Tag Archives: blogging

Adventures In Banking (or More Customer Service Stories)

Posted on October 14, 2016 | 1 comment

Since I work in customer service, I know that sometimes someone is having a good day and sometimes someone is having a bad day. As a customer service rep,  I can’t make every customer happy (I just got in trouble yesterday by a customer who called me rude to the owner of the company I work for because I refused to do things that I either have no authority or legal right to do). I’m aware that because of my job in customer service, I can be a tough customer from time to time. I do expect a lot out of customer service reps since that’s the standard that I have for myself, and I really hate when I have a bad experience.

I’ve been dealing with a lot of customer service people from banks lately. After setting up my DBA for work, I’ve had to do a couple of things and one of those things was getting a business bank account set up. My first stop was my current bank since it would be easiest to have everything in one place. Unfortunately, I would have to pay $15 a month to have a business bank account until I had a minimum balance in the account which was higher than I’m comfortable with.

Even though I couldn’t do the account at my bank, they were so nice to me there. They looked into some possible loopholes that might be able to get the fee waived for me, they tried to find other options, and they really did everything they could to try to find a solution that would make me happy. I’m sure that they also want to keep my business, but any bank should want my business whether or not I’m already a customer.

I ended up doing some searching online for business bank accounts with no monthly fee and found a bank that happens to be one block away from my current bank. My first attempt to go there to talk to someone was not a success because I forgot it was Columbus Day and the bank was closed (totally my fault for not looking into bank holidays). But I was able to go back the next day and that’s exactly what I did.

When I arrived nobody greeted me or asked me what I was at the bank to do (they do that at my current bank), so I waited in line to talk to a teller to find out what to do. They directed me over to some chairs and said there was one person ahead of me needing to discuss business accounts. I took a seat and got my book out to read.

The person ahead of me went back and before they did, a bank employee came to look to see if I had the paperwork I needed to open a business account. They quickly glanced at everything, said it was fine, and said they’d be back soon to help me. I ended up waiting almost 2 hours to be helped. By the time they got to me, the bank was closed. But since I had been waiting since before they closed, they weren’t going to send me away.

They started to look at my paperwork and process things and then told me that I needed $100 to open an account. I’m aware that this is my fault, but nobody told me how much I needed to open an account and I didn’t have $100 in cash (or a blank check) with me. I asked if there was any way I could run over to my bank and get cash from the ATM, but they said that since they were already closed that if I left to get money they couldn’t let me back in.

I left that bank feeling pretty annoyed. In the 2 hours I was sitting and waiting, I easily could have gone to my bank and had the cash that I needed. When they came to check my paperwork to see if I had what I needed, they could have told me that I needed $100 or they couldn’t open the account. But instead I wasted 2 hours sitting on my butt in a bank with nothing accomplished.

I put a bit of a rant up on Facebook that evening because I decided that even though they seemed to be the best option for a free business account, I didn’t want to give them my business. I deserved to be treated better than how they treated me. I never should have waited as long as I did because my time is valuable. And I wasn’t going to be devalued again.

A few of my friends recommended a credit union that they believed had free business accounts. So yesterday, I headed over to the credit union to talk to them. First, I have to say that doing business in a credit union that is housed in a building owned by a major studio is pretty fun. In the entryway there were a bunch of props and other things from movies the studio has done before. And in the credit union, they’ve got a lot of movie themed stuff (sorry that I didn’t get any pictures of it!).

I wasn’t able to get my account set up while I was there because I actually need some more paperwork that I will be getting from the LA County courts in the next few weeks. But once I can do that, I can set up the account (and while it’s not always free, there’s a low enough balance requirement that I can handle it).

Even though I couldn’t do the bank account at the moment and that was discovered within minutes of sitting down, I couldn’t have asked for a better customer service experience. The woman helping me was more than willing to answer all my questions that I’ve been coming up with. I’ve never opened a business bank account so this is all new and sometimes overwhelming to me. But she was patient and took her time making sure that when I left there that I had all the answers I needed and that I knew exactly what I needed to bring with me the next time I come in.

Hopefully my paperwork from the court will come soon so I can set everything up, but there is no question that I am going to go with the credit union (as long as everything works out for me) instead of the bank. I want my money to be a place where I feel comfortable going in to talk to a banker or where I know that they won’t waste my time. It’s important to feel good about where you are giving your business, and clearly the customer service experiences that I had influenced me.

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Posted in Fun Stuff, Saving, Work

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Being A Business (or Making Things Official)

Posted on September 29, 2016 | 1 comment

I’ve been running this blog for a pretty decent amount of time so far. I’ve gotten packages delivered to my house with my address and the name as “Finding My Inner Bombshell” with no issues. I haven’t made any money on this blog so I haven’t had any issues with checks coming in with the blog name. But I’ve known for a while that it would be smart to create a fictitious business name for the blog, I just never got around to it.

I also started a production company a while ago. I really haven’t done much with it, but it will be listed as one of the production companies for “Single Parent Date Night”. I had another project in mind for my production company, but it fell apart when another project with the same concept came out and had a lot of positive press. But many people produce their own work so having my own production company is a good thing for me. Again, I haven’t made money in my production company name, but I figured creating a fictitious business name would be a smart thing to do.

A few weeks ago, I found out that with one of my day jobs they will not be able to pay us as individuals anymore. It’s a long story, but basically we all needed to have a business that they could pay us through. We had the option to create a sole proprietor or a LLC, and after doing research (and realizing how expensive a LLC would be each year), I decided it was time to make both the blog and my production company official.

Fortunately, there is so much stuff online about how to create a DBA and it’s not a horrible process to have to go through. I had to submit some paperwork to make sure that neither the blog nor the production company names were taken already (neither were but I had a moment of wondering if I had screwed up for not doing it sooner). Then there was some paperwork to fill out online and I got a bar code to bring with me to the county courthouse to pay and complete.

The county courthouse was a pretty easy step and I was prepared with all my paperwork and money (possibly over prepared because I did more forms that was required) and I was out of there quickly. Another step I had to do is to get my DBA announcements into a newspaper for 4 weeks. Fortunately the county website lists dozens of eligible newspapers and their prices so I went with one of the cheapest ones (that actually price matched so it became the cheapest one) and my announcements will be in the paper soon.

This is all very professional and official, but because it was so easy for me it’s a bit hard to believe that I’ve officially created 2 businesses for myself. I’ll be setting up a business banking account in the next few weeks (I need that for the day job) with my DBA names on it so I can start being paid as my blog or production company if I ever make money off of either.

This was a step I had to do to keep my day job, but I’m glad I was forced into doing this. I needed to do it eventually and I didn’t have a good reason to do it so I was procrastinating. But it was really a simple process and it’s pretty much all down so I’m officially a business owner now of 2 different businesses! I think that’s pretty exciting!

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Posted in Fun Stuff, Work

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Sorry (or I’m Glad I’m Back!)

Posted on September 27, 2016 | Comments Off on Sorry (or I’m Glad I’m Back!)

So sorry for the downtime I had yesterday and today. Random technical issues brought the blog down and things were not getting fixed the way they should have.

Check out yesterday’s post today and tomorrow I’ll be back with a new post!

Thank you for being loyal readers!

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Posted in Tough Stuff

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My First BlogFest (or Maximizing 5 Hours)

Posted on July 19, 2016 | 2 comments

This past weekend was BlogFest. BlogFest is a fitness blogger conference that is partnered with the IDEA World Fitness Conference and Sweat Pink (which is a blogger organization I’m a part of). This was the 3rd year for BlogFest and I was lucky enough to be able to get a ticket for it! They were offering free tickets to bloggers, you just had to put in your application why you deserved to attend and I was selected!

BlogFest

My original plan for BlogFest was to ask my boss at my box office job if I could work just customer chats (not phones) for the 2 days of BlogFest which is what I had done during the SAG-AFTRA Convention. I know my boss doesn’t like when I do that, but I didn’t want to have to ask for those days off either. Then, I found out that I would be going out-of-town the weekend after BlogFest and I would have to have time off for that. So since I had to take time off, I wasn’t comfortable asking for chat only days when I’m already getting time off (we don’t get vacation time or time off at the box office job so I have to limit how much time off I ask for).

Because of my work schedule, I ended up only being able to attend the afternoon of the first day of BlogFest, but I was determined to make the most of the time I was going to have there! As soon as I was done with work at 3pm, I raced over to the light rail station and caught a train to downtown. Since the event was being held at the convention center, it was pretty easy for me to take the train there and it saved me time in rush hour and saved me money for having to park downtown. I got to the convention center about 10 minutes before the next blogger session was going to start, so I quickly checked in and found another BlogFest attendee who was able to direct me to the room where the session was being held.

The first session that I was able to attend was all about social media and how to maximize using it for your blog. While I think I’m pretty good at using Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram; I’m pretty bad at using Snapchat and YouTube. I got a lot of great tips and advice in the session and while I haven’t been able to implement those things just yet, I’m working on some ideas that I hope that you all will enjoy!

After that session we had a few minutes before the next (and final) session that I could attend so I took a quick second to take a selfie in front of the BlogFest step and repeat (it was my only chance!).

BlogFest Arrival

The next session was a breakout session where there were a bunch of small groups discussing topics like branding, monetization, content, and other topics that bloggers may be concerned about and needing advice on. I had a pretty awesome group and I got some great ideas for things that I want to work on for here and hopefully will be able to start using them soon (things are in the works!).

Sadly, I missed all of the morning sessions that day and all of the sessions the next day. There will be notes posted online soon, but I still wish that I could have attended more because I really got so much out of the 2 sessions that I was able to go to. I also ended up missing the IDEA World expo and checking out all of the vendors there because I wasn’t able to get back to downtown another day.

But even though I was done with my 2 sessions pretty quickly, I still had some more fun that night.

My next stop was at Lawry’s Carvery to get a quick dinner with some fellow BlogFest attendees.

Dinner

It wasn’t the healthiest dinner (especially since we all blog about fitness), but it was quick and very yummy! At dinner, I finally got to meet some of my online blogger friends in real life which was awesome! We had a very honest conversation about our blogs and the challenges we are having now and it was so great to get that type of support from other bloggers who have been there and aren’t judging me for my lower numbers or anything.

The final stop for the night was the JW Marriott hotel (right next to the convention center) for the party for BlogFest attendees and everyone who is at the IDEA World conference.

Party

Since BlogFest was just some of the people attending the conference, we got a group of tables inside the reception that were reserved for our group.

VIP

Most of the people at the reception were in the line to get food, but since I just had dinner I sat down at a table and got to chat with more bloggers who I hadn’t met yet. We discussed our blogs (and even got someone to set up a brand new blog while we were there!) and it was just a really awesome time. While at the reception, I was feeling a bit sad that I was going to be missing all the rest of the time at BlogFest and I just feel more motivated that I need to figure out how to get some more flexibility in my life. I want to be able to attend events like this and not have to worry about if I will lose my job for asking for the time off. That’s my big motivation right now and I’m hoping that by next year’s BlogFest I’ll have something worked out.

But before I left, some of the amazing women behind Sweat Pink grabbed me so we could take a silly photo at the photo booth that was set up for the reception.

Photo Booth

Right after that, I had to head back to the train so I could get home. I only spent about 5 hours at BlogFest, but those 5 hours were pretty incredible. I got to meet some inspiring people, learn new things, and just have a fun time! I can’t wait until my next blogger conference opportunity and hopefully I will be able to spend more than 5 hours at it!

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Posted in Fitness, Fun Stuff

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4 Years (or Reflections On The Past)

Posted on July 15, 2016 | Comments Off on 4 Years (or Reflections On The Past)

Tomorrow marks the 4th anniversary of me starting Finding My Inner Bombshell. (1st Anniversary, 2nd Anniversary, 3rd Anniversary) I know I’ve said this every single milestone that I’ve made it to, but I still can’t believe it! This really did start from a friend telling me I should do this and I just ran with the idea.

But blogging didn’t come as easily as it would seem from how this blog has gone. The first time I started blogging (right after my friend told me I should), I actually started another blog. I don’t remember what I named it, but I remember that I used a fake name. I was going to talk about my eating disorder and I didn’t want anyone to know that it was me. I know that some people blog anonymously, but it just didn’t feel right to me.

I kept that original blog for maybe a week or so and I had a couple of posts on it. But I wasn’t blogging regularly and I didn’t feel connected to it. So I stopped and started to think up a new blog idea for me. Once I came up with the name of my blog and secured the URL for it, I still didn’t start blogging. I thought maybe I should write a ton of posts and then post them without telling anyone so there would be a bunch of posts for people to read when they discovered my blog. But that just didn’t make sense.

So I just started blogging. If you go back and look at my first posts, they aren’t really the same as how I write now. I really didn’t know what I was doing or what the plan would be. While I still don’t know what the plan is all the time, at least I know what I’m doing and I feel much more confident with my writing. Sometimes I have nothing to write and I feel bad that you all have to read a boring post, but my life can’t all be awesomeness and adventures. There are times where I’m sad, bored, lonely, or feeling disconnected. And I do try to be honest about those moments because I know how alone I felt for years with those issues. I don’t want anyone else to feel alone.

Through this blog, I’ve found freedom in my life. I’ve become a happier person because I don’t feel the need to only show the best of my life. I show the good, the bad, and the ugly and it’s very rare when someone judges me for it (I do get negative responses to some of my more personal posts from time to time). It’s given me more confidence about so much in my life, and I know that others have gained things too from reading because they don’t feel as alone anymore. I still can’t believe I have inspired others, but I’m so glad that I’ve been able to do that.

When I started the blog, I really did think my life would be very different 4 years later than it is now. I’m still single, I’m still in debt, I’m still dealing with an eating disorder, and I’m still juggling multiple day jobs. But I am working on all of those things and I have hope that eventually they will all be worked out. Right now, being single is the least of my worries. I want to pay off my debt and be in recovery more than anything. And I really would like to find a better day job situation than I’m in right now. I really need to find a job with more flexibility than one of my jobs has right now.

By having flexibility back in my life, I’ll be able to not only do more things for my acting career but I can make this blog better too! I’ve had to turn down so many amazing events that I know you all would have loved because I had to work at that time. And while almost all of my day jobs are flexible hours (or hours of my choosing), there’s one that isn’t and that one is the one I’m looking to replace. Once I figure out a plan, I think that I’ll be able to take some big leaps and bounds in my life when I’m not tied down to when I can work on things.

4 years ago today, I hadn’t even started to blog and I had no idea if I’d be able to do it or even continue to do it for more than a few days. Now, I’ve got 4 years and  1,045 posts under my belt and I can’t wait to see what improvements I can make in this blog and in my life in the next year! Hopefully things continue to get bigger and better and the next 4 years are more amazing than I could ever imagine!

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Posted in Celebrations, Fun Stuff

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Celebrating Ms. In The Biz (or 3 Years Later!)

Posted on June 7, 2016 | Comments Off on Celebrating Ms. In The Biz (or 3 Years Later!)

This weekend, Ms. In The Biz celebrated their 3rd anniversary! I’ve been writing for the blog since the beginning, and in 3 years I’ve written dozens of posts (you can see them all here). So many women have written for Ms. In The Biz, and it seems like we keep getting new writers each month! I’m not sure how many of us have been with the blog since the beginning, but I’m super proud that I’m one of the original contributors.

The celebration for the anniversary was held in Santa Monica. There was actually a street festival happening in Santa Monica that day, so traffic was a bit insane. So I decided to take the light rail out to Santa Monica. I’ve taken the light rail a bunch to get to Hollywood, but the extension to Santa Monica just opened up last month so I figured it was a great time to take advantage of it. The Santa Monica stop was only a few blocks from the party, and those streets were all shut down to traffic because of the festival. So it actually ended up being pretty ideal.

When I arrived, I took some time to decompress from walking over and dealing with the crowds before mingling with everyone (I also wanted to smooth down my hair before I took any photos). The set up was pretty nice with a step and repeat with a photographer right by the entryway.

Step and Repeat

There was some food from Chipotle and cookies from Sprinkles (I didn’t know that they did more than cupcakes!). And there was a wine table as well as a liquor table where various liquors were mixed with tea. I didn’t end up drinking, but I still enjoyed checking out what was there.

Shortly after I got there, a couple of my friends showed up so we found a couch to hang out on a chat. It was starting to get a bit crowded, so being able to sit off to the side helped to keep my anxiety away. Since the red carpet photos weren’t being done the entire party, I also remembered to head over there for some photos. I don’t have the official photos yet, but the photographer was nice enough to take a photo with my phone so I’d have it right away!

Red Carpet

The party was pretty casual so that was nice. There was a raffle about halfway through the event (I didn’t win anything but that’s ok) as well as a quick video highlighting some of the projects that the writers have worked on (I didn’t get a chance to share anything so I wasn’t in that). But most of the time, I was just chatting with my friends about lots of random stuff. I know I probably should have networked more, but with so many people in a space I can feel really shy and end up sticking with people I know.

Since I had to take the light rail back home (and I had some work I had to get done), I didn’t stay too late. I was there for a couple of hours, but there were still a few hours to go when I ended up leaving. The walk back to the light rail was easy enough and even though I had to stand the entire ride (while I was in heels), it was still a pretty convenient way to get to Santa Monica. I’ll have to take the light rail again there soon for a beach day since it is way easier than driving over and trying to find parking.

Congrats again to Ms. In The Biz for sharing amazing stories by amazing women for 3 years! I’m always inspired by each article I read and I’m honored that someone might be inspired by what I have to write too. I’m excited to see what cool things will happen for the blog in the next 3 years. I know that there are going to be some fabulous things in the future and I can’t wait to be a part of them!

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Posted in Acting, Celebrations, Fun Stuff

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Missed Milestone (or 1,009 Posts!)

Posted on May 26, 2016 | 1 comment

When I wrote my 900th post, I mentioned how the next milestone was going to be a huge one. And I really did view my 1,000 post to be a big milestone and I was super excited to get there. A few months ago, someone asked me when I would get to my 1,000th post and I checked and saw it was still a bit away. I was excited that it was coming up, but I didn’t focus too much on it because it was not coming up too soon. But perhaps I should have looked at my numbers more carefully because I realized this week that I actually had my 1,000th post almost 2 weeks ago!

Missed Milestone

My 1,000th post was the one about the cast and crew read through for the short film I’ll be starring in, so at least I had written about something fun! But I still feel really dumb for forgetting to remember a milestone that I had been looking forward to for so long! I hadn’t had a big blog post figured out for my 1,000th (I’m sure I would have figured out something if I planned in advance), but I would have loved to acknowledge it on the day that post went live. But instead, I’m doing that now on my 1,009th post!

Maybe me forgetting about this is a sign that writing this blog has just become almost like a habit for me. I don’t pay attention to how many posts I’ve written (or how many more I will write) and just enjoy writing on here and sharing whatever things are happening in my life. Sometimes I have fun things to share, sometimes I have massive writer’s block and I feel bad I’ve got nothing to tell you all. But sharing the truth in my life has just become normal to me and I think if I was forced to stop blogging for some reason that I would feel a huge hole in my life.

I’ve seen a bunch of articles lately about how right now there are too many bloggers out there, nobody is making money off of their blog, and eventually people are going to stop reading blogs. That’s fine with me. I’ve never made a penny with this blog (I would love to eventually, but I haven’t yet). While it’s been a while since I’ve had a day without readers, I would still write this blog even if nobody looked at it. I’ve said this so many times before, but this blog has become the therapy for me that I never knew I needed. It’s also become a memory book and there are times that I search my own blog to find out what date I had done something or gone to a certain event. I like that I have this record of this time in my life and hopefully I will be able to keep things up for many years to come.

I know I’ve said this before, but when I started this I thought that maybe my family and a couple of friends would read this. While a lot of people who read my blog are people who know me in real life too, I’ve met new people though the blog as well! It’s opened up new social circles and groups that have introduced some of the most amazing and incredible people to me. I’ve had opportunities that I don’t think I could have gotten without having this blog and I’m so grateful for everything that has come my way because of these 1,009 posts. I never would have imagined when I wrote my very first post that staying consistent with my writing and working hard at it would get me to this point. I honestly started the blog because a friend told me I should do it, so I jumped in without really thinking what I would do.

I have no clue what my next milestone post will be. I don’t think I’ll be thinking each 100 posts is a milestone and I don’t know if I would want to wait until my 2,000th post either. My blog anniversary is coming up soon and that will always be something to celebrate. But since this is really just a daily part of my life, I’m not sure if I want to celebrate every step since it is just my life and not anything extraordinary to me anymore.

But for now, here’s to 1,009 posts and the journey that I’ve been on and that you have all followed me on! Who knows where I will be when my 2,018th post comes out? I can’t wait to see!

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Posted in Fun Stuff

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900 Posts (or My Next Milestone Is A Big One)

Posted on December 25, 2015 | Comments Off on 900 Posts (or My Next Milestone Is A Big One)

First of all, if you celebrate Christmas I hope you are having a really great Christmas! If you are Jewish like me, I hope you have a great Jewish Christmas! I’ll do a recap of my Christmas day next week, but I just wanted to do a quick thank you post to you all!

This is my 900th post. I seriously can’t believe it. I know I’ve said this at every milestone, but I’m shocked that I’m still able to do this! When I started this blog, I thought that maybe I’d be able to keep it up for a year. Or if I went longer, I’d end up not posting 5 days a week. But for 900 posts, I haven’t missed a day no matter what (I’m sure eventually something will come up that causes me to miss a post, but I’m doing everything in my power to prevent that). I don’t know if I’ve ever really stuck with something this consistently this long (except maybe my acting career). And now it’s to the point that if I’m not blogging because it’s the weekend, my days don’t feel complete.

I’ve had some low points with this blog. There are days that I have no idea what I could possibly write about. There are things that I don’t want to write about and eventually get the guts to do so. And there are things that I have to share but wish I didn’t have to. And there are posts that I write just as a response to something and I get into a rant.

But there have also been some really amazing moments. I’ve found workouts that I love. I’ve met other bloggers who have inspired me to make Finding My Inner Bombshell better. I’ve become more open with my eating disorder and I’m getting help (and better help than I’ve ever gotten). I go on fun adventures not just because they will make good blog posts but because I want to experience more fun in my life. And I think that I’ve become a much happier person. I never knew that all of these wonderful things could come to me just because I sit at a computer and write about my life every weekday.

I’ve said this before, but I never knew how this blog would become therapy for me. And you all don’t judge me or try to convince me I’m doing something wrong. You all love and support me for who I am, and that’s invaluable to me. I wish that everyone could have the type of support that I feel. I know that if I had this years ago, life would have been much easier for me. I’m no longer afraid to be me because someone may reject me.

I wish that I could give you all holiday gifts as a thank you because you being my readers has been a gift to me. With my next big blog milestone being 1,000 posts, I’m hoping that I can do a really great giveaway to say thank you to you all.

But for now, all I can say is thank you for following me and my story for 900 posts. I hope that you’ve enjoyed my journey so far, and I can’t wait to share whatever comes up next in my life!

Here’s to the next 900!

Giant Bottle

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There’s No Problem With Orangetheory (or My Side Of The Article)

Posted on December 22, 2015 | 4 comments

A little over a month ago, I got an email from a writer from Refinery 29. They were doing a story on Orangetheory and wanted to hear about my experience! I was so excited that someone wanted to talk to me about my workouts and agreed to a phone call with them later that day. I actually got the email while at Orangetheory so I mentioned something to the studio owner about how I was being interviewed and he seemed excited for me as well.

As soon as my phone interview started, I knew that this writer really didn’t want to hear about my Orangetheory experience. She saw my post about when I tore my calf and was asking questions about how the workout caused my injury and how they wouldn’t help me or offer me modifications. I think that any of you who are regular readers on here know that is not the case at all. Orangetheory is the first place that took my hip issues seriously and was willing to work with me to figure out how to still get in a great workout. I wasn’t happy about the interview and told some friends how I felt like she was reaching for a story that didn’t exist. But I figured that after the writer spoke to me that she wouldn’t include me in the article anymore because I was not injured because of my workouts.

Well, yesterday the article went live.

Refinery29

The article now has the click-bait title of “This Gym Chain NEEDS To Address This Important Issue”. But there really isn’t an issue that I can tell in the article. The writer went to one class and wasn’t happy with the modification options she got (she told me during our phone interview that they showed modifications but they weren’t exactly what she needed and she didn’t ask for any more help). She got the impression that nobody gets modifications and interviewed me about my injury and another member about their involvement in the weight loss challenge (I won’t be discussing what the other member talked about since I don’t know them).

The author made is seem like I had a white out of pain, complained, and my coach did nothing. That’s not how it happened at all. I’ve had white out pain issues since 2005 with my hips. Pre-surgery, I was having them dozens of times a day on average and on my bad days I’d have them with almost every step. I’m still having them 2-3 times a day, but that’s such a huge improvement over what it’s been. So the white outs don’t worry me too much.

When I tore my calf, I took a single step on the treadmill, felt a pop in my leg, and had a white out. I immediately went over to the bike because I knew I didn’t want to be on the treadmill anymore. The coach came over to me and asked if I was ok. I said that it was hurting to walk and I showed her the bruise on my leg (we had no way of knowing that was a sign of a torn calf because it looked like a normal bruise). My coach gave me modifications so I wouldn’t have to use my legs a ton for that workout and encouraged me to go to a doctor to get checked out before working out again.

While I didn’t go to a doctor, consulting with my parents helped me realize that it was a torn calf. All the things I was reading online said that doing low or no impact workouts can help fix the muscle sooner because it will keep blood flow going. I knew this from after my hip surgery because my surgeon told me that if I could go back to the gym as soon as possible, I’d have an easier recovery. And I was in the gym with my dad on the recumbent bike about 24 hours after my hip surgery. I did low impact workouts while I healed and shocked my surgeon about how fast I recovered. So why would I do anything different with a torn calf?

All the coaches gave me modifications if I asked and encouraged me to take it easy or rest if I needed to. They helped me figure out good stretches to do to help and encouraged me to do more foam rolling. They also helped me realize that getting calf sleeves would help my recovery and my future workouts.

But they were not the ones pushing me to be back in class right away. They understood that I wanted to be there because I had a routine and momentum and didn’t want to fall back into my old habits of only sporadically working out. In the past, I’ve used injuries as excuses to sit on my couch and do nothing. I’m not going to do that now.

From the comments on the article so far, it seems like most other members agree with me. Orangetheory is for everyone at every level. Yes, you might have to ask for specific modifications (as I’m quoted in the article, you have to be your own advocate and can’t depend on others to know what you need). But they have been the most flexible workout program I’ve ever been a part of. They are not scared by the fact that I’m heavy, not in the best shape, and have lots of physical issues.

I’ve dealt with trainers who don’t want to push me because I’m having a tough time, but I need to be pushed to be better. I’ve been in classes where they are so scared by my hip issues that they don’t give me a modification in fear that their modification will hurt me. And I’ve been in group workouts where I’m talked down to because the teacher assumes that I don’t understand what’s going  on and need everything dumbed down for me.

At Orangetheory, they respect me for who I am and what my goals are. They will push me and if I say that I can’t do more because of a particular reason, they will back off then but push me in other parts of the workout. And there’s nothing wrong with that. We are all in the workout to be pushed because we don’t push ourselves on our own.

I know that my blog doesn’t get the attention that Refinery 29 gets. But I want to make sure that my side of the story is heard and not just the bits and pieces of the interview that the writer has decided to share. If she included my entire interview, it would have included much of what I said here. I praised Orangetheory for being for all levels and for not being scared to work with me. I said that it was a coincidence that my calf tore in class because it could have just as easily torn getting in or out of my car that day. And I said that I went back to class right away because I wanted to, not because I was pushed or tricked into it.

To my Orangetheory family, I hope you know that the article does not reflect how I feel about you at all. I love that you guys have become my workout family and that you all care about my well-being (as well as everyone else’s). You guys make sure that everyone working out has a great class and feels like they had the best workout ever. I don’t think that you caused my calf injury or didn’t give me all the help and support I could need. You guys really are the first people who make me feel like I’m an athlete and not just someone lumbering through a workout class. Thank you for being there for me, encouraging me, and making me realize how strong I truly am.

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Learning About “Breaking Vegan” (or An Amazing Book Giveaway!)

Posted on December 17, 2015 | 3 comments

I’m so excited to share this amazing book and giveaway with you all! But before I get to that, I wanted to give you a little back story.

I first heard of Jordan Younger when her blog post about ending her vegan diet went viral. She used to blog under the name The Blonde Vegan and changed her name to The Balanced Blonde to reflect her new lifestyle. I heard of her because I know the blogger The Balanced Brunette and someone mentioned the name similarity.

I had read the post about Jordan ending her vegan diet and was very proud of her. She had discovered that from the restrictions of the vegan diet that her food choices became more and more restrictive and ended up turning into orthorexia. There was a lot of backlash from her post including vegans being angry for her eating animal products again and from other people who didn’t believe that orthorexia was a real thing.

I could relate to people not understanding an eating disorder. I had the same issue with my binge eating disorder. At first, it wasn’t recognized as an eating disorder. When I was first diagnosed, it was classified as a non-purging bulimic and there wasn’t any help for me. And people (including some in the medical field) thought that it wasn’t real and that it was just an issue of me liking food too much. So to have a name, a diagnosis, and a treatment plan was a huge relief for me.

Jordan was able to get help for her eating disorder as well. After her post went viral, I started following her on social media and realized that she also works out at Orangetheory! And one day, I noticed her name on the heart rate monitor screen and introduced myself.

Jordan is seriously such an amazing woman and so open about her story. And with all that she learned through the beginning of her journey with her eating disorder, she wrote a book called “Breaking Vegan”.

The Balanced Blonde

Since Jordan knew me through Orangetheory she offered to send me a copy so I could check it out! I got it and started reading it immediately.

Breaking Vegan

What struck me the most (and what has stuck me with so many eating disorder stories) is how similar her story is to mine. Our eating disorders are very different, but so much the same. They start with small choices (both of us started with disordered eating issues as children) and balloon out of control without really realizing it. Jordan’s book is very well written and beautifully laid out. Her story includes photos of her throughout her journey and in the back there are some great recipes for healthy meals (I’ll hopefully be making some of those soon!).

I understand that there is some controversy with the title because not everyone who goes vegan develops an eating disorder. But this story is a personal story of what happened to Jordan and how her discovering a vegan lifestyle helped to make her eating disorder come out. It would be the same as if I said that ice cream created my binge eating disorder (it didn’t, but that’s an example). Of course it’s not the fault of ice cream, but that ice cream led me down the path to the eating disorder that I believe I was genetically at risk for.

I highly recommend this book both to those who have an eating disorder as well as those who don’t. Those who have an eating disorder may find comfort in knowing that you aren’t alone, crazy, or weird. That’s how I felt reading this. And those without an eating disorder can see how easy it is to spiral an eating habit into an eating disorder and get an idea of the mindset of someone with an eating disorder and why it’s so difficult to overcome them.

Of course, I recommend everyone buying the book, but I’m also giving away a copy! You just need to enter through Rafflecopter below and you do as many of the entry options as you want (the tweet option is available every day!). The contest will end at 12am on Christmas Day so I will be playing Jewish Santa and emailing the winner on Christmas!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
I hope that you all enter this giveaway and even if you don’t win you read this book. We should all support Jordan for sharing her story because it is so difficult to do! If more people were open with their eating disorders, I believe that more people would reach out for help and would realize that they don’t have to be alone in this journey.

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