Another birthday and another year gone. 27 was a huge year of growth for me, but I also had some trying times, especially with my health. I always like to write these reflections on my birthday every year, to remind myself of how far I’ve come, and to set some new goals.
At age 27:
-I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism (under-active thyroid), literally one week after my birthday. I’ve been on a thyroid supplement for a year now.
-I picked up a second, part-time jobĀ towards the endĀ ofĀ March at Boston University. I workĀ 2 days a week as a personal trainer at BU FitRec.
-The same week that I was hired at BU, Tim and I signed a lease for our first apartment together. We moved in the first weekend of May.
-We also traveled to Ireland, out first international trip together! We stayed with my friend Nikki, who was in Vet School in Dublin.
-In May, I was promoted to General Manager of the State Street Bank’s corporate fitness center, which I had been the Fitness Specialist at for almost 3 years.
-I officially took over the center in June, and my first task was to hire a replacement for the fitness specialist job. This was much, much harder than I expected, and took much longer than I wanted it to. She finally started in mid-July.
-In August, IĀ signed upĀ to run a 5k. I started training towards the end of August, and the race was October 1. You can read about it here.
-Around the same time that I started training for the race, I started to feel really sick again. As you may or may not know, I’ve had IBS for about 3 years, and I had it mostly under control up until now. I was waking up nauseous, throwing up often, and had severe bloating pretty much all the time, no matter what I ate.
-I saw my PCP and my GI doctor in October and November. GI doc decided to do some tests, which I hadn’t done 3 years ago when I was first diagnosed with IBS. PCP thought that it still had something to do with my thyroid, but a blood test showed normal levels. I had an H.Pylori test, Celiac test, blood and stool tests, MRI Enterography, MRI MSK, and Ultrasounds. Everything came back negative. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.Ā I realized that, since I had moved in with my boyfriend and was so busy between two jobs, I had kind of strayed off my super strict low-FODMAP diet. I wasn’t being as meticulous as I used to be. I tightened up my diet and since doing that, I’ve felt better. Not 100% yet, but I know these things take time so I’m feeling optimistic-finally. My GI Doc also said that there’s a possibility that I had developed “Runner’s Colitis”. I had noticed, during my time training for the 5k, that after every run I had extreme bloating and I always felt sick. I never experienced a “runner’s high”…I always experienced a runner’s “I want to die”. I had no idea this was even a thing. She said that it usually fixes itself after a few months, and thought that might have been why I was starting to feel better (along with the diet changes).
-I also took up yoga to try to relieve some stress. On the days that I work at BU, I leave my house at 5:45am, work at State Street for 8 hours, then go to BU forĀ another 4 hours, and usually don’t get home until close to 9pm. Stress, anxiety, and poor sleep quality also probably contributed to my gut health issues. Read about my yoga journey here!
-I survived my first reimbursement season as manager. It’s complicated to explain, but part of my job at State Street is processing all the fitness reimbursements that employees submit through State Street’s BeWell program. To make a long story short: I had over 3,300 total submissions and over half of them came in between December and February. I was answering, at minimum, 200 emails a day. As a fitness professional, this was not something I was used to at all!!
-I’ve learned what it’s really like to be a manager. Managing a corporate gym has been kind of like the ultimate goal, for me. Now, I’m starting to think about how I can move up from here. Even though I feel like I reached a career goal, I sometimes still feel like I’m not quite sure what I want to do with my life.
-I started a fitness instagram page in July, as I am trying to build up my online business. I wrote my first e-book, which was released on my 28th birthday this past weekend. It’s free, and you can get a copy by signing upĀ here!
-I’m still building my own personal brand, and you may have noticed my website looks a little different! It got a little facelift so that it’s not just a blog anymore. On here, you’ll find more info about me and the services that I offer!
-I did my first professional fitness photoshoot in February, which was a lot of fun! I worked with Nick Cosky Photography, which was awesome. I absolutely love all the pictures he took! You’ll see them around my site, hehe š
-I became a brand ambassador for an awesome apparel company, Altar Ego Apparel. They are a completely female owned and operated company located right here in Boston! They have super cute leggings and tops, so definitely check them out. If you see something you like, you can use my discount code, “CHRISSY”, for 15% off! (I get nothing from this, but you get savings!)
-I did more traveling than ever last year, and I can’t wait to do more this year. Last year, Tim and I traveled to Ireland, Killington, Nantucket, and New York City. I also went on aĀ girls trip with my best friends of over 20 years to Newport, RI, and went to a bachelorette party on the Jersey Shore! Already this year, I have Alaska coming up in April and Nashville in September!
-I saw Lady Gaga at Fenway Park and it changed. my. life. It was my second time seeing her live. Just amazing.
-Tim and I celebrated 3 years together in October, and he took me to my first ever Patriots game! He’s a keeper, for sure š
-I rang in my 28th birthday with my family and my best friends. We had a party at our apartment and I had a blast!
I’m feeling really good about my 28th year. I think it’ll be my best one yet! I have lots of ideas and projects that I can’t wait to start working on. I’m planning to grow even more as a 28-year old, and I hope you’ll grow with me!
P.S.Ā Age 28Ā is already off to a great start….I met Luke Pell, my favorite person to ever come out of ‘The Bachelor’ franchise, at a Finale Watch Party last night! It *almost* made me forget how awful Arie is…almost, but not quite š
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