe last year there was like a, you know, 120 pound, like 73 year-old woman, just doing her lifts, nailing it. That’s great.

[18:25]  TS — That’s amazing. That’s awesome.

[18:29] MD — You’ll see my profile… I’m also a working actress. I’m a producer. We’ll talk a little bit about that. I’ve actually worked in the fitness industry for 13 years now. I post about fibromyalgia. I share about it in a way that I think is helpful. I always find it’s important to mention that I may not look like someone that you think has fibromyalgia, even though it’s been a part of my entire life, starting in my teenage years. I was diagnosed really young. 

My story, in brief, is that I was an athlete and an actress. As a kid, I had a rapid decline. I was running track, and my track coach got concerned because I wasn’t really able to have my full kick when I ran around the curve of a 200 meter race. He was sort of like, “Well, what’s, why? Why isn’t your speed working? What’s happening?” I ended up very quickly in a rheumatologist’s office and got a confirmed diagnosis of fibromyalgia. They ruled everything else out really quickly. I’ve always been grateful for the fact that it was clear.

[19:43]  TS — You didn’t have what a lot of us have, where you’re like… “We don’t know what this is”, bouncing around from doctor to doctor? You got a diagnosis really quick?

[19:52] MD — I didn’t have that. I still don’t exactly know why or how. I do remember they did blood tests and ruled everything out. I was young, so I had a pediatrician, and my pediatrician, Dr. Murdock, who is still a lovely family friend, got me right to this rheumatologist, literally the second office that I was in. I remember that confirmed diagnosis, but what I also remember at the time was this well-meaning doctor, older gentleman… We were in his office, not in like an exam room. We were in his office with his degrees and the desk and all of that, me and I think both of my parents…

Which is funny, because my parents have been divorced since I was three. They’re good friends now. It’s really funny. They’re like besties, but just probably shouldn’t have been married, and that’s fine. They agree with me.

[20:53] TS — That happens sometimes, right?

MD — Like, you just shouldn’t have been married, but like, you’re both great and you made cool kids, so like, it’s fine.

I think they were both there, and he just was so sure and confirmed with this diagnosis. Then he immediately shifted to, “You’re going to have this for the rest of your life. There’s no cure.” You know, kind of, “Forget about continuing being an athlete”, you know, “Forget about these kinds of things”, and like, “Here’s some drugs.”

[21:22] TS — How did you feel? Did that just break your heart?

MD — Oh yeah, but…

TS — But you’re also stubborn. I know!

MD — Yes. Immediately, I was like, “NO, though. Like, NO, that’s not… You don’t choose that for me.” At the time I was sort of like, “I’m not that sick”. Like, “I’ll figure this out.” Then began the denial that continued until I was about 21.

I didn’t really do any treatment at all until my early twenties, and I had a pretty bad decline when I was in college. That’s my diagnosis story. 

My getting better story started around 15 years ago, which was not long after. I mean, it was all kind of pretty quick. Like, diagnosis at 13, decline at 21.

[22:14] Twenty-one, I ended up in Dr. St. Amand’s office. Some of you may know who he is. For some reason, when he diagnosed me I was like, “Okay, I guess I actually have this.” Which is funny, in itself. I tried his treatment protocol for a bit. It didn’t really work for me. I was just above the age bracket where it’s not maybe as effective as it is for a younger crowd.

Then, at that point, I just really made the decision that I was going to figure out how to get better. That was, I think I was maybe 23. Then, I was asymptomatic, completely in remission, 10 years ago, like a year or two later, like 25-ish.

[23:10] I’ve been in remission for 10 years, and I use that word. Yes, I like that word, actually. I don’t experience symptoms on a daily basis, but that doesn’t mean, and we’ll talk more about the exercise thing as we go, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t feel things. I’m able to discuss things in a different way, as a fitness expert who has had [fibromyalgia] and understands this.

That’s why you’re going to see me on social media and be like, does she have fibromyalgia? I would say, for all intents and purposes, I don’t really, but I do, but I don’t, because I don’t have to actually change my choices every day based upon that, and I would attribute exercise as one of the massive reasons why I don’t daily experience symptoms.

[24:04] TS — Absolutely. One of the things that I like about the word “remission” is — I feel exactly the same way as you. It’s like I still have this body that’s a little extra special, and I do still have to… Like if I go back to all of my old bad habits, I know I would go back to feeling the way I used to feel too. Like there’s a certain amount of, I don’t know… “protective” is the word that pops into my head. There’s a certain amount of protection I have to do for myself that maybe somebody else wouldn’t have to do, but I don’t have — like you — I don’t have pain on a regular basis. So, yeah.

[01:02:57] MD — If you feel pain here, that’s because your joint is not doing the right thing. My left shoulder, I talked about it before, my left arm does not like to internally rotate. It really likes to externally rotate. It doesn’t like to internally rotate. I have to work on internal rotation of my left arm. When I do that, my shoulder feels good. These are things you can actually learn, though. That may sound really complicated here. It’s not. There are very simple movements that do that…

People with fibromyalgia, like ourselves, if we can… I never want to hold secrets. I’ve learned everything I’ve learned by getting educated and doing all the certifications and paying all of that money, so you guys don’t have to. I will tell you what I know, because you should know it too. If you know, then the power goes back into your hands to make good choices. One of my friends actually posted something funny on Instagram today, and she says, “It may be bad for business, but I would like you to not come back to me, because you have learned how to take care of yourself.” That is where I am, and I know you’re in the same place.

[01:08:54] TS — Mmhmm. Right. Because sometimes the reason we’re not doing things has nothing to do with willpower. You know, our last episode was on setting goals and habits, and that’s all of what I talked about. Setting up your life in such a way that doing it is actually easier than not doing it, for instance. Talking about, “Well, okay, so you didn’t do what you thought you wanted to do. Why? Let’s talk about that.”

MD — Very, very rarely is it an exercise, although sometimes it is. It’ll be like, “Hey, this exercise is making this happen in my neck.” Then, we talk about it, and I explain what may be going on. I’m also a nutritionist, and I know a whole lot about supplements, so sometimes people have needed that. If you’ve already spent the money to spend time with me, I’m absolutely happy to talk about, What did you eat? What’s maybe tweaking your digestive tract?

I have done a little bit more, it’s a little more focused. It’s almost like, Okay, you’re exercising now. How would an athlete change their food intake, timing-wise, maybe around their workouts? Are you eating before you work out? Are you eating after? What’s the window of time? You know, those kinds of things might be what we would talk about, as far as strategy. Maybe that would be what we’re talking about.

It might be tracking your energy over the course of the day. It might be something we’re talking about, to try to identify, Are you somebody who likes to exercise in the morning, or the afternoon, or the evening, and why? Right? It’s starting to look at all of these different factors that could either make it easier for you to stick to the program, or harder for you to stick to it. It could be even like, “I’m feel like I’m failing at this. I’m not doing it at all,” or life has happened, or there’s an emergency or something, and I’ll be there for that. It is coaching, and you know, it’s funny because this is not any different than what I do with my clients in person. This is what it is to be a personal trainer. You know, that kind of person, in person.