It’s the beginning of a new year and the resolutioners are packing the gyms to max capacity. With a new year comes new changes with possibilities of growth. One major thing that will remain the same is that I have hemophilia and all the challenges that come with it. However, I have decided on two New Year’s resolutions: Write a blog about being healthy with hemophilia make my health decisions very intentional. Fitness and eating right is all the rage in pop culture and you can’t go five minutes without seeing an ad for nutrition, new gym memberships, or so-and-so athletes telling you to “eat fresh”. While most people flocked to sign up for new memberships, I decided to go a different route; I canceled my gym membership.
I consider myself active and reasonably fit and I also happen to to know the boundaries of a bleeding disorder. Nurses at the HTC’s have promoted exercise as a lifestyle that sustains good overall health and (especially) the maintenance of healthy joints; I’ve heeded their words. In fact, I was a dare-deviling, little non-clotter back in my early years. When other children with hemophilia wore helmets and sat on the sidelines, I did not want that to be me. So, here I am having maintained a healthy lifestyle, having been an ex three-sport athlete and proud owner of a gym membership for many years and to ring in the New Year, I decided to cancel my membership with my gym. I came to the realization that the everyday, cookie cutter gym was not designed for my needs or with me in mind. It is important to understand that hemophiliacs face some challenges that clotters do not. For one, I adapt many of my exercises to accommodate and compensate for joints that have experienced wear and tear and would bleed internally otherwise. I will be writing about those in my next entry once I have defined my new routine. Please tune if this is something that interests you.
