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Jill Atwood, FM 100A Utah woman is using her experience to help others. Debbie Perry believes attitude is everything when in comes to healing your body.
There was a time when Jennifer Dickson couldn't have raised her arms high enough to help her daughter across the monkey bars. "It got so bad that I couldn't pick her up. I just basically had a really hard time moving at all," she said.
Jennifer was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, and her outlook on life was pretty bleak until she crossed paths with an old friend. Debbie Perry is a sports nutritionist who believes in mind over body when it comes to healing.
"I'm going to deal with the truth, and that's part of that whole process of recognizing it. And only when you see what you are and where you are do you know how far you have to go and what you need to do."
Debbie herself hit rock bottom years ago after a car accident. A severe back injury left her barely walking, let alone running. That's when she made that conscious decision: "I'm not going to be crippled."
"It's definitely a change in you mental state, in your focus. 'Okay, I will do whatever it takes, I will be patient, I will listen to my body,' allowing yourself to feel those things rather than cover them up and push them down," Debbie says.
Today, through diet and exercise, Debby is 100 percent again; in fact, she's a triathlete. She's also now licensed in sports nutrition and strength training and helps people like Jennifer all the time. Jen is now less focused on her problem and more focused on the solution, and she feels great.
Jennifer said, "I had a goal that I was going to be be better someday, and you invision that and then you work towards that."
Jennifer's doctor has since reversed her diagnosis; she no longer has rhuematoid arthritis.
