Fasting to Diet

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I awoke this morning to head out for an early morning jog. In anticipation of household chaos upon my return, I chose to get a head start to the day. As I walked out of the garage, it felt like the weather had changed overnight. I swear that just yesterday I was awoken by the sun peeking through our bedroom windows. That we went for a long walk after dinner, and it was still light out long after we returned home. But, today was different. I stepped outside at 6:45 a.m., felt a sudden gust of crisp, fall air that had quickly made its grand entrance, and smelled the morning dew thatRead More →

Gained weight? You look great! ... Nobody ever says.

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Ready. Set. Go. My entire life has seemed like a race. A race to finish my homework and go outside to play. A race to get from one class to the next before the bell rang. A race to get to soccer practice despite the rush hour traffic. A race to see how quickly I could run an errand. A race on the soccer field to track down a ball. You get the point, and to this day, I feel like I am still racing, but now, with kids in tow. It, obviously, is my competitive nature, but it never stops, even outside of theRead More →

Sporty Shoe Style

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After a friend shared this article with me the other night, I sat and reflected, as I was able to relate to it on many different levels. Kathryn Laudadio lost her life to suicide after an ongoing battle with anorexia, depression, and bipolar disorder. Unfortunately, her demons out rivaled her rational thoughts. Sure, my heart went out to her close family and friends who are still struggling from her loss. But, the two most significant aspects of Kathryn’s story that kept recurring in my mind were her personal psychological battle and her confidence and passion for shoes. Throughout my life, I have had a reputation for owning anRead More →

"But, you are all muscle!"

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“You have an athletic build,” is the phrase I have heard since my body began developing and puberty occurred. Prior to that point, I was a tiny, petite girl, always low in the charts in both height and weight. I suppose it was because I was too active to sit down and eat, or I was blessed with great genes. Whichever the reason, I never had to worry about my weight during my early childhood. It seemed my body began maturing and changing at the same time my social life became more elaborate and glamorous. It was the start of high school when I beganRead More →

OCL: Obsessive Compulsive LIAR

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Growing up, my parents instilled in my brothers and I the fundamental morals in life: to be respectful of others, be accountable and take responsibility for our actions, treat others as we want to be treated, and to ALWAYS TELL THE TRUTH. Sounds reasonable, especially now as a parent. Similarly, I hope and will strive to raise my two boys with very comparable standards and values. Of course, throughout my life, I demonstrated weak moments where I was unable to live by and fulfill the expectations of good character. I was guilty on different accounts at distinctive times. The most glaring shame I recall was the year I lived as an anorexic. I was diagnosed with ObsessiveRead More →

Army of Athletes

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It may seem awfully unforeseeable, but I would like to compare a female athlete entering college sports to a female soldier entering the army. Though two extremely different undertakings, both have immense responsibilities, all while adjusting to a heightened level of physical and emotional demands in new environments. A freshman athlete is attempting to prove herself to her teammates, coaches, and opponents, and competing against veterans who have been in the program for three years already. The same goes for soldiers who are introduced to an unfamiliar type of training, and exposed to such intense pressure in the army. Both situations share a greater commonality, and that is the prevalence ofRead More →

Feminine and muscular?

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As I sit and reflect on this touching article published by FOX Sports and written by Justin Ching, I think about what may have altered, prevented, or limited my struggles with not only anxiety and depression, but anorexia in college. An article about mental health issues being a challenge for the NCAA in regard to student-athletes, it highlights different interviews with current student-athletes. A key finding from the interviews revealed that the majority of women pointed to eating disorders related to their sport as the top issue. According to the American Psychiatric Association, women are “nearly twice as likely” as men to develop depression, anxiety and eating disorders. Add in the stress of sports related pressures and stressors andRead More →

Break the Stigma: #breakthestigma

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It was a 100 degree August afternoon at Old College Field in East Lansing, MI. We had just completed our second training session of the day. As we typically would after practice, we hung around to decompress, stretch our bodies, and finish socializing. As my teammates and I started heading back to the locker room, I thought I heard my name being called. I looked around. “Konheim,” I heard my coach yell again to get my attention, “Come here for a second.” I sensed something unusual as I approached a small huddle including all three coaches. “We are very concerned about you right now. We don’t know ifRead More →

Heredity

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Born at Sinai Hospital in Detroit, Michigan on June 15, 1984 at 9:28am, I increased a family of three to four. Lisa and Joseph Konheim were high school sweethearts, married at 20 years old, had their first child, Ari, at 24, and me, their second, at 26. They had their third and final child, Jeremy, at age 29. Both Lisa and Joseph were born and raised in a suburb of Detroit called Oak Park, Michigan. It was a close knit neighborhood, where the name of your block identified your exact location. At the time, Oak Park was a heavily Jewish populated community, where diversity lackedRead More →