GUEST POST: INVISIBLE ILLNESS & FITNESS

Hey everyone, welcome back to blog post Friday here at Fitnessfrivolity! Today I have a super special guest post to share with you guys, written by my amazing friend Kayla. As you'll read, she has had to overcome some incredible health challenges over the years and her strong mental framework, positive attitude and genuine smile has not only allowed her to persevere over all health obstacles, but has also led her to finish marathons, conquer workouts and bring unbelievable strength and determination to her body and mind. She is such an inspiration and just a joy to get to know, so I am just so excited to share her story with you today!

Without any further ado, here's Kayla!

Autoimmune Fitness Fanatic, Marathoner and Warrior!

Hello all, I’m Kayla! I am honored Jasmine is letting me share my story with you all and tell you how fitness has helped me to cope with my diagnosis of rare autoimmune diseases and be an inspiration to others. (I have my main Instagram account @prokop_kay as well as my autoimmune fitness Instagram page @autoimmune_fitwarriorsoul, where I share more about not only fitness but also my autoimmune issues.)

When I was 23 years old, I was diagnosed with Eosinophilic angiocentric fibrosis of the sinonasal tract and Wegener’s Granulomatosis. Both of these autoimmune diseases affect my entire respiratory system, and as someone who is an avid runner and big into fitness, I was heart-broken and thought my running days were over. The first six months were the hardest, as I gained over 50 pounds from all the medicines, I had to basically re-train not only my body, but my lungs on how to run and lift. Being so young when getting this diagnosis was anything but easy. I wanted to give up, bad. But, instead of letting my autoimmune run my life, I decided to use it as fuel to chase my dreams and become the best version of myself given the hand of cards I was dealt.

On top of the rare autoimmune disorders, I also have fibromyalgia, migratory inflammatory arthritis, chronic pain, depression, anxiety, and a newly discovered but still diagnosed digestive issues. Each day I wake up is honestly a blessing. Some people may think I’m crazy for doing what I do, but it’s what keeps me sane, it’s what keeps me feeling as normal as possible, and most importantly, it brings me happiness. I take a “cocktail” of pills every morning and evening, as well as every six months I get two doses of IV therapy. It took time, but I finally was able to ‘accept’ majority of all of this, and now that I am about to be 28, I can confidently say that I am 100 percent happy and content with who I am. Through trial and error, many ups and downs, I was able to love the skin I’m in. I was able to lose the weight I gained, and I was able to completely change my body and be the best version of myself even with invisible illnesses. I have my days though still where I cry when I look in the mirror because I am simply human, and I am allowed to have off days.

Now that you have some background information, let’s get into how fitness, the gym, and running helped me to not only cope, but reach many goals and dreams. Before my diagnoses I always went to the gym to simply stay healthy and to a degree in shape. I never was one who needed to “diet” or workout to lose weight. It was simply just a hobby for myself and something I thoroughly enjoyed doing. I never followed any plans, or anything like that. I would just do my own research and just ‘wing-it’. I was always a shorter distance runner, always doing local 5ks throughout the summer/fall, running on my own for ‘fun’, but after my life was turned upside down, I wanted to see what my body (and mind) was really capable of doing. So, I started doing a 10k here and there, then decided to train for a half-marathon. Wow was that fun, each training run was a new distance best for me, and the actual half-marathon itself came easy to me and I wanted more! I decided to sign up for a full marathon. Before my training plan for the marathon started, I continued to go to the gym just about daily to work on strength training, and I would do one long run a week, on top of shorter runs four to five days a week. Living in Ohio has its downfalls, marathon training in the winter months since I signed up for a spring marathon. All but one long run was done outside in either snow, negative wind chills, or just brisk air until it warmed up towards the end of my training. That alone was mentally taxing, but I would run while continuously telling myself “inhale confidence, exhale doubt.” That worked tremendously, and to this day I still continue to repeat that saying when I find myself struggling. When race day came, I was more than ready. May 5th, 2019 was the day I officially became a sub four-hour first-time marathoner. It was easily one of the best days in my life. Having autoimmune diseases that affect my respiratory system, and daily pain because of my other invisible illnesses, excuse my French, but I was, and still am, damn proud of myself for running 26.2 miles without stopping, with over 900 feet of elevation gain, all while crossing the finish line with a huge smile on my face. I really can’t wait until I can start training for my next marathon, but with so many now cancelled, it looks like 2021 may be the year where I can bust my butt and hopefully qualify for Boston! That is my ultimate goal, to get to the Boston Marathon, and I won’t stop until I can get that goal crossed off my bucket list. We are ultimately capable of doing ANYTHING we put our minds to no matter what. Mindset is everything, and positive thoughts lead to positive outcomes.

As time went on, I would purchase a fitness plan here and there, follow it and then to an extent get bored with it. So, I started doing more workouts from various Instagram accounts I followed and started to see really what else my body was able to do besides just run and basic lifts. But after time, I again got bored. I got picked to do Evan Child’s Alpha Female program, but thanks to the pandemic, I wasn’t able to finish it out the right way in the gym. I improvised and did the best I could with what I had at home and finished the 12-week program. With all gyms still closed, I would do various live Instagram workouts, YouTube follow along workouts, and just kind of whatever I could find to do with what I had. I went from having one set of dumbbells and a few resistance bands to having several sets of dumbbells, a bench, some plates, ankle weights, door anchors for my bands, and so much more that I now no longer have any interest in going back to a real gym. In a few short weeks I will be expanding my living room gym to a full basement gym since I’m in the process of moving.

At home workouts have become my new favorite. All my cardio gets done outside by running or walking, or days it rains I will pace back and forth in my apartment to get my steps in. I have followed both Jasmine and Madeline for quite some time, and since both of them show modifications for practically everything, I took the leap and purchased Weekly Moves and my love of fitness came back because every week there’s a new week of lifts! It’s not only helped me expand my ability to do basically everything at home, but it has helped to improve my running and endurance. When I saw another Tighter Together challenge was starting, I was PUMPED. I secretly always regretted not joining them in the past. It was going to be formatted to be done from home, and I even got an old high school friend of mine to join the challenge with me so we could hold each other accountable. Hands down, TT was the best four-week challenge and challenge in general I have ever done. I have a feeling that I will do all TT challenges in the future because of the amazing community of support from complete strangers, and some of the best workouts I have ever done. Even though I am currently taking courses to become a personal trainer, I want to be able to dedicate my time to my clients, so I will continue to do WMW, future TT challenges, and hopefully connect with more amazing, genuine souls like Jasmine.

I could ramble on and on about all of this, but I really hope after reading this, that you take away one thing from it. Even though someone may look “ok”, you never know what they are dealing with. Be kind, always.

YOU are capable of doing ANYTHING, take the leap to try something new, commit to a goal a week, and never, ever, ever stop chasing your dreams. Don’t let something like an invisible illness stop you from becoming the best version of yourself. There are so many others that could be struggling with the same or similar issue as you. Social media is a great place to find those people, reach out to them, don’t be afraid to ask for help and advice.

“You’re never fully dressed without a smile.”