From Air Force veteran to mom to registered nurse to professional plate-spinner — here’s why fitness still keeps me sane.
Remember when self-care meant bubble baths and scented candles? Yeah, me neither. These days, I deadlift for my peace. Not because I’m chasing a chiseled “revenge body,” but because it’s cheaper than therapy — and my kids are less likely to hear me screaming into a throw pillow if I’ve already sweated out the rage.
As an Air Force veteran, registered nurse, and mom of two (ages 9 and 18), I’ve mastered the fine art of doing too much while pretending I’m completely fine. But somewhere between teaching about trachs and breaking up sibling feuds, I realized: if I didn’t put myself on my own to-do list, I was going to snap like a hospital glove in a heatwave.
🏋️♀️ 1. My Favorite Workout? Whatever I Can Throw Together.
Some days I crush a structured lift. Other days I throw together a makeshift push/pull session that barely passes for programming — but still counts. When I’m totally drained, it’s Pilates or stretching because I have to move to feel like a human. Not everything has to be hardcore — but it has to happen.
🔥 2. Why Chaos Still Means “Go”
My kids don’t need diapers anymore, but the drama? Thriving. Recently, they fought because:
- One sat in the other’s chair
- One looked at the other
- One used a tone of voice that was “too smug”
- And the final straw — someone ate the last donut
That’s when I grabbed a dumbbell and started squatting in the laundry room. Because between two bickering siblings and the smell of someone’s forgotten gym shoes, I needed a minute — or 30 — before someone got grounded and I filed for a name change.
🧠 3. It’s About Feeling, Not Flexing
One of the biggest myths in fitness? That you have to lift super heavy with perfectly timed reps and sets to “count.” No. You should lift in a way that makes you feel your body. That could be 2 reps, or 20. It’s not about ego — it’s about mind-muscle connection. And no, that doesn’t always mean beast mode. Sometimes it means “just breathe and get through it.”
⏱ 4. Start Small, Grow Strong
I tell everyone this: baby steps. Start with 10 minutes a day. That’s it. Then add five more tomorrow. Before you know it, it’s 30, then 45, then part of your routine.
Research shows it takes an average of 66 days to form a habit — not 21 like we’ve been told (Scientific American). And complex habits like fitness? Sometimes up to 6 months. That’s okay. You’re not behind. You’re just starting.
✍️ 5. This Is What Self-Care Actually Looks Like
You’ll find “shake it out” scribbled in my planner between meetings and dinner prep. That planner — Mood. Move. Meals. — isn’t just a product I made. It’s how I remind myself that I matter. That moving is part of who I am. That sweating is therapy with better glutes.
If you’re a nurse, a veteran, a mom, or just a person who’s out here holding it all together with dry shampoo and duct tape — hear me: you deserve to feel strong.
Final Thoughts 💬
You don’t need to work out to prove anything. Not to your coworkers. Not to Instagram. Not even to your kids (though mine know better than to talk back when I’ve had leg day).
You move because it makes you feel like yourself again.
So lace up. Put the donut drama on pause. Do 10 minutes for you.
Uniformly Human 
Leave a comment